Amazon unveiled a bunch of new products on Thursday, September 24, including Ring’s Always Home Cam.
The Always Home Cam is a security drone designed to fly autonomously from room to room to check that your property is secure while you’re out. It does, of course, connect to your smartphone, so if there is an unwelcome visitor, you’ll be able to watch your home being burglarized in real time instead of being surprised about it when you arrive home.
But according to Ring’s first video ad (below) for the new device, the company hopes that the mere sight of a camera-equipped drone buzzing menacingly in the air will be enough to prompt an intruder to flee before they have a chance to nab something.
The ad shows the burglar forcing his way into a house, causing Ring’s $250 Always Home Cam to spring into action. The homeowner receives an alert on his phone and watches the drone’s livestream as the flying machine makes its way through the property until it locates the unwanted guest.
While it’s true that a more determined burglar might knock the drone out of the air or throw something over it — or even steal it — the one in the ad is visibly alarmed to be confronted by a security drone. Unwilling to wait around to see if it has a firearm attached (spoiler: it doesn’t), he immediately performs an about-face.
Ever get a Ring Alarm alert and want to immediately see what's happening? The Ring Always Home Cam is here to help. This compact, lightweight, autonomously flying indoor camera gives even greater visibility when you’re not home. Learn more: https://t.co/A62pZUuYDa [US Only] pic.twitter.com/13cXKtEeSs
— Ring (@ring) September 24, 2020
The idea behind the security drone appears to be that you won’t have to buy separate cameras for each room. But you will have to trust its autonomous flying capabilities, and be confident it won’t spook any pets you have every time the machine fires up to patrol your home.
Ring’s Always Home Cam reminds us of the Aire in-home security drone from a few years ago, which, funnily enough, looked rather like a flying Amazon Echo. But that product never made it to market.
It also brings to mind Sunflower Labs’ Bee security drone that’s specially designed to patrol the outside of your home, though that particular product is still in development.
Here’s everything announced at Amazon’s 2020 event this week.
