Leaked photos suggest Xiaomi is making a Roomba competitor

The competition: can Xiaomi beat out iRobot’s Roomba?

UPDATE: As commenter Philippe Semanaz pointed out, Xiaomi has now strongly teased that this will be launched on Wednesday, 8/31. Technically, the company still hasn’t officially confirmed anything, but based on the images it’s using, I would be shocked if a Roomba competitor isn’t unveiled on Wednesday. Original story follows:

OK, so Xiaomi isn’t having its best year ever. As far as smartphones go, it’s looking like Lei Jun’s much-hyped Chinese startup may be losing the plot.

But Xiaomi’s about much more than just smartphones these days: it’s about building a smart gadget ecosystem. And the next entry to that ecosystem could be a Roomba-like self-guiding vacuum robot.

Images (below) leaked to a Chinese message board show cardboard boxes in Xiaomi’s brown-cardboard packaging style with “Mi” branding and a printed image of a vacuum robot on the front. A leaked screenshot from an app apparently titled “Mi Home Vacuum Robot” shows a map that apparently traces the robot’s recent path inside a building and provides readouts on the battery, area cleaned, and time spent cleaning. The app also features buttons for “return to charger,” “clean out,” and “power.”

To be clear, Xiaomi hasn’t officially announced anything (we contacted the company for comment late on Friday but have yet to hear back). But Chinese media reports citing “insiders” have suggested that:

• The device will cost somewhere in the area of US$450
• It uses laser guidance to navigate
• Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun wants it to compete with the higher-cost Roomba in terms of performance capabilities
• It is being produced at Foxconn
• It may be released this week

If the Xiaomi Roomba is real – and remember that none of this has been confirmed by the company yet – it wouldn’t be Xiaomi’s first foray into smart cleaning; the company recently introduced a smart washing machine.

No word yet on whether Xiaomi’s version of the Roomba will support DJ capabilities: