First look video: ASUS's Zenbo robot reads recipes, meows like a cat and tells you bedtime stories

Zenbo, ASUS's weird, cutesy and maybe even slightly creepy new household robot, was the big surprise of the company's device-packed Computex press conference yesterday. However, aside from a brief appearance onstage with ASUS chairman Jonney Shih, Zenbo has been relatively camera-shy thus far.

Today we tracked down the 'bot on the show floor in Taipei, where ASUS was holding tightly controlled demo sessions.

Presenters first walked through some of Zenbo's tricks, like turning on a TV, reading stories to kids, following you around your home, playing music and... meowing like a cat. Attendees were then allowed to interact with Zenbo, but only in a selection of approved topics and questions.

It's clear it's still early days for Zenbo, and we're unsure whether ASUS's first robot will be able to overcome the creepy/ridiculous factor in the short term. Nevertheless, it sure makes for an entertaining video.

Alex Dobie