Filed under: Household, Robots

iRobot meet your match: the Steamer. (No, it’s not that kind of Steambot.) We know you’ve seen other challengers before, but this household robot newbie claims to “vacuums off dust after brushing, followed by mopping” and then busts out with a “mopping function using steam.” Oooh snap, Roomba and Scooba. Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a foreign robot comin’ to steal your jobs. Whatcha gonna do about it, huh? HUH? Yeah, Steamer looks pretty good over there, with its “less than 65db” noise level, and “dust compartment cyclone,” don’t you think? If you want to catch a glimpse of your latest rival, you should scoot on over to RoboWorld 2006 in Korea right about now and then start training to get down to your fighting weight by February 2007, which is when the Steamer will hit Korean households everywhere. We’re not sure how much the humans will be willing to pay a Steamer of their very own (get your mind out of the gutter), but if you find out on your recon mission, do tell us.

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Filed under: Household, Robots

So you’ve got Roomba on carpet duty and a couple Scoobas taking care of the kitchen and bathrooms, but who’s cleaning up that mess of a workshop where you spend most of your time getting your hacks and mods on? Well up until now you had to rely on your own prowess with a shopvac (meaning that nothing ever actually got tidied up), but thanks to the good folks at iRobot, the bad-ass Dirt Dog is here to get your back. The same size and shape as the more timid Roomba — meaning all your current batteries, remotes, and charging bases are compatible — Dirt Dog comes equipped with a 40% larger debris bin along with specially designed brushes to sweep up caked-on dirt, heavy debris, and other messes that are “too dirty for a regular vacuum.” This new $130 dog will be taking a bite out of some of your toughest cleaning chores starting on Friday, but you gotta make sure that it doesn’t wander out of your workspace and into the rest of the house — it probably won’t pee on your couch, but those 1,000 RPM brushes will shred your shag carpets, scratch the hell out of your polished hardwood, and — if you have a significant other — get you confined to the garage for the rest of your natural life.

[Via The Raw Feed]

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.