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Robot dogs that you can control via remote are certainly fun, but they fall short of the kind of realism we expect from modern-day automatons. What we really want is a pet that doesn't need to be walked, but will come when called.

WowWee's CHiP could be that robo-dog.

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It's been more than six months since we were first introduced to CHiP. The $199 robot toy has been a moderate success on Indiegogo, raising over $178,000 from just shy of 1,000 backers. But the development process has been slow, and WowWee has, perhaps wisely, used the time and feedback from backers to make some key adjustments.

The robot dog has almost 360-degree awareness.

Chief among them is its reversal on voice control. When I spoke to WowWee last year, company reps said not only was voice not on the roadmap -- it wasn't even helpful when it comes to a robot dog.

Now that's all changed. Voice is a key part of how you interact with CHiP, although it doesn't need voice recognition to see its environment or even follow and react to its owner. The robot dog has almost 360-degree awareness thanks to infrared and other sensors on its tiny body. It can, thanks to specialized wheels, move in almost any direction and will, if the owner is wearing the included Smart Band, automatically follow the owner around and respond to button presses that equate to a sort of approval system.

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However, backers indicated they wanted more intelligence in CHiP. The latest prototype, which I tried out, is a direct result of that feedback. 

While you won't find natural-language processing on CHiP, it can respond to its default phrase and name via the phrase "Hey, CHiP" (or with a name you give it), after which it will bark to let you know it's listening, and then use that prompt to respond to up to 12 voice commands including "Sit," "Let's Play," "Fetch" and "Let's Dance."

CHiP can respond without its name if you let it tag your voice, but WowWee executive Davin Sufer told me the response is more consistent when you use its name. Either way, the robot is always listening. During my demo, the prototype CHiP appeared to pick up about 70% of what it heard.

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CHiP also has other intelligence skills that the WowWee team continues to refine, including playing soccer with its own special ball, yoga moves and the ability to find and dock with its own charger. In my brief demonstration, it effectively accomplished all of these tasks.

WowWee told me that even with its new capabilities, CHiP can still deliver a full day of sporadic play on a charge.

The company has also shifted from Indiegogo to a big name retail partner, Amazon, for future pre-orders. For a limited time, $199.99 will get you the dog, its ball, a Smart Band, and an extra Smart Band for another family member, so they can play with CHiP, too.

As for the big question of when CHiP will finally make it to market, Sufer thinks it'll be late summer (Amazon says Aug. 30) but also admits it could slip into October. Even after CHiP does ship, WowWee will continue to develop and enhance its feature set and deliver over-the-air updates to CHiP and its companion ball.

For robotics fans, that's just fine. Take all the time you need, WowWee, making CHiP smarter and smarter and smarter.

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