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Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

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Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#211

Post by RealityVoid »

ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #182
RealityVoid wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mapping is very useful. I get the want to safeguard your data, but having smart navigation and obstacle detection just makes the product better.

Are you implying that internet access is required in order to have "smart nagivation" and obstacle detection? If so, could you clarify what you think the connection is?

No, I'm implying mapping is useful. I'm certain you can have local only mapping. But OP seemed to put the mapping as well as the rest of the features in the "unnecessary" bucket and my problem is that I consider mapping super necessy.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#212

Post by ekjhgkejhgk »

RealityVoid wrote: post #211
ekjhgkejhgk wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you implying that internet access is required in order to have "smart nagivation" and obstacle detection? If so, could you clarify what you think the connection is?

No, I'm implying mapping is useful. I'm certain you can have local only mapping. But OP seemed to put the mapping as well as the rest of the features in the "unnecessary" bucket and my problem is that I consider mapping super necessy.

Ok, I see. I think that you're right.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#213

Post by pwagland »

zakki wrote: post #132
misiek08 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roomba couldn’t remember map, so when you wanted to clean part of the apartment you had to build barriers or just walk with it. It also got lost way too many times. As for the Chinese products - look at Valetudo. If you write about cloud and privacy considerations then you are already aware enough to just flash it and you have local, cloud-free, GREAT product.

Any pointer on how to flash it?

Go to the website, it has step by step guide for the supported robots: https://valetudo.cloud/pages/general/supported-robots.html

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#214

Post by lvl155 »

Where is Lina Khan who struck down the acquisition? Read the comments from the FTC. That was from less than two years ago. I am all for antitrust but Lina Khan was inept as they come in terms actually dealing with anti competitiveness in the tech.

This is called dumping. Long-term dumping but it is what it is.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/01/...

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#215

Post by mlrtime »

rerx wrote: post #133
makeitdouble wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many general public appliance makers out there have a competitive production line outside of China ? As I understand the only countries where one could barely pull that off would be Korea or Japan, and the local makers are mostly giving up as they lose too much on cost.

BSH (Bosch, Siemens, Neff brands) have their main production sites in Europe, a lot in Germany still. But of course China as well. https://www.bsh-group.com/about-bsh/bsh-worldwide/ Miele (at a more premium price point) production is even more concentrated in Germany. https://m.miele.com/en/com/production-sites-2157.htm (Edit: No replies after 8 hours, but of course they then came in quickly after Europe woke up..)

These are competitive on quality, but are they on price and scale?

How many US homes have a Bosch/Miele washer/dryer vs LG/Samsung? (Outside of NYC).

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#216

Post by embedding-shape »

goodpoint wrote: post #194
d_k_f wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your best bet would be to check which models are supported by Valetudo, which is a local-only firmware replacement: https://valetudo.cloud/ and https://github.com/Hypfer/Valetudo

valetudo is just a hack, not a firmware replacement, and could be blocked by a firmware update from the OEM plus it can void your warranty

> plus it can void your warranty

Unless you happen to live in a jurisdiction that care more about users than companies, like the EU. The manufacturer would have to prove that the new custom firmware is actually the cause of the damage, otherwise they need to fulfill the warranty guarantee regardless of what firmware you run.

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#217

Post by miniwark »

meindnoch wrote: post #198
stavros wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Valetudo on my early Roborock model and it worked great for many years. Unfortunately, the battery gave out and it's somehow DRMed, so even though everything else works fine, the vacuum refuses to work because it doesn't like the new battery. It's the worst kind of e-waste, it's only waste because someone decided I should buy a whole new vacuum when the battery dies, but Valetudo is otherwise good. Just never…

Did you look inside the old battery? It may well be just a bunch of 18650 cells with some electronics in a plastic case. Just desolder the old cells and solder on new ones. I did the same for my wife's cordless vacuum, and it works better than new, because the new cells are about 2x the capacity of the originals.

Lets go with the usual reminder: de-soldering / soldering Li-ion cells can be super dangerous. With a bit too much of heat it can fire or even explode...

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#218

Post by sandworm101 »

dmantis wrote: post #179
furyg3 wrote: post #136

Are there any good robo-vacuum cleaners that will still clean your floor if the internet is down? I've had my Miele vacuum cleaner for 15 years now, and I bought it second hand. I can still buy bags and filters for it, and when the floor roller piece broke (something heavy fell on it) I was able to buy a replacement one for cheap. I see no reason why it can't go another 10 years. It feels like a very low probability…

For me it's so weird nobody makes a thing you can trust. I would happily overpay 3-4x for the good vacuum without the cloud and the need to do some hacking with valetudo, with an official service and support for the device. Yet nobody is willing to take the money. They'd rather go bankrupt..

Mine doesnt need cloud or internet. AIRROBO P20

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#219

Post by mrknmc »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #170
furyg3 wrote: post #136

Are there any good robo-vacuum cleaners that will still clean your floor if the internet is down? I've had my Miele vacuum cleaner for 15 years now, and I bought it second hand. I can still buy bags and filters for it, and when the floor roller piece broke (something heavy fell on it) I was able to buy a replacement one for cheap. I see no reason why it can't go another 10 years. It feels like a very low probability…

Had a Neato Botvac D7 for many years, works completely offline and it's cleaning route is pretty smart using lidar. Can't vouch for their newer models just because this one has worked so well for years.

Neato went bankrupt lol

Re: Roomba maker goes bankrupt, Chinese owner emerges

#220

Post by nobodyandproud »

darkwater wrote: post #75
nobodyandproud wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vorwerk group. No idea, but it’s pointless imho. Roborock and Eufy (and other competitors) clearly either stole or reverse-engineered the tech. If the IP had enough value then I’m sure Vorwerk would’ve pursued it in court. But here we are.

Vorwerk makes really good hardware and home appliances. Its only negative part is the almost pyramidal sales style. It's not really pyramidal as in the scam, because you actually buy something and you don't need to become a seller, but it uses "regular housewives" [1] as sellers. [1] at least 30 years ago, now many of them do also another paid work (not Vorwerk-related) on top of unpaid house chores.

Any idea why they just sat on the product? Even today, I feel the product is unmatched.

Zero creep factor (ignoring later cloud offering)..

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