John Davidson

3 weeks ago | afr.com | John Davidson

Apr 1, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? I sometimes find myself wondering about the sort of houses they must live in, the engineers who design robot cleaners and mowers. Ecovacs engineers must live in pristine, showroom-standard apartments with no stairs or tiny steps to get into bathrooms, and no more than the mathematical minimum number of corners.

3 weeks ago | afr.com | John Davidson

Back in the early days of robovacs, when companies like iRobot were first experimenting with adding simple, vibrating mop pads to their vacuum cleaners, we used to think of the robots as little toddlers dressed in microfibre nappies, dragging their arses over our floors. When the nappy was still fresh and clean, doubtless there was at least some benefit to having the toddler drag it over the floor.

1 month ago | afr.com | Lap Phan |John Davidson

Mar 25, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? It’s no accident that Twelve South called its excellent new USB power supply the “PlugBug Travel”. Things that plug into a wall, like the PlugBug does, are at the top of the list of things you can forget to pack when travelling, or that you can remember to pack, but still pack incorrectly.

1 month ago | afr.com | John Davidson

Out of nowhere, Dreame’s X50 Ultra robovac has catapulted itself to the top of the Digital Life list of things we wish we owned. Well, not so much catapulted, as high-jumped. The new robotic vacuum cleaner and mop, which goes on sale this week, has both Fosbury Flopped and scissor-kicked its way to the top, thanks to a new obstacle climbing system that can get it in places no robotic cleaner has ever been before. Loading...

1 month ago | afr.com | John Davidson

In Apple’s now-infamous ad for its new artificial intelligence software: Last of Us star Bella Ramsey walks into a party, sees someone whose name they can’t remember, and hides behind a wall to ask their iPhone for help. “Siri, what’s the name of the guy I had a meeting with a couple of months ago at Cafe Grenel?”Loading...