Amazon’s Fall Hardware Event 2021

Today, Amazon announced new products and services for Alexa and Ring including smart speakers, a home robot, an indoor drone, and revised monitoring services. Perhaps the biggest takeaways from the event was the focus on ambient intelligence and personalization, which was mentioned many times throughout the presentations – devices in the home should be customizable and act on behalf of users. This messaging came through clearly in the demos which included customizable video and audio analytics, an Echo with multitasking features and adaptable widgets and an Echo with a projection screen that combines physical and digital spaces. Something else that came through from the demos is the focus on subscriptions. While hardware costs remain relatively low, almost everything from Ring and Amazon require a monthly fee.

Here are the highlights:

• Amazon smart thermostat
• Echo Show 15
• Amazon Glow
• Ring Always Home Cam
• Ring Alarm Pro
• Ring Virtual Security Guard
• Blink video doorbell and flood light
• Alexa together
• Analytics customization
• Astro

Amazon Smart Thermostat

The new Amazon Smart Thermostat is competitively priced at only $60, which is about $100 less than smart thermostats from Ecobee and Nest. Amazon says they worked with Resideo to develop the product, which should reassure consumers concerned about buying an Amazon Basics-type thermostat. At launch, the thermostat does not seem to have sensors that pair with it to help average-out the temperature in the home, like with Nest and Ecobee. However, many motion and window sensors also have temperature sensors, so it is possible this thermostat could tap into the features of other sensors in the home. Another advantage Nest and Ecobee retain are the integrations with utilities that offer services like time-of-use (TOU).

Overall, while this smart thermostat from Amazon cannot compete with the features of Ecobee and Nest, it offers enough to take share from the leading vendors. Another low-cost thermostat from Wyze is a no-frills device but isn’t designed like a traditional thermostat and costs $78. So, perhaps this product is more of a Wyze thermostat killer than a true competitor to leading vendors like Honeywell, Nest and Ecobee. According to Omdia’s latest smart home devices database, there were about 17 million smart thermostats shipped globally in 2020, up from about 9 million shipments in 2017.

Echo Show 15

This new smart speaker/display from Amazon is a game changer for its smart speaker lineup because it goes beyond the simple use cases of typical smart speakers with a display. For example, the Echo Show 10 was not easily customizable. Although the main slideshow could display certain pictures or news items, little else could be changed. With the Echo Show 15, widgets and multitasking are introduced. This means, users can view a recipe while watching a movie. Also, users can send messages to family members that show up as a sticky note on the screen, which is similar to the functionality of smart refrigerators, like Samsung’s Family Hub.

This speaker/display is also mountable, which means it can be in landscape or portrait in a wall. Not only that, in order to disguise itself, the display can show a family picture or artwork when not in use. Moreover, like its home robot, Astro, the display uses the latest Visual ID technology which identifies users, providing a completely unique experience.

Overall, the Echo Show 15 isn’t just another smart speaker with a display. The multi-tasking features alone set this device apart from the rest of the smart speaker market. Combined with a several installation options (on the wall or on a stand), the product is fully customizable. Moreover, with the features allowing messages to be displayed on screen, Amazon is offering products that keep people connected through its ecosystem. According to Omdia’s latest smart speaker research, there were more than 35 million smart speakers with a display shipped globally in 2020.

Amazon Glow

This product reminds me of the smart speakers and displays found in Asia, especially South Korea. In Asia, many of the smart speakers have educational features and can actually read books with children. This product goes a step further by introducing a projection screen, which at first glance, is like the PAI smart project that Bosch introduced back in 2018. Anyway, Amazon Glow creates a 19” touch-sensitive projected space. At the same time, remote family and friends can use the Glow app on a tablet to play games and interact. Video chats with augmented reality (AR) features are fun, but this Glow product from Amazon takes it a step further.

Ring Always Home Cam

Ring first introduced its drone camera last year but is now open for invite-only applications in the US. The small drone autonomously navigates a home based on personalized paths. This allows consumers to check on security concerns, confirm a window was closed or the stove turned off. As a security precaution, the drone cannot be controlled manually and can only fly on pre-determined paths. While a fixed camera offers peace of mind in terms of identifying false alarms, it cannot identify if a window was left open, a door unlocked, stove or oven left on, among other concerns homeowners often face when leaving home. This product could also be valuable for owners of rental properties or vacation homes that want to check on the status of a home remotely.

