Amazon's Ring Is Building A Mini Security Drone That Can Fly Around Your House

Ring revolutionized the home security industry with its namesake doorbell. The startup initially catapulted to mainstream attention after it showed up on the popular startup investing show “Shark Tank.” It originally was called Doorbot but rebranded to Ring shortly after its “Shark Tank” debut.

The startup didn’t get an investment from any sharks, but it did manage to get acquired by Amazon.com Inc. AMZN for $1 billion. Since it’s been under the Amazon umbrella, Ring has released a number of new and innovative solutions. Recently, Ring released its new dashcam, which contains many of the same features as its doorbell. It’s also released several other products like smart lighting and door locks.

What happened: Ring’s next-generation product, while still on-brand, is a bit less traditional. The company plans to release a mini security drone that can fly around your house. Users can program the drone to fly along custom paths to see what is happening around their house anytime from anywhere. If, for example, your front door alarm is triggered, the drone will undock and fly to the area to see what’s going on. Using the drone's built-in video camera, you can monitor anything that's happening from your phone. 

While the product won’t be available until at least 2024, this isn’t a vanity project or reach goal. The product is available for users by invitation. This shouldn’t be surprising because home security products are becoming incredibly advanced.

MaxTracker, for example, is a startup integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its security products. The startup creates small GPS trackers about the size of a thick credit card. The trackers have a battery life of up to a year and can use AI to distinguish between a bike being stolen versus getting knocked over or an older person falling down versus dropping their tracker. MaxTracker is raising funds to develop its products, meaning anyone can invest in the company for a limited time. 

Similarly, Amazon has been developing drone technology for years. It began testing Prime Air in 2013 but didn’t begin rolling out the program commercially until November. Amazon has had years of perfecting the technology, so it’s likely there will be further integrations of drone technology into the Amazon suite of products.