Unveilled yesterday, a new range of technologies and devices that changes the way we think about Amazon as it paves the way for the house of the future.
What is Astro?
Astro is a new and different kind of robot, one that’s designed to help us with a range of tasks like home monitoring and keeping in touch with family. It brings together new advancements in artificial intelligence, computer vision, sensor technology, and voice and edge computing in a package that’s designed to be helpful and convenient:
- Check in on your home: When you’re away, Astro helps provide the peace of mind that comes with knowing your home is safe. Astro can move autonomously around your home, navigate to check in on specific areas, show you a live view of rooms through the Astro app, or even send alerts if it detects an unrecognized person. If you want to see if you left the stove on, or to confirm you have all the ingredients you need for dinner in the pantry while you’re still at the store, you can send Astro to check or use its built-in periscope camera to take a better look. With Alexa Guard, Astro can also detect the sound of a smoke alarm, carbon monoxide alarm, or glass breaking, and send an alert to your phone—helping you keep your home safe, even when you’re somewhere else.
- Helps you look out for loved ones: Astro will be able to help customers who are remotely caring for elderly relatives and loved ones. Your loved one can ask Astro to set and deliver reminders, or you can use Drop In to stay connected. When used with Alexa Together, a new service designed to help family members feel more comfortable and confident living independently, family members can set up Reminders and receive alerts to give caregivers the reassurance that their loved ones are active and going about their day. Alexa Together also gives loved ones 24/7 hands-free access to Urgent Response, a professional emergency helpline.
- Provides peace of mind with Ring: Astro also works with Ring, adding to the peace of mind in keeping your home safe. With Ring Protect Pro, a new subscription service from Ring, you can set Astro to autonomously patrol your home when you’re out, proactively investigate when an event is detected, and automatically save video clips to your Ring cloud storage, which you can review from anywhere in the Ring or Astro apps.
- Brings Alexa to you around the home: When you’re home, Astro brings the benefits of Alexa to you, including information, entertainment, smart home control, and more. Astro can follow you from room to room while playing your favorite shows, podcasts, or music. It can also find you to deliver reminders, let you know that a timer went off, snap a family photo, and notify you of incoming Alexa calls—with the ability to follow you around your home while you are on the call.
What is Amazon Glow?
A new interactive device that brings a new magic to video calls and transforms the way kids connect with remote loved ones by participating in activities together. During video calls on Glow, kids see remote loved ones on a dedicated 8” display while reading stories, playing games, and creating art on a 19” touch-sensitive, projected space. At the same time, remote family and friends see the child on a tablet and participate in the same activities using the free Glow app. Glow creates a virtual experience that feels like being together in the same room.
“Glow brings an entirely new level of fun that lets kids be kids and welcomes grown-ups into an exciting new way to connect and bond, even when they’re far away,” said Joerg Tewes, General Manager, Amazon Glow. “We’ve created an unbreakable, supersized, projected surface like no other, fusing digital and physical fun that excites kids and delights grown-ups with all they can do together.”
- Read: Pick from thousands of children’s books to read on the 19” projected virtual space, and delight in engaging with rainbow pointers, spotlights, and word bubbles for added reading excitement
- Play: Have fun with classic games like Chess, Checkers, Go Fish, and Memory Match with new creative twists, and new games like ABC Charades and Paddle Battle
- Draw: Create art using a palette of colors with digital pencils, crayons, paint brushes, or spray paint on a variety of themed art packs. Add stickers to amp up the creativity and use the vacuum eraser for a fresh start
- Discover: Find hidden magic with animations and sounds that will delight kids and grown-ups alike; and unlock levels in games to continuously challenge young minds
These activities on Glow are made even more memorable when beloved characters join in on the fun. Glow brings the magic of Disney to life with friends like Anna and Elsa from Disney’s Frozen, Woody and Buzz from Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story, and more. Fans of Hot Wheels and Barbie will love seeing those characters from Mattel. Kids can have fun with SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer from Nickelodeon. And from Sesame Workshop, Elmo, Zoe, and many more of their friends on Sesame Street are also on Glow.
