Roomba

iRobot announced a new Roomba model the other day - the 500 series. It's leaps and bounds better than the previous generation - the specs say it sucks 100% more in fact. It's a pity I just bought replacement brushes for my older Discovery model (I bought model because it shares its name with a space shuttle).

I read through the specs for the new model, it's got some neat features. But I think iRobot left out a few items that would have made the new model a must-have in my house:

Pet-friendly:

This is not to say that the current models demonstrate any sort of animosity towards my cats, but it could be more friendly. It could talk to the cats - an occasional word of praise for the cats for staying out of the way would be nice - "good kitty, go play downstairs while roomba does its work."

Or maybe a dangling feather for the cats to chase? Or tossing a treat to the cats once in a while?

Furniture-friendly:

My old roomba, like every other one, I'm sure, cleans my house by wandering around and bumping into things. The new model apparently has some sensors so it can slow down before bumping into something.

That's a step in the right direction, how about if we take it one step further - when it does bump into something, offer an apology. You know, it bumps into a chair and says something like "excuse me" or "wow, I never saw that coming" or even "Oww my nose!"

Geek-friendly:

As most owners will tell you, watching a roomba do its thing is fun the first for the first couple of minutes. After that's it's up there with watching paint dry. How about adding Wi-Fi and a wbecam to Roomba. As it tools around my house I can see what Roomba sees, from wherever I happen to be.

As long as it's network-connected, it would be pretty cool if Roomba's route through my house was available as well - so I can see where it went, how it got there, how it spent its time. etc. I'm not looking to blame it for slacking off or spending time where it shouldn't have, I'm just curious, really.