Will.i.am wants to sell you a SmartDog this Christmas

W hat’s got Aibo so excited? He’s probably heard that Will.i.am is working on a high-tech pooch of his own and plans to hawk it in stores this holiday season. Based on what the gadget-obsessed star said recently, this isn’t going to be just another cyberpet that can come when you call it or flash brightly-colored LED disco lights while your iPod cycles through a playlist. No, Will plans on making his pet a bit more functional than that. In fact, it sounds like he wants it to be more of a four-legged Siri. You should be able to tell it to make album download purchases, ask it when the next Giants game is, or check the weather forecast. Or why Will.i.am is inventing things. Inspiration struck when he was browsing the aisles at Harrods, whose clever employees had placed a stuffed animal, a wireless speaker, and a MiFi hotspot in close proximity to each other. The lightbulb went on, and Will took all three home for an impromptu DIY session. After cramming the MiFi into the head and the speaker into the belly, Will jammed his iPhone into the frankenbeast’s mouth and declared it his latest prototype. Surely this is exactly the type of thing that made the Intel board of directors confident that Will.i.am was the right choice for its imaginary “director of creative innovation” position. However this plays out, let’s all just hope this new SmartDog doesn’t come with free copy of the musical travesty that is Geekin