Amazon is at the front door
In another example of the merger of home improvement and high technology, Amazon is spending a reported one billion dollars – that’s billion with a “b” – for the smart doorbell manufacturer Ring of Santa Monica, Calif.
In another example of the merger of home improvement and high technology, Amazon is spending a reported one billion dollars – that’s billion with a “b” – for the smart doorbell manufacturer Ring of Santa Monica, Calif.
The story first broke in GeekWire, which reported that Amazon is attempting to position its Echo smart speaker (the voice of Alexa) as a home technology hub.
The Ring doorbell product, shown on the shelf at a New York City Home Depot above, allows home owners to see who’s at the door. It also features two-way talk and spotlights. At Home Depot, the system sells for about $170.
Ring issued the following statement: “Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world,” a Ring spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods.”
Fans of reality television might remember the inventor of Ring, James Siminoff, pitching his idea in 2013 to the supposedly business-savvy panel of seasoned investors on “Shark Tank.” At the time, the company was called Doorbot. All of the Sharks passed.
The move wasn’t the first time for Amazon to buy a smart home company. It bought the wireless-home-security-camera maker Blink back in December. Nor was it the firstr time a Silicon Valley giant swallowed a massive price tag for a relatively small home improvement player. Back in January of 2014, Google bought Nest Labs, maker of a thermostat, for $3.2 billion in cash.
The story first broke in GeekWire, which reported that Amazon is attempting to position its Echo smart speaker (the voice of Alexa) as a home technology hub.
The Ring doorbell product, shown on the shelf at a New York City Home Depot above, allows home owners to see who’s at the door. It also features two-way talk and spotlights. At Home Depot, the system sells for about $170.
Ring issued the following statement: “Ring is committed to our mission to reduce crime in neighborhoods by providing effective yet affordable home security tools to our neighbors that make a positive impact on our homes, our communities, and the world,” a Ring spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ll be able to achieve even more by partnering with an inventive, customer-centric company like Amazon. We look forward to being a part of the Amazon team as we work toward our vision for safer neighborhoods.”
Fans of reality television might remember the inventor of Ring, James Siminoff, pitching his idea in 2013 to the supposedly business-savvy panel of seasoned investors on “Shark Tank.” At the time, the company was called Doorbot. All of the Sharks passed.
The move wasn’t the first time for Amazon to buy a smart home company. It bought the wireless-home-security-camera maker Blink back in December. Nor was it the firstr time a Silicon Valley giant swallowed a massive price tag for a relatively small home improvement player. Back in January of 2014, Google bought Nest Labs, maker of a thermostat, for $3.2 billion in cash.
