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Beyond the All-Black Cylindrical Speaker Amazon Unveils New Smart Thermostats, Ring Security Products, Halo View, and a Blink Floodlight Cam By Michael Heiss Imagine my surprise one day about seven years ago when a colleague called me to talk about “some new smart speaker thing that Amazon has just announced.” We were all amazed that it could not only play music but answer questions, set timers, and control other devices. I was a bit skeptical at first but ordered one anyway. Who would have thought that the all-black cylindrical speaker would be the start of a wide product category and offshoots like the new Ring home security products, smart thermostats, and health and fitness products that were recently introduced?
Amazon Smart Thermostat will certainly do the basics of controlling an HVAC system along with the obligatory “learning.” Along with those pros and cons, there will be one very important thing that the Amazon Smart Thermostat will have: an incredibly low price. At $59.99, it will be one of the lowest-priced Wi-Fi-controlled smart thermostats on the market. That, alone, along with its fitting into the Alexa ecosystem should make it a big seller.
different fitness routines with content available from a library of premium brands such as re•spin by Halle Berry and Orangetheory Fitness. On the nutrition side, there will be dozens of menu and diet preference options. It should come as no surprise that when viewing recipes on the app a simple click will add grocery items to a shopping list. Pricing will be $79.99, with one year of Halo membership, with additions to Halo Fitness and Halo Nutrition, both included in the app as part of Halo membership, rolling out through January 2022.
The new Halo View fitness tracker adds model with an AMOLD display to the Halo line along with significant updates to the underlying Halo service. Amazon Smart Thermostat is the company’s first entry in that growing category.
Amazon Smart Thermostat Amazon Smart Thermostat is the company’s first entry in that growing category. Developed with Honeywell’s technology, this is a rather basic unit whose features don’t compare with Nest, ecobee, and similar products. After all, it doesn’t work with remote temperature sensors, and it doesn’t have a built-in link to a speaker. It does, as one might expect, respond to commands spoken to any Alexa app or device.
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Residential Tech Today | Nov/Dec 2021
Health and Fitness With Halo View Another crowded category where Amazon is extending its offerings is in the health and fitness and “wearables” category. The new Halo View fitness tracker adds a model with an AMOLED display to the Halo line along with significant updates to the underlying Halo service. The Halo View and its associated app components will check all the expected boxes for a wearable. It features activity tracking, sleep tracking, and body assessment and nutrition coaching when used with Halo apps and other new nutrition and fitness components. The user can be guided through a variety of
Blink Doorbell Cam Ring is one category that Amazon is wellknown for, including their doorbell cams and a wide variety of security and protection-related products. Perhaps less well known is the companion Blink line, a more value-priced line of indoor and outdoor cameras. Now, however, Blink will also include its own doorbell cam, the Blink video doorbell.
