These are great toys. If you ever see one at a yard sale you should not hesitate to buy it ASAP. Not only is it a feat of engineering magic, it’s also hackable. The ICybie site is full of links to info on how to modify and program new cartridges to create personalities, make an RS-232 connection to your PC, and even write your own code in for it.
The grand bin of links and hacks!
[AiboHack] ICybiePet’s ICybie Site
Official site Silverlit
I just got my i-Cybie (Blue) today. I guess not all of the versions are self-recharging?
I will be comparing it to my Robopet soon on my Robopet Review blog:
http://www.robotsrule.com/robopet-blog/blogger.html
You can see a video of me using my voice to control my Robopet here:
http://www.robotsrule.com/html/robopet-video.php
Now to be honest, to control the Robopet with voice you need a PC, a PC compatible infrared transceiver, and special software; so the i-Cybie definitely has the advantage here. It’s also about 4 times bigger than the Robopet!