[Jiggly]

Amazon has announced a new home-assistant style robot: Astro the home robot. To me, it looks like a remote controlled Alexa on wheels, with a camera. They claim it's more than an Alexa on wheels and they give the example that they programmed it with expressions and movements. To me that sounds very gimmicky. As for keeping an eye on pets - I'm not sure I'd keep this anywhere near pets. Can you imagine the damage they'd do to some expensive tech? It it pretty cute, though. I'm getting Wall.ie and Eve vibes.

Code:

The company said it can be remote-controlled when not at home, to check on pets, people, or home security. It can also patrol a home automatically and send owners a notification if it detects something unusual. Amazon said it was more than "Alexa with wheels" and had been programmed with a range of movements and expressions to give it personality. It demonstrated asking Astro to "beatbox" - and the robot bopped its head and made expressions while playing hip-hop beats. Amazon was also keen to pre-empt privacy concerns. It said Astro can be set with "out of bounds" zones, so it cannot go into certain areas, or could be set to "do not disturb". It also features buttons to turn off cameras and microphones - though it loses its ability to move around when they are switched off.

Source

[mothered]

I actually expected the cost to be a lot more.

for sale at an introductory price of $999.99. But it's not for sale to just anyone -- purchase of the Astro is by invitation only for now. And $999.99 is just the introductory price for the Astro. Once it's fully launched, it will cost $1,449.99.

Source.

[Accident Man]

A robot that follows you around to gather intel on you, which will be collected and sold to third parties? No thank you.

[Jiggly]

A robot that follows you around to gather intel on you, which will be collected and sold to third parties? No thank you.

Supposedly it won't. Because Amazon is greedy and wants to keep the data to themselves.

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I actually expected the cost to be a lot more.

for sale at an introductory price of $999.99. But it's not for sale to just anyone -- purchase of the Astro is by invitation only for now. And $999.99 is just the introductory price for the Astro. Once it's fully launched, it will cost $1,449.99.

Source.

If it has any success, I imagine the price would drop over time. How much was a Roomba when those came out? XD

[mothered]

If it has any success, I imagine the price would drop over time.

Agreed.

Most tech-based products tend to drop In value over time.

How much was a Roomba when those came out? XD

I remember the first Roomba was released In early 2000, but I don't recall the cost.

[Jiggly]

If it has any success, I imagine the price would drop over time.

Agreed.

Most tech-based products tend to drop In value over time.

How much was a Roomba when those came out? XD

I remember the first Roomba was released In early 2000, but I don't recall the cost.

In fairness, even now some of the nicer models are in the thousands.

[mothered]

If it has any success, I imagine the price would drop over time.

Agreed.

Most tech-based products tend to drop In value over time.

How much was a Roomba when those came out? XD

I remember the first Roomba was released In early 2000, but I don't recall the cost.

In fairness, even now some of the nicer models are in the thousands.

My goodness, I didn't expect that.

I was thinking more along the lines of $400-$600.

[Accident Man]

I wonder if Amazon is still working on their flying indoor cam.

[msch0ft]

The problem I see with these kinds of products is that someone might visit another person's house, and have no choice but to give up their data to amazon or whatever. This sucks, basically you can never be certain that your conversations are private, unless you never attend that person's home or check before hand if they have an alexa, google home, or this crap.

I can't wait until we get on to developing free and open alternatives, with better security.

[Jiggly]

Agreed.

Most tech-based products tend to drop In value over time.

I remember the first Roomba was released In early 2000, but I don't recall the cost.

In fairness, even now some of the nicer models are in the thousands.

My goodness, I didn't expect that.

I was thinking more along the lines of $400-$600.

For the most, I think the more normal models are xD