Justin Bieber unveils TOSY mRobo dancing robot at CES 2012

Teen pop sensation Justin Bieber was on hand at CES 2012 to unveil a dancing robot developed by Vietnamese electronics company TOSY Robotics. The Transformer-inspired robot, dubbed the mRobo Ultra Bass, is essentially a portable speaker that sprouts limbs and a head before it starts dancing to the beat.

The event surely drew a crowd even at a venue like CES, a true testament to the power of the Biebs. The presentation ran into a few snags with a microphone that didn't work and a screen that wouldn't turn on, plus the mRobo was still in a prototype form, not quite ready to show off all its moves. Nonetheless, thanks to the 2-hour stint by the Bieber, the event was quite a success for TOSY, which got the coverage they wanted.

As for the robot itself, well it's more of a novelty speaker system that can dance to the music you upload to it. The mRobo can store 2GB worth of music or roughly 500 songs. However, all the dance moves are pre-programmed and you have to use a remote to tell it what to do. It weighs about 3.3 pounds, measure 8-inches tall in its speaker form, but reaches about a foot tall after it transforms. It's expected to ship this fall for $199.

[via Time, via IDG]