On Tuesday Amazon made a surprise debut at the Amazon’s product launch event, for Astro the companies Alexa-powered WALL-E home robot.
What we have been able to find out so far is…..
What are the Amazon Astro’s specs?
- Dimensions: 16.7x 9.8×17.3 inches and 20.6 pounds. The charger is 11×10.4×5 and 3.9 pounds.
- Battery: Astro’s lithium-ion rechargeable battery can charge in approximately 45 minutes.
- Camera: Astro has a 1080p periscope camera with a 132-degree diagonal field of view that extends 42 inches from the floor, and a 5MP bezel camera. Astro’s 10-inch HD touchscreen display has a 1,280×800-pixel resolution.
- Wi-Fi: Dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth connectivity support
- USB-C port
- Audio: Front-firing speakers and a passive bass radiator
- Processor: 2x Qualcomm QCS605, 1x Qualcomm SDA660, 1x processor with Amazon AZ1 Neural Edge
- 1-year limited warranty
- Included: Astro (device), cargo bin liner and cup holder, charger and 6-foot power cable, quick-start guide and welcome kit.
- Requirements: You’ll need an active Amazon account and a compatible mobile device running iOS 13 or higher or Android 8 or higher and the Astro app.
- Indoor use only.
How much does Amazon’s Astro cost and how do I buy it?
The Amazon Astro is a Day 1 Edition product, meaning it’s available via invite-only preorder, and unfortunately at the moment it’s only available in the US. You can sign up for an invitation to preorder the Amazon Astro today.
It’s rumoured that the household robot will initially cost $1,000, and rising to approximately $1,450.
When will Amazon release its Astro robot?
Amazon has only said that Astro will be available later this year, presumably, the Astro robot will ship to pre-order customers before Jan. 1, 2022.
The bot is designed to learn your habits to make it more useful in your everyday life. For example, Astro uses tech called Intelligent Motion to navigate your home and avoid furniture and pets, and it’s supposed to learn from how you use it. This means when you’re not using Astro, it’ll hang out in a low-traffic area close by and charge. The robot can follow you around playing podcasts and music, as well as check on others in the house remotely. Astro can also make calls, send messages and set timers, alarms and reminders. The robot even has a little detachable storage bin so you can use it to carry and deliver items, like a bottle of water, to specific people in the home by crating a visual ID of persons in the home. You can video-chat via Astro, too, and the robot will move with you, keeping you in the frame like Facebook’s Portal.
The robot can detect sounds like breaking glass or smoke detectors and alert you. If you think you forgot to turn off the stove, you can send Astro into the kitchen to check. In terms of remote elderly care, Astro can reportedly recognize faces, look for an elderly person and provide status notifications for caregivers. Plus, with future Alexa Together integration, you’d be able to set up routines for medication reminders, write shopping lists, get activity alerts or check blood pressure.
On its product page for Astro, Amazon says you can turn off mics, cameras and motion just by pressing a button. You can also use the Astro app to set up “out-of-bounds zones” that Astro isn’t allowed to go into.
Astro can also integrate with Ring’s security alarm system and Alexa Guard,Astro will patrol your house with its periscope camera, investigate any unusual activity and save videos in Ring’s cloud storage for 60 days. If Astro detects something amiss — an unidentified person or sound — it’ll alert you remotely.
Using Alexa Guard with Astro means you’ll get smart alerts for smoke detectors, the sound of breaking glass, dogs barking and motion outside. It can turn smart lights on and off, offers hands-free emergency help line calling and can play a siren when activity is detected indoors. Without an Alexa Guard subscription, Astro can still send smart alerts about smoke or carbon monoxide detection or glass breaking, and it can operate your smart lights.
There are some limitations. Astro reportedly can’t climb stairs or go outside, for example. And Amazon says that Astro can’t send smart alerts for activity sounds while it’s investigating, patrolling or otherwise in motion.
Hopefully we get to see WALL-E sorry Astro arriving here in the UK in the New Year.