Your new best friend
If Japan is the land of the robots, as the international media would have us believe, then maybe it's time to get a little robotic friend of your own for the home. AIBO's days may have passed, but that's all right as its various incarnations never looked as good as the new MANOI PF01 from Kyosho's one-fifth scale athlete humanoid series. The name alone — the letters PF stand for PerFormance — promises a level of interactivity and movement beyond what we've previously seen in the world of hobby robots, and the new lithium polymer battery keeps it going longer than its predecessor, last year's AT01. To simple actions like standing and walking, you can add more complex lifelike gestures that can be programmed on a PC. It isn't cheap at just under ¥200,000, but can you really put a price on robotic love? Check out PF01, as well most of Kyosho's lineup of remote-control cars and other toys for hobbyists, at their Omotesando Hills store.
(03) 5785-0280; kyosho.com
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