This cute little critter from MyDeskTop.com is being marketed as a robotic desktop pet. Unlike previous generations of robotic pets, like Furbys or those impossible-to-get-potentially-hazardous-for-kids robotic hamsters that are all the rage this holiday season, Pingo the Penguin wirelessly connects to your computer to speak your Facebook status updates and messages, as well as report weather and news from RSS feeds, even if your computer’s browser isn’t running. It also physically reacts to its user by displaying one of five moods when being picked up or petted, and obeying voice commands, like “dance.” Sensors let it whirl around your desk without falling off, though the deep computerized voice doesn’t quite match the look of Pingo:

While not the first robot to interface with Facebook, Pingo seems to suggest a growing trend of this kind of “social” interactivity in robotic toys that blend physical and virtual interactions (See “Stunning Interactive Virtual Pet for PS3” for the latest in an augmented reality pet). There have been other desktop robots can report Twitter updates, like the Guardian Robot, but this is the most buzz I’ve seen about a commercial social media bot.