Sony's mechanised mutt Aibo may have been told to roll over and play dead for the last time, but what with Doctor Who's robot dog, K9, about to return to out TV screens? South Korea's Dasatech clearly believes the time of canis computus has come.

The company today launched 'Genibo', a curiously familiar-looking plastic pooch as the first of its kind capable of understanding human speech. Well, the hundred words it's been programmed with, so don't expect it to write a novel or conduct a light opera...Genibo took 40 people three years to develop, apparently.

Dasatech's Genibo...

According to local press reports, being nice to the 1.5kg Genibo - patting its head, tickling its tummy, that sort of thing - will cause its plastic features to simulate a smile. All together now, ahhhh.

But this dog has teeth... er... tooth... er... Bluetooth, built in to allow it to be sent commands from a phone or computer. ®

...and Sony's Aibo