Beyond declining sales -- the company reported that revenue decreased 47 percent in the US over the prior year in its fourth quarter earnings -- iRobot is also struggling to pay off its debts. The company took on a 200 million bridge loan to stay afloat while it waited for its 1.7 billion acquisition deal with Amazon to be approved, which it's still paying off. The European Commission ultimately investigated the acquisition in 2023, and rather than address its concerns, Amazon terminated the deal and paid out its 94 million termination fee. That wasn't enough to eliminate iRobot's problems, though. The company now plans to review its options and see if it can find another way to stick it out, including "refinancing the company's debt and exploring a potential sale or strategic transaction."

The robot vacuum now comes with an auto-emptying feature, wherein it attaches to a dock and any dirt or debris is sucked up into a reservoir that houses a large trash bag. This way, users don't have to worry about emptying their Roomba as often and, in turn, it becomes a more hands-free process. These features will come at a price, however. The i7 is priced at $950, making it the company's most expensive model to date. The dock also serves as a charging station for the i7 .

LAS VEGAS--iRobot demoed its updated line of robot floor cleaners at CES 2011, showing off a more powerful Roomba vacuum bot and a much more compact Scooba floor scrubber. Roomba hoovered some crushed Cheerios, while Scooba got to work on a coffee-stained tile floor. Both robots go on sale this spring. They're similar to their predecessors, but have important differences. Both updates have the iAdapt cleaning tech, a sensor and software system that monitors the floor more than 60 times per second and chooses from dozens of robot behaviors to get the job done, the company says. I played around with the Scooba 350 last year, and wasn't crazy about its bulk, which proved a bit of a pain when emptying the cleaning fluid tanks.

The iRobot Roomba 980 (MSRP 899.99) is the newest flagship robot vacuum from the company that first put robotic servants in American homes. Unlike its predecessors, the 980 has the connectivity, battery life, and navigational skills to jet from room to room without getting lost. That makes it the first robot vacuum we'd recommend for multi-room cleaning. However, owners of small homes, folks with lots of clutter, and bargain hunters may want to steer clear of the 980. Remember that robot vacuums are inherently a compromise, combining automation and cleaning in a single machine, powered by a single battery.