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Spykee instead of Spike to watch the house?

Makers of the Erector set offer a robot for VOIP communication and home surveillance.

headshots_Candace_Lombardi_140x100.jpg
headshots_Candace_Lombardi_140x100.jpg
Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
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Candace Lombardi
Spykee performs from the floor of DigitalLife 2007. Candace Lombardi/CNET Networks

NEW YORK--Spykee, a communications robot from the toymaker Erector for $299, allows you to listen, see and record the surroundings of the robot from anywhere in the world through a Web-based software application.

Spykee's Erector

Similar in function to iRobot's ConnectR robot, the Spykee offers a VOIP telephone that works with Skype 3.0 and a Webcam, as well as controlled movement around a room.

Spykee operates over a wireless network and is controlled through downloadable software that Erector refers to as its "machine man interface."

You can upload music to the device from a computer and it will function as an MP3 player.

While it's no robot army, the robot can also be used as a surveillance device. It can be placed in a corner and, when triggered by a motion sensor, the Spykee will immediately take 3 photos of what it sees and send them to a portable device.