Bitcoin inheritance tool to use cloud service by Russian Sberbank

A new project in Russia aims to enable secure storage of inherited digital possessions like Bitcoin using a cloud-based service of state-owned Sberbank.

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Israeli gov't seeks to track crypto holdings above $61K

Framed as a "war against black capital," Israel's Ministry of Finance estimates the new legislation could bring in $9.2 million in additional state revenues through tax.

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With billionaires launching, is it time to implement a new international space treaty?

by Ramin Skibba

Space is much busier than it used to be. Rockets are launching more and more satellites into orbit every year. SpaceX, the private company founded by Elon Musk, blasted more than 800 satellites into space in 2020 alone. Extraterrestrial tourism is about to take off, led by space barons Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, two of whom have already taken their first private space outings. The frenetic activity of space agencies and space companies around the world will extend beyond Earth’s atmosphere, too. Within a few years, the moon will see many more landers, rovers, and even boots on the lunar ground. So will Mars and eventually, perhaps even some asteroids.

 It’s an exciting time, but also a contentious one. An arena once dominated by the U.S. and Russia has seen the arrival of China and numerous other countries, with several nations establishing both a scientific and military presence in space. A burgeoning space industry, mostly led by U.S.-based companies, is angling for opportunities to monetize Earth-observing satellites, expensive visits to the edge of space, and trips to the moon with robotic and human passengers. Space junk clutters the atmosphere. Rival countries and companies hurtle satellites through the same orbits, and they eye the same key spots on the moon where water could be harvested from ice. Anti-satellite weapons tests by China and India that have flung debris into orbit illustrate just how precarious space is.

All that is to say, things have changed considerably in the more than half century since international space diplomats hammered out the Outer Space Treaty, the agreement that continues to serve as the world’s basic framework on international space law. Before space conflicts erupt or collisions in the atmosphere make space travel unsustainable — and before pollution irreversibly tarnishes our atmosphere or other worlds — we need a new international rulebook. It’s time for the Biden administration to work with other space powers and negotiate an ambitious new space treaty for the new century.

The Outer Space Treaty was deliberately written ambiguously. It outlaws nukes and other weapons of mass destruction being deployed in space, but makes no mention of lasers, missiles, and cyber weapons. The accord appears to ban private property in space and states that no nation can claim a piece of space or lunar territory as their own, but it does not explicitly restrict the extraction of resources like water and minerals.

The Moon Agreement, which went into force in 1984, went further. It states that countries are required to inform others if they have spacecraft entering the same orbit. It declares that the exploration and use of the moon must be done for the benefit of everyone. Under the agreement, Moon explorers have to take care of the lunar environment as well. And importantly, it forbids the claiming of extraterrestrial resources as property. However, only 18 countries are party to the sweeping treaty, none of them space-faring nations.

In recent years, policies on space law have taken an industry-friendly turn, particularly in the U.S. The Obama administration signed the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act of 2015, also known as the Space Act, which, in theory, allows American companies to mine the moon and other celestial bodies however they wish and to keep the resources. Other countries, like Luxembourg, have followed suit. In 2020, the Trump administration went further, proposing the industry-friendly Artemis Accords, an attempt to further push the case for granting companies property rights in space. The accords comprised bilateral agreements with just 12 countries — notably without Russia and China, and without the involvement of the United Nations or any other international institution — putting them outside international space law. More than half a century after humans first set foot on the moon, there remains no clearly established, agreed-upon rules governing space activity.

In the absence of such a framework, the US has embraced a de facto “launch first and ask questions later” strategy. The lack of international cooperation is one reason engineers were so caught off guard in 2019, when satellites launched by SpaceX and the European Space Agency nearly crashed into one another. Experts in space law can’t even agree on major questions such as what kind of responsibility space actors have to keep space clean and uncontaminated with debris, as there’s really no framework in place.

The Biden administration has so far focused its space policy not on treaties but on “norms,” non-legally binding principles that they hope will evolve into international agreements with teeth. But it’s hard to imagine that enforceable international space policies will be adopted unless Biden explicitly and enthusiastically calls for them, while urging Russian and Chinese leaders to do the same. More likely, whatever endeavors the space industry and military decide to pursue will retroactively become policy. This is already playing out in debates about the private harvesting of resources from the moon and asteroids, the types of spacecraft companies can put in orbit, and the kinds of space and anti-satellite weapons militaries can develop.

