i-cat

It had to happen. First there was iDog, then there was iPup and then along swam iFish. So guess what the boffins behind these pet-tastic interactive speakers have now come up with? No, not iDuck-billed platypus - i-cat!

Yes, Tiddles-lovers, this charming little hi-tech pet is an ingenious motion-sensitive moggy that reacts to the music it hears - whether it's booming out of a nearby stereo or belting out of i-cat's nifty built-in speaker. Simply plug in your MP3 player (or any other music generating device) and watch as i-cat moves and grooves to the rhythm of the song.

Unike a real cat this incredibly cute battery-operated feline actually does something other than sleep and act all aloof. In fact the second i-cat hears a ditty, its funky face lights up and its ears and head wiggle and sway to the beat. Try getting a real cat to do that! (Actually don't, the RSPCA wouldn't approve).

But here's the really good bit: thanks to clever sensors, you can mix things up and play meows and purrs along to the music. Simply stroke i-cat in the appropriate area and he'll respond accordingly. You can even add scratch effects to your tunes by stroking i-cat at the r-r-r-relevant moment. Cat scratch fever? Just a bit.


In order to illustrate how i-cat enjoys all kinds of music we were planning to insert a few pussycat related music puns at this point, but that would be a bit silly. Indeed in tests, 8 out of 10 owners said that Freddie Purr-cury, Kitty Politti and Meow-colm McLaren were spectacularly paw examples of feline wordplay.

With that in mind we'll wind things up by saying that i-cat is one of the most enchanting ikkle interactive speaker-pets in the history of the genre. We defy you not to fall in love the second you see his face light up. In terms of desktop companions, this really is the cat's meow!