Get along ‘lil iDog-gie

by Kris   ⋅   February 19, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

Isn’t he cute? His lucite ears wag and everything! Chris got it for me when they first hit the market last year and I named it “Ahanu”, Algonquin for “He Laughs” because he makes a lot of electronic quippy puppy sounds that might as well be laughter bouts. His entire face is comprised of flashing dots (kind of disturbing in a way), which light up in random configurations according to his “mood” and what type of music you “feed” him. I’m trying to get it to display red tones, but so far he only deems one Curve song as “Rock”. Everything else I’ve “fed” him results in “Rap”/yellow, even the Beatles(!) *chortle*. Maybe I have the bass pumped too high?

I guess he’s supposed to be a moody devil; according to the instruction booklet, you’re to give him lots of pats and pets on the head or nose but by all means never ever flick his little lucite tail. I thought there was going to be some spectacular spitfest if this ever happened; kinda like when Gizmo the mogwai was splashed with water. I guess he was “upset” according to the light patterns, but other than that, Ahanu didn’t even seem to notice nor remember. He does get upset and even realistically growls when you leave the room, even for half a song, or if you cease to pet him incessantly. Yep, he’s hiiigh maintenance.

He’s also a little bit of a battery hog, but his (AA) batteries are cleverly hidden and easily accesible by unscrewing his hind leg, so no biggie. One thing: I wish there was a kinder way to power him off. You have to hold down on his chrome-colored nose button for ~3-5 seconds, even through his almost protesting head twists. Then finally, his lights fade, he cycles through a descending octave scale and let’s out a heartbreaking electronic whimper. I know it’s an inanimate toy, but why does it feel so LBJ? (If anyone reading this has the rights to iDog revision, I would strongly suggest making his tail the on/off switch, I just can’t take it anymore *sniff*.)

You can also use him as a uber trendy portable speaker for your iPod, PC, whatever you need a cute uber trendy interactive speaker for. They even sell “doggie bags”.. a Paris Hilton-esque pet-purse to tote around your ‘lil buddy. I think I’ll pass; I’ll hold out for someone to knit ridiculously teeny iDog sweaters*.. but only if they’re from Italy (just kidding).

Here he is with his mech mate I call “Tango”, aka the Feline Frolic RC cattoy from Sharper Image (that’s up for a review in the future):

*NOTE: Since I started this article last year, there are already teeny iDog sweaters on the market– a whole set complete with scarf, hat and booties. New iDog body colors include pink, blue, mint green, black. Also, soon to be released are the iCat and iFish. Since they are all only $25-$30 a pop (depending on where you shop), you could easily raise an entire iFauna family.

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