Neato got on the smartphone connected robot vacuum train early on, so it’s really only fitting that the company become the first to embrace Amazon’s multi-talented home assistant. Starting this week, the company’s Botvac Connected vacuum gets Alexa integration, so users can control a clean by speaking.
The functionality is pretty basic to start, with commands like “Alexa, ask Neato to start cleaning” and “Alexa, ask Neato to pause cleaning.” Though, as the company puts it in its press release, “the possibilities are endless,” whatever that means.
To promote the newfound Skill, Neato will be bundling an Echo Dot with its connected vacuum for free, between Black Friday and December 23. Though apparently Amazon hasn’t signed off on that deal. But hey, free Amazon Echo.
The Botvac Connected, which was introduced last year, can also be started and stopped via the app and also controlled manually to get at a specific spot, allowing for a more hands-on control scheme than the crisscrossed patterned room cleans offered up by the Roomba.