Robotic cats to keep you company

Toy maker Hasbro Inc. last week unveiled its first product designed specifically for older consumers: a $99 robotic cat that’s programmed to roll over and purr when it’s petted and stroked.

It will not leap in your lap or walk over your keyboard, but it won’t claw your sofa to shreds, either. And when you pet it, a combination of sensors translates the gesture as a cue for the robot to meow and purr, or to turn over.