Roomba

Another Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event has come and gone, leaving behind a flurry of announcements pertaining to foldable phones, wireless earbuds, and the beastly Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Thankfully, there are still plenty of ways to take advantage of Samsung’s ongoing preorder promotions — ahem, see here, here, and here — all of which will be available until the latest batch of Galaxy devices arrive on August 26th. If flagship-level foldables and newfangled Android smartwatches aren’t your thing, though, we’ve got you…

Global consumer robot company iRobot, acquired by Amazon for $1.7 billion last week, has laid off 10 percent of its workforce -- nearly 140 workers.The company said that to better align its cost structure with near-term revenue, it is in the process of initiating a "restructuring of its operations.""The actions are expected to result in a net reduction of approximately 140 employees, which represents 10 percent of the company's workforce as of July 2, 2022," it said in its quarterly earnings report.The restructuring, the…

Image: iRobotEditor's Note, August 8, 2022: Back in 2017, we conducted an exclusive interview with iRobot's CEO Colin Angle about Roomba privacy issues. Last week, Amazon announced its acquisition of iRobot, which sparked Roomba privacy questions anew. We reached out to Angle to confirm whether iRobot's privacy policy will remain unchanged, but the company hasn't yet responded. In the meantime, here's our 2017 interview. We'll update when we receive a reply from iRobot.It's been a challenging week for iRobot, the…

Amazon made a $1.7 billion offer for iRobot, the company that makes Roomba robot vacuums, mops and other household robots. The deal will keep Colin Angle as iRobot's CEO but is still contingent on the approval of regulators and iRobot shareholders. iRobot has an intriguing origin story. Founded in 1990 by MIT researchers, the company initially focused on military robots like PackBot. It marked a major turning point in 2002 when it unveiled the first Roomba — the debut robovac racked up sales of a million units by 2004.…

Amazon is acquiring iRobot for $61 a share in an all-cash deal that values the Roomba maker at $1.7 billion, the companies announced Friday.The deal will deepen Amazon's presence in consumer robotics. Amazon made a bold bet on the space last year when it unveiled the Astro home robot, a $1,449.99 device that's equipped with the company's Alexa digital assistant and can follow consumers around their homes. It also offers an array of smart home devices, like connected doorbells after its 2018 acquisition of Ring, as well as…

A Carnegie Mellon team recently developed software that teaches robots how to learn new tasks, simply by observing humans doing the same tasks first. These robots have figured out how to open cabinets and remove trash bags without any direct instructions and could eventually learn how to complete chores just by watching YouTube videos. While the research is still preliminary, the software offers a glimpse into an uncertain future where robots are more helpful companions around the house. For years, tech companies have…

The tech world is about to lose another independent hardware company with Amazon’s planned acquisition of iRobot, whose Roombas pioneered the robot vacuum business two decades ago.The deal is valued at $1.7 billion, and cofounder Colin Angle will retain his role of iRobot CEO inside of Amazon. Neither company has said much about the acquisition otherwise, except to opine on a shared desire to make people’s lives easier.Already, there’s been a lot of fretting about what Amazon might do with iRobot’s data. After all, some…

After decades of creating war machines and home cleaning appliances, iRobot agreed to be acquired by Amazon for $1.7 billion, according to a joint statement by the two companies. If the deal goes through, it would give Amazon access to yet another wellspring of personal data: interior maps of Roomba owners’ homes.iRobot got its start building robots for the US military, but 20 years ago added consumer vacuums to the mix. (It spun off the defense business altogether in 2016.) Those Roombas work in part by using sensors to…

Amazon will acquire the maker of robot vacuum cleaner iRobot in an all-cash deal for about $1.7 billion (roughly Rs. 13,500), in the latest push by the world's largest online retailer to add to its cart of smart home devices. The e-commerce company will pay $61 (roughly Rs. 4,800) per share, valuing iRobot at a premium of 22 percent from the stock's last closing price of $49.99 (roughly Rs. 4,000).At its peak, the Roomba maker traded at $197.4 (roughly Rs. 15,700) as hygiene-conscious consumers invested in premium robot…

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -0.79% is buying Roomba maker iRobot Corp. IRBT 19.21% for $1.7 billion, including debt, as the online retailer adds another connected-home product to its portfolio. Amazon on Friday said it is paying $61 a share for iRobot in an all-cash deal. The price represents a 22% premium to iRobot’s closing price of $49.99 on Thursday. iRobot…