Sony's New Aibo Robot Dog Is Nearly $3,000, But It Can Tell How You're Feeling

Sony is bringing its iconic Aibo robotic dog back to the U.S. for the first time in more than a decade -- though this time, the pricey gadget will feature some cloud-connected features that make it more expressive and engaging than previous iterations. The U.S. relaunch of Aibo, which was announced Thursday, will be the sixth-generation of the company's line of robotic dogs, first introduced in 1999 and discontinued in 2006. Since re-introducing it in Japan this past January, Sony says it has already sold over 20,000 Aibo units over a seven-month period. The new Aibo, for better or worse, shares a similar design language with its predecessors, though it looks much more like an actual dog thanks to a pair of large, expressive OLED eyes that blink, get drowsy and show anger. Compact motors designed by Sony give Aibo 22 axes of movement, making it much more lifelike than Sony's previous robots -- though traditional dog-based activities, like scratching its ears or stretching its legs, look pretty comical compared to the real thing.