It started with the SpotMini with its brand new, sleek design. This semi-little robot had already won the hearts and minds of many during its initial reveal last year. Since then, however, this "robot dog" has apparently received a tune-up that many believe makes it look far less "terrifying." I've never found it to be terrifying to begin with, but the redesign certainly does make it easier on the eyes.

A few days later, the company uploaded another video, this time regarding another well-known robot: the humanoid Atlas. Sucked in with a simple, yet vague title, "What's new, Atlas," viewers were left absolutely stunned at what they saw. Not only did Atlas show off its new sense of balance and dexterity by leaping from platform to platform, just when we thought it couldn't get any better, it decided to go out with a bang. And by bang, we mean a 330lb robot doing a perfect backflip!

Indeed, Boston Dynamics appears to be fast at work in perfecting their robots. But why now? What's changed since the last time we saw either SpotMini or Atlas? SoftBank is what happened.

Earlier this year, Google had announced that they sold Boston Dynamics to the Japanese multinational telecommunications and Internet corporation, SoftBank Group, for an undisclosed sum. Google simply didn't have the time nor money to fulfill their dream of a robot future. SoftBank, on the other hand, most certainly does. In fact, before their acquisition of Boston Dynamics, the corporation was already making headlines with their introduction of Pepper - the world's first commercially-available robot.