The US firm behind the Roomba smart vacuum cleaner, iRobot, has filed for bankruptcy protection after facing competition from Chinese rivals and being hit by tariffs. Under the so-called pre-packaged Chapter 11 process, the main manufacturer of its devices, Shenzhen-based Picea Robotics, will take ownership of the firm. The tough commercial landscape had forced iRobot to cut its prices and make major investments in new technology, according to documents filed on Sunday. US import duties of 46% on goods from Vietnam, where most of iRobot's devices for the American market are made, increased its costs by $23m (£17.2m) this year, the firm said. The loss-making company was valued at $3.56bn in 2021 after the pandemic helped to drive strong demand for its products.

Looking for all our top recommended vacuums? Here are our favorites in every style we've tested, from stick vacs to robot vacuums. All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links. We've tried every kind of vacuum here at WIRED, and we've put together this list noting the best vacuum cleaner for every category we've tried.

Test-time compute has emerged as a powerful paradigm for improving the performance of large language models (LLMs), where generating multiple outputs or refining individual chains can significantly boost answer accuracy. However, existing methods like Best-of-N, majority voting, and self-reflection typically apply reasoning in a uniform way across inputs, overlooking the fact that different problems may require different levels of reasoning depth. In this work, we propose Fractional Reasoning, a training-free and model-agnostic framework that enables continuous control over reasoning intensity at inference time, going beyond the limitations of fixed instructional prompts. Our method operates by extracting the latent steering vector associated with deeper reasoning and reapplying it with a tunable scaling factor, allowing the model to tailor its reasoning process to the complexity of each input. This supports two key modes of test-time scaling: (1) improving output quality in breadth-based strategies (e.g., Best-of-N, majority voting), and (2) enhancing the correctness of individual reasoning chains in depth-based strategies (e.g., self-reflection). Experiments on GSM8K, MATH500, and GPQA demonstrate that Fractional Reasoning consistently improves performance across diverse reasoning tasks and models.

If you have a dog, you might think you have a strong connection with them. But according to a new study, you've probably been reading your pet's emotions all wrong. Although humans and dogs have a unique bond, scientists from Arizona State University say that we are terrible at understanding canine emotions. Participants were shown videos of a dog reacting to positive situations, such as seeing their lead, or negative situations such as being presented with the dreaded vacuum cleaner. Instead of actually trying to understand what the dog is feeling, the researchers found that people tend to'project human emotions onto their pets'.

Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities across various domains. Math Word Problems (MWPs) serve as a crucial benchmark for evaluating LLMs' reasoning abilities. While most research primarily focuses on improving accuracy, it often neglects understanding and addressing the underlying patterns of errors. Current error classification methods rely on static and predefined categories, which limit their ability to capture the full spectrum of error patterns in mathematical reasoning. To enable systematic error analysis, we collect error samples from 15 different LLMs of varying sizes across four distinct MWP datasets using multiple sampling strategies. Based on this extensive collection, we introduce MWPES-300K, a comprehensive dataset containing 304,865 error samples that cover diverse error patterns and reasoning paths. To reduce human bias and enable fine-grained analysis of error patterns, we propose a novel framework for automated dynamic error classification in mathematical reasoning. Experimental results demonstrate that dataset characteristics significantly shape error patterns, which evolve from basic to complex manifestations as model capabilities increase. With deeper insights into error patterns, we propose error-aware prompting that incorporates common error patterns as explicit guidance, leading to significant improvements in mathematical reasoning performance.

Robot vacuum cleaners take the drudge work out of cleaning your floors and carpets. No more tiresome weekly stints of vacuuming, and no more last-minute panic sessions when you have visitors on the way. Instead, your compact robot chum regularly trundles out from its dock, sucking up dust, hair and debris to leave your floors looking spick and span. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.

Robot vacuums are some of the pricier smart home gadgets you can get, which is why waiting until a sale like Amazon Prime Day is a smart shopping move. October Prime Day may be behind us, but you can still save on some robot vacuums, and cordless stick vacuums, today post-sale event. Some of our top picks for the best robot vacuums remain discounted, including models from iRobot and Shark. Here are the best October Prime Day vacuum deals you can still get today. The best robot vacuums take a chore than many of us would rather not do and automates it to the point where the most you have to do is set a cleaning schedule and empty a bin every once in a while.

While robot vacuums are expensive, they're a great way to automate a chore that needs to get done regularly. If you're looking to make your home a bit smarter, or you simply hate vacuuming, October Prime Day (and sale events like it) can make it easier to jump into the world of robo-vacs by discounting top models by hundreds of dollars. October Prime Day has brought some of the lowest prices we've seen to many of our top picks for the best robot vacuums available today, including models from iRobot and Shark. There are even some solid cordless stick vacuums on sale as well as part of the Prime Day deals. We collected all of the best Prime Day deals on vacuums here so you don't have to go searching for them.

October Prime Day 2024 is half over but you can still save thanks to a slew of deals across the entirety of Amazon's online storefront. Props to you if you came prepared with a wishlist of items you hope to buy on sale, because it can be easy to get distracted by the thousands of other deals available during this members-only shopping event. If any of the items on your list happen to be tech or tech related, Engadget has you covered. We've scoured Amazon to find the October Prime Day deals on tech that you can get this year. We'll be updating this post regularly throughout the duration of Prime Day, so check back to see the latest discounts.

October Prime Day typically has deals on all kinds of electronics, but it's a smart move to look for big-ticket items on your list first and foremost. If you've been meaning to buy a robot vacuum, now's a great time to do so. These are some of the more expensive smart home gadgets you can get, but snagging them on discount during October Prime Day can mean saving hundreds off the sticker price. This year, Prime Day deals have brought some of our top picks for the best robot vacuums down to record-low prices, and there are even some decent deals on cordless stick vacuums as well. Here are the best October Prime Day vacuum cleaner deals we could find.