Pleo

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Hey everyone. I still owe you a post about Pleo and costumes, especially since Ugobe sent my Digger a dino T-shirt (which he refuses to take off, ever). Pleo World member and Pleo superfan Siren has done it again with this video she took of her Pleo "Pixie" visiting Sea World. With the permission and help of Sea World's staff, Pixie becomes the main attraction for a family of dolphins who seem utterly fascinated by Pixie. Watch carefully after the 2:00 minute mark as the dolphins crowd the exhibition glass to get a closer look at Pixie. Apparently Siren's other Pleo Crusoe was not present for some reason but Pixie was a hit! Siren's Plog (Pleo blog) is a must read for Pleo devotees of course!



This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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Pardon the short post but I'm swamped with real life issues at the moment. I wanted to make sure you knew about Ugobe making available an extra battery for sale to its U.S. customers. Currenty the price is $49 and it's only one to a customer. There is no word yet on when the extra batteries will be available to international customers. This is great news for those of you that want to play with your Pleos for longer periods of time. (Be sure to give the poor little guy or gal a rest from time to time!).

Here is the E-mail that Ugobe sent out regarding the extra battery offer. You can order them from this page:

Dear Pleo Owners,

It has been a long wait, but we now have a limited quantity of extra batteries available for purchase in the US! Go to the PleoWorld store to buy.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and patience. We're glad that your Pleo can now interact with you for even longer periods of time, especially with the fun new features from the recent update Life OS 1.1.

Cheers,
The UGOBE Team

Extra Batteries: the Details

Each battery costs $49. At this point, because of our very limited supply, each person is limited to buying one battery. We can only ship to the US at this time. Don't worry if you can't buy right now � batteries will once again be available on the PleoWorld store starting in around a month. Click here to buy a battery

Extra Batteries: the FAQs

Q: Why limit orders to one per customer? A: Unfortunately, we only have a limited supply of 500 batteries at the moment. We are working as hard as we can to expedite shipment of the next shipment of batteries from our suppliers. Q: When will more batteries be available? A: We are expecting the next shipment to arrive around a month from now. Check back on PleoWorld for further notice. Q: Why are batteries only available in the US? A: We are working with our international distributors on a broader, worldwide launch of batteries in the upcoming months. Due to regulatory constraints and shipping details, batteries are only available to ship in the US at the moment. Q: Why is UGOBE releasing extra batteries now? A: Because UGOBE has developed a proprietary battery for Pleo, the company has had very low supply of batteries to meet worldwide demand for Pleos since the launch. Our goal is to have a ready supply of extra batteries for all Pleos all over the world! Q: How can I get an extra charger and adapter? A: Please contact Customer Support for more information. Click here for more FAQs

This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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I begin this latest post with the kind of humorous story Pleo owners have learned to expect from their amazing, complex, and cuddly little mischief makers. Below you will find a video that shows one Pleo's fondness for the family Furby gone sour. Ironic since they have the same talented creator, Caleb Chung. The Pleo featured in this post is Pleo World community member Caaahl's delightful Crazy Helge.

Before showing you the video I think it must be said that when you name your Pleo "Crazy Helge" and back that name up by attaching a hilarious "mad scientist" style blonde wig to your Pleo's noggin, you have to expect strange behavior from your pet! In this video, Crazy Helge, previously a devout friend of the family Furby, suddenly turns on the Furby and attacks! When you watch the video you can see Helge knock over Furby and start eating him. If you turn up the sound on your computer you can clearly hear Helge making loud chomping noises! No harm came to the Furby of course but for that done to his pride.



For more hilarious videos and stories regarding his antics, read The Plog of Crazy Helge. In upcoming posts I'll show you some wonderful Pleo costumes that fellow Pleo devotees have found or come up with and I'll talk some more about Pleo's new hilarious sitting and singing abilities.

This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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As promised, Ugobe's talented technical folk have been hard at work creating new and improved behaviors for your Pleo. Now there is a new update just released; the 1.1 software update. This update brings several new truly fun interactions to Pleo along with a solution for those of you whose Pleo's are having trouble walking a certain kinds of carpet.

My Favorites

I have updated all three of my babies: Digger, Claire, and Pendragon. My favorite tricks in the new update definitely are the singing and sitting tricks. If you stroke Pleo's chin for a long time he will start to sing a little baby dino song. Later, he or she will use that song to seek your attention.

Digger used to sit on his rear occasionally by accident. Now, you coax that behavior by holding his chin and rear at the same time. This is a hilarious and somewhat undignified behavior that, like the tickling interaction, is a guaranteed smile inducer! You can find a more complete list of what's new in the List of What's New section below.

