Introducing the speakers-on-wheels robot for your iPod

The new Japanese robot Miuro is designed to turn an iPod music player into a scuttling boombox-on-wheels.

Equipped with speaker systems developed with Japanese audio-maker Kenwood Corp., the 14-inch long machine, which looks like a ball popping out of an egg, from Tokyo-based venture ZMP Inc. will roll and twist from room to room blaring music.

Apple's iPod portable player locks into the top of the robot, which comes in white, black, yellow or red.

The $930 (£600) Miuro - short for "music innovation based on utility robot technology" - responds to a remote-control handheld manipulator. It receives wireless signals from a personal computer to play iTunes and other stored digital files.

At a demonstration in Tokyo, the 11-pound Miuro did a preprogrammed vacuum-cleaner-like dance, rolling about and pivoting to music.

"This is a robot version of music-on-the-move that's so popular," said Miuro designer Shinichi Hara, who also designs album jackets for Japanese pop stars.

"I designed it to have a gentle look because it becomes a part of everyday life by integrating robotics and music," Hara said.

The robot went on sale Thursday in Japan by Internet order, and overseas sales are planned for the latter half of next year. The company is hoping to sell 10,000 Miuro robots in the first year, targeting sales of more than $8.5 million.

The iPod already connects to speaker systems in homes and cars, as well as to earphones, but ZMP President Hisashi Taniguchi said robotics technology adds another convenience to mobile music.

"The robot helps you listen to music wherever you are without even thinking about it," he said. "Sometimes I don't even have the energy to put on a CD."

Separately sold options add a camera and sensors to the robot so it will map out its own position and remember routes, Taniguchi said.