10 Aug Amazon acquires iRobot and takes another step towards the connected home of the future

• Jeff Bezos’ company announces the acquisition of the world’s largest and most famous manufacturer of domestic robots for $1.7 billion
• This move responds to the Seattle company’s need to take the integration of household products to the next level to make life easier for its customers

Not so many years ago it seemed like something out of science fiction, today it is a reality. Little by little, devices have been appearing in our lives that allow us to automate household chores and thus be able to dedicate more time to what really matters: enjoying life. One of those first devices was in 2002 the Roomba automatic vacuum cleaner, from the American company iRobot. Its irruption into homes was a revolution by putting an end to the tedious task of vacuuming the entire house “simply” with the help of a small circular robot that autonomously travels the floor sucking up the dirt it finds on its way.

Years later, we can control the technology provided by Amazon with its virtual assistant Alexa from our smartphone. This allows you to obtain real-time information, play multimedia files and control other connected devices such as lighting, heating or alarm.

If you want to know more about Amazon’s new acquisition, continue reading, today we explain all the details.

A New Approach: Home Care

Amazon represents the perfect example of diversify or die. It has gone from selling books to positioning itself as the largest marketplace in the world, as well as being a major producer of audiovisual content, offering countless cloud services and having various smart devices for its customers.

This latest acquisition by the company means going one step further in the automation of household chores. iRobot has a multitude of robots for the home in its catalog, such as the well-known Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner or its most recent robot for mopping the floor, called Braava. From now on, these devices will be added to those already owned by Amazon, including Blink security cameras, Ring phones, Echo speakers or Fire tablets, all of which are compatible with Alexa.

In this way, the idea of the “smart home” is more real than ever, since little by little different parts of the house are connected to the same point from which you can control everything in a comfortable, fast, intuitive and as natural way as talking out loud.

Alexa at the center of it all

And the fact is that Amazon’s virtual assistant becomes, if it wasn’t already, the key to controlling your home through voice commands. This way, you can now clean your house by simply saying “Alexa, tell Roomba to start cleaning.” In addition, this connection will allow you to operate your robot in a more comfortable, easy and faster way, since you can also ask Alexa where it is or what it is doing, schedule a cleaning for a certain time or ask it to come to a specific room because something has fallen.

Amazon is able to unify the leader in autonomous home cleaning and the leader in smart device management using voice commands to offer a unique and unparalleled experience to its customers.

iRobot, much more than vacuum cleaners

The company founded in 1990 by three MIT students began its journey in the field of military robotics, but the success of its first autonomous vacuum cleaner in 2002 led it to focus on this type of business. Since then, the technology company has developed a varied multitude of robots that allow you to sweep and mop the floor of your home to mow the lawn or clean the pool without having to get your hands dirty.

How to acquire one of these intelligent robots?

Contrary to what one might think, the fact that Jeff Bezos’ company has acquired iRobot is not going to mean the exclusive sale of these products on its marketplace. In this way, it will still be possible to purchase any of the products at authorized points of sale since they will continue to operate as separate brands despite being under the same umbrella.

What is possible is that the sales of these appliances on Amazon will be boosted and promoted on dates such as Prime Day. Currently you can find the company’s entire catalog in its Store within the platform and choose the device that best suits your needs. In addition, you will be able to check if the model you want to buy is compatible with Alexa (since older models may not be) in a quick way thanks to a visual label that appears next to the product.