A robot companion for kids. I'm Fred Fishkin with technology BootCamp, a report on gadgets and gear. Technology and toys have been going together for years...sometimes it's a good idea...sometimes... not so much. With its upcoming toy robot for toddlers...named Alphie... Hasbro is adding what it calls personality. Chief Marketing Officer John Frascotti...

"It's really more than a robot. It's really a companion for a child that helps a child learn some basic skills, math and color and shape recognition. But what's interesting about it is that it really becomes, because of its personality, a child's best friend."

You may or may not like that idea, but as a learning toy, Alphie will arrive later this year. Hasbro is also adding some smarts to the good old fashioned game of Scrabble with Scrabble Flash. It uses electronic letter cubes...that know when they are put together to form words. The entire Scrabble dictionary is built in. You can find us with archives, interviews and more at BootCamp.com. I'm Fred Fishkin.