WowWee unveiled the exciting Rovio Spy Robot at the CES 2008 in January. Now gadget shop Hammacher Schlemmer is first to put the Rovio on sale for $299.95. The robotic sentry will ship on September 26th.
The WowWee Rovio allows you to monitor your home from anywhere in the world. Audio and high-resolution (640 x 480px) video is streamed in MPEG4 format, and it can take still pictures and e-mail them to you; it has a two-way microphone and speaker that enables real-time interaction with subjects - for instance your cat.
I had my hopes last year on the Spykee Spy robot, but it got delayed. It will now ship in mid-October. As it looks, WowWee will be first to ship an affordable home surveillance robot.

The WowWee Rovio robot is a WiFi enabled robotic webcam that moves in all directions with ease and can be controlled remotely using any web accessible device including a cell phone, PC or video game console. Through a built-in camera that streams video and audio, users can view and interact with Rovio's environment, surveying their home or office remotely through streaming video and audio transmitted via the Rovio robot.
The Rovio robot is also the first to feature the NorthStar smart navigation and positioning system, which represents a major breakthrough in robotics. Working like a micro-GPS system, the NorthStar system enables the Rovio robot to know where it is, locate the position of other objects, and navigate from place to place with pinpoint accuracy, entirely under its own control.

You can set the Rovio with up to 10 paths for a customized patrol; it will move along a path, detecting and avoiding obstacles with its infrared sensor, and repeat the sequence until issued new orders. The roaming robot operates for two hours from its rechargeable battery which draws power from the included recharging base.

Wi-Fi enabled surveillance robots are one of the hottest gadgets this Christmas - I want one for sure.
More details on Hammacher. (Thanks RobotsRule for the tip.)