Roundup: Intel pours cash into factories, N.J. goes solar, Obama taps cybersecurity chief, and more

Roundup: Intel pours cash into factories, N.J. goes solar, Obama taps cybersecurity chief, and more

Microsoft to tighten ties with Facebook chat? — Steve Ballmer implies (oh so subtly) full interoperability between Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger.

Intel to sink funds into factories — Despite the downturn, the giant earmarks $7 billion for its chip manufacturing plants over the next two years.

Obama… Continue Reading

Roundup: iRobot co-founder moves to new robot venture, botnets surge, IPOs come and go, and more

Roundup: iRobot co-founder moves to new robot venture, botnets surge, IPOs come and go, and more

Roomba technologist moves to new robotic venture — Rodney Brooks, chief technology officer and co-founder at iRobot, is moving on to a new company called Heartland Robots, which will work to “rehumanize and revitalize manufacturing.”

Zombie networks surge ahead — Botnet networks of infected computers have tripled in… Continue Reading

iRobot’s latest Negotiator robot to help police and soldiers in tactical tight spots

iRobot’s latest Negotiator robot to help police and soldiers in tactical tight spots

When in doubt, send in a robot. That’s an increasingly common solution for the military and police these days. iRobot, the maker of cave-busting and vacuum-cleaning robots, today is announcing the introduction of its iRobot Negotiator.

This low-cost tactical robot is designed to meet the basic… Continue Reading

iRobot launches Chemical Robots for the military

iRobot launches Chemical Robots for the military

iRobot is developing a new series of military robots that detect chemicals. Under a $3.3 million contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Research Office, iRobot will develop Chemical Robots (or ChemBots) that can maneuver through highly cluttered environments to… Continue Reading

iRobot enters the undersea robot market

iRobot enters the undersea robot market

The robot beat is busy today. iRobot has sold more than two million Roomba vacuum cleaner robots. Now it’s launching an underwater robot.

The Bedford, Mass., company has licensed the rights to the Seaglider underwater vehicle from the University of Washington to commercialize the robots. The… Continue Reading