 If we were to design a new space treaty that would preserve space primarily as a place for exploration and collaboration rather than for war and commercial gain, what would it look like? It would coordinate travel and limit traffic in busy orbits in the atmosphere while also taking steps to limit the creation of space debris. (Cleaning up the mess already clogging low-Earth orbit is another story entirely.) It would also build on the Moon Agreement, prohibiting the deployment and testing of weapons — including electronic weapons — in the atmosphere. And it would prohibit deploying and testing any weapons in space, not just on the moon or other celestial bodies. It would create an independent, international organization to review proposals for mining resources and establishing colonies on the moon, Mars, and beyond.

This sounds ambitious — and it is — but it’s achievable. The Antarctic Treaty of 1961 enshrines many of the same principles for activity on Antarctica, and it still works six decades later. Public opinion on space seems to be shifting, too, with growing calls to jettison colonialist views of space exploration in favor of more egalitarian approaches. If scientists, non-governmental groups, space environmentalists, and other stakeholders put pressure on the Biden administration, it could become politically feasible for the president to take a stand and jumpstart space diplomacy with the U.S.’s rivals. To the extent that it would help make space exploration sustainable, peaceful, and beneficial to all humanity, it would be worth the cost in political capital. We only have one atmosphere, one moon, and one night sky to cherish.

This article was originally published on Undark. Read the original article.

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JBL Commercial CSUM10 desktop USB microphone review: Start your podcast here

You’d think someone who literally has to dedicate an entire room to accommodating boxes upon boxes of tech gear (not counting the test cars parked outside) wouldn’t need to go out and buy their own gear. But just as the lockdown eased slightly and Amazon started delivering non-essential gear, I fished out my dusty credit card and bought Rs 25,000 worth of podcasting gear. Everything – a USB interface, a boom arm, an XLR microphone, nice monitoring headphones. The rapid output of content, however, never happened. What did happen was a massive tangle of wires across my dining table/desk, leaving little space for the occasional lockdown-experimental meal. The strangely-named JBL ‘Commercial’ CSUM10 USB microphone, however, does away with the mess.

Do you need a dedicated microphone?

Yes and no. While a high-quality microphone can add some extra radio-like crispness to your voice, it’s not entirely a given. A lot depends on your environment and your setup. The same goes for your office Zoom calls. If you’re in an echo-chamber of a room with a dog and screaming kids, your expensive microphone isn’t going to do much.

You can make do with the microphone built into your laptop, webcam or Bluetooth headset if you so choose. But you’ll need to be extra careful, stay close to the microphone and keep things quiet around your house to get decent quality. The JBL takes care of some of these issues.

An all-in-one solution

The JBL CSUM-10 is basically a microphone with a sound card built-in. It has a headphone jack and two knobs to adjust the microphone gain (sensitivity to sound) and headphone volume. The only other port is a UBS-C (yes!) that connects to your computer or other device. Then it’s simply a matter of telling your computer to use the JBL device for input and output, and you’re good to go. This lets you clean up some of the wiring that otherwise goes into multiple devices. If you’re using speakers, you don’t even need to use the headphone output.

A bonus to using a USB microphone is that they usually work with smartphones and tablets as well. The JBL was picked up immediately by my iPhone as well as Android devices, and I was able to use it with apps such as Instagram and Clubhouse. The caveat is that many of these apps aren’t designed for external microphones, so they switch to the phone’s internal microphone the moment there’s another party involved in the conversation – like a live guest or other speakers in a Clubhouse room. But that’s a software limitation. The JBL mic is blameless here.

Physically fit

The CSUM10 looks vaguely like the crowd-favourite Blue Yeti microphone, but is a lot smaller. It’s just under 7.5 inches with a 3.75-inch diameter footprint on your desk. There’s a slot for the cable to exit from behind the microphone, keeping things nice and tidy. This tiny package effectively replaced a massive lump of tech from my desk. Nothing is worth all those extra wires.

The mic is also short enough to not be in the frame if you’re using a tight shot for your content. This may be a downside, if you want a certain “look” when you’re on calls or your podcast. The unit is all-metal, and sufficiently heavy to not be easy to slap away or tip over. It’s solid and feels like quality. About the only plastic on it is in the form of the knobs, buttons and pivots for the stand.

Just the right, practical features

I’ve used a plain-Jane USB microphone before, and I missed a manual gain control to adjust how loud my voice is. Fiddling with controls on my Windows PC across app and OS settings is no fun. A simple knob does the trick, and the CSUM-10 has this. Keep in mind that this is a condenser microphone, which tends to be extremely sensitive. If the mic is a few inches away from your face, you’re unlikely to need to amp up the gain. The microphone can be mounted on a stand, but it ships with a simple desktop pedestal. Adjustment is limited to tilt in one direction. I’ve used it like this, and find it perfectly satisfactory for desktop use. Headphone output is clean and loud, and my AKG K361 monitoring headphones seem to benefit from the little extra amplification they’re receiving from the mic.

