Amazon launches robot to roll around house, Disney resort voice assistant
By Nivedita Balu and Jeffrey Dastin
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday
announced a household, canine-like robot called Astro and a deal with Walt Disney Co to imbue
its voice-controlled tech in resort hotels, striving to make its virtual aide
Alexa a bigger part of consumers' lives.
The home robot is designed to take up tasks such as home
monitoring, setting up routines and reminders, and can play music and TV shows
while rolling around the house.
The device, which has digital eyes on a rotating screen mounted on
wheels, is available at an introductory invite-only price of $999.99 and
regular price of $1,449.99.
Among other launches in its latest lineup were a smart thermostat,
smart display Echo Show 15 and a new health-tracking band called Halo View.
The Echo Show 15 can be mounted on a wall and is powered with AZ2
Neural Edge, a processor that helps users personalize the screen.
In its push to appeal to the next generation of customers - kids -
the company introduced Amazon Glow, a gadget
for playing games, reading or drawing while on a video call.
In its partnership with Disney, it will launch an Alexa-powered
voice assistant at Disney's theme park hotels, along with a paid feature that
lets customers interact with Disney characters at
home.
The feature is expected to launch next year and will let users
interact with Disney characters
with the 'Hey, Disney!' voice command.
Amazon has
launched a number of new gadgets every year, including sunglasses with voice
control and an in-home drone, that have not become massive sellers.
Devices make up for a fraction of Amazon's overall sales.
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