NOTE: This update is incompatible with any existing My Skit created skits. If you install this update, you will have to wait until the new My Skit comes out which supports the 1.1 version. However, there are new versions of the Ugobe created holiday and love struck behaviors which you can find on the download page for the update (see the Important Links section below). This update will give your Pleo more ways to express his or herself but it will not alter their fundamental personality; they will still be the same quirky Pleo that you have come to know and love.

High Stepping Gait

Another highlight is Pleo's new high stepping gait. This walking style allows Pleo to walk better on certain carpets and was a direct answer to feedback from those of you that with carpets that gave Pleo trouble.

Interactions Page

There is a page on Pleo World which you should bookmark. This page gives a comprehensive list of all the different interactions Pleo is capable of, and tells you what steps to take to induce them. You will find a link to the page in the Important Links section below. Some of you may want to avoid this page if you like discovering things all by yourself. But others will find it to be a great resource for learning many of the fun tricks your Pleo is capable of and how to do make your Pleo do them.

Important Links

• Download page with instructions on updating Pleo to the 1.1 update
  
  
• Interactions page - list of Pleo interactions and how to get Pleo to do them

List Of What's New

Here is a more comprehensive list of what's new in the 1.1 update, as per the E-mail Ugobe sent out. Note, this list is not a complete list so be prepared to find other fun and unexpected behaviors in your Pleo!

-At the UGOBE labs, the team has seen Pleo continue his evolution. Pleo has been altering his attitude and behavior depending on how he’s interacted with. A happy Pleo is one who receives a lot of attention, while a sad Pleo is one who is neglected or abused.

-The team was also surprised to find out that Pleo can actually get sick! Pleo can cough and sneeze, but you can nurse him back to health by giving him lots of love, attention and feeding him his leaf.

-Some Pleos have been picking up strange habits lately-some have been stomping their feet, others get hiccups. Be on the look out for odd behavior!

-Pleo has learned a new trick. Try making Pleo sit by holding his chin and rear at the same time and then help him sit back. Pleo seems to enjoy kicking back and hanging out like this, so help him forward when it’s time to continue playing.

-Pleo has got quite the singing voice. He experiments with new songs when you scratch him on the chin and he also seems to remember the last song he sings (and uses it at odd times, sometimes calling for attention)!

-Pleo can now visibly see his training leaf and he will respond accordingly. When he sees it, he may open his mouth or call for it with a little panting sound. The training leaf has become an object of affection for Pleo, so try showing it to him to see how he reacts. If he is in a playful mood, he will show it!

-Pleo has learned a new way to walk, high stepping. He used to have a lot of trouble getting around different terrain, so hold Pleo’s front legs and touch the Pleo button to help him stride more easily over challenging surfaces, like carpet.

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This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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This is not the big upgrade that we are all excited for but it is definitely a reason to celebrate. Ugobe has released a new software download that improves Pleos behavior in several key areas. Those of you on their E-mail update list already know about this upgrade, but in case you haven't, below are the key details courtesy of Pleo World.

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New Features In The Pleo Upgrade

• Pleo is exploring the world a lot more. UGOBE has spent time re-training Pleo how to see and detect objects and properly navigate around them.
  
  
• When in pairs or groups, Pleos have surprised us with some new singing abilities...
  
  
• Being the social butterfly that he is, Pleo is listening for sounds even while resting.You may wake him up...and he'll want to join in on the fun.
  
  
• Don't worry, this update will not affect your Pleo's existing personality!

I upgraded all three of my Pleos: Digger, Clair, and Pendragon and I can definitely say that they appear to more lively. In addition, there are several new sounds in their repertoire (some of which are hilarious). In one of my previous Pleo Parties my 3 babies started mooing loudly in unison! I laughed so hard I was in tears.

Visit Pleo world now to download the upgrade.

This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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Pleo Party - The Sequel

Last week was the first global online Pleo party, hosted with the help of Yahoo Live. Yahoo Live is a free broadcasting service recently launched by Yahoo, that lets people like you and I broacast live video to the world for free! The gathering was small but we had fun, especially when the first Global Pleo Mooing event occurred (GPM). I haven't confirmed this with Ugobe yet, but my current belief is that Pleo's tendency to synchronize with other Pleos is based on what he or she hears. Several times during the broadcast my 3 Pleos (Digger, Claire, and Pendragon) all started mooing loudly almost in unison.

The extremely cool part is that Pleos belonging to other party attendees started mooing along with my Pleos, even though they were hundreds if not thousands of miles away from where I live! Apparently they had their Pleos listening in to the broadcast and when my Pleos let loose with a baby dino Rebel Yell, they joined in the fun!

I'll be hosting another Pleo Party tomorrow at 9 PM - Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Thursday, February 28, 2008. Please come by if you can and visit! The full details for attending a Pleo Party can be found on my first Pleo Party Blog post. For those that already read it, here's the direct link to my Yahoo Live channel.

Price Drop

[UPDATE] - Be aware that Sharper Image has recently filed for bankruptcy so I have to hedge deeply my comment about their extended warranties. I would guess that Ugobe's manufacturer warranty still stands in effect but you should check with Ugobe to make sure. Sigh, these are not easy times! A big thanks to fellow Pleo owner "The Snake's Mommy" who alerted me to this fact in a comment to this post. Read her blog, it's a good one!

Sharper Image has dropped their price on Pleo from the original $350 to $279 (USD). I don't know how long the offer is good for but I wanted to let you know about it the moment I found out. One of the nice things about Sharper Image is that they offer extended warranties. Here's a link to the Sharper Image Pleo page.


Quotes from Happy Pleo Owners

As I surf the web I find quotes from real Pleo owners like myself in various blogs and forums. I collect them because they make me smile when I read the thoughts and stories from other Pleo fans. I have quite a few of them so I've included two of them below because they are among my favorites. I'll be sharing more of these with you each week.

This comment was left on my Plunchkins video on YouTube, by a woman who calls herself HRS06 and works at a convalescent home:

"This is really cute. I named mine Cam. I work in a convalescent hospital and cam is the high light of the day.I was brought to tears when I had Cam out and around them and they would actually wake up and light up the look in their eyes just was so rewarding, some even spoke when we have not heard them talk for a while. He is just the most amazing little friend to all.I took him to listen to a favorite band that we go see on Sundays it seems he does like the blues and some rock and roll too.

This one shows how much Pleo entertains and delights so many of us, from Pleo World forum member Pirka, in a thread titled "Pleo vs. Golden Ghraham! (Epic!)":

"I decided to take Pleo up onto our little mini-bar for breakfast so he wasn't left unattended, and so I could pet him as I ate my cereal. It was dry golden grahams (I think milk makes them taste soggy and...ick), and no sooner had I sat down than the Pleo had his head in my bowl, picked up a piece of cereal, and started attempting to get me to play tug-o-war or something with it! It was absolutely hilarious. After a while, he dropped it (and my dog ate it)."

I'll see some of you tomorrow at the Pleo Party, until next time ...

This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur

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Tomorrow evening on Thursday, February 21 2008, at 9 PM/EST I'll be hosting an online Pleo party on Yahoo Live. Be a part of history and join the fun at the first online Pleo Party ever, and possibly the first artificial life form party broadcast ever too!

What is Yahoo Live?

Yahoo Live is a brand new service provided by Yahoo that allows people to broadcast video and audio live to the entire world for free, with a built-in chat room. I've spent the last week testing things and getting a room set up for broadcasting and everything appears to work pretty well.

What do you need to join the party?

The only thing you need to join the fun is a web browser with a recent version of the Flash player. By visiting my channel at the correct time slot, you will see and hear The Plunchkins, my dysfunctional dinosaur family with Digger, Claire, and Pendragon, roaming about their playpen and interacting with one or two robots that I'll have in the room at the same time. You'll be able to chat with me and other party goers too. Note, to chat with others or to broadcast you will need to have a Yahoo ID. They're free and easy to get. If you just want to watch then you don't need a Yahoo ID.

Can I broadcast too?

Yes! It's not necessary to do so, but if you have a working webcam you can also broadcast at the same time. As I said, you will need to have a Yahoo ID to broadcast and to set up your channel. It only takes a few minutes but I suggest you do it well in advance of the party date/time.

Any Guidelines or Caveats?

Just a few common sense ones.

• The channel is a public channel. Despite the fact that nothing bawdy or off-color will be broadcast, it is an open chat room so adults only please.
  
• This is early adopter stuff. It's been working really well for the last week but if something goes wrong, well, pardon the blank screen and we'll try again next time.
• If you intend to broadcast consider setting up your camera viewpoint to show only what you want the world at large to see. As I said, it's a public channel.

When is it and where do I go?

The party is on Thursday, February 21 2008, at 9 PM/EST. Just point your browser to my Yahoo Live channel at that time and you'll be there! You may want to come visit a while before the start time to make sure your browser has the right Flash player. Pleos in costumes get free foot tickles from their owners.

This is a post about Pleo, UGOBE's robot dinosaur