Amazon Key: new delivery service lets couriers unlock your front door
Amazon Key: new delivery service lets couriers unlock your front door
2017-10-25
everybody it's been popular the verge
and I'm here today checking out Amazon's
newest offering Amazon key this is a
smart home system that's going to allow
delivery people to actually open the
door get inside your house and drop off
the package so there's a couple of
pieces that make this work
there is a connected camera that Amazon
is selling and that is sort of like the
hub now the camera goes inside your
house and works with your Wi-Fi network
then there's a smart lock you have a few
options from Dave well known brands that
goes on your door now you're gonna get
an option if you live in a city with
this service when you order a package
for in-home delivery that's basically
giving permission to the delivery person
to come inside your house you'll get a
notification that they're on the way
when the delivery person shows up they
scan the barcode on the package just to
double-check that this is the right
package at the right place if everything
checks out the lock will open for them
they'll place the package inside close
the door and lock it again in fact
they'll knock first just to be polite
and make sure you don't have a big angry
dog after they've dropped off the
package you'll get a notification
confirming it and a short video just for
peace of mind so all of that is intended
to facilitate Amazon's delivery Empire
but the camera also works just like an
ordinary camera you can talk to it
has a microphone and a speaker you're
down in the basement you could say hey
Alexis show me the front door and the
system will do that Amazon will offer a
subscription that will let you save 24
hours of video or more you can get a
whole bunch of cameras it will do person
detection and zone detection all the
things you would expect from a
modern-day connected home security
camera and the lock works just like a
lock with the Amazon key app you could
give temporary permission to a friend
who's visiting from out of town or
recurrent permission to the dog-walker
who comes once a week in fact amazon is
hoping that you'll use the key with
their services division so when you
start using a service for a dog-walking
or home cleaning if it's connected and
works with Amazon's key and you can
authorize that person to come use your
home while you're at work so all this is
part of Amazon's push to get deeper and
deeper into your home and to make it
simpler than ever to order something and
have it arrive quickly and cheaply the
big question left is do you trust Amazon
do you want them to have a connected
camera in your home that's running 24/7
and a lock that works with their
delivering people to let them in and out
amazon is betting that
for the convenience of having your
packages delivered safely inside a lot
of people well if you're a Prime
customer who's interested in this you
can pre-order starting today it's two
hundred and forty nine dollars and
ninety nine cents that'll get you the
camera and the lock amazon will come and
install this stuff for you you could
also buy the camera on its own that's
one hundred and twenty bucks now
November eight is when you can download
the apps and start actually receiving
deliveries for this service and
thirty-seven cities around the nation
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.