Sony rolls out Rolly in Canada

Sony’s Rolly entertainment player-meets-robot is now available at Sony Style retail stores nationwide or online for $399. It’s a seriously cute, er, thingy.

The oval Rolly houses two stereo speakers and digital amp that plays tunes stored on 2GB of built-in Flash memory (about 500 songs) or beamed via Bluetooth from a compatible music phone, MP3 player or PC. In fact, the Rolly ships with three songs, complete with pre-programmed choreography: Also Sprach Zarathustra (the theme from 2001 -– A Space Odyssey), Earth Wind and Fire’s Boogie Wonderland and Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend.

Place it on a flat surface and the Rolly moves its small arms, shoulders and wheels to the beat, while also putting on a 700-colour light show.

Those who want to program a choreographed routine to a favorite song can do so with the bundled software, which also previews how the gadget will move before syncing the instructions to the Rolly via its USB cord.

Sony says battery life is about five hours, which supports non-secure AAC and MP3 formats. It is available in black or white.