If you have pets, you know they can create a mess. Some of that mess can be vacuumed up by your Roomba, and some of it will create an absolute disaster if it gets eaten by the robot vacuum. You know what I'm talking about. (I'm talking about poop.)
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Last week, we reported that iRobot, the company famous for bringing the Roomba into our homes was looking at selling data pertaining to the internal maps of customers' home. The company's CEO has sent us a statement clarifying iRobot's position.
The Roomba 900 Series offers a Clean Map Report, which maps your home as it vacuums, improving its movement and telling you how well it cleaned. But to get that map, according to customer service reps, you have to share it with Roomba's creator iRobot. And that gives iRobot permission to give -- or sell -- your map. Which is exactly what iRobot CEO Colin Angle plans to do, as he told Reuters this week.
Brief news items of note for Lifehacker readers, including: watch an Aussie croc take down a cow, the best wine and chocolate pairings, how Roomba's makers are turning the vacuum robot into a creepy little spy.
Both Microsoft and iRobot - the company that went from bomb disposal robots to cleaning your home - are looking at ways to create maps of indoor spaces. While their efforts are taking different paths, it's clear that mapping homes and buildings has huge opportunities but is not without privacy challenges.
