Barney he's not...
From the article: (thanks,
Steve)
The dinosaur, supposedly a week-old camarasaurus from the Jurassic
era, makes even Furby -- once banned from the offices of the National
Security Agency for fear it would learn and repeat classified
information -- look like a sock puppet.Pleo's surprisingly
realistic movements are created by 14 motors and six processors. (Furby
had one of each.) Thanks to a nose-mounted camera and 30 sensors, it's
clever enough to avoid walls and table edges. It's also sensitive to
touch, noise, movement, and even other Pleos. Its personality is so
complex that [co-creator Caleb] Chung says it'll take years for each individual dino to
come into its own.
Also more evolved, however, is the price
tag $300, compared with Furby's $40. That's a bargain next to Sony's
ill-fated robot dog, the $2,000 Aibo, but it's a couple hundred more
than most toy retailers would like. So Chung is bypassing them, selling
Pleo on Ugobe's website and through high-end retailers like the Sharper
Image. Last year the company had more than $18 million in purchase
orders.
"Pleo will have more impact than Furby," predicts the ever optimistic Chung.