Robots
Limited Edition Wall-E Roomba From Japan Sucks in More Ways Than One
Posted by John Mahoney at 12:00 AM on November 11, 2008
Limited-edition Wall-E Roomba: that brings to mind a certain image of an already-fairly-cute vacuum bot taking on two puppy dog eyes, an adorable electro-babble voice synth and maybe even an inclination to maintain a little nest of sad artifacts it has horded from your waste in an unseen corner of your giant house. Or at least, um, something that looks like the robot whose actual job was to sweep the floor in the movie? Sadly, this limited edition Wall-E Roomba fails on almost every possible count.

Kids these days, with their baggy jeans and their MTV and their
We've seen our share of so-called air purifiers, and desktop vacuums, but when they combine into a maximum cleaning tool, and it's powered by USB, you get to see it here. It sits on your desk, quietly sucking up all the dust coming your way from your filthy co-workers. And to make sure you don't share yours with them, it quickly transforms into a small hand-held vacuum cleaner with brush, just to keep your desk and keyboard clean. Save your health, and your USB ports! Bonus "Can you see what's wrong with this picture?" photo after the jump.
Obviously, a fuel cell powered vacuum is not anything we will have in our homes in the near future—but that doesn't mean designers are not thinking about the possibilities. This BacVac concept trades in the noisy electric motor and annoying cables for eco-friendly, cable-free, fuel cell, dirt-sucking power. Why they chose to sling the device over the user's shoulder is unclear, but one thing is for certain—if you tend to generate a lot of filth, it won't be long before you are reduced to some sort of suburban Quasimodo. [




I was pretty excited when I saw it was a "Robo" desk vacuum, 'cause I thought this was like a Roomba for your desk—it'd clean up granola bits while I fragged suckers and not commit suicide with a running leap off the edge. Sadly, I don't think it's that smart, just zooming forward sucking all your nastiness in a straight line. Still, it might be useful if you have a really loooong desk or a line of powder you want to neatly pack away without losing a speck. [
Your desk is littered with Cheetos crumbs, fingernail clippings, short 'n' curlies and any number of other undesirable pieces of personal detritus. You could take the time to clean up your work space every now and then, but why bother? The new Vacuum Mouse from Thanko will allow you to keep things relatively clean with a minimum of effort.
The Samsung Intergalactic Empire, makers of everything from memory chips to TVs to gas tankers and probably complete Death Stars, also make vacuum cleaners like the new Silencio ("silence" in Spanish.) It doesn't only trap 99.3% of the dust with a suction power rating of 360 "air watts" (whatever that is in the metric system; perhaps 124.5 Jenna Jamesons) and is coated in silver nano-particles to avoid bacteria and smell, but it also looks like a 
I couldn't decide which comparison I liked more, but in either case you get it: Eye-Vac Pro is a 1200-watt stationary vacuum, an infrared-equipped all-seeing dustbin that sucks up the rubbish you sweep close enough to its maw. It's got a HEPA filter for clean air return and a "full" indicator, which means that no, I guess it doesn't digest your dust, dirt and hair slowly over 1,000 years time. Maybe that's next year's model. [