Just a couple of months ago Sony released their robot (the QRIO). I wonder who's going to be next to release the latest robot (maybe a transforming one)?
"TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's top carmaker Toyota unveiled a trumpet-playing robot -- its first humanoid machine -- in a bid to catch up with robot technology frontrunners such as Honda and Sony.
Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites) showed off its walking and rolling virtuoso robots to the media at a Tokyo hotel as it announced the outline of its robot development project.
The 120-centimeter (48-inch) tall robot played "When you wish upon a star" with a trumpet as a presenter held a microphone up to the instrument, swaying naturally to the rhythm of the famous song from the Disney cartoon film Pinocchio.
The robot, with what appeared to be an artificial green leaf stuck behind its left 'ear', bowed to the audience and waved its arms to respond to applause following the brief performance.
The 35 kilogram (77 pound) as yet unnamed robot has artificial lips which can alter their position as subtly as human lips as air is forced through them, enabling it to play a trumpet as it presses the stops with its hands.
"We are determined to drive forward the Toyota Partner Robot project by putting together what we have cultivated in automotive development and production," Toyota president Fujio Cho told the news conference.
Toyota plans to form a "robot band" to play music at the 2005 World Exposition at the carmaker's base in Aichi, central Japan, the president said."