Granted you could do a similar thing with a couple of webcams set up to detect motion and some free software to email the pictures to your mobile phone but that wouldn't be quite as cool.
Quoted from Yahoo:
Worried about leaving your house empty while you go on vacation? Japan has the answer: a house-sitter robot armed with a digital camera, infra-red sensors and a videophone.
Stores across Japan started taking orders on Thursday for the Roborior ? a watermelon-sized eyeball on wheels that glows purple, blue and orange ? continuing the country's love affair with gadgets.
Roborior can function as interior decor, but also as a virtual guard dog that can sense break-ins using infra-red sensors, notify homeowners by calling their cellular phones, and send the owner's cell phone videos from its digital camera.
It debuted in department stores this week, but supplies are limited. The robot is on display in a half-dozen shops, though many more are taking orders.
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