Glow blends digital and physical worlds to provide even more fun
The best of digital and physical worlds come together on Glow to fuel creativity and develop problem-solving skills for kids.
- Object scanning. Childhood dreams of turning everyday objects into digital fun are now a reality with Glow’s object scanning feature. Kids can turn a favorite toy into a custom jigsaw puzzle by smashing the digital scan of the toy into virtual pieces to reassemble. Or, scan a favorite school art project and transform it into a new masterpiece with the help of a remote loved one.
- Glow Bits. Kids and families can experience a new way to have fun with physical objects with Glow Bits learning kits. The first Glow Bits learning kit is the Tangram puzzle game, where kids use physical shapes and their remote family member uses digital shapes to solve challenges together. Tangram Bits is bundled with the purchase of Glow, and additional Glow Bits coming soon will be sold separately.
Worry-free virtual fun
Like all Amazon Kids products, Glow is built with parental controls front and center. Kids can only call pre-approved contacts that parents select. With the Amazon Parent Dashboard, parents can see who their kids are contacting. Parents can instantly disable cameras and microphones on the device by simply closing the visible privacy shutter.
“This category-defying product has been created with safety as a priority,” said Stephen Balkam, founder and CEO of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI). “By combining an ad-free, walled garden experience within the device and app, Amazon Glow will bring kids, parents, and grandparents together safely in new and highly interactive ways during these unique times.”
What is Echo Show 15?
A new addition to the Echo Show family that is designed to be the digital heart of your home. With a 15.6-inch, 1080p Full HD display, Echo Show 15 can be mounted on a wall or placed on a counter—either in portrait or landscape orientation—and is designed to help you stay organized, connected, and entertained. Echo Show 15 is built with the next-generation Amazon AZ2 Neural Edge processor, a redesigned home screen with more customization options, new personalization features with visual ID, and all-new Alexa experiences.
“Today, families juggle multiple competing priorities—what time to drop the kids off at soccer practice, what to make for dinner, or when to schedule the next appointment—the list goes on and on. With Echo Show 15, Alexa can help,” said Tom Taylor, Senior Vice President, Amazon Alexa. “Echo Show 15 brings everything that makes your household tick into one place. With a redesigned home screen and Alexa widgets, you can customize Echo Show 15 to see your shared family calendar, manage to-do lists and reminders, find meal inspiration, and keep track of your incoming packages. Plus, Echo Show 15 can adapt to your home environment with full-screen photos or art, so it’s always there when you need it, but fades beautifully into the background when you don’t.”
What is Blink?
For starters, it’s more than just a doorbell.
- Be alerted to what matters: Go wire-free and get chime app notifications and motion alerts from the Blink app or wire to also sound your existing in-home chime. Customers can choose to record, save, and share events with an optional Blink Subscription plan, or save locally with no recurring fees with a Blink Sync Module and USB flash drive (drive sold separately).
- See and speak to visitors: Receive alerts when someone is at your door and see them live in 1080p HD video day or night with infrared night vision, and speak to them using two-way audio. When installed via wiring or connected to a Blink Sync Module, enjoy on-demand live view and two-way audio.
- Enjoy long-lasting battery life: Blink Video Doorbell runs on two AA lithium batteries. When wired or paired with a Sync Module 2, the included batteries can last for up to two years. Battery life will vary based on device settings, use, and environmental factors.
- Home is in your hands: With Blink Video Doorbell you can see, hear, and speak to visitors right from the Blink Home Monitor app no matter where you are or what you’re up to. Together with Blink’s collection of smart security cameras, they create full home coverage so you can stay connected to what’s happening inside and out.
- Make an entrance: Blink Video Doorbell comes in two colors so you can select the option that best matches your home decor and aesthetic.
- Weather the storm: Blink Video Doorbell is built to withstand the elements to help you protect your home no matter what the weather may bring.
- Works with Alexa: Pair your Blink Video Doorbell with compatible Echo and Fire devices to effortlessly monitor your Blink system using voice commands with the Blink Smart Home Skill, and receive notifications when Video Doorbell is pressed and motion is detected. You can also pair Video Doorbell with a Sync Module or wire it to stream live HD video, use two-way audio, customize routines, arm/disarm devices, and more.