Every year the UNECE and International Federation of Robotics publish a worldwide report on robot sales and make predictions for the coming years. Usually it's no big deal. Last year no one but UPI and robots.net even bothered to cover the story. This year, who knows why, every new service on earth is covering it. But who are we to argue. You'll find a complete series of press releases on the UNECE site. Basically, the growth in sales so far this year has been up 26% compared to the 7.4% predicted by last year's report. Much of the growth is attributed to a takeoff in the sales of consumer robots that vacuum and mow lawns. The new report raises the prediction to 7.5% growth for the next couple of years. If you want read more detailed summaries of the report, you can find stories on SiliconValley.com, CTV.ca, The Bangkok Post, The Globe and Mail, The China Post, and, of course, Slashdot.