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Dyson's $1,200 robotic vacuum is expensive, but also the best
Dyson is very confident about its new vacuum. Then again, with this price, it has to be. On sale now in Japan for just shy of 150,000 yen ($1,200), the 360 Eye is the company's first robotic model -- although it's not for lack of trying. It might be worth the wait, though: It actually cleans like you always hoped a robot vacuum would. It's so good, in fact, that I might have to fire my Roomba.
Dyson loses fight to change EU power efficiency label laws
The world of vacuum cleaners isn't exactly known for its gripping legal drama... except maybe for the one Dyson has found itself in recently. After launching legal action against the European Commission last year over new (and potentially discriminatory) energy efficiency rules for vacuum cleaners, Dyson now faces the ugly end of an EU General Court verdict. According to the BBC, the Court dismissed the whole of Dyson's argument earlier today because it couldn't come up with more reliable power tests that should be used instead.
Bosch counter-sues Dyson over claims it's cheating efficiency tests
Dyson might have landed the first punch, but today Bosch is back with a counterblow. BSH Group, which owns both Bosch and Siemens, has announced today that it's taking "legal steps" against its rival in the UK. Why? "Unfounded accusations of cheating," CEO Karsten Ottenberg explains, related to some of its vacuum cleaners and how they've achieved top energy efficiency ratings. Two models in particular -- the Siemens Q8.0 and Bosch GL80/In'Genius ProPerform -- boast AAAA grades at the moment, based on low power consumption measurements of 750W. Last week, Dyson said these figures were inaccurate because they rise to more than 1600W in real-world conditions. As a result, it's launching legal proceedings against Bosch in the Netherlands and Siemens in Germany.
Dyson's big, heavy, complicated robot vacuum that never was
Introduced to the public way back in 2004, Dyson's first robot vacuum never wheeled itself into retail. While it was apparently close enough to a finished product to pick up a sticker with a helpline number, the sheer number of sensors (over 70), and a total of 54 batteries was a problem. While it could detect stationary objects and living things it was too expensive to both produce or sell. As Dyson's senior robot engineer, Mike Aldred, noted: "It did the job we intended... but it wasn't the right product." The decision was made to can the DC06, and the team decided to focus on a single (albeit complicated) sensor to guide its robot vacuums: 360-degree vision. And that's where Dyson's 360 Eye comes in. It's a bit late, but from our early experiences with it, it sucks -- In the good way. And if you've got a thing for yellow and millennial-gray plastic, a gallery of the rare (hefty) robot vacuum awaits below.
Why Dyson's pricey robot vacuum is late for its Japanese debut
We warned that Dyson's first robot vacuum was going to put all that cyclone technology to use on your wallet's contents and we weren't wrong. After a hefty half-year delay, the 360 Eye robot vacuum goes on sale in Japan today priced at 138,000 yen -- before tax! That's around $1,150. Cutting-edge robot house cleaners that take care of themselves apparently demand high salaries (just ask Rosie). Dyson's 360 Eye has undergone a handful of minor changes, both in the hardware and software, to prepare it for its first customers: the Japanese. My biggest takeaway? Dyson thinks the 360 Eye knows its way around cleaning a room even better than you, you big ole' irrational human.
Dyson says vacuum makers are cheating efficiency tests, VW style
As far as Dyson is concerned, Volkswagen isn't the only company that should be taken to task over shady efficiency testing. The company's just launched legal proceedings against Bosch in the Netherlands and Siemens in Germany, claiming its competitors are slapping misleadingly high energy efficiency ratings on their vacuum cleaners. Siemen's Q8.0 and Bosch's GL80/In'Genius ProPerform models both sport AAAA ratings, based on power consumption measurements of 750W. But according to Dyson's internal tests, this figure can jump to more than 1600W -- the maximum EU regulations allow for vacuum cleaners -- in real-world conditions. Chugging that much electricity would supposedly land those products in E/F rating territory, far from the AAAA label advertised.
Dyson's latest bladeless fan keeps the air pure and your toes warm
When Dyson isn't turning its R&D-heavy hand to new interests, it likes to go about improving upon existing products. Case in point: the new "Pure Hot + Cool," which combines Dyson's bladeless fan, heater and air purification technologies into the one device. Like Dyson's "Pure Cool" bladeless fan, this shorter model can filter even the tiniest of particles (as small as 0.1 microns), including bacteria, mould and pollen, with a 99.95 percent success rate. Furthermore, the glass HEPA filter hidden in the base of the tower should last over a year, even with daily use. Apart from the size of the thing, the new product only differs in that it can also heat up a room, and not just keep it cool using Dyson's fancy "Air Multiplier" tech.