Ring Alarm Pro/ Protect Pro

The new Ring Alarm Pro combines numerous features like cellular back-up, internet security and local storage. Prior to the introduction of Alarm Pro, Ring users could get access to professional alarm monitoring for $10 per month, which also included video recording. With the introduction of this new plan, new Ring subscribers will have to pay $20 per month for professional alarm monitoring. While this is still less than traditional residential alarm companies, the monthly cost has increased 100%.

While the combination of security panel and eero router is interesting, perhaps the most compelling feature is local storage. The only downside is that users still have to subscribe to Protect plan in order to get access to the SD card storage of Ring Alarm Pro. This local storage feature combined with eero Secure means for $20 a month, users can have professional security monitoring and network security. Moreover, users can use up to 3GB of cellular data each month, in case of the internet connection is lost. This could be a big benefit for consumers living in areas with spotty internet reliability, especially when considering the new normal of working from home.

Ring Virtual Security Guard

The service works just like remote video monitoring services that are designed for SMB, enterprise, and car parks.

With VSG, Ring is partnering with a leading third-party professional monitoring company, so consumers should be less worried that Amazon or Ring is spying on them. Moreover, the service is only offered for outdoor cameras and agents cannot download, share, or save videos. How it works is if motion is detected (person detection) and the system is set to armed-stay or away mode, the agent will review the live video to determine if action is needed. If someone is acting maliciously, the agent can use two-way talk to dissuade the person. If this intervention is not successful, the agent will contact the property emergency services.

It will be an interesting service for Ring, which already offers DIY security with professional monitoring services. Moreover, Amazon announced Guard Plus about one year ago, which includes agent intervention in an emergency situation. Although the initial price is rather high, I see this as a big opportunity for SMB and homeowners that do not want to worry about looking at live video clips. From past research on remote video monitoring, the biggest takeaway was always price. The live monitoring and intervention aren’t cheap, so Ring will need to offer consumers options like weekend monitoring or weekly monitoring, rather than required monthly or annual subscription. Initially the service will be free, but the cost is set to $99 after trial period.

Blink video doorbell and floodlight camera

With more than 50 brands already offering video doorbells globally, the market is crowded. Now Blink has a camera in the game, priced at $49.99, which is the same price as the Wyze video doorbell. Also, Ring announced a new doorbell that is only $59. But field of view and aspect ratio matter. Arlo has a 180-degree field of view and 1:1 aspect ratio. Meanwhile, Wyze has a 120-degree field of view and 3:4 aspect ratio. The new Blink video doorbell has a slightly wider view of 135 degrees. Nevertheless, the Blink video doorbell offers several personalization features, like installation via power cable or battery and in white or black finish. Due to cost alone and the rise of the other Blink cameras, this will be an immediate competitor to Nest and Arlo. According to Omdia, there were about 9.6 million video doorbells shipped globally in 2020.

Alexa Together

This new service from Amazon aims to help seniors living at home or family members that may just need a little extra help configuring technology. According to Amazon, “The service takes what customers have loved about Care Hub and adds new expanded features like a 24/7 Urgent Response helpline, compatibility with third-party fall detection devices, an optional Remote Assist feature so caregivers can help set up Alexa features for their loved ones, and early next year, the ability to add multiple caregivers. Alexa Together will launch later this year and be available for $19.99 a month, after a free six-month trial for new customers or a free one-year trial for existing Care Hub customers.”

This latest subscription service is yet another attempt by Amazon to jump start the senior care/aging-in-place market. For several years, service providers and hardware brands have been attempting to do more to help seniors stay at home longer with not much to show for it, but this could soon change. Combining some of these features from Alexa Together, Astro, Care Hub, and other aging-in-place offerings, the market may be primed for big growth.

Analytics customization

Personalizing analytics could be the mega trend for 2022. Wyze already introduced its teachable AI and now Amazon introduced both sound and event alerts. With Amazon’s sound and event alerts, users can teach Alexa to recognize certain sounds like an appliance chime or a garage door opening. In terms of event alerts, the AI can be trained to alert if a garage door is open or closed or the presence of a vehicle, like the Wyze example of a trash can being left out.

The ability to train your own AI is the definition of a smart home and personalization. Although a few years ago, the idea was that the smart home would train itself, I think smart homes require more intervention to be personalized and consumers likely prefer it that way.

