11/05/09 — Innovation First’s new robotic toy features interactive online experience dedicated to science & discovery. Innovation First International, a developer of educational and competitive robotics products and consumer robotics toys, unveiled the HEXBUG Nano – a tiny, 1.75 inch energetic micro robotic bug that uses the physics of vibration and robotic intelligence to skitter along and explore its environment on smooth surfaces. Planned as a series for collectors, the first release is the Nano Newton Collection of five unique bugs for kids 3 years old and up, and is now available for $7.99 each at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide and online at…

04/21/09 — As predicted by RoboticsTrends’ sister publication Robotics Business Review, Ugobe, Inc., manufacturer of the ultra-lifelike, ultra-expensive Pleo robotic toy dinosaur, has declared bankruptcy.  The company has laid off its staff and filed for liquidation of its assets under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code, according to a story this morning in the Idaho Statesman, the local paper that covers Eagle, Idaho, the hometown to which founder Caleb Chung returned the company last year after downsizing and closing the company’s Silicon Valley operations.  In its bankruptcy filing, Ugobe listed assets of $1.6 million, all but $100,000 of which was machinery in…