Amazon Launched Astro, Its First Home Robot

An e-commerce giant, Amazon, announced on Tuesday its long-rumored home robot Astro. According to the company, it will sell the home robot for $999. Remarkably, Astro is a strange gadget for Amazon to launch as the firm is best known as an online store.

It’s significant to mention that Astro is a “Day 1 Edition” product, meaning that it won’t be sold to everyone at first. The company will ask individuals to sign up and then invite them to order the robot. Notably, that enables Amazon to avoid building too many gadgets it won’t sell.

According to the company, Astro will go on sale later this year. However, Amazon didn’t provide a specific launch date.

Astro is the size of a small dog. It roams around your home on three wheels. Two big wheels prevent it from getting stuck, while a smaller one is for rotating. Remarkably, Astro has a camera that rises up on a 42-inch arm and can keep an eye on your house as Astro patrols while you’re away.

Amazon Is Bullish on Robots, and It Has a Lot of Ideas on How to Make Them Better

Moreover, it can follow you around and play music or display TV shows on its 10-inch touchscreen. It can even recognize faces. Remarkably, users can use the cameras for home security or for video chat. Besides, the cameras are used to create a map of your house when you set Astro up for the first time. You can talk to Astro like you’d talk to an Echo or Alexa. You can also play movies or TV shows like you would on an Amazon tablet or Fire TV.

Users can also control Astro remotely from a phone app, which is helpful if you want to keep an eye on an aging family member. Furthermore, Amazon will sell a third-party insert made by Omron that fits into the back storage compartment and can hold a blood pressure cuff. It will enable people to control Astro remotely and remind individuals to check their blood pressure.

As Astro doesn’t have hands, it can’t pick things up. It also can’t go up or downstairs, so it’s really only suitable for one floor of a house.

Amazon is bullish on robots, and it has a lot of ideas on how to make them better. As we know, Amazon Echo was first launched in 2014. Now millions of people have one in their houses. Amazon’s goal for Astro is to be in every home.