Robot Vacuums: Roomba, Smarbo, And Now The Smartphone-Controlled RoboKing

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When did the robot-vacuum world become such a crowded space? It’s starting to sound like a monster movie: RoboKing versus Smarbo II: Electric Vuumaloo. But it makes sense, when you think about it. We already have “robots” that wash the dishes and make our coffee. Cleaning the floor is just a different set of problems for a machine to solve. And after the smash success of the Roomba, everyone wants to be the next big cleaner bot. Just last week Toshiba introduced the Smarbo, yes Smarbo, and now LG is entering the game with the RoboKing Triple Eye. Yes, the RoboKing Triple Eye.

The Roomba does its job by clever but circuitous circumvention of obstacles, but these new devices are a bit more like the Neato XV-11, which actually maps out the area and plans the best route. The Smarbo adds more sensors, and now the RoboKing brings your smartphone into the mix.

It’s come to this: you can now control your robot vacuum with your iPhone. That actually makes it double as a sort of security bot, which makes its 899,000 won (~$750) price a little more palatable. As long as your wi-fi is working, you should be able to log into the robot remotely and drive it around (at 18dB it’s quiet enough to sneak up on your cats with).

It also takes voice commands, which is pretty cool. You can tell it to stop working, go charge, or tell you the current weather. O brave new world, with such vacuums in it.

[via New Launches]

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Smarbo: Toshiba Announces Roomba Competitor

Dr. Serkan Toto currently works as the first and only Asia-based writer for the TechCrunch network, mainly covering Japan-related technology and web companies for TechCrunch, CrunchGear and MobileCrunch. Serkan also works full-time as an independent web and mobile industry consultant with a focus on the Japanese market. He is sept-lingual, holds an MBA and is a PhD in economics. Serkan... ? Learn More

The Roomba just got new competition from Japan: Toshiba has announced [JP] a new cleaning robot today, the so-called Smarbo (which is probably short for “Smart Robot”). Just like its US counterpart, the Toshiba robot is primarily intended for use in households.

Toshiba built quite a few features into the robot, for example two CPUs (details unknown), a camera, and a set of 38 sensors (gyro, acceleration, range detection etc.). The company says that the Smarbo cleans an area of 100sqm in about 90 minutes and that electricity costs stand at just 2 yen ($0.03) for a room of that size.

Just like the Roomba, the Smarbo circumvents objects in its vicinity and returns to its charging station automatically after it’s done. Buyers can program the Smarbo in certain ways. For example, if they want a small area within a room cleaned thoroughly, they can choose the “spot mode” to make the robot circle only in a 1.5×1.5m square and then return to the charging station (see below).

The Smarbo is sized at 355×355×93mm, weighs 3.7kg and works at 52dB.

Toshiba is planning to start selling it in Japan (where the Roomba is available, too, by the way) on October 1 for $1,175 (including a remote control and the charging station).

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