AMAZON ASTRO (ALEXA-ENABLED ROBOT) AND OTHER PRODUCTS LAUNCHED

Amazon held a fall event. At the conference, the tech giant took wraps off many new products, like an Alexa-powered home robot, the new Echo Show, a replacement kid-friendly interactive device, a replacement smart thermostat, a replacement fitness tracker, etc. Though all products deserve our attention and in-detail introduction, we'll focus more on the Amazon Astro.

Amazon Astro

Simply put, Amazon puts its Alexa assistant on wheels. The Astro may be a new robot, which uses Alexa to speak with people. As for displaying emotions, there's an outsized display. It also comes with a camera, which works through new computer vision powered feature called visual ID to acknowledge people. Interestingly, and what's more important, the date will “work with date” on the robot and won’t sent information to clouds.

As for software itself, the robot runs Fire OS. The latter is Amazon’s variant of Android without Google Mobile Services. While it sounds good, some developers think it's no ready for production and there are myriads of bugs and flaws. one among the developers worked on the Astro even described it as “terrible.”

Astro is terrible and can almost certainly throw itself down a flight of stairs if presented the chance . The person detection is unreliable at the best , making the in-home security proposition laughable.

He also doubts of its usefulness.

They’re also pushing it as an accessibility device but with the masts breaking and therefore the possibility that at any given moment it’ll kill on a flight of stairs, it’s, at best, absurdist nonsense and marketing and, at worst, potentially dangerous for anyone who’d actually believe it for accessibility purposes.

However, Amazon skilled these critiques:

These characterizations of Astro’s performance, mast, and safety systems are simply inaccurate. Astro went through rigorous testing on both quality and safety, including tens of thousands of hours of testing with beta participants. This includes comprehensive testing on Astro’s advanced safety system, which is meant to avoid objects, detect stairs, and stop the device where and when necessary.

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It’s Ready For Mass Production

The Amazon Astro weighs 10kg and it stands at two feet high. Due to the system and hardware it comes with, the robot can navigate autonomously around the house. Through sensors and advanced software, it will detect dynamic changes in the home. Plus, the robot has active and passive braking. So when a pet or a kid suddenly appears on the road, it will stop.