Care-O-bot 4 is a multi-purpose robot launching later this year

Robots are the next big thing, and we've seen more than a few examples in the recent past. There's the Personal Robot, for example, and there's the hotel-centric Botlr that satisfies customers' most basic desires. Joining them is an update to the Care-O-bot, bringing it up to version 4, and with the update comes some big improvements thanks to the technology that has been developed over the last several years. Care-O-bot 4 looks like something out of Wall-e, and it can do everything from bring you a flower to use a laser pointer integrated into its arm.

The Care-O-bot itself has been around for a while, and it has been nearing a decade since the previous version was announced. With version 4 comes some nice improvements and refinements, including 31 degrees of freedom, the inclusion of a touch screen display, that nifty aforementioned laser pointer, gestures support, and more.

Care-O-bot isn't made to do any single specific thing, and for that reason the possibilities for it are numerous: the device could, of course, find a place in one's home, or could be used as a service robot at restaurants/hotels/convention centers or other places, or even in medical settings. Those who buy the robot have a degree of freedom in specifying what kind of hardware it arrives with, as well.

Does the idea of having a Care-O-bot to keep you company and do you bidding sound appealing? If so, remain patient — the pricing won't be announced for a couple of months, and sales won't kick off until some time in the second half of this year. Those in Europe will get access first. As always, we'll keep you updated when more information surfaces.

VIA: Gizmag