iRobot

Amazon’s $1.4B iRobot deal is dead. Now what?

A year and a half after announcing its intention to acquire iRobot, Amazon’s deal is officially dead. All parties involved anticipated some level of regulatory scrutiny, but after a few decades of t

iRobot and Amazon call it quits, terminate acquisition agreement

Amazon has ended its bid to acquire iRobot, the maker of robotic vacuums, after running up against headwinds with European regulators. Amazon and iRobot have opted to mutually terminate their previous

Amazon’s iRobot deal could be blocked by European Union

It’s been 17 months since Amazon agreed to buy iRobot for $1.7 billion. The subsequent year and a half has unfolded at a glacial pace, as the deal has inched forward. Analysts anticipated that the r

Should auld acquaintance be robot

This is always a strange week for us. Save for the occasional disastrous patent dispute, things are (thankfully) almost uncannily quiet in the week separating Christmas and New Year’s Day. You see

Amazon’s iRobot purchase sucks up formal competition concerns in EU

European Union regulators have sent Amazon a formal statement of objections setting out competition concerns over its proposed acquisition of robot vacuum maker, iRobot. The step does not confirm the

iRobot launches a $1,399 premium Roomba combo vacuum/mop and dock

Like many of us, iRobot has a long-standing love-hate relationship with the mop. The first Scooba system became widely available in 2010. Ultimately, however, mopping up and filling a tank with dirty

Amazon lowers iRobot purchase price by 15% amid regulatory delays

Amazon is lowering its acquisition price for robotic vacuum-maker iRobot, after the duo have hit regulatory snags trying to get the deal over the line. The e-commerce giant announced plans to acquire

Life after logistics

You’ll have to forgive me, as this is going to be one of those in-between Actuator weeks. I finally took a couple of days off last week after working through the last few weekends, and today I’ve

Amazon’s $1.7B iRobot acquisition greenlighted by UK antitrust regulator

The U.K.’s antitrust regulator has given the go-ahead to Amazon’s proposed billion-dollar iRobot acquisition, concluding that the deal “would not lead to competition concerns in the

Amazon’s $1.7B iRobot acquisition scrutinized by UK on competition grounds

The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has confirmed that it’s assessing Amazon’s billion-dollar bid for robot vacuum maker iRobot. The case is still at its earliest possibl

Robot or fauxbot?

This is my week of debriefs. CES has a way of hurling you into the new year, kicking and screaming, and it can be hard to find your bearings as you emerge on the other side. As the dust has cleared, o

It’s a sprint, not a marathon

Here’s a question for you: How seriously should we take Amazon’s home robotics play? Perhaps a better way of framing it is: When do we take Amazon’s home robotics play seriously? I realize these

Amazon’s iRobot deal faces renewed scrutiny from Dems

A new letter penned by Senate and House Democrats accuses Amazon of “anticompetitive” practices in its bid to purchase Roomba-maker, iRobot, for $1.7 billion. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warre

Finally, a Roomba that vacuums and mops

IRobot makes robots that vacuum. IRobot makes robots that mop. Other companies make robots that vacuum and mop. So, why doesn’t iRobot? If you had asked the company that question as recently as a fe

Please don’t tip the robot

Greetings from Cupertino, California, where the temperature has cooled down to a far more reasonable 101 degrees. It’s a nice change from the 109 degrees we hit here on Tuesday. I’m out here this

Amazon is buying Cloostermans, a mechatronics specialist in Belgium, to ramp up its robotics operations

Amazon has made a string of startup acquisitions over the years to build out its robotics business; now, the e-commerce leviathan is taking an interesting turn in that strategy as it expands its indus

Daily Crunch: Samsung’s vice chairman receives presidential pardon for bribery conviction

Hello, friends, and welcome to Daily Crunch, bringing you the most important startup, tech and venture capital news in a single package.

Amazon-owned MGM makes a viral video show with surveillance footage from Amazon-owned Ring

MGM (which is owned by Amazon) is making a viral video show based on footage from Ring security cameras (also owned by Amazon). The syndicated television show, “Ring Nation,” is poised to

A newsletter that’s mostly about Amazon and iRobot

Shortly after the Amazon/iRobot news was announced on Friday morning, a colleague asked me if I was surprised. The short answer is yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the news dropped suddenly on what

iRobot announced a 10% staff cut the same day its Amazon news dropped

You’d be forgiven for missing this bit of news. I fully cop to not seeing it myself amid the buzz of last week’s Amazon acquisition news on Friday (knowing nod to Robot Report for pointing it out)
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