There’s also a dedicated mute button below the two knobs with an LED that turns red (from white) when the audio is muted. This is super useful, and also easy to forget (as I’ve often done). Make sure you look at the LED to ensure that you are transmitting (or not). The mute button is a dedicated hardware cut-off, and doesn’t put you on mute in Zoom or MS Teams like some of the more advanced headsets would. Your sound just goes dead.

Perhaps one of my favourite – and as yet unused – features is an extra button at the rear of the microphone body that switches the microphone from cardioid to omnidirectional pickup mode. Cardioid pickup is when the microphone picks up sound mostly from the front of the unit, and very little (if any) from the rear. This is how I use it most of the time when placed in front of me, and it works very well drowning out any keyboard clacking or mouse movement sounds from behind the microphone. Omnidirectional mode is useful if you’re conducting a table-top interview with someone, or perhaps podcasting with a guest, as sound will be picked up from all directions. Keep in mind that this is a condenser microphone, so it will pick up a lot of ambient noise as well.

Performance

The CSUM10 performs admirably in most situations. It’s easy to put to one side of your keyboard, pointed in your general direction, and have a perfectly clear conference call on whatever app you choose. Need more distance? Just add gain. However, with great power comes great responsibility, so you’ll need to turn your fan off if you don’t want the swishing of wind in your audio. Distance and gain will need experimentation in your specific circumstances. If you really want that radio voice, you’ll need to look at a dynamic microphone stuck right up to your lips, and perhaps a little processing.

During one test podcast recording, I set the gain just under the second index on the knob, and was perfectly audible, but didn’t have that extra-crispy sound I like. I’ll probably add some more gain and see how that works. The cardioid pickup pattern was wide enough in front of the microphone for it to not be finicky about where it’s placed. Dead North is ideal, but off to one side didn’t bother it too much.

An excellent, flexible starting point for audio recording

I’ve experimented with a bunch of sound recording options, from the dead-simple to the unnecessarily complicated. I’ve found the JBL CSUM10 to be an ideal solution for most people working and creating from home. It is modest in its space requirements, has an ideal set of features to make it usable on the desktop, or even in a hotel room on the go, hooked up to a smartphone. Combined with Nvidia’s Broadcast app that leverages its powerful RTX GPUs’ AI capabilities to eliminate noise and echo, the JBL CSUM10 makes me sound like I’m in a dead-silent studio, in most cases. But that setup costs significantly more than the Rs 5,299 the microphone currently costs on Amazon. I’d recommend this microphone to anyone starting off with podcasting, or wanting to add a decent, practical device for daily Zoom calls to the home office.

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Disney+ Hotstar introduces new annual plans at a starting price of Rs 499; will drop VIP plan starting September

Disney+ Hotstar has announced three new annual plans for its users in India. The three plans include Rs 499 per year for Mobile, Rs 899 per year for Super and Rs 1,499 per year for Premium. The company has announced that the new plans will roll out from 1 September. Up till now, there were two plans: Premium that is priced at Rs 1,499 per year and Rs 299 per month and VIP plan at Rs 399 per year.

The new Super plan, priced at Rs 899 per year, will give access to 2 devices simultaneously with video quality restricted to HD. On the other hand, the Rs 499 plan offers access to just one device. The Premium plan of Rs 1,499 per year remains unchanged and still offers access to 4 devices with a video quality of 4K resolution.

Starting 1 September, Disney+ Hotstar's VIP plan will be dropped. Notably, this plan offers Disney+ content and Hollywood movies in a dubbed language.

In addition to these plans, the company also announced new shows including The Empire, Human, Escaype Live, City of Dreams season 2, Criminal Justice season 3 and more.

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Jeep Meridian three-row SUV spied in India in six-seat form, launch expected in 2022

Jeep’s upcoming three-row SUV based on the Compass – rumoured to be named the Jeep Meridian – is expected to debut in India by early 2022. The new SUV will go on sale in South America first, but with the India launch not too far away, a couple of near production-ready test mules of the Jeep Meridian have now been spotted in India.

