The name Sanrio is usually associated with Hello Kitty, but perhaps now it will also be associated with another girly product: fembots. A Sanrio subsidiary, Kokoro, created and refined the Actroid DER2. She has a much wider range of motion and expression than the previous DER model, and her lip movements coordinate surprisingly well with her speech. Unfortunately, she has to be pre-programmed with things to say and motions, so she won't really be able to interact with you, but you can still rent her for about $3,500 per week (400,000 yen) if you're interested in taking her - and possibly her tech support people - for a spin.

[via boingboing]

Ballroom dancing is gaining popularity with amazing speed thanks to shows like Dancing with the Stars, so a competition that once only interested a small portion of the public is now prime-time viewing. But doing something is a lot more fun than watching others do it, so dance lessons and competitions are becoming more popular, as well. One of the biggest obstacles that a dancer faces is finding the right partner and, at least for men, that search just got a little easier thanks to Ballroom Dancing Robots. The robots are battery powered and can sense and anticipate their partners' movements. They reportedly move with a fair amount of agility, too. Each one will sell for about $300,000, and you can download a video clip of them here.

[via Born Rich]