Washington, DC(CNN) Frustrated Tesla owners continue to wait for "full self-driving," an expensive and long-delayed software feature that isn't even guaranteed to help their cars' resale values. Some of the company's earliest backers of the "full self-driving" option are even beginning to lose faith in the promise of ever enjoying a truly autonomous Tesla. Years-long delays, buggy beta software, and the risk of no return on their investment in the option package have left some Tesla owners disappointed. Tesla CEO Elon Musk's prognostications, and Tesla's actual reality have diverged so much that some owners describe to CNN Business that they've lost confidence in his predictions. Some otherwise satisfied Tesla owners describe feeling duped into buying "full self-driving" ahead of its polished release, because Musk warned that the price would increase.

In the world of robotic startups, acquisition is often as good an outcome as any. And when it comes to robotic tractor startups, you could do worse than being acquired by John Deere. The agricultural technology giant announced today that it's set to acquire Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million. The Bay Area-based firm, which specializes in autonomous farming heavy machinery, was founded in 2017. They first crossed our radar the following year, as a member of YC's Winter 2018 cohort.

Boston Dynamics is widely recognized for pioneering the field of agile robots that are inspired by animals. The legged robots are built to remain balanced as they maneuver through rocky trails, up and down staircases or through narrow passages. Several videos of the company's robotic dog Spot, cat Cheetah and humanoid Atlas have gone viral, stoking admiration -- and terror -- across the Internet.

Amazon Echo devices were hit by a major outage on Christmas Day after new owners reported issues with the smart home speaker. Users in the UK and across Europe took to social media to complain of difficulties in setting up the Alexa voice assistant, with some suggesting that the large number of new owners attempting to connect. "Good luck to everyone who was delighted to receive their Amazon Echo this morning," one person wrote on Twitter. "Amazon has been a victim of its own success. Imagine the fun that new owners have been experiencing this morning, unsure as to why their new gadget isn't working."

Sony Corp. relaunched the Aibo on Thursday, with fans expressing excitement at the second unleashing of the digital robot dog. The gadget's revival is not just a simple product relaunch but a symbol of Sony's recent resurgence as it vies to play a leading role in the robot market expected to bloom in the coming years, analysts said. "It's been about a year and half since we started developing the new Aibo . . . the day where we can provide it to new owners with confidence has finally come," said Izumi Kawanishi, who oversees Sony's artificial intelligence and robotics group, at a promotional event held at Sony's headquarters in Tokyo. New owners who received their Aibos at the event did not hesitate to show their joy. "I was very happy to finally get my Aibo," said an owner who only identified himself as Yamashita.

A massive Japanese conglomerate is scooping up Boston Dynamics, the robotics firm behind many of the videos you may have seen online of amazing yet somewhat creepy automatons. On Friday, SoftBank said it had struck a deal to acquire Boston Dynamics from Alphabet, the parent company of Google, which had bought the robotics company in 2013 but decided last year to put it up for sale. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "Boston Dynamics are the clear technology leaders in advanced dynamic robots," SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son said in a statement. "I am thrilled to welcome them to the SoftBank family and look forward to supporting them as they continue to advance the field of robotics."