Anki has announced that its pint-sized Cozmo robot is coming to the UK. Here’s a look at its best features and how you can pre-order the clever toy today.
We knew 2017 was a strong year for techie toys when we lost the best part of a week playing with the Sphero Lightning McQueen, a remote controlled car that very nearly justifies its hefty £299 price tag.
Now, there’s a new contender for toy of the year in the form of Anki’s Cozmo. The diminutive bot might fit in the palm of your hand, but it packs some pretty serious specs and AI smarts.
Cozmo is comprised of no less than 360 components, including four motors, 50 gears, an integrated CPU, and a 30fps VGA camera.
Combined with facial recognition software, the latter feature means it’s capable of recognising, remembering, and reacting to up to 10 different faces, as well as interacting intelligently with its surroundings.
The bot can be used as a standard RC car via the companion app for Android and iOS (‘Explorer’ mode), but Cozmo will also throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to games, wearing its emotions on its 128 x 64 pixel display…sorry, face.
Cozmo features over 850 different animations, as well as coming with a ‘soundtrack’ of more than 40 minutes of audio content to match the mood.
And if that’s not enough, then the Cozmo SDK means you can tinker to your heart’s content with the toy using the Python programming language – or just use it as a gateway to learn to code.
Perhaps best of all, Cozmo isn’t priced too aggresively and will hit UK shelves later in the year for £199.99, making it about £100 cheaper than the Lightning McQueen.
Having launched in the US in 2016, it’s now up for pre-order here in Blighty ahead of a September release date.
We’re looking forward to putting Cozmo through its paces fully, but if you’re already sold, here’s a quick link to help you part with that hard earned cash.
- Buy Now: Pre-order Cozmo today for £199.99
As well as the standard white flavour, there’s also a special collector’s edition Cozmo that features a more Dark Side-esque brushed grey finish.
Related: Best toys
What’s your favourite tech toy? Let us know in the comments below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.