OK OK I know it’s not a vacuum cleaner, but it rolls on floors, and technically it’s a robot. (It’s not the first time I’ve covered non-vacuum cleaners – For instance, I’m still waiting for the DreamBots WheeMe massage robot, alas.)

Later note: I got mine in and have posted a review of the Sphero..

I pre-registered to get one of these little robot balls and got an email from Orbotix this morning notifying me that I can reserve one today. So I did.

For those who don’t know, the Sphero is what the company calls a “mixed reality” toy. Meaning that it’s meant for playing virtual games that are mixed with real objects. In this case, it’s a ball that you can control via a Bluetooth connection from your phone. So far, it works with iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. To me, it seems like the kind of thing where maybe it’ll end up being an expensive toy, or maybe it’ll change the world. Who can say?

http://vimeo.com/gosphero/mixed-reality-pong-with-sphero

The price is currently $129.99 US. Something about their store page makes it looks like if you didn’t pre-register, you may be out of luck until 2012. More information can be found at their website, here.