Robopocalypse, by Daniel H Wilson, was published in June 2011; it's a bestseller and is expected to be made into a film next year.

In the near future (scarily near) robots have come to play a vital part in human life. People use and need gadgets even more than now - it's common to use robots as house cleaners, for example. Then people start to notice their devices acting strangely, such as electronic toys sending threatening messages to children. Gradually the robots become more and more powerful and aggressive.

The source of the trrouble is an artificial intelligence named Archos, which has been contained in a lab in Alaska but then manages to get out. Archos actually has a mission to save the planet - but the logical way to do this is to destroy the planet's greatest threat, which is, of course, humans.

You can find out more about the book and read reviews here.