vacuum cleaners

11 Stories

Hackers Make Robot Vacuums Go Rogue Inside Houses

Ecovacs devices hurled racial slurs at US customers

(Newser) - Those robot vacuums are handy devices—until they allow strangers to watch your family, hurl racial slurs, and torment the dog. ABC News of Australia reports that hackers gained control of Chinese-made Ecovacs Deebot X2s in the homes of US customers. It's not clear how many devices were compromised,...

Big Layoffs at Roomba After Amazon Deal Falls Through

Companies say the planned acquisition is off

(Newser) - Amazon and Roomba won't be getting together after all. The retail giant and vacuum maker iRobot said Monday that Amazon's planned acquisition is off, reports the Wall Street Journal . The deal had faced big regulatory hurdles in Europe and the US. Amazon will pay the Massachusetts company a...

Burglar Turns Out to Be 'Very Thorough' Vacuum

The perpetrator at an Oregon home? A Roomba

(Newser) - A "most wanted" suspect has been apprehended in Cedar Hills, Oregon: a "Roomba burglar." The ultimately amusing story started with a house sitter who arrived at a home Monday afternoon to find the bathroom door locked, reports the Oregonian . Shadows were visible through the gap between the...

Why Your Roomba May Soon Be a 'Creepy Little Spy'
Your Roomba May Be
Up to No Good
Jul 26, 2017 9:30 AM CDT

Your Roomba May Be Up to No Good

iRobot is considering selling consumer info to Amazon, Apple, or Google

(Newser) - It may be "smart" to put robots to work in your home—but is it wise? Consumers who want the blueprint and contents of their homes kept private may be wary at news coming out of iRobot, which makes the Roomba robotic vacuum. Per the New York Times , the...

Vacuum Companies End Epic Battle Over Which Sucks More

Dyson, SharkNinja agree to dismiss lawsuits

(Newser) - Two of the most well-known names in vacuum cleaners have ended a two-year legal battle over just how much their products suck, the AP reports. Dyson, the British technology company known for its upscale vacuums, and SharkNinja Operating LLC, a Massachusetts-based company known for its infomercials and lower-priced vacuums, had...

Vacuum Demo: Best Birthday Ever for Autistic Teen

Dylan Johnson, 14, knew more about vacuums than salesman did at his birthday bash

(Newser) - For 25 years, Al Archie has been a salesman for the Kirby vacuum company, but he finally met his match in appliance expertise over the weekend: Dylan Johnson, an autistic teen whose mom had commissioned Archie to come to Chesterfield, Va., to do a vacuum demo for her son's...

UK Citizens Hoarding Vacuums

EU ban on high-wattage models causes clean freaks to stockpile

(Newser) - You can ban their e-cigs , you can ban their plastic bags —but do not, under any circumstances, take away the people's high-powered vacuum cleaners. Brits stocked up on supersuction devices before a EU ban went into effect yesterday, with retail sales of models 1,600 watts or higher...

9/11 Mastermind's Jail Pastime: Building Vacuum Cleaner?

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed read Harry Potter , did "homework"

(Newser) - Storytime, tea and biscuits, Harry Potter: Sounds more like a day in the life of a British schoolkid than a typical day for the mastermind of 9/11. The AP offers a fascinating look behind the scenes of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's time in a CIA prison, as officials tried to...

Hoover Pulls ABC Ads Over Canceled Soaps

'We were as disappointed as you are,' vacuum maker says

(Newser) - Hoover is furious about ABC’s daytime soaps cancellations —so much so that it’s decided to pull its ads from the network, the Consumerist notes. The vacuum company has long advertised with ABC, but no more, a VP writes on the firm’s Facebook page : “To all...

Man Jailed After Tryst With Car-Wash Vacuum

Crime is 'receiving sexual favors' from machine

(Newser) - A 29-year-old Michigan man was been jailed over the weekend for “receiving sexual favors from a vacuum” at a car wash, the Saginaw News reports. The policeman who—responding to a call of “someone acting suspicious”—discovered the man in the act said, “I've seen some...

Vacuuming Sucks Fleas to Doom
Vacuuming Sucks Fleas to Doom
Dec 19, 2007 2:36 PM CST

Vacuuming Sucks Fleas to Doom

Professor finds fleas' journey into cleaner is a one-way trip

(Newser) - Does vacuuming kill fleas? The answer is yes, according to a retired Ohio professor, the Columbus Dispatch reports. In a study he did years ago for an appliance company, Fred Hink sucked up 100 fleas at a time with a vacuum cleaner and was surprised to find very few of...

11 Stories