Sony AIBO ERS-7M2 robot

Soon it'll be humping your Nan's leg

Hoorah! Everyone's favourite pooch is back. No, not Moffett from Battlestar Gallactica or that jerry-can-on-wheels from Doctor Who - it's Sony's cutesy AIBO.

For anyone who's been held hostage in an old people's home in a remote hamlet in Dorset for the past few years, this is an "entertainment robot". That means it basically tries to imitate a real live little pooch, starting as an unsure puppy and gradually learning to recognise people's faces as well as a few tricks with the supplied pink ball and bone. It's all very clever in a somewhat lethargic sort of way.

It can also take photos of whatever it's watching and then email them to you via your Wi-Fi network, but new for this version is the ability to also send video, turning the whole set-up into a canine surveillance camera of sorts.

In practice, you won't actually use these features after the first week when the novelty wears off. To be honest, after you've seen the little fella back-heel his ball and reverse back onto his charging station - only usually successful in good light when he's less than six foot from the base unit - it's very easy to leave him in the corner and forget about him. It's hard to say if that's a good thing or not.

This is a tricky one to call. If you've got the money, desperately want some cutting-edge robotics in the home and have not an ounce more than the prescribed dose of cynicism, this could well be a dream come true. For the rest of us, it's still a dream too far.