WowWee Tri-Bot spotted on shelves pre-August 21st launch

WowWee's Tri-Bot is still down at eToys for official US release on August 21st, but an eagle-eyed visitor to a Radio Shack near San Francisco has spotted the omni-directional robot already on the shelves.  There's currently no sign of Tri-Bot on Radio Shack's online store, and it's still listed for pre-order at WowWee's.

Current thinking is that Radio Shack have either secured a pre-launch window to exclusively sell the Tri-bot, as they did with WowWee's Flytech, or that this particular store have jumped the gun with their stock.  It does seem early to have received stock if the latter is the case, but we'd need someone familiar with Radio Shack's distribution policy to confirm that.

The Tri-Bot has a tilt-sensitive remote, similar to the Wiimote, that can be used to direct the robot.  Alternatively there are a variety of AI modes that can see Tri-Bot guard rooms or play games with the user.  It's expected to launch with a $99.99 price tag.

[via RobotCommunity]