Huge Pre-Weekend Deal on iRobot Roomba 640

iRobot Roomba 640 in actioniRobot Roomba 640 in action

Yes, it’s still October, and we’re not even in the weekend, but if you act fast, you can get a terrific deal on the iRobot Roomba 640 through Amazon.

How big of a deal? Usually, this robotic vacuum costs $349.99. But taking advantage of the promotion means you’ll only have to pay $239.99 for it – saving yourself $110, or 31% if you’re into percentages.

What do you get for that kind of money? A lot.

The iRobot Roomba 640 is excellent at picking up even the smallest particles thanks to its 3-stage cleaning system and multi-surface brushes. This includes a specially designed edge-sweeping brush to sweep dirt and debris from wall edges and corners.

Its auto-adjust cleaning head adapts height for a more effective cleaning of carpets and hard floors, and perhaps most importantly for pet owners, the vacuum suction pulls everything in: Dirt, dust and especially pet hair.

The iRobot Roomba 640 automatically docks and recharges so you’re never stuck and waiting for it to get ready, and it includes 1 dual mode virtual wall barrier so you get more control over it. The iRoomba isn’t Wi-Fi connected.

Get the iRobot Roomba 640 here and save big on one of the most popular robotic vacuums. If you’re looking for other robotic vacuums, click here.

Routine Vacuum Cleaning Ends With Call to Snake Catcher & One Dead Asian Racer

When emptying out your vacuum cleaner, you’ll sometimes end up finding a surprising thing or two. But snakes? That goes beyond the realm of ordinary surprise.

Snake iRobot Roomba

A small Asian Racer, a non-poisonous species that can be mainly found in the Middle East, around the Mediterranean and the Caucasus, managed to make its way into an iRobot Roomba used to clean the house of an Israeli couple living in Haifa.

The husband was cleaning the Vacuum when he saw the small snake (although they can grow up to 1.5 meters long, this one was much smaller) peaking from the insides of the iRobot. He quickly contacted a snake catcher and sent him some pictures of the snake, not sure if it was alive or dead.

Snake Vacuum

The snake catcher couldn’t quite make an accurate assessment of the whole situation and species through the pictures, so he popped by and got the snake out of the iRobot, finally seeing it was the less dangerous Asian Racer (they do bite) instead of the Viper (poisonous) species common to those parts.

The home of the couple is in the Denia neighborhood of Haifa, which is located on Mount Carmel, which is teeming with wildlife which can get quite close to the homes. The snake catcher surveyed the yard outside to make sure there are no snake nests close to the house; small snakes often indicate something of the sort.

Caught Snake

 

All’s well that ends well, despite the minor fright to the couple. If anything, it’s now something of a story to tell the grandchildren someday and spook them about snakes in their homes and in weird places. You never know what you’re going to find, even when doing something as mundane as emptying your iRobot.

Be Social! Follow Walyou on Facebook/Twitter. For more on snakes (yes, we actually write about them from time to time), check out what happens when snake venom touches blood.

Images via Tomer Avni

Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: fun stuff!

Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. The good news? We're on to the fun stuff, the gear that isn't always practical but will definitely help you let off some steam after a tough mid-term. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here!

DNP Engadget's back to school guide 2012 fun stuff!

Laptops, phones and e-readers might be slick pieces of tech, but they'll all be used for business while you're buried in term papers during the semester. We're rounding up a set of gadgets meant purely to lift your spirits -- whether it's zapping fellow froshmates in a game of Lazer Tag or an electric motorbike to blast through the countryside on a long weekend. We've even got a few borderline sensible gadgets, such as a robot that will clean up after a wild party at the dorm. Jump past the break for our full collection of antidotes to the end-of-summer blues.

