Amazon event recap — Astro robot, Echo Show 15, Echo Glow, Halo View and more

That’s a wrap on this Amazon event! Thanks for following along. Stay tuned for further coverage of all the products and services announced today. If you need us, we’ll be contemplating whether a $999 rolling robot with eyes will actually keep our home safe, or just terrorize our pets.

Astro costs $999 and is available starting today by invitation-only through Amazon’s Day One program. Are you requesting one? 

Another Ring announcement, and this one is less… drone-y. The Ring Alarm Pro updates the Ring Alarm home security system, Amazon’s smart-device powered home security system and subscription monitoring program. It’s a whole collection of devices, from door and window sensors to doorbell cameras and security cameras that can be placed around your property.

With the Ring Alarm Pro update, the home security system is significantly upgraded by merging with an Eero Wi-Fi 6 mesh router, giving you whole home Wi-Fi with speedy connectivity and network security as well as security for your physical home. The combination should protect your home inside and out, and give you a great Wi-Fi experience that also serves as the backbone for all of your ring devices.

The Ring Always Home cam drone is back, and this time you can actually order it through Amazon’s Day One program for $249.99. If you’ve ever wanted an indoor drone that can fly around your house to check on things while you’re away, this must be the Ring device you’ve been waiting for.

Amazon Halo is getting a slew of updates, starting with Halo View, a $79.99 fitness tracker with a display. As you might recall, the original Amazon Halo is a good fitness tracker but doesn’t show you the time or any workout metrics. Now, the Amazon Halo View looks more like a Fitbit, with an AMOLED display and 7 days of battery life.

The Halo View comes with a one year membership of the Amazon Halo service, which normally costs a monthly fee. The service is being updated with two key programs: Halo Fitness and Halo Nutrition.

Halo Fitness is a workout service with hundreds of studio-quality workouts led by industry experts. It also integrates with hardware for real-time metrics. Halo Fitness is rolling out later this year.

Halo Nutrition is a healthy-eating service with a meal planner that pulls from hundreds of recipes from trusted nutrition brands. The service offers pre-curated weekly menus, complete with a grocery list that merges with your Alexa shopping list. Halo Nutrition is coming early next year.

What the heck is Amazon Glow? No, not the Amazon Echo Glow smart light — Amazon Glow is a weird stand-up device with a built-in projector, pitched as a way for kids to stay connected to grandparents or friends with interactive games and activities. 

We’ve truly never seen a smart display like the Amazon Glow. It merges physical and digital objects, along with object scanning, in an ambitious attempt to help kids stay simultaneously creative and social. 

As for content, Amazon has sourced videos and games from Disney, Mattel, Nickelodeon and