Roomba-o-Rama

Since Labor Day the Roomba creators at iRobot in Burlington have been hard at work. They’ve released two new versions of the popular vacuuming robot in as many weeks. The first release was a vacuum specifically designed for dealing with pets. Specifically their hair. The second Roomba was released today to HSN shoppers and will be available in the iRobot store starting tomorrow. The DirtDog is a shop-vac, that isn't even really a vac. They've nixed the sucking portion of the device in order to expand the size of the onboard dust bin. Seems like exactly what we don't need when using a drill press or table saw – an f*ing vacuum whizzing around our feet. The DirtDog could prove to have big profits for the iRobot corporation as they've priced it at $129, significantly lower than the other machines they've got on the market. The added bonus is that the DIY set is probably more apt to drop a bill on a new gadget that will live in the garage or basement than the average consumer. We can see this as a new mainstay of the Home Depot flyer on Sundays. News has been circulating on the blogosphere that the FCC has granted iRobot approval for a WiFi add on card for the Roomba and Scooba. That news combined with a new workhorse version of the vacuum (with a price we imagine will be 'on sale' for under a hundred dollars sometime soon) we are waiting, drenched in anticipation, for what the vacuum hackers of the world will come out with next.