It’s clear from the spy shots that the Jeep Meridian’s face is heavily inspired by Jeep's newest offerings such as the new-gen Grand Cherokee and the Grand Wagoneer. It has the same square-jawed look with the flat, faux seven-slot grille and squared-off LED headlights. The Meridian has a more upright shape to accommodate the longer wheelbase and a noticeably extended rear overhang.

A recent set of teasers from Jeep revealed the Jeep Meridian will carry forward the same interior layout as the facelifted Compass. However, the materials and themes used will differ significantly. The pictures show the leather dash face being replaced by a suede one in the Commander, while brushed chrome finish on the Compass’ dash seems to have been replaced by rose gold highlights. Another notable change is a new steering wheel and the tan seat upholstery featuring a quilted pattern. Also seen is open-pore wood trim on the dash and door panels.

Some feature highlights visible are controls for the advanced driver assistance systems, a panoramic sunroof as well as separate climate zones for the second row. Also visible is what looks like a large foldable second-row centre armrest, for a quick conversion to a six-seater layout. Expect a separate AC blower for the last row, too, as well as USB charging ports for all passengers. These mules were configured in a six-seater captain configuration with second-row captain seats, which we expect will feature power adjustment.

Other features carried over from the 2021 Jeep Compass should be the large UConnect 5 infotainment system, the new 10.25-inch digital instrument display, auto headlights and wipers, electronic parking brake, ventilated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, eight-way adjustable front seats, an Alpine audio system, a powered tailgate, 360-degree cameras and more.

The seven-seat Jeep Meridian should get the same engine options as the Compass. The Jeep Compass is powered by a 1.4-litre petrol engine that makes 162 hp of power and 250 Nm of torque. A 2.0-litre diesel engine is also available that puts out 173 hp of power and 350 Nm of torque, coupled with a nine-speed automatic transmission or a six-speed manual, this engine may be available in a higher tune in the larger SUV. The petrol gets a seven-speed DCT. The AWD system with the many off-road modes (including the hill-descent function and low range mode) should be seen here as well.

The Jeep Meridian is expected to launch in India in early 2022 and will go up against the likes of the Ford Endeavour and Toyota Fortuner, priced at a Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh premium over equivalent Compass variants. The new SUV, codenamed the H6, will be the third of four models Jeep has planned for the Indian market, following the facelifted Jeep Compass and the locally-assembled Jeep Wrangler.

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India gives important pre-COP26 meeting in UK a miss due to 'technical difficulties'

A two-day, in-person, closed-door ministerial conference was held in London by the United Kingdom ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP26). This meeting was attended by around 50 countries' climate and environment ministers to begin talks before the important climate summit that will take place this November, in Glasgow. While 51 countries were invited to attend this primer, India was conspicuous by its absence. This comes after the country made some strong statements at the G20 meetings.

The official reason was that the minister representing India could not attend the meeting due to technical difficulties.

Gaurav Khare, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also said the government decided to skip this meeting as it had made India's stance clear during the G20 summit held on 15-16 July.

Khare said, "India attended the G20 ministerial meeting and made its stand clear. The UK climate ministerial meeting was right after that. It was being held in the middle of the Parliament session, so it was decided that this time we cannot be present physically, but we never decided not to participate."

"At an official level we wanted to participate virtually but could not because of various technical issues," he added.

A COP26 spokesperson told Bloomberg that COP26 President Alok Sharma “has constructive ongoing dialogue with his counterparts in India, having visited the country earlier this year where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

India is also the third biggest carbon emitter after China and the US. During the G20, India said developed countries should lead the way in reducing emissions, called out other countries for their carbon-neutral announcements and told them to reduce their emissions.

During the G20 Energy and Climate Joint Ministerial Meeting, Union Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh urged the G20 nations who have higher than average per capita greenhouse gas emissions to reduce them. This, he believes, will "vacate the carbon space to some extent and support the developmental aspirations of the developing nations."

The G20 was a failure in everyone's eyes, as there was no significant progress made in coming to a consensus on the wording to be used in the final climate change communique. India, Russia, China and Turkey also resisted the idea of shutting down coal power plants and fixing on a timeline to begin their phase-outs. Currently, India generates more than 40 percent of its electricity from coal.

COP26: A brief look

The UK is presiding over the meeting this year after it was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alok Sharma is heading this 197-nation summit as the President of the COP26.

"It was a hugely refreshing experience, to be sitting across the table from one another," said Sharma as he sat with the United Nations' climate chief, Patricia Espinosa, during a press conference.

"There was a sense of common endeavour and a shared desire to address the climate crisis before us", he said.

