14 DAY TRIAL // iRobot used the backdrop of Digital Life to release its cool redesigned floor vacuuming robot, as well as a new robot to clean your gutters and a scarier one that can take your place when you're away.
According to Betanews, DigitalLife CEO, Colin Angle stated that the robots were part of the company's vision of the "iRobot home". He made the official announcement during an afternoon keynote. He even added that some may see the robots as superfluous and even in some cases a "little scary". Indeed. However, his speech shows once again the ever-increasing reach of robotics into our every-day life.
All in all, the basic idea is that the usable tech devices should be introduced in just about any home. In fact, this isn't iRobot first attempt to introduce "a little boring, but fantastic useful robots" into people's home, since they are already marketing Roomba devices, as well as the related lines.
However, the brand new ConnectR and Looj bots have managed to bring some fresh air into the industry. The Looj is a remote-controlled bot, which can clean up to 60 feet of gutter in about 10 minutes. It simply rolls through the gutter tank-style and then spits out the debris, before carefully rolling back to the owner.
The best thing it is made of is water resistant alloy, allowing easy cleaning. Not to mention it features a cool price tag of just 99 bucks a pop! On the other hand, the other home robot, dubbed ConnectR takes the concept to another level, as it offers more entertainment, instead of the hard working daily routine.
So, I guess that's the kind of One Show Bot you need. When using the ConnectR, one of its main features is the Wifi connectivity function, complimented with some other cool stuff like live video, audio, use-friendly controls and sensor data.
It even embeds a cool camera, which tilts and zooms, and has a zoom mode high resolution powerful enough to allow its user crisp text reading. The user can transmit his voice straight through the bot. And there is even more data in the robot's specification list.
Since I bet a lot of gadget addicts are going to go crazy when seeing this, I guess I should also reveal the pricing and availability details the company has made official. ConnectR is due to be marketed starting with 2008 and it is going to wear a 500 bucks price tag. Apparently, it will first be available as part of a pilot program, for about 199 bucks.
