Hands on with the new Roomba 800 Series
This bot is tough and efficient. As promised, its new cylinder system did not collect hair or other debris.
Cisco teams with iRobot to give the Roomba a face (and a bigger body)
Cisco and iRobot have teamed up to bring the Roomba’s ability to avoid furniture to the corporate office, and added on a human face via Cisco’s Telepresence software. But this platform is for more than telework.
Baxter may not be Rosie the Robot, but he’s getting close
Baxter the robot may not iron your clothes but he very well might assemble your furniture or pack the boxes it comes in. The brainchild of Rethink Robotics’ founder Rodney Brooks, Baxter is really making some waves in the industrial robot sector.
Top 10 Phat Startups of 2012
We’ve heard an awful lot about lean startups lately. Now it’s time to focus on Phat Startups — companies willing to take big risks to solve big problems — like clean energy and nuclear waste remediation, according to Jamie Goldstein, general partner at North Bridge Venture Partners.
Why Texas Instruments and iRobot are working together
The chips that power today’s smartphones and tablets are expanding to robots as Texas Instruments and iRobot announced a new partnership on Monday. TI’s OMAP platform will be used by Roomba-maker, iRobot, to help develop new robotic technologies. Here’s why, and what to expect.
Oh look, there’s now an app store for robots!
There’s a new app store available for millions of devices, but it’s not built for iOS, Android, or Windows Phone handsets. As of Tuesday, the newest app store is for robots, and the first four apps are compatible with the estimated 6 million iRobot Roomba Vacuums.
iRobot and the Frankenstein Complex
When will American’s learn to stop worrying and love robots? That question must be echoing inside consumer robotics company iRobot (IRBT).
The Burlington, Mass., company went public nearly two years ago and its share price has spent much of last year below the $24 offering price. Revenue from consumer products –60% of iRobot’s revenue last year – fell 1% in the first half of 2007 from a year ago.
Some of that decline was tied to waning appeal of iRobot’s flagship consumer product, the Roomba vacuum. But iRobot had some new products up its sleeve, and it announced them last week: a robot to clean out rain gutters, and a mobile robot that can send images of kids, pets or the infirm to remote PCs. The response? iRobot’s stock was down as much as 3.2% Friday, hardly a standing ovation.
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