After less than eight months, Amazon has discontinued the business version of its Astro security robot. GeekWire reported on Wednesday that despite being "fully committed" to its home robotics division, the company has discontinued the higher-end model that doubled as a security guard for spaces as large as 5,000 square feet. Amazon launched Astro for Business in November 2023, pitching it as a workplace security robot. The 2,350 screen-on-wheels had an HD periscope and a tangled web of subscription types and tiers, including Ring Protect Pro, Astro Security and Virtual Security Guard memberships. An Amazon spokesperson told GeekWire that it hasn't laid people off because of Astro for Business' demise, and the company plans to divert resources into its home robotics work.

Amazon on Friday announced it has agreed to acquire the vacuum cleaner maker iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns about its market power. The move is part of Amazon's bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. A slew of home-cleaning robots adds to the company's tech arsenal, making it more involved in consumer's lives beyond static things like voice control. Amazon's Astro robot, which helps with tasks like setting an alarm, was unveiled last year at an introductory price of $1,000. But its rollout has been limited and has received a lackluster response.

Amazon on Friday announced it has agreed to acquire the vacuum cleaner maker iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns about its market power. The move is part of Amazon's bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. A slew of home-cleaning robots adds to the company's tech arsenal, making it more involved in consumer's lives beyond static things like voice control. Amazon's Astro robot, which helps with tasks like setting an alarm, was unveiled last year at an introductory price of $1,000. But its rollout has been limited and has received a lackluster response.

Amazon announced it has agreed to acquire the vacuum cleaner maker iRobot for approximately $1.7bn, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns about its market power. The acquisition, announced on Friday, is part of Amazon's bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail, said Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail. The appliance would join the voice assistant Alexa, the Astro robot and Ring security cameras and others in the list of smart home features offered by the Seattle-based e-commerce and tech giant. So far, Amazon has not had much success with household robots. The company's Astro robot, which helps with tasks like setting an alarm, was unveiled last year at an introductory price of $1,000.

An iRobot Terra lawn mower is shown in Bedford, Mass., on Jan. 16, 2019. Amazon on Friday announced an agreement to acquire iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion. An iRobot Terra lawn mower is shown in Bedford, Mass., on Jan. 16, 2019. Amazon on Friday announced an agreement to acquire iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion. NEW YORK -- Amazon on Friday announced it has agreed to acquire the vacuum cleaner maker iRobot for approximately $1.7 billion, scooping up another company to add to its collection of smart home appliances amid broader concerns about its market power.

Astro uses artificial intelligence to go to spaces where it thinks it will be useful.

New York (CNN Business)Amazon's vision for the future of home security includes drones flying over your roof, outdoor cameras that monitor for possible trespassers and cute robots patrolling indoors. During an invite-only press conference on Tuesday, the company showed off an autonomous, 20-pound dog-like robot named Astro with large, cartoon-y eyes on its tablet face and a cup holder. The robot -- not unlike an Alexa on wheels -- uses voice-recognition software, cameras, artificial intelligence, mapping technology and voice- and face-recognition sensors as it zooms from room to room, capturing live video and learning your habits. Amazon also announced a subscription service called Virtual Security Guard for Ring cameras. Ring, the smart doorbell and camera company it acquired in 2018 for $1 billion, will work with third-party professional monitoring companies, such as Rapid Response, to analyze a live feed from its outdoor cameras.

The Transform Technology Summits start October 13th with Low-Code/No Code: Enabling Enterprise Agility. Why would you need a robot with a ten-inch screen, camera, sensors, and a bunch of other gadgets to go around your home and make Wall-E noises? Because Amazon thinks it might be useful in the future. Astro, Amazon's latest innovation, looks a lot like an Echo Show on wheels. It packs a lot of interesting technology and shows just how far deep learning, sensor technology, and mobile robots have come.

On September 28, Amazon introduced Astro, a "household robot." Amazon's launch video promises that the $999 robot, which is squat with two wheels and a rectangular screen that features two orbs for eyes, will be able to do things like watch your home or join impromptu dance parties. This being Amazon, there's good reason to be skeptical, especially since Astro is essentially a giant camera on wheels that will watch everything you do. So why would anyone be happy to have one in the house? The reason lies in the way our brains are wired.

About this time every year, Amazon announces a slew of new products. Some of them are fairly normal: new Echo speakers, smart screens, video doorbells. But sometimes the company will roll out something truly bonkers, like a flying home security drone or a Roomba-like robot with an extending periscope camera that wheels around your house. Outlandish or otherwise, the company's output offers a look at where it's headed. And this year, Amazon seems increasingly intent on becoming a home security company.