NAO Has been released to the general public at $7990!

[patkangu]

Hi guys! Exciting news! NAO is being released to the general public at half the price!

http://content.robotslab.com/nao-skydiving#gsc.tab=0

[PaulL]

What I wonder is, if they can make a profit at $8k, then why has Nao been quoted at 2 to 3 times that in the past, and better yet, why have they given up that additional profit margin?

But, the price drop says something: small bipeds surely don't seem as popular as they once were.

[xevel]

Previous version was manufactured in France, this one is made in China.
Also, there's been some rationalization on some details (like the capactive sensors in the hands and head), which should not have much of an impact on casual users but might result in slighly less accurate motion and slightly noisier output of said sensors.

[patkangu]

So if I was to buy the $16,000 version or enter the developer program, would I get the NAO with the cheap sensors or the original one?

[PaulL]

xevel, Well, that does clear things up. Hmm. I have to ask, where did you find this info?

[xevel]

I simply asked people working with Aldebaran 6 days ago at Innorobo, in Lyon, France. The guy who told me even added that for his (advanced) use, he would prefer to keep his old one because of the slightly noisier sensors and slightly worse accuracy.
Aldebaran had two giant booth there, one for Nao and one for their new teen-sized robot Romeo, 3 of which were on display.
I should have added that since this is not part of their official communication, and I only got this info oraly, there are chances that it's not perfectly accurate (that I haven't been told the full story), or that I messed some details up (I did not take notes at the time). Still I'm pretty confident in these informations.

@patkangu : no idea :/

[siempre.aprendiendo]

Through the Developer Program ( an easy exam for any seasoned developer) until a few months ago you could get one for around 2500€, a few weeks ago I checked it again and was around 3200€.