The Pleo is a robotic toy dinosaur from Ugobe.

Launched in late 2007, it has become one of the most sought after high-end toys on the market.

Unlike previous robot toy efforts such as Sony’s Aibo dog, the Ugoble Pleo tries to distance itself from being labelled as a robot, and features the welcoming curves and material of a traditional soft toy.

The Pleo is marketed as a baby dinosuar that actually “learns” from its environment. Advanced sensors inside the Pleo allow it to detect primitive objects and shapes and react to noises. It is also receptive to touch and surface detection.

As well as being great for kids, the Pleo is quickly becoming one of the leading hobbyist robots, with Ugobe encouraging modifications to the base software that controls the robot via the graphical based MySkit application. Ugobe also has plans to introduce an API that will allow advanced control over the behaviour of the Pleo.