Rolly

Remote control makes Rolly only half as useless

Is your Sony Rolly languishing on the shelf? Feel like you exhausted the novelty of this $400 dancing MP3 player after only a few hours of Christmas morning exuberance? Did you think the Rolly's potential for tormenting house pets had been explored to the fullest? Think again.

Version 2.0 of the Sony Rolly firmware has been released in the U.S., and brings some new capabilities. By connecting your PC (sorry Macs) to your Rolly over Bluetooth, you can now remotely control the Rolly's movement, view track listings, trigger music, and control up to seven Rollys simultaneously (… Read more

MP3 Insider 100: iPhone madness

Jasmine and Donald tear the iPhone a new one. Plus, Jasmine's cat gets a hold of the Sony Rolly, SanDisk gobbles MusicGremlin, and Donald rounds-up some non-iPod MP3 players for Mac users. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 100

iPhone music stuff: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9963889-1.htmlBest non-iPod MP3 players for Mac: http://reviews.cnet.com/4321-6490_7-6545983.html?tag=feat.2iMainGo 2: http://reviews.cnet.com/portable-speakers/imaingo-2-silver/4505-11313_7-33060592.html?tag=links;reviewRadius TruTune: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sony-rolly-2gb-white/4505-6490_7-33059749.html?tag=prod.txt.2Sony Rolly: http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/sony-rolly-2gb-white/4505-6490_7-33059749.html?tag=prod.txt.2… Read more

Sony Rolly: Really expensive cat toy?

At this point, the Sony Rolly has been pretty much done to death around here. Murmurings about the music device started surfacing as early as August of last year, and then it finally visited the U.S. during CES 2008. But it wasn't until last month that the Rolly actually went on sale in the States, which means we only just got our hands on the thing. I know: you're so over it already, but if you're curious about what the "music egg robot thing" is like in person, read on.

Oh, where to begin. … Read more

Sony's 'Rolly' goes goth in Japan

The exact purpose of Sony's "Rolly" may never be clear, other than to help keep Ricky Martin's career alive. But now, only months after its U.S. debut, the dancing egg has offered the ultimate evidence that it's here to stay: It's coming in different colors.

Unlike the original white version, a black 1GB Rolly is available for now only on the Japanese market, which will also get new speaker covers in red, blue, and silver, according to Akihabara News. We're still not interested (can't get past the Martin thing), but it … Read more

Sony rolls onto US shores

Thats right folks, Sony will be bringing its egg shaped, robotic, bluetooth entertainment device to stores all across America from spring '08. The Rolly has 2GB of flash memory to store tracks on the device and a bluetooth connection that allows you to stream music from a computer or phone. The Rolly will then move its "arms" and wheels to the beat of the music that is being played. Alternatively, you can become a choreographer and create your own routines for the Rolly to repeat endlessly for your pleasure. Apparently this device is meant to provide an alternate … Read more

Rolly comes to the U.S.

LAS VEGAS--Rolly, the whirling, dancing egg that doesn't have a lot of practical applications from Sony, is coming to the U.S., the company said during its press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas this week.

Sony released the product last year in Japan for around $300. The device combines robotics, hardware, and software developed at Sony labs, according to Stan Glasgow, president of Sony Electronics. You put on a song (and invariably in Sony's demo it is something from Ricky Martin) and the Rolly spins around, flaps its end flaps and does … Read more

Only in Japan: Sony's freakish dancing eggs

CHIBA, Japan--One of the most popular exhibits at Ceatec this year is Rolly, a dancing egg from Sony.

Music gets fed into Rolly, and it responds by "dancing" to the music. It will roll, spin around rapidly, or flip open its top as the music changes. A $300 device with a couple of LED lights that gyrates to Ricky Martin tunes? It doesn't sound like a hot seller on paper, but it's a huge hit at the show, taking place outside of Tokyo this week. Sony showed it off earlier this year and has just begun … Read more

Sony's music robot egg thing

It's the Sony Rolly, the product that nobody understands WTF it is! Of all the rumors, the one I like best (and sounds somewhat plausible), is that it's another Aibo-esque Sony robotic-pet product. This time, however, it looks like a little beer keg and possibly uses cameras and mirrors enclosed under its little animated hinged flaps to look around and interact with you. Sony's not offering up many clues here, but I think the theories on what this thing is are probably more interesting than the reality.

Anybody else want to take a guess? Music player? … Read more