This meeting follows various natural and climate disasters that have taken place this year itself, including wildfires, heavy rains and floods, cyclones, the ocean catching on fire, droughts, etc.

Alongside the COP26 meeting, around 200 scientists from around the world are meeting online to validate the findings of the UN science report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is supposed to be released in August and is meant to help further the decisions taken during the COP26.

According to a statement released by the British government, Sharma hoped to build common ground and "sketch the outline of the Glasgow outcome."

"The world will be watching to see whether we come together in Glasgow and do what is necessary to turn things around in this decisive decade," he added.

"The dialogue has started, (but) there is a lot of homework to be done in the next 90-something days," Espinosa said.

With input from agencies

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Record 57K BTC leave exchanges in one day dropping Bitcoin reserves to pre-crash levels

57,000 BTC leaves exchanges in a single day as demand returns with Bitcoin at the upper end of its multi-month trading corridor.

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Bitcoin Strategy ProFund aims to tackle regulatory barriers for investors

Mutual funds provider ProFund aims to enable crypto exposure for investors without actually buying Bitcoin.

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India give important pre-COP26 meeting in UK a miss due to 'technical difficulties'

A two day, in-person closed-door ministerial conference was held in London by the United Kingdom ahead of the Conference of the Parties (COP26). This meeting was attended by around 50 countries' climate and environment ministers of various countries to begin talks before the important climate summit that will take place in November in Glasgow.

The UK is presiding over the meeting this year after it was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alok Sharma is be heading this 197-nation summit as the President of the COP26.

"It was a hugely refreshing experience, to be sitting across the table from one another," said Sharma as he sat along with the United Nations' climate chief, Patricia Espinosa, during a press conference.

"There was a sense of common endeavour and a shared desire to address the climate crisis before us."

This meeting is coming on the heels of various natural and climate disasters that have taken place this year itself, from wildfires, heavy rains and floods, cyclones, the ocean catching on fire, droughts, etc.

Alongside the COP26 meeting, around 200 scientists from around the world are meeting up online to validate the findings of the UN science report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report is supposed to be released in August and is supposed to help further the decisions taken during the COP26.

According to a statement released by the British government, Sharma had hoped to build common ground and "sketch the outline of the Glasgow outcome."

"The world will be watching to see whether we come together in Glasgow and do what is necessary to turn things around in this decisive decade," he added.

"The dialogue has started, (but) there is a lot of homework to be done in the next 90-something days," Espinosa said.

India gives its miss

While 51 countries were invited to attend this primer, India's presence was glaringly obvious. This comes after the country made some strong statements at the G20 meetings.

The official reason was that the minister could not attend due to technical difficulties.

Gaurav Khare, spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change also said that the government has decided to skip this meeting as they had made India's stance clear during the G20 summit that was held on 15-16 July.

Khare said, "India attended the G20 ministerial meeting and made its stand clear. The UK climate ministerial meeting was right after that. It was being held in the middle of the Parliament session, so it was decided that this time we cannot be present physically, but we never decided not to participate."

"At an official level we wanted to participate virtually but could not because of various technical issues," he added.

A COP26 spokesperson told Bloomberg that Sharma “has constructive ongoing dialogue with his counterparts in India, having visited the country earlier this year where he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

India is also the third biggest carbon emitter after China and the US. During the G20, India stated that developed countries should lead the way in reducing emissions. We also called out other countries for their carbon neutral announcements and told them to reduce their emissions.

During the G20 Energy and Climate Joint Ministerial Meeting, the Union Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh urged the G20 nations who have higher than average per capita greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce them. This he believes will "vacate the carbon space to some extent and support the developmental aspirations of the developing nations."

The G20 was a failure in everyone's eyes as it did not make any significant progress in coming to a consensus on the wording to be used in the final climate change communique. India, Russia, China and Turkey also resisted the idea of shutting down coal power plants and fixing on a timeline to begin its phase-out. Currently, India generates more than 40 percent of its electricity from coal.

With input from agencies

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iRobot Roomba i3+ vacuum cleaner Review: The price of lazy is not cheap

“You don't need a robotic vacuum cleaner, you want one.” If any of your conversations ever went like that, it would be a very different dialogue now, post-pandemic. Nine to ten hours of office work, cooking, a zillion dishes waiting in the sink and then comes cleaning. At a time like this, a robotic vacuum cleaner like the iRobot products seemed like a really tempting option. This wasn’t exactly my situation, but lounging all day and enjoying free home-cooked food without paying a penny may have guilted me into doing my bit.

