Roombas

After what seemed like an eternity of minor iterative updates, the robot vacuum market has finally taken a few big strides in recent years. One example is the Roomba j7+, which uses AI to help navigate its way around your home. I think that the introduction of the new self-washing mop feature was an even bigger advancement, though. It comes at a hefty price, however, as we saw when Ecovacs first launched the DEEBOT X1 Omni.The Ecovacs DEEBOT X1 Omni is one of the most powerful and feature-rich robot vacuum and…

Beth Mauder/ZDNET ZDNET's key takeawaysThe Roomba Combo j9+has made its way into my rotation of robot vacuums -- and let me tell you, I'm very impressed. It's sleek and has a modern look and feel, and iRobot went out of its way to fix the shortcomings of the previous Combo j7+. The most notable feature is the Clean Base's Auto-Fill Dock, meaning the robot can simply go back to the docking station whenever it needs to refill its clean water tank.Also: The best robot vacuum mops you can buyThe Combo j9+ is meant to…

The Roomba i5+ does a great job on carpet. Jack Wallen/ZDNETZDNET's key takeawaysThe Roomba i5+. But for $349, the Roomba i5+ is a tempting packageZDNET Recommends Roomba i5+ The i5+ is fast and does an outstanding job on carpet. The specsWorks on hardwood, hard floors, and carpet.Automatic bin emptying (for up to 60 days before you'll need to change the bag).Designed for both wet and dry cleaning. (More on this in a bit.)4-stage cleaning that pulls in dirt, debris, and pet hair.Automatically returns to its last…

The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon's $1.7 billion acquisition of iRobot, the latest deal that's under scrutiny by the regulators amid growing concerns about the company's market power.In a regulatory filing, iRobot said both it and Amazon received a request for additional information in connection with an FTC review of the merger. Earlier this month, securities regulators made a similar request to Amazon and One Medical, the primary health care company the e-commerce giant is planning to buy for $3.9…

The first robot that many human beings welcomed into their homes was a peculiar creature born 20 years ago with a funny name. It didn’t look the way we imagined robots, and it didn’t perform the tasks we envisioned outsourcing to robots. We pictured self-driving cars. We got a self-driving vacuum cleaner. But this robot that became more popular than anyone could have predicted was more powerful than it looked and far more influential than you might suspect. What began as a $10,000 prototype…

Hello again! Welcome back to Week in Review, the newsletter where we quickly recap the top stories to cross TechCrunch dot-com over the past seven days. Want it in your inbox? Get it here. The most read story this week is kind of a wild one: Bolt Mobility, an on-demand bike/scooter rental company co-founded by Usain Bolt, kinda just…vanished. “The departure has been abrupt,” writes Rebecca, “leaving cities with abandoned equipment, unanswered calls and emails, and lots of questions.” other stuff Amazon buys iRobot:…