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Engadget's back to school guide 2012: fun stuff! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Visualized: a look inside iRobot’s gadget-filled ‘cool stuff room’ (video)

Visualized a look inside iRobot's gadgetfilled 'cool stuff room'

We've all seen a Roomba at one point or another, be it picking up debris around our feet in a friend's living room or chauffeuring a courageous kitty for an entertaining clip on YouTube. Likely far less familiar, however, is iRobot's gadget-filled Massachusetts headquarters, including the museum-like "cool stuff room" in the lobby. There you'll find a large variety of autonomous devices, ranging from an early Roomba prototype that subs in a removable cloth for the vacuum to the relatively creepy My Real Baby -- an $89 doll that cries for food and offers realistic reactions to tickling. There's also plenty of industrial and military gear on hand, including a long cylindrical bot used for repairing oil rigs as they continue to operate, a full-size self-driving vehicle and a wall-climbing robot that uses suction cup wheels to ascend vertically. Some of the exhibits are downright creepy, such as a crab-like prototype which an iRobot employee referenced as being "inspired by nature," though the company's familiar household gadgets help to balance out the eerie. Sadly, the collection doesn't appear to be open to the public, though IEEE was granted a tour, which it graciously filmed for your enjoyment -- you'll find that video walkthrough just past the break.

Continue reading Visualized: a look inside iRobot's gadget-filled 'cool stuff room' (video)

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Visualized: a look inside iRobot's gadget-filled 'cool stuff room' (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iRobot Roomba 790 with Wireless Command Center hands-on (video)

What to get the homeowner who has everything? Perhaps a robotic vacuum styled in the fashion of an RC toy will fit the bill. Here at a gdgt event in New York City we happened upon iRobot's Roomba 790, which comes with a touchscreen remote for manually controlling where the bot goes. The controller -- make that the "Wireless Command Center" -- has an interface matching the one on the 790 itself, so there's no second set of menus to master here. In addition to deciding where it moves, you can also schedule daily cleanings or tap a "Clean" button to push the robot into action.Though this isn't the first time iRobot's dabbled in remote-controlled vacuum cleaners, previous models tended to rely on infrared sensors, meaning you could only control the Roomba if it was in your line of sight. This guy, though, uses a proprietary technology that allows you to program that 4pm scrubbing from up to 25 meters away.

As for battery life, it runs on four AA cells, and is rated for three to six months of runtime, depending on how compulsively you plan on cleaning. Interestingly, despite the change in wireless standards, the 790 is compatible with older 700-series Roombas, though it's not as is the controller would be sold separately. If you happen to be the kind of fabulously wealthy family who can afford (and has a need) for multiple Roomba cleaners, you can only pair the remote with one robot at a time anyway. Don't have the budget for a $700 robotic vacuum kit? We've got hands-on photos below and a demo video after the break.

Continue reading iRobot Roomba 790 with Wireless Command Center hands-on (video)

iRobot Roomba 790 with Wireless Command Center hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roomba 790’s Wireless Command Center lets you obliterate dirt from afar

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iRobot is calling the latest Roomba its "most advanced robot yet," thanks to a number of new features to the 700 series that extend beyond the 790's redesigned faceplate. Chief amongst them is the Wireless Command Center, an oblong remote control useable from anywhere in the home that lets users steer the Roomba, send it back to its base, schedule a cleaning and adjust its clock. There's also a big "Clean" button, whose functionality seems fairly straight forward. Also on board with the 790 is room-to-room navigation, which utilizes "Virtual Wall Lighthouses." Roomba describes the feature thusly,

[A]djust to Lighthouse, set the distance of the door opening and place the Virtual Wall Lighthouse outside of the doorway to the room you want Roomba to clean. The Lighthouse will communicate with Roomba via an infrared sensor to contain it in one room until it vacuums the area completely (aka: completes its mission) and then it will move on to the next room and so forth.

The latest version of the cleaning machine is available today, for a suggested $700. Check out a peak of the aforementioned Command Center after the break.

Continue reading Roomba 790's Wireless Command Center lets you obliterate dirt from afar

Roomba 790's Wireless Command Center lets you obliterate dirt from afar originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jun 2012 06:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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