Astro the home robot

Astro is positioned as a multifunctional home robot that can act as a security guard, companion, or senior care facilitator. Astro starts by mapping the home by rushing around to each corner. Once mapped, the robot will ask you to take it for a tour where you can say ‘Astro, this is the kitchen or bathroom, etc.”. You have the choice of walking it around or you can just create the rooms in the dedicated app, which I found to be much easier, especially if you have an open floor plan and you want Astro to identify a kitchen, dining room and living room. To initiate live view, you first have to pair your phone with the robot by scanning a QR code during setup, which was a bonus security/privacy feature. Once the robot knows your home, you can ask it to follow you, go find someone or just go to a certain room. If you set a timer, it will come find you in the house to notify you directly.

Overall, Astro is an interesting robot that has many features beyond what many have come to expect form social robots. But for me, the periscope is the real differentiator. While it moves elegantly through the house, the position of the camera on the 10-inch screen is not ideal for security or video calls, but the periscope brings an entirely new perspective to these functions.

For more on Astro, please visit my blog post https://omdia.tech.informa.com/blogs/2021/amazon-enters-home-robot-market.

Our analysis

This year’s fall hardware event was filled with products and services that give us a glimpse of what future Amazon wants to build and it appears personalization and subscriptions are high on the list. For example, the combination of multitasking and widgets on the Echo Show 15 and options for installation are groundbreaking for the smart speaker/display market that mostly relied on voice commands and an unsophisticated UI. Moreover, the analytics customization and on-device request processes will be a trend to watch in 2022.

We have already seen a few brands this year promote the ability to teach the AI in your home and we expect this to take off even more in 2022. From a B2B perspective, Amazon showed off its ‘Hey, Disney’ features not long after Verizon did the same with their smart display. The significance of this is the customization of Alexa by brands to fit their use cases, whether it is for customer service or hotel rooms. Like the Echo Show 15, Amazon Glow is another entirely novel device that will bring families together by merging the physical and digital spaces allowing users to create their own games and use the projection screen in unique ways. Astro is another device that can be customized, to an extent, via its Visual ID. Although Astro cannot be trained and the face cannot be personalized, like other Alexa devices, its responses and access to calendars and contacts can be limited to a Child account or individual adult account.

For Ring, the Always Home Cam, yet to be released to the general public, will offer a unique security service to consumers that have anxiety about the security of their home. Like Astro, Always Home Cam won’t be for all consumers, but these devices will present new opportunities for the broader smart home market. Also, for Ring, the new monitoring services and alarm panel combine technologies for a product similar to the likes of Comcast Xfinity routers that were released a few years ago. Nonetheless, the new Ring security offering will be difficult to beat on price, especially for traditional alarm monitoring brands. For instance, the Ring Alarm Pro and Protect Pro service combines network security, pro alarm monitoring, 24/7 help line and audio analytics, to name a few. Although subscribers to the service will be forced to pay $20 a month instead of $10, the additional features you get should be a no brainer.

Meanwhile, Virtual Security Guard is an expensive proposition for consumers, at least at the start. Omdia expects this will be more suitable for small businesses, not consumers due to the cost of $99 a month per camera. Nonetheless, assigning guards to dedicated cameras hasn’t been done before in the smart home/residential market. Sure, video verification has been done for years but this is next level security surveillance meant to prevent crime, rather than react to it.

Overall, this was an impressive event from Amazon that shows the industry what smart homes could look like when including everything from smart displays to robots, drones, local/edge processing, and ultrasound (radar/lidar). The question that remains is the utility of some of these devices after the novelty wears off. Astro is a unique product that has many use cases, but OTA updates will be critical for the product to remain active in homes long term. Similarly, a drone that can navigate the home is an exciting piece of technology but what are the use cases beyond the obvious and how many times a day/week/year would it actually be used. What does hold value, I think, is the ability to train the AI, whether video or audio. This is the future of the smart home. Drones and robots for the home may have arrived a few years too soon still but the personalization, from displays to health devices and AI are the future of the smart home. A question is privacy. How will all these features and services come together in the coming years and how will it impact privacy. Amazon is moving in the right direction to have more processes done locally but more devices in the home are using radar, cameras, and audio analytics to create a ‘smarter’ smart home and it isn’t feasible to have all these processes done at the edge. For example, with Astro, the maps are created and stored on the device but if the user wants to be able to tell Astro to go check the kitchen and take a picture, there has to be cloud integrations, according to Amazon. I suppose some consumers will be willing to take the risk. Nonetheless, these announcements are a valiant effort to unite use cases in the home and people with each other.?