I am admittedly a fan of the i-Dog (and I'm not the only one, it was quite the star at TechTV, despite some diva-like protestations at being turned off) but it doesn't really do all that much other than flash some lights and wiggle its ears. Zizzle's new IZ adds a few more tricks to the cyber pet speaker genre. The 9" IZ has a belly button (really) that activates one of three melodies (and each melody has seven "sound cycles", not sure what this means) and twisting the ears of poor IZ alters the sound by adjusting tempo and volume. Tweaking various other body parts adds additional sound effects like cymbal crashes. He has a language, described by Business Week as "hip-hoppy gibberish", but in what is likely a good product design decision, is quite laconic, an indeterminate species of few words. But IZ is not always so demure; tickle him and he may burp or fart. Charming. Like the i-Dog, IZ can be used with any audio device with a headphone jack, and the lights will "dance" with the music.

IZ will launch on September 29th with great fanfare at the Times Square Toys R US, and will then be widely available at most mass retailers for $40.

From Business Week and Chicago Sun-Times.