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This week: A look at Amazon’s latest new devices and whether consumers are ready for the future the company is trying to create. Also: a new Los Angeles Apple store, Spotify prepares for iOS 15 SharePlay, and more.
The Starters
Amazon.com Inc. this past week announced a home robot and other futuristic devices in bets that its Cupertino rival Apple Inc. would likely never make.
At its annual new devices and services event, Amazon ushered in several initiatives: an Alexa and Echo partnership with Disney, a Halo fitness band with a screen, new doorbells, a smart thermostat and a Ring security kit that includes a Wi-Fi router. Those are things that a typical consumer might want in 2021. But the company’s other four launches went further, aspiring to a “Jetsons”-like future.
- A $1,500 home robot called Astro: The device has computer vision with cameras and a large touch screen, and it can follow you around to deliver you reminders, take Alexa commands, conduct video chats and monitor your home as a security device. It also has a bin so it can be used to transport small items across a home.
- The Echo Show 15: A large wall-mounted smart display that can serve as a smart home command center, a digital place to leave notes and a kitchen TV. It also has videoconferencing, Alexa and other features you’d expect from a smart screen voice assistant.
- Amazon Glow: This $250 device combines videoconferencing with a projector, and despite the novelty of the robot, I think this is the most futuristic device shown off by Amazon. The system allows two people to video chat and then can project a 19-inch touch surface onto a table for a child to play virtual board games.
- Ring Always Home Cam: This device, first announced a year ago, is an in-home drone that can fly around to monitor your house while you’re away. If your Ring alarm or another camera is triggered, the drone can fly over to see the situation and record it. It also can play an alarm sound to scare away intruders.
For many people in 2021, the Astro robot is a non-starter. Some have come away shocked at the price, but that’s not the issue ($1,500 isn’t much for the amount of advanced camera hardware, computer vision technology and artificial intelligence models built into this device—and an introductory price knocks it down to $1,000). The bigger concern is whether the functionality would actually benefit most people.
I can’t imagine many users want a robot to follow them around doing tasks that can be handed by a regular smart speaker, phone or smartwatch. In terms of the home monitoring features, Ring’s stationary devices (or even the drone) are more practical solutions.
Amazon is well aware of this. In announcing the robot, the company was quick to mention it was just the first of many robotic devices on Amazon’s road map. In fact, the product is being marketed as an invite-only “Day 1 Edition” product. That means the company doesn’t expect it to be a mass-consumer offering.
The Amazon Glow also sounds like an extremely niche product and will be sold on an invite-only basis as well. I would imagine a projection system would be finnicky, and I don’t anticipate it gaining mainstream appeal.
The Echo Show 15 is probably the device that consumers are most ready for. In fact, I’m probably going to snag one myself. I think the idea of having a big touch screen mounted onto the wall is cool—and it would be a great way to have a home command center. I can imagine that one day it could be used as a security hub and even as a thermostat replacement.
The drone is also something I would consider trying, but I think the idea of a surveillance device flying around their home could be scary to some people. It may feel intrusive, and they could be worried about it crashing into a chandelier or wall.
I think we’re years away from most of these devices going mainstream, but Amazon deserves serious credit for trying to usher in the future early. It’s taking the kind of risks that Apple avoids. The folks in Cupertino choose to focus on mainstream devices—and hold back or cancel many of their laboratory experiments.
The Bench
A giant new Apple Store is coming to LA. I went to the Grove mall in Los Angeles this past week and noticed a giant new space under construction on the right side of Nordstrom. The upcoming store is noticeably tall, wide and surrounded by materials that Apple has used in its recent retail overhauls.
There’s no signage on the construction project to indicate the builder or what store is coming to that space, but it just so happens to be across from an existing Apple store, which has been at that location for nearly two decades and is, quite frankly, aging. My friend Joseph quickly quipped that it must be a new Apple location.
Sure enough, I asked around and it sounds like the new space is indeed for a revamped Apple store at the Grove. As a local, I’m looking forward to it. But it’s unclear when it will open, and the front is so covered up that it’s hard to get a sense of the progress inside.
Spotify prepares SharePlay support for iOS 15. Spotify has complained numerous times about Apple’s policies, issues with its Apple Watch app and app rejections. But that’s not stopping the Sweden-based music service from gearing up for Apple’s latest features.
The company has started working on support for Apple’s upcoming SharePlay feature, according to early findings inside of Spotify’s iPhone app found by developer Steve Moser that were shared with Power On. Moser found a Spotify icon labeled SharePlay, indicating the early work.
Now, it’s unclear if Spotify will ultimately release the feature, but I’d be hard pressed to believe it wouldn’t. SharePlay would let two Spotify subscribers listen to the same song together over the SharePlay framework, which uses FaceTime. The Apple feature was originally planned for iOS 15.0, but then delayed to as early as iOS 15.1.
Apple fixes iPhone 13 Apple Watch unlock bug. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I think it annoyed enough iPhone 13 users to be an issue: The Apple Watch unlock feature for the iPhone (the ability to unlock your phone automatically if you’re wearing an Apple Watch and a mask) has been busted since Day One of the new phone for many users. Now Apple has fixed the issue with an iOS 15.0.1 software update. Crisis over.
Apple’s $200 billion man retires after 35 years. Gary Wipfler, Apple’s corporate treasurer and the person in charge of investing the company’s massive cash holdings, has retired from the iPhone maker after three and a half decades. Wipfler also was involved with Apple’s racial-justice and affordable-housing efforts.
The Schedule
The MacBook Pro wait is likely almost over: The new MacBook Pro didn’t appear at Apple’s September product unveiling, but it should still be launching in the coming weeks. Apple typically does its major new Mac introductions in October. So stay tuned.
Google’s Pixel 6 is near: Weeks after announcing the phone and showing off its design and some of its new features to me and other media, Google is nearing an October event to showcase the device and the rest of its capabilities to consumers.
Post Game Q&A
Q: Any update on whether we’re going to see M1X Macs this year?
Q: Can M1 Macs run Windows and Windows apps?
Q: What do you think of Jony Ive’s partnership with Ferrari on electric cars?
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