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ecovacs

Famibot patrols your home and cleans your air

LAS VEGAS--People are getting very used to having robots like Roomba running around their floors. They're very popular as animal and baby vehicles too.

Chinese vacuum-maker Ecovacs, though, wants more functionality in domestic bots. At CES 2013, it demonstrated its Famibot and Minibot, which can perform a host of handy functions while you're busy being lazy.

Shown off at IFA 2012, Famibot is a service droid that can be controlled via your smartphone or any Wi-Fi connection.

Its primary function is to roam around your floors and purify the air. When it senses a particularly dirty zone, such as cigarette smoke, it will focus on that area. … Read more

Ecovacs Winbot sucks glass to clean your panes

LAS VEGAS--Robots that wash your windows are another dream of domestic automation, but most early models involve a cumbersome two-part unit that goes on both sides of a pane.

At CES 2013, China-based Ecovacs is showing off a new version of its Winbot window washer, one that doesn't require a magnetic support on the other side of the glass.

Just stick the Winbot 7 series on the window, press start, and it starts moving up and down. That's a lot easier than handling two machines. … Read more