Amazon Key is a new feature that opens your door when you are not at home and delivers package. (Source: Amazon)
Amazon is taking e-commerce to extreme levels of convenience. What started with free delivery service went on to quick delivery and further to delivering via drones. Interestingly, now you don’t even need to be at home to receive your Amazon product. Amazon Key is a new service which lets a courier into your home when you are not there. It may seem like a creepy idea, but perhaps it is not. Amazon Key is a Prime members only service which uses a smart lock along with a camera. Amazon Prime members get their deliveries within a day, so there may be times when they are not in their house. Earlier the problem was solved by Amazon lockers, but now the delivery can be done directly at home.
Amazon Key essentially opens your front door and lets the package inside. The service relies on Amazon’s new service called Cloud Cam and a smart lock. The camera connects to the internet using your home WiFi. It connects to the lock via Zigbee, which is a protocol used by smart home gadgets. When you receive a package, the courier scans its barcode and then sends an access request to the company’s could service. Once the permission is received, the camera begins recording. After this, the courier person swipes a prompt on their personal phone app and your front door opens. The delivery is left at your doorstep and once they leave the door is relocked. Instantly, the user will get a notification saying that the delivery is completed. The user will also receive the video recording as a reassurance that everything is in place.
The smart lock involved in Amazon Key service is made by two big brands Kwikset and Yale. However, the camera is manufactured by Amazon. This is interesting since Amazon is getting even more aggressive in the smart home segment, where it already is ahead of most technology companies. The Cloud Cam belongs to Amazon and is a basic security cam which responds to voice commands and integrates with the Amazon Alexa. The company is expected to sell these devices soon.
The camera can be ordered by Amazon Prime members from today and will be delivered from November 8. The price of the bundled device is $249.99 (approx Rs 16,100). It includes a smart lock, a camera, and free installation. It remains to be seen when such a technology will be available in India. With Amazon Cloud Cam, the company is also reportedly planning to provide a subscription service for people who wish to archive the recordings as well as use them for monitoring their homes. With this Amazon will be in direct competition with Google’s parent company’s Alphabet’s Nest among others.
