by , 12:10 PM EDT, June 27th, 2006

Schultze & Webb Ltd has devised a new way to keep track of your iChat buddies online status: Availabot. Availabot is a little human figure that stands up when a specific person in your buddy list is available, and falls over when they are away. It connects to your Mac via USB, and does not require an external power source. The company uses a rapid-form prototyping process to create the puppets, so you can even order one that looks like a specific person. Pricing information is not yet available.

Availabot