Hasbro's cute new robo-dog teaches coding on the sly

Toy makers are coming up with more and more ways to encourage children to learn STEM skills, and Hasbro is trying to do that in a somewhat futuristic way. The company is releasing a $120 robotic dog toy called Proto Max as part of its FurReal Friends line of animatronic pets that children can customize via an app. To be clear, you'll be tweaking this robo-dog's behavior and character, not the colors of its eyes or fur or the shape of its nose or face. That initially sounded a bit too much like pet Westworld to me, but after a brief demonstration, I was persuaded to quiet my internal ethics police. Proto Max is designed for kids ages six and older to learn the basics of how programming works, but even those who don't want to deal with figuring out how to customize a robot can still play with it.