Well, one of the many under-cover companies has now popped up on the radar in the telepresence space, as announced in Technology Review which informs us about Suitable Technologies, a spin-off from Willow Garage that is taking my favorite RPS system (the Texai) and working on improving it for delivery in the second half of 2012.
In reading the post, Willow Garage CEO Steve Cousins discusses the difference between the Anybots or vGo due to their “spy bot” designation and the small screen. The Texai and its next incarnation will more than likely support a much larger screen to provide a richer view of the pilot for the participants.
There are a number of features expected in the new RPS to be offered from Suitable, but none have been discussed or released to the public as of yet.
Based on the job listings, it looks like Suitable has been focusing on the software development efforts (see their post on using WebM for the Texai), including a number of roles that are focused on the software development process (e.g., Build and Release) and some mechanical roles. While Suitable is spun out of Willow Garage, it is not clear if the manufacturing capability Willow has for building the PR2s are being included in the Suitable effort.
I, like you, await more details from the team at Suitable to show off their newest efforts.