Amazon is heralding what it calls the “new era of security” with drone security cameras that will zoom around your home.
The idea sounds like either April Fool’s Day or something from a sci-fi show that has come to life.
Amazon’s Ring Robotics division launched Ring Drone Cam and Ring Rover Cam, which will provide “mobile, proactive protection whenever and wherever you need it.”
The company said of the systems, “it moves. It patrols. It responds. It investigates.”
“Ring Rover Cam is a purpose-built security robot for businesses that patrols autonomously, investigates disturbances, and streams in up to 4K video,” Amazon said in a news release.
The Ring Drone Cam is a “flying indoor security camera that delivers proactive whole-home visibility, flying custom routes to the spots a fixed camera can’t reach.”
Both will “patrol, investigate, and respond automatically” and are powered by AI Pilot, which maps the space and suggests patrol routes.
Amazon said that the two devices have privacy in mind. When the drone is charging on its dock, the camera is off. Rover’s periscope retracts when it’s in sleep mode, and the microphone can be turned off with a single tap. When they’re recording, each has an LED indicator, and the Rover’s screen alerts people that it is monitoring.
Ring Drone Cam will ship on Jan. 27 and will cost $249.99, while the Rover Cam will ship a few weeks earlier, on Dec. 16, and will cost $999.99, Amazon said in a news release.