Arrive Magazine - May/June, 2011

Mint floor cleaner. Move over, Roomba—here comes the competi- tion. Whisper-silent and agile around the nooks and crannies, this hardwood hero gives the incumbent robot champ a run for its crumbs. The di;erence between the two devices is that the Roomba is a vacuum whereas Mint is a broom or, if you use the wet cleaning cloth, a mop. Its NorthStar Navigation system maps out the room like a Global Positioning System, helping the cleaner dance around chair and table legs and letting the machine sprint on open ground. And because it doesn’t have rotating brushes or suction to hog power, Mint’s battery can do laps around those other robot suckers. $200; mintcleaner.com Simplehuman sensor can. I know what you’re thinking: “No one needs an auto- matically opening trash can, especially not me.” But until you’ve taken it for a test drive, you really can’t be sure. This battery- operated dustbin (with an optional wall outlet adapter) opens when it senses someone wish- ing to make a deposit. Under the lid, a carbon filter eats up undue odors and a low-power motor keeps the waste- basket from gobbling up batteries. (With average use, the sensor can should use only six C batteries per year.) The best part, should you feel the need to get hands-on with the can, is the fingerprint-proof exterior that makes your trash the cleanest looking thing in your house. $225; simplehuman.com

new new york.

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