Amazon.com Inc launched two new wearables that use artificial intelligence (AI) to record and analyse a person’s day, marking the company’s efforts to reshape Bee, a startup it acquired last year to compete in the hot AI hardware segment.
On Oct 15, Amazon announced the US$75 (RM306) Bee Frontier, a lighter, smaller and water-resistant version of the original wristband. Like the old US$50 (RM204) model, it records and transcribes its owner’s activities throughout the day, recapping conversations and automatically creating to-do lists in a companion app. It comes in three colours (lavender, sage and onyx), promises seven-day battery life and is available to order in the US.
The second new Bee looks similar to one offered by rival Plaud Inc: a card-shaped recording device that can be attached to the back of a phone magnetically. The pocketable Bee Eclipse starts at US$100 (RM408), will come in four colours, and is rated for more than 21 days of battery life. Amazon didn’t say when that version will go on sale.
The new Bee line marks Amazon’s latest attempt at launching wearables after discontinuing its Halo health trackers in 2023. The competitive landscape has since evolved as a growing number of Big Tech companies are angling to capture more customers and revenue with new AI-enabled gadgets.
Last month, Apple Inc announced free always-listening features that allow users to recap conversations with its new Apple Watches, and Meta Platforms Inc released a palm-sized gadget and new audio-only smart glasses that work with its popular AI tool Muse. Plaud also launched new third-party integrations in its companion software when it announced new AI earbuds in August.
With a new US$12 (RM49) subscription plan, Amazon is introducing a business model for Bee’s companion software that puts it more in line with AI notetaking peers. The Bee Pro subscription includes unlimited conversation summaries and integrations with Amazon’s shopping site, Alexa+, Gmail, Google Calendar, Apple Health and Outlook.
Subscribers will also get access to a new desktop version of the companion app, meaning they can use the microphones on their Mac or Windows computer to capture Zoom meetings and use the Bee desktop app as a summarisation tool.
Meanwhile, users on a free plan only receive summaries and recaps for conversations in the past 14 days. New Bee customers get a 30-day free trial of the Pro tier.
Unlike Apple’s upcoming Watch features, which drew concern over their always-listening nature once users opt into the feature, Bee users need to press a button to start or stop a recording. Both companies say that their devices do not store the actual recordings of users’ daily conversations, which will be deleted after summaries and insights are produced. Amazon said users are prompted to gain permission from call participants each time a recording is started. – Bloomberg
