Letter From Caleb Chung & Pleo Competition

We've just been sent this information from Ugobe's PR team and thought you'd like to know before its made public!

It's a letter from Pleo's inventor Caleb Chung and a competition to win one.

Dear Friends & Pleo Fans,

Thank You! I speak for everyone here at UGOBE when I say how thankful we are for your support and interest in Pleo. The level of excitement and anticipation remain very high for Pleo's release to the market. We’ve learned a lot from people who have had a chance to interact with pre-release versions of Pleo. For example:

· Sound is important in fostering an emotional connection to Pleo so we're enhancing further Pleo’s audio capabilities (by upgrading the quality of the speakers, boosting the audio levels and increasing the size of the sound library).

· Everyone seems to enjoy touching Pleo under his chin, so we’re adding another sensor there, bringing the total number of Pleo sensors to 35.

Look and feel are key. So, a myriad of cosmetic issues are also being tweaked. These include: pushing for the highest resolution and detail in the eyes, adding sculpted detail in many of the hard plastic parts as opposed to painted on detail and adding soft muscle-like tissue in places under the skin so Pleo feels as realistic as possible.

Creating Life Takes Time. What have we learned from these valuable customer interactions? That creating life takes time. Since we want to be sure that Pleo provides the best possible user experience, we have decided to delay Pleo’s arrival until Summer 2007.

To express our appreciation for your continued interest in Pleo, as a member of the Pleo community mailing list, you will be given advance notice before we begin taking online pre-orders this spring, giving you the opportunity to obtain the first Pleos that become available.

Win a Free Pleo!
Enter the "Future of Robotic Life Forms" contest tell us how technology-based life forms will play a role in your life.

The UGOBE Team wants to hear your ideas about how technology-based life forms can play a role in your life. Enter our contest by clicking here and answering this question in 250 words or less:

· How do you envision robotic life forms influencing or touching your life in the next five years?

· The contest starts immediately. We will accept up to 500 submissions so please get your entry in soon. Entries will be evaluated on the following criteria: insightful, original, fun, and overall impact. All submissions become the property of UGOBE.

· I will work with selected members of the UGOBE Research & Development Team to select the ten most interesting. These ten winners will each receive a free Pleo with a personal note from me. We’ll announce the winners' stories on our web site giving you the chance to share your ideas with the Pleo community.

We continue to learn so much and we are getting so close. We will continue to keep you informed every step of the way. Thank you for being part of this amazing journey.


Sincerely,

Caleb Chung
Inventor, Board Member & Co-Founder



"The Future of Robotic Life Forms" Contest Rules

Eligibility


The contest is open to all individuals who have signed up for Pleo updates on the UGOBE web site as of March 3, 2007. Employees of UGOBE, Board of Directors, Board of Advisors, and their immediate family members are not eligible to win this contest. Up to 500 submissions will be accepted.

Requirements
Entrants will respond to the question, “How do you envision robotic life forms might influence or touch our lives in the next five years?”. Please share your ideas with us.

Essays can be up to 250 words. This does not include the title, citations and footnotes.

Essays must be the original work of the entrant.
Any quotations or copyrighted material used in the essay must be properly identified.

Essays must be submitted through the UGOBE web site.

Essays must be written in English.

Only one essay per entrant.

Deadline
Essay submissions will be accepted starting February 1, 2007. The deadline for submissions is March 3, 2007, midnight PST. Winners will be notified in April 2007.

Prizes
The top ten finalists, as chosen by the judges, will each receive 1 Pleo with a signed note from Caleb Chung, co-founder of UGOBE.

Judging
Essays will be read and judged by a select panel of members from the UGOBE Research & Development team. Essays will be judged on the following criteria: insightful, original, fun, and overall impact.

Use of Materials

By entering this contest, each entrant understands and agrees that all submissions immediately and irrevocably become the property of UGOBE , and that thereafter UGOBE has the royalty free, irrevocable, worldwide license to use the submitted materials and/or any ideas contained within them or gleaned from them in any way that it deems appropriate.

Questions?
Please email contestquestions@ugobe.com with all contest questions.

Enter Now

©Copyright 2007 UGOBE, Inc.

Taiwan Company to make Pleo Robotic Toy

The Age has reported that the new Pleo Robotic Toy will be made by the Taiwanese company Hon Hai.

Hon Hai has also invested in the creators of the Pleo: Ugobe.

Pleo To Be Unveiled AT CES 2007?

Extremetech comments that the Pleo robotics dinosaur may not have had an official launch to-date but it may happen at CES in Las Vegas 9-11th January seeing as Ugobe's CEO Bob Christopher will be speaking at the show. But there's no actual confirmation that the unveiling will take place.

Pleo Maker New Investor

News reaches us that the sucessful Foxconn Electronics company (they recently won a contract to produce the Apple laptop) will invest $3.1 million in Ugobe Incorporate which has created the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur.

Not only are they an investor but it looks like they may end up being the company that produces the Pleo toy.

So things are going well with Pleo's parents :-)

One Of The Best Innovations of 2006

Time has voted the Pleo Robotic Dinosaur as one of the best innovations of 2006! Hopefully they can prove it to the masses in 2007!

No News is ...

The land that time forgot is where the Pleo Dinosaur is at the moment. There's not been a sniff of news for nigh on a month now. Which if you think abou it is a good thing. Normally before a launch of something like the Pleo Toy you're normally worried about delays. So fingers crossed we'll have some good news soon.

Pleo - In Pre-Production

News reaches us that the Pleo Dinosaur is currently in "Pre-Production".

Ben Christopher, Ugobe Chief Exec states that they have a fully working version of the Pleo and operating system. It is autonomous and reacts to the world around it and also have a personality. The bits they're working on the moment is motion system and the artificial intelligence system and its sensors.