Check out my Robosapien website dedicated to WowWees Robotic Toys featuring reviews, news and what to expect this coming year.

Dr. Mark Tilden is the super charged robotics guru thats helped to give planet earth the most incredible interactive, articulate, animated and above all fully programmable humanoid robot, Robosapien (see right).

The Doc was born in the United Kingdom but grew up in Canada. Tilden started building stuff from the tender age of 3 and seems to have never looked back, growing up to become a top US robotics physicist and BEAM (acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, and Mechanics) robotics expert. Prior to Robosapiens' creation Mark Tilden worked for several government organizations including NASA developing applied biomorphic robotics.

Following certain ethical differences Tilden ceased work for these government organsations and an email from the founders of WowWee Ltd, Peter and Richard Yanofsky brought the Doc to Hong Kong and thus changed the direction of his robotic genius towards the realm of fun and toys. He never left.

Another cool fact about Tilden...he was the consultant for the robot scenes in the first 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' Movie...Impressive!

Well it all started in 1982, when two brothers Peter and Richard Yanofsky established a company called WowWee Ltd.

Originally developed as a vehicle for Peter Yanofsky's inventions and designs that he sold on to other toy companies it later became a conduit for investment directly into the manufacturing and sales arena.

They took the plunge during the Asian financial crisis as the market grew to a halt. Having complete faith in their great product innovation they opted for a change in direction deciding to take the risk and begin production and sales themselves.

The firm was soon producing its own toys having established solid contacts with mainland Chinese factories based on their strong reputation for quality and by 1997 were having at least one successful product per year.

Robosapien, as you now know, was produced with the help of top robotics physicist Mark Tilden. Tilden's first project with WowWee was the B.I.O. Bugs line but Peter Yanofsky had a greater vision for an affordable robot that was accessible to the masses as all other commercially-available robots at the time were selling for thousands of US dollars and Tilden was instructed to make it so.

Some two-and-a-half years later, Robosapien was born and well I guess you could say the rest is history.

WowWee Ltd was sold to the Optimal Group in September 2007 for a whopping $65 Million Dollars. Well done to the Yanofsky Brothers.

ELVIS

Capturing the magic of this monumental performer, Wowwee Alive Elvis is a lifelike singing and talking bust of the best selling solo artist in U.S. history. Motion captured facial animations and a leather jacket styled from the "Elvis Presley '68 Comeback Special" complete the most authentic recreation ever of this legendary artist. Whether you're his greatest fan or new to the man and his music, you can listen to, sing along with and learn more about the life of the man known as "The King of Rock and Roll".

CHIMPANZEE

The Chimpanzee, our closest animal relative, just got a little bit closer in this state-of the-art bust. A life-size animatronic replication and realistic behavioral sounds and motions is made possible through the "magic" of realistic Hollywood special effects.

Lifelike hair and skin, and a startlingly expressive, interactive personality really bring this simian alive!

Multi-sensory, highly communicative and fully interactive, Chimpanzee has four distinct moods: Curious, Fearful, Happy and Angry. So real, he's unreal!

WowWee have showcased some new additions to the Robosapien family at the Consumer Electronics 2008 Show (CES). 12 new robots were unveiled and they look set to surpass their predecessors with remote home surveillance and aerial-combat robots a well as its first product made specifically for girls.

Without further a do, here they are...

Rovio

Rovio is a home-surveillance robot equipped with a video camera. It is Wi-Fi-enabled allowing users to operate Rovio remotely through a browser on broadband-connected Windows XP and Vista systems and smartphones and stream video and audio footage back to themselves. You'll notice this is a three-wheeled robot. Rovio is also equipped with some self-sufficient technology. It can store information about where things are located in your home thus allowing it to avoid collisions. It can also home into its docking station automatically to recharge. Awesome!

FemiSapien

Introducing FemiSapien: The female of the species. This female humanoid robot has the ability to dance to music it hears through its built-in microphone, and can control other robots in WowWee's lineup. FemiSapien reacts to voice commands and even human touch. It is scheduled for release in late summer 2008.

Tri-Bot

Tri-Bot is the next generation in WowWee's popular Robosapien line. This three-wheeled omnidirectional robot boasts animated eyebrows and joke-telling skills. The robot also has a motion-sensitive remote control that allows the user to steer it simply by tilting the remote. It is scheduled for release in late summer 2008.

Mr. Personality

Another addition to the popular Robosapien line is Mr. Personality. Mr. Personality boasts a color LCD screen for a face and has most definitely been designed for laughs. It can tell jokes and play games with you, and you can even update or customise its personality traits by downloading your selection and loading the changes into Mr. Personality with a USB connection. Mr. Personality is scheduled to be available in summer 2008.

Wrex The Dawg

WowWee's RoboPet has just been given a brand new wild-eyed crazy brother, Wrex the Dawg...the junkyard dog. Appearing to be constructed solely from spare parts this wacky robot has three different personality modes - happy, crazy and angry. It has slot machine eyes to let you know its mood and to let you know if it needs exercise, food or to go to pee pee...Excellent! But be warned Wrex has a disobedient side.

FlyTech BladeStar

Wowwee has unveiled its newest flying machine, FlyTech Bladestar. This new addition to the FlyTech range boasts amazingly smooth flight and infra red sensors which supposedly allow it to fly autonomously. Bladestar has also been described as able to engage in dogfights with other Bladestars'. I'm looking forward to this! It should be released in the US in February 2008 so keep your eyes peeled.

Alive Robot Pet Animals

The 'Alive' robot range has seen itself further extended beyond the existing chimpanzee and Elvis models. WowWee has unveiled the 'Alive' robot animals which include a panda, polar bear, white tiger and lion cubs. These robot pets feature realistic fur, animated faces and make life-like sounds all activated by a series of touch and tilt sensors. Great presents for the kids or girlfriend.

Everything you need to know is right here...