- Amazon’s Ring announced a new smart home security camera on Thursday called the Always Home Cam.
- It’s a tiny drone that can fly around the house when you’re away.
- The camera autonomously follows a predetermined path set by the user.
- The device is meant for users who want to keep an eye on their home without installing multiple cameras throughout the house.
- Ring also announced that it’s bringing end-to-end encryption to some products next year, coming after the company has grappled with some security concerns.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories and check out our guide to everything Ring launched here.
Delivery isn’t the only area Amazon has been exploring when it comes to autonomously flying cameras.
Ring, the security-camera company owned by Amazon, just announced a new indoor security camera that can fly around the house to keep an eye on your home while you’re away. The device, called the Ring Always Home Cam, will cost $250 when it launches in 2021, the company announced on Thursday.
The Ring Always Home Cam is intended to help users keep tabs on their home without having to install multiple cameras, the company said. Users can set a predetermined path for the Always Home Cam, and the camera can check for disturbances if a Ring Alarm is triggered.
The camera is designed to follow a path that the owner sets by carrying it around the house. The camera has a battery life of approximately five minutes, and it’s designed to make short trips of about one minute each.
The device is only capable of recording while in flight, according to Ring. When it’s not zipping around the house, the Always Home Cam sits in its dock where the camera is blocked. The flying camera will also make a sound when it flight to alert that it’s recording.
Amazon acquired Ring for $1 billion in early 2018, providing the e-commerce giant's growing hardware and smart home divisions with home surveillance capabilities. Ring, however, has run into some controversy over the past year when it comes to privacy and security.
Ring's partnerships with hundreds of police departments across the United States has caused concern among privacy advocates, civil rights groups, and lawmakers, for example.
The home security company also came under scrutiny after reports have emerged about Ring cameras being hacked. Two couples alleging that their Ring devices had been compromised by intruders filed a class action lawsuit in January. Google's Nest smart home cameras have suffered similar attacks.
In addition to announcing new devices, Ring said it also planned to improve the security of its products. Later this year, it will be launching end-to-end encryption for certain devices, although it did not yet say which products would be compatible. End-to-end encryption has long been a standard for messaging services and makes it so the only parties capable of seeing messages, video, or other content are the sender and recipient.
The Always Home Cam and end-to-end encryption support are just two of several announcements Ring made on Thursday, along with new security products for the car.