Amazon announced this Friday that it will be acquiring Blink, a start-up that develops battery-powered home-automation devices, like a wireless security camera and doorbell.
‘[amazon_textlink asin=’B0172DDZ5E’ text=’Blink ‘ template=’ProductLink’ store=’techprior-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’427adf0c-e955-11e7-86ea-8998c69ee1f6′] is the completely wireless home security camera that sends motion-activated alerts & HD video to your smartphone for just $99. No contract, no wires and batteries that last 2 years!’
With this, Amazon expands on its line of smart devices, with focus on the consumer markets that have started to brim with enterprise IoT products that make use of cloud-based artificial intelligence back-ends.
Blink devices are available on Amazon and are already compatible with Amazon’s Echo home assistant, which runs the Alexa voice service powered by Lex, an AWS-hosted deep learning engine for enabling natural language functions.
The news follows the previous reveal, the [amazon_textlink asin=’B075Y3CK37′ text=’DeepLens’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’techprior-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’844fc914-e956-11e7-944d-b939de1b63a0′], which is a wireless video camera integrated with deep learning hardware and tools. Developers will be able to build computer-vision models for that device.
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Blink is based in Andover and was founded in 2009, but it actually came to notice n 2014 when it raised $1 million in a Kickstarter campaign.
This comes as a necessary next step for Amazon in its competition against Google’s Alphabet as both companies are planning home automation that is compatible with their respective virtual assistant technologies.
“If you own one of our systems, nothing changes for now. We’ll continue to operate under the Amazon umbrella selling and supporting the same great products you know and love,” said the Blink website Friday. “It’s Day 1 for us at Amazon, and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can deliver to our customers together.”
The announcement was met with surprise and excitement both by users and the blink staff.
“I’m sure this came as a big surprise to everyone… The future of Blink is looking to be very exciting and we will definitely be looking at more extensive integration between Blink and all Amazon products! …” says Nick, a blink employee and an active community member.
Nick shares that the close knit group working at blink has been a key factor in their success so far. “Thanks for everyone’s support and I hope we can continue to bring you all products and features that meet your needs and desires. After all, Amazon’s mission statement is to be earth’s most customer-centric company!”
Their line of products is pretty impressive and includes Blink XT Weatherproof Camera, an Indoor Camera, a Video Doorbell and other accessories. The security system is available on pre-order now.