Amazon Unveils AI-Powered Smart Home Devices Ahead of Google's Announcement

Amazon Announces Dizzying Family of Ring Doorbell and Blink Security Cameras

Beating Google to the announcement of new smart home devices by a day, Amazon today unveiled a family of new Ring doorbell cameras with "Retinal Vision" -- all powered by its more intelligent and conversational Alexa+, of course. Amazon also announced new Bli If you haven't been paying attention to camera-equipped home doorbells and smart cameras that infused with AI and computer vision, new Ring cameras can send AI summary notifications that describe what's happening in footage. No more parsing through hours and hours of footage to find a specific clip. New products announced at Amazon's event include the $180 Wired Doobell Plus 2K, $60 Indoor Cam Plus 2K, $200 Outdoor Cam Pro 4K, $250 Spotlight Cma Pro 4K, $$250 Wired Doorbell Pro 4K, and $280 Floodlight Cam Pro 4K. Yeah, that's a lot of cameras. Ring founder Jamie Siminoff, who rejoined Amazon earlier this year, said with "Retinal Vision," Ring doorbell cameras will be able to see better in low light and come with 10x enhanced zoom. A feature called "Retinal Tuning" allows Ring's new smart cameras to record even better video with color night vision. "Ring reimagined what the doorbell could be, but it's now redefining what home security should be," said Amazon hardware chief Panos Panay. New Blink security cameras On the Blink home security camera front, there's the new $50 Blink Mini 2K+ and $90 Blink Outdoor 2K+. The cameras have 2K-resolution video, 4x zoom, color night vision, and improved audio capture with noise cancellation. Amazon says the batteries in the Blink cameras "last years." Then, there's the $100 Blink Arc, a security system with two cameras that cover two high-res video feeds to create a 180-degree panoramic view. "No more blind spots," Amazon claims.

Amazon launches 4K Ring cameras, AI to find lost dogs, new speakers ahead of Google Home revamp

Ahead of tomorrow's Google Home and Nest revamp, Amazon today laid out a collection of new Ring and Blink hardware, Echo speakers, and introduced a clever new AI feature that helps locate lost dogs. Starting with the camera hardware, Amazon is introducing new options from both its Ring and Blink brands. For Ring, this includes new "Retinal Vision" cameras with 4K recording. This will be available in new Wired Doorbell Pro, Spotlight Cam Pro, Floodlight Cam Pro, and Outdoor Cam Pro models, as well as in new Power over Ethernet options, including the Spotlight Cam Pro POE, Outdoor Cam Pro POE, and Wired Doorbell Elite. Amazon says that 4K recording improves all of Ring's features, as it unlocks "a new level of intelligence, where every feature becomes more effective because the foundation is crisper and closer to reality." Ring cameras with Retinal Vision support 10x zoom and improved low-light performance. A lower "Retinal 2K Vision" will also be available on Indoor Cam Plus and Wired Doorbell Plus with similar improvements, though not quite as pronounced. New AI features coming with these improved cameras include Alexa+ Greetings, which can ask questions on your behalf through a doorbell to someone coming up to your house. This also works with Familiar Faces, allowing Ring to limit notifications of routine activities by someone who comes to your home or a neighbor in view. The other new feature is "Search Party," an AI-powered feature designed to help locate lost dogs. The feature works by using a community of Ring cameras to detect dogs that might be a match to one that was reported as lost. The owner of that camera will get an alert about the lost dog their camera spotted and choose to share that footage with the dog's owner. The alert includes a picture of the lost dog as provided by the owner, as well as the relevant video clip. Amazon details pricing and availability as follows: Ring Wired Doorbell Pro ($249.99), Wired Doorbell Plus ($179.99), Outdoor Cam Pro ($199.99, $299.98 PoE), Spotlight Cam Pro ($249.99, $349.98 PoE), Floodlight Cam Pro ($279.99), Indoor Cam Plus ($59.99), and Wired Doorbell Elite ($499.99) are available for pre-order today. Search Party for dogs will start rolling out in November, followed by cats and other pets, and Alexa+ Greetings and Familiar Faces available in December. Meanwhile, Amazon's budget-focused Blink lineup is adding 2K cameras to its lineup. Alongside the resolution bump, Amazon says to expect improved low-light performance and 4x zoom. The Blink Mini 2K+ ($49.99) is an indoor camera, while Blink Outdoor 2K+ ($89.99) supports outdoor mounting and has a built-in battery. Meanwhile, Blink Arc is a 2-in-1 camera that uses two separate cameras to stitch together a 180-degree panoramic view of an area. This can use existing Blink Mini cameras or the Blink Mini 2K+, with the Arc mount costing $19.99. Amazon says this "solves a common pain point for security camera users by providing comprehensive coverage in a single view." Amazon is also introducing new smart speakers and displays. The Echo Dot Max and Echo Studio are audio-focused Alexa smart speakers with an orb design that features controls at the front surrounded by a light ring. Amazon says the $99 Echo Dot Max features "3x the bass compared to Echo Dot (5th gen)." Meanwhile, the new Echo Studio is "40% smaller than the original" and "combines a powerful high-excursion woofer that delivers deep, immersive bass and three optimally placed full-range drivers to create immersive sound that fills the room. Plus, it supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos -- some of the most advanced audio technologies available -- for a true surround sound experience." It costs $219. Echo Show 8 and Echo Show 11, meanwhile, get a redesign and updated features using the camera: With the 13-megapixel camera, Alexa recognizes when you walk up to the device, greets you, and shows you the information you want. You can see Alexa's more visual conversational responses, view your favorite photos, manage new color-coded family calendars, or get intelligent summaries of your Ring video footage -- everything appears incredibly clear, sharp, and vibrant. These all-new high-density, high-definition displays pack in over a million pixels. But we didn't stop there. We also maximized the viewable screen area, where we're surfacing even more of the content that matters to our customers most... New Echo devices will be available on October 29 for the speakers and November 12 for the smart displays. Amazon has also announced that Alexa+, its AI-upgraded and paid assistant, will be coming to third-party speakers from Bose, Sonos, Samsung, and more. Alexa+ starts rolling out to US users "in the next few weeks" with a $19.99/month fee, but it's free for Prime subscribers. This comes just a day before Google is set to unveil new Nest and Home updates, including Gemini integration in Home, new Nest cameras, and its first new speaker in years. With that in mind, what do you think of Amazon's announcements?