Amazon's latest Alexa device is a home security camera
This morning Amazon announced a new service called Key. It allows Prime customers to get in-home delivery, meaning the courier will unlock your front door and drop the package off inside. You can read all about that here. To work, Amazon is releasing a brand new gadget called the Cloud Cam. It’s a indoor home security camera that acts as the brains for a smart lock, allowing Amazon to decide when it should open your house for a delivery. But it’s also a standalone offering, and another in the growing family of Alexa-enabled devices that promise to integrate Amazon into every part of your home life.
The Cloud Cam captures 1080p resolution video, and boasts night vision, two-way audio, a wide viewing angle, and activity clips from the last 24 hours via the Amazon Cloud Cam App. You can purchase one for $119.99 or get it bundled with a smart lock for $249.99 if you’re buying the Amazon Key in-home delivery bundle. Cloud Cam also is available for less than $100 each via a two-pack for $199.99 or a three-pack for $289.99.
The device has motion detection and computer vision. The first half of that equation is pretty simple to explain. Amazon is promising that the camera will be able to detect motion and automatically record a video clip for you to review later, along with sending a notification.
The second part is more interesting but not yet fully baked. Amazon says Cloud Cam will send clips to the cloud for review. Over time, it should be able to learn what belongs in the house, like say your dog, and stop triggering alerts every time it sees the pooch walking around. “With intelligence that lives in the AWS cloud, over time you will see more advanced detection, alerts, and other new features become available in the service and on the camera itself, such as advanced audio alerts or pet detection, without having to purchase a new device.”
For now however, it sounds like those advanced features will only be available to subscribers. The basic purchase of a Cloud Cam gets you 24 hours of storage for video clips and support for three cameras with basic motion detection. Beyond that there a number of tiers with different options.
- Basic ($6.99/mo, $69/yr) offers access to the last seven days of motion detection clips for up to three cameras
- Extended ($9.99/mo, $99/yr) offers access to the last 14 days of motion detection clips for up to five cameras
- Pro ($19.99/mo, $199/yr) offers access to the last 30 days of motion detection clips for up to 10 cameras
Amazon says that each subscription offers Person Detection, which flags human activity instead of general motion (like a pet walking), and Zones, which lets you indicate certain areas of your home with motion that you want ignored (like a ceiling fan). Customers can try any subscription free for 3 days.
Each Cloud Cam has a speaker and microphone, so you can talk to your pet from work or scold your kids from the office. The camera is designed to operate as a freestanding unit or mounted to a wall, but it has to be plugged in to work.
Amazon’s hardware and subscription plans are both significantly cheaper than the comparable offerings sold by Nest. It’s also cheaper than the latest hardware and subscription offerings from Logi and is competitive with products from similar home camera companies, like Canary and Ring, as well. But at the moment, Amazon doesn’t offer the same range of models, nor does it have a camera that will work outside. Of course, Amazon’s real advantage over the competition isn’t the basic price of the device and cloud services — it’s that your hardware comes with access to secure and convenient in-home delivery. The failure or success of this device probably rests, at least at first, on how many Prime customers decide to sign up for Amazon Key.
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/25/16535002/amazon-cloud-cam-camera-alexa-key-in-home-delivery