I recently took up the biggest chore of the day: cleaning. I cheated, however. My performance enhancer: an iRobot Roomba i3+ vacuum cleaner; I named her Irona. Irona was the name of a member of Richie Rich's robot household staff, one that I always dreamt of having back when I was a kid.

via GIPHY

This one doesn’t quite fight villains or turn into a helicopter, but it can communicate what it needs, acts on simple voice command, manages to keep the place squeaky-clean and takes the trash out on its own! Cool!

But, like every other cool thing, it costs a bit of money.

A giant, cleaning hockey puck

If you’ve seen one robot vacuum cleaner, you’ve seen them all. They all look the same: boring, black, round like a hockey puck, just a lot bigger and bulkier. The iRobot Roomba comes with a textured top that helps keep it scratch free and clean. Unfortunately, it only comes in black. It features three physical buttons on top: Clean, Home and Spot. The Clean button lights up in different colours while performing different tasks. While cleaning, it glows white, blue when it is returning to its docking station and red while charging. Speaking of the dock, it is a dust-collecting charging unit for this vacuum cleaner. It looks subtle, does not occupy a lot of space but definitely catches the eye. It also comes with a dust bag inside it that can hold dirt for “60 days”, depending on the amount of dirt in your house.

Flipping over the vacuum cleaner, we see a dirt compartment or “Clean Base” as the company calls it, two rubber tyres and an edge sweeping brush.

Clumsy at first, but keeps the place squeaky clean!

To be honest, the first time I used this vacuum cleaner, it was quite frustrating to watch it bump into every obstacle over and over again! It felt like a hopeless situation to me.

But, to my surprise, it learnt its way around my house after a couple of attempts. You can schedule a routine; ensure that the charging dock is plugged in at the time. I was disappointed to find that I could not mark any restricted areas or assign a name for the room while assigning a cleaning job, because the i3+ does not come with smart mapping like it's pricier siblings.

I took comfort in the fact that it does the assigned job quite efficiently. It gobbled up dust and debris, and eventually made its way around stuff effortlessly such as with tables, chairs, the bed or other obstacles. You can also choose between “One Pass”, “Two Pass” and “Automatic”, so that the i3+ cleans according to your preferences.

It even managed to pick up hair and tiny particles from carpets. If you have shedding pets, you might want to look into this more seriously. Unfortunately, it did not sense that it was about to fall down a staircase. Thus, I learned the hard way that it is really important to ensure that stairs are not on its route, unless you want to supervise your automatic cleaning robot.

The headline feature of this vacuum cleaner is its self-emptying bin. Most such products come with a tiny dust container which occasionally needs to be emptied in the middle of a job, if your house is large enough. But this one makes sure that you don't have to chaperone it; it empties itself every time it returns to its dock after finishing a cleaning job.

The i3+ is quite quiet while cleaning, but light sleepers will still notice, so avoid scheduling cleanups during bedtime. It gets noisy while emptying the bin, but that lasts about 10 seconds, so it is not much bother.

As for the battery, the company did not reveal the battery capacity, the unit did clean for about 80 minutes before it needed to charge. Notably, you cannot unplug the charging station even when the vacuum cleaner is fully charged, as the battery starts draining.

User-friendly? Yes and no

The i3+ uses a companion iRobot app compatible with both Android and iOS. The app is easy to navigate and use, but it is restricted to only one user, which was quite off-putting for me. Every time someone other than me had to give the vacuum cleaner a command, they had to use the buttons, or ask me to do it.

On the bright side, a simple "ok Google, ask Irona to start vacuuming" voice command got it going. The vacuum cleaner comes with support for Alexa and Google Assistant.

The app also shows you a map of the cleaned area and how much time it took to complete. You can schedule routines for the vacuum cleaner, and just sit back and relax!

Verdict

The iRobot Roomba i3+ is a fantastic vacuum cleaner with a user-friendly app, efficient at cleaning and isn't noisy. You can get these features in competing products, but the self-cleaning feature gives it an edge.

Should you buy it? Well, that depends on whether you really NEED a robotic vacuum cleaner. Okay, it’s the pandemic and some of us are still working from home, so you probably can make the case for it. But can you make the case for its Rs 69,999 price tag? There are much cheaper options such as the Mi Robot Vacuum Mop-P at just Rs 24,999, but that needs manual cleaning of the tiny dust bin. This makes sense for most small households, but the Roomba has the edge for larger homes, where it is hands-off for the most part. We still think that it should have come with the full complement of smart mapping features, considering its prodigious price.

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