SoftBank develops robot cameras for that lucrative pet surveillance market

Do you love robots — and pets — although you’re not quite ready to take the dive into actual robot pet ownership? You’re in luck! Those crazy kids at SoftBank are back again with the Mimamori line of remote control robot cameras. Designed to cruise around your living room at a dog’s or cat’s-eye view (and doomed to remain inside the apartment, as it eschews batteries for AC power) this guy shoots (don’t get too excited) 640 x 480 stills or 176 x 144 video. The idea here is that you can log onto it via your cell phone, drive it around the apartment, and maybe even snap some pics and MMS ‘em back to you if you spot something especially adorable going on. A remote spy drone for keeping tabs on Rover? In theory it sounds awesome, but we’re more than prepared for the possibility that in practice it’ll be anything but. We’ll have to wait until September to find out, when it hits the streets of Japan in two flavors: white and round (Mimamori Z001, above) and silver and not quite as round (Mimamori Z002). Details are still pretty sketchy — but if you hit the source link, you can sort it out your own self.