Sony brings back Aibo, teaches old dog new tricks

A cutting-edge update for the long-retired robot pooch shows that every dog has its day.

Sony is letting Aibo off the leash once again.

The cutesy toy robot dog first appeared in 1999 before being, ahem, "sent to a farm" in 2006. Now a new model will launch in 2018 that reacts to voice commands and to being petted. It will also perform doggy tricks like barking, sitting, wagging its tail and playing with special toys. It'll connect to an app and has OLED eyes in its ravamped design.

The connected canine will only be available in Japan and will cost around 198,000 yen ($1700, £1,300, AU$2250).