Taken aback by giant robots, we like our mechanized androids tiny. Just when we thought there was no robot overlord small enough for our taste, along comes Tomy with Robo-Q, the thumb-sized microbot that's a mere 1.3 inches tall. It's so short, it beats out the Tomy's $350 iSobot, current record holder as the world's smallest two-legged bot.

While not quite measuring up to its big brother, the $37 Robo-Q has intelligence that belies its micro-ness, packing the ability to navigate mazes, walk around obstructions, and even kick a tiny ball. It's not a big talker, though — at least not yet. Maybe someday.

These little mechanized armies start their march toward world domination in Japan next February, with an unspecified release elsewhere. We'd like an entire squadron of these Robo-Qs dancing in unison, with a diverse mix of all four available species, as you can see in the picture above. But at those prices, such an assemblage would cost you a cool $554.

Telegraph, via Techlaunches