SEATTLE – With the Amazon Echo smart speaker rising in popularity and creating legions of voice-assistant enthusiasts, it makes sense the giant retailer would one day hit the market with its own line of compatible smart home devices, including security gear.
That day may be arriving sooner than originally anticipated. AFTVnews, the Amazon hardware news site, reported it discovered an image of an Amazon-branded security camera, which has similarities with other free-standing devices such as the Nest Cam.
AFTVnews said it located the image of the camera by script trawling Amazon’s servers, which it apparently does with regularity. In similar fashion, AFTVnews found and released pictures of the Roku 4 in 2015 before its official release. That leak turned out to be accurate.
The design of the alleged Amazon security camera bares similarities to Alexa, with a white exterior and a pivoting base. A blue ring around the camera lens would seem to share design commonalities with the blue ring that adorns the top of the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot smart speakers.
The Verge describes two microphones at the top of the device, along with what are potentially infrared sensors located at each corner of the camera for gauging movement.
With no confirmation coming from Amazon, the image may be nothing more than a prototype that unintentionally made its way on to the company’s servers. Still, the release of the photograph has created much anticipation among industry observers. Stay tuned.