Dyson built a lamp that burns for 37 years thanks to satellite tech
Dyson has put its know-how to use improving vacuums, fans and more. Looking to tackle lighting woes, the British company built the CSYS line of lamps that'll burn bright for 37 years. Using Heat Pipe technology, the lamp uses a system similar to what's found on satellites to keep eight LEDs cool and prolongs their life. The heat is pulled away from the bulbs and directed through an aluminum heat sink that spans the length of the lamp's shaft. Each of those LEDs sits in a conical reflector to cut down on glare and added eye strain.
Dyson's new bladeless fan is also a powerful air filter
Dyson really hates dirt, to the point that it's now come up with a new bladeless fan that can also filter out ultrafine airborne particles -- including viruses, bacteria and pollens -- that are as tiny as 0.1 microns. The aptly-named Pure Cool (AM11) closely resembles Dyson's other fan towers, with the notable difference being the cylindrical glass HEPA filter around the base. After 450 prototypes, the company claims that this filter removes 99.95 percent of ultrafine particles, and it's good for up to 4,382 hours or about six months of continuous use. In other words, if you use the Pure Cool for 12 hours each day, then you'll only need to replace the filter after a year. Of course, it's hard to say whether it'll last just as long in smoggy Beijing, which is where Dyson cleverly chose to do the global launch for the Pure Cool.
Dyson's new battery tech promises longer-lasting electronics
Battery research that tantalizes and then goes bust has soured our dreams of longer-lasting smartphones and EVs. But do you know who hasn't given up hope? Sir James freaking Dyson, that's who. His company just invested $15 million in Sakti3, one of the most promising battery technology companies out there. The startup has created a cell with no dangerous, flammable liquid electrolytes, using the same thin-film tech used to make LCD displays and solar cells. Better still, it claims the batteries have achieved an energy density of 1,143 watt-hours per liter, easily doubling the best lithium-ion batteries on the market.
Dyson's new vacuums don't need you to clean the filter
Sure, your vacuum cleaner might not need a bag anymore, but you're probably still cleaning or replacing its filter every now and then to make sure you're sucking up as much dirt as possible. You shouldn't have to if Dyson's new Cinetic Science vacuums live up to their hype, though. Both the upright and low-slung versions use rapidly vibrating flexible tips (350 times a second) to prevent dust from blocking the aperture, making sure that all those crumbs and stray hairs reach the bin without any kind of filter maintenance. Supposedly, the Cinetic Science line will operate at peak performance even after 10 years of duty.
Dyson tackles the humidifier, kills water-based bacteria with UV light
In a launch presentation in Tokyo, Japan (apparently the company's favorite place for new product launches), Dyson tackled the surprisingly sketchy hygiene issues that come with more typical humidifiers. To prove how gosh-darn better Dyson's Hygienic Mist humidifier is, the company's microbiology team (which of course it has) incubated water with bacteria to see how a typical humidifier transmits that to a room. A selection of agar jelly plates grossly demonstrated how that bacteria spreads around a room. However, in an early comparison, with the same concentration of bacteria in the water, Dyson's test humidifier, with UV light cleansing the water, knocked out 99.9 percent of the bacteria -- the current model manages this in three minutes. The device launches in Japan in early November, priced at 60,000 yen (roughly a hefty $560) and we've got the rest of the engineering details after the break.
Why Dyson's robot vacuum took 16 years, and why it's headed to Japan first
Dyson almost launched a robot vacuum. Back in 2001, after three years in development. Its first effort, shown to the British public in London looked nothing (and we mean nothing) like the eventual 360 Eye unveiled today. Sixteen years is a long time in tech. The DC06, as it was called, never made it past home-trial stages in 2012 -- apparently too pricey and heavy. Between then and now, technology got better. A lot better. At the Tokyo launch of its new robot vacuum, Sir James Dyson himself, told us how it all came together, and why it's not his native UK, but Japan, that'll get to buy it first.
Dyson's first robot vacuum promises more suction than the competition
Sixteen years and nearly $47 million in the making, Dyson's unveiled its first robot vacuum cleaner: the 360 Eye. The company says it's packing more cleaning power than any other robot vacuum currently on the market, but you'll have probably noted that such improvements has also made it a fair bit taller than incumbents like iRobot's Roomba. The WiFi-connected vacuum will arrive alongside a smartphone app that'll allow you to schedule sessions for when you're not at home yourself: it'll clean up your mess for up to 20 minutes before returning (autonomously, of course) to charge. Being Dyson, though, it's all about the engineering decisions made inside -- and they look something like this.
Dyson's incoming robot vacuum is called the 360 Eye and it looks like this
That robotic vacuum cleaner that Dyson teased a few days ago? It's arriving -- and soon it's here! Thanks to a kind tipster, we were able to get a quick look at the device called the Dyson 360 Eye, which will apparently be revealed in earnest later today. As the image above suggests, it's a similar shape to existing robot vacuums, but arrives equipped with a 360-degree camera. It can apparently wheel around vacuuming your house for 20 minutes, before it needs to get back to a vertically-mounted (extremely classy), glass and acrylic charging station. According to our source, it's a follow-up to a Dyson vacuum cleaner called the DC06 from a decade ago, which was never released as it carried a very hefty $16,500 price tag. The 360 Eye won't be exactly cheap either, we hear, but the tipster reckons it'll be a lot more affordable at around $1,650. They added that it will be available in Japan first, but will roam carpets and corridors in the US and the UK soon after. Expect to hear more later today. [Thanks, anonymous tipster!]
Is Dyson going to release a robotic vacuum cleaner?
When companies tease a product, there's sometimes a subtle clue or two hidden within the video or images. Sometimes, however, a company can reveal too much, and Dyson's "Project N223" certainly seems to hint, pretty strongly, that we're going to see a Roomba-style vacuum cleaner. After all, there's plenty of clues in the video, some obvious, some less so. Given that we had a fair chunk of free time, we decided to go deep, so if you'd like to see some Zapruder-level analysis, click through to the gallery.
Dyson's Motorhead cordless vacuum challenges your classic upright
Like many companies, when Dyson's not trying to develop a genre-busting product, it's usually at the drawing board fine-tuning existing lines. That's certainly the case with its recent twist on the DC59 Animal cordless, aptly named the Motorhead. While the original model was a step up from the electric brooms I've used in my appliance-poor youth -- both in performance and price -- this newest iteration challenges conventional vacuums at tackling bare floors and carpets with the gusto of a full-sized machine. It's only a fraction of a pound heavier than the earlier model and just as petite and portable, but it boasts a 75 percent increase in suction with its new motorized cleaning head. It arrives today on Dyson's website and other select retailers costing $550 -- a slight jump in price over the previous version -- and should hit more retail outlets in the fall. I took it for a quick test-drive through my Brooklyn apartment to see how it stacks up against its portable predecessor and find out if that price boost delivers a significantly better machine.
Dyson developed a Google Glass-like headset ten years ago
Dyson is near-synonymous with household electronics like vacuums and fans these days, but we're learning that it could have gone in a very different direction. The company tells The Next Web that it had been developing a Google Glass-like augmented reality headset, the Halo, between 2001 and 2004. The wearable (pictured here) projected visual cues, took voice commands and even sported a virtual keyboard that let you type on any flat surface. Dyson had a prototype, but ultimately canned the design to focus on both its core products and US expansion plans.
Dyson: 'A company that doesn't double its R&D every two years is in trouble'
Sir James Dyson just made a brief appearance in Japan, launching his series of high-end hand-dryers in a region where, according to the founder, people appear to appreciate the design and engineering involved. As the company continues to hone the vacuum cleaners and hand-dryers that made its name (meaning power and less noise, generally), it's also pushing out in more unusual directions -- like collaborating with Imperial College on robotic R&D. It's also still substantially growing its development facilities. According to Sir Dyson: "We're obviously expanding what we do, although we love vacuum cleaners and hand-dryers, surprisingly," cracking a smile. "We're doubling the size [of R&D]... we already have within the last two years and we're going to double again. Partly we want to make extra products, but in order to be competitive, globally, you have to have better technology than all your competitors." He added that competition is global: Japan, Korea, the US, Germany, India, South America -- it's now "everywhere." Many tech companies are similarly folding money into R&D, including Apple, Samsung, even those in tough times, like Nintendo. Dyson sees it in far stricter term: "A company that doesn't double its R&D team every two years, I think, is in trouble."
Dyson plans big R&D expansion, starting with a new 3,000-person tech campus
One in every three Dyson employees is an engineer. That's roughly 1,700 of them and the UK-based company is looking to increase that number. It's announced plans to build a new technology campus in Wiltshire, UK, focused on science and technology research and development. The plan includes four different facilities within a single one leafy compound in Wiltshire, UK. It'll cost £250 million to build it, and could create around 3,000 new tech and science jobs. Dyson will scale up its R&D efforts from here, with collaborative topics like its recently-announced robot research lab expanded and "strengthened" with help from over 10 UK universities -- the company has already cooperated with Cambridge, Imperial and Newcastle while it developed its existing products. Finely-engineered robots, new motors (and probably a few high-end vacuums) are likely just a few years away. Better watch yourself, Roomba. Image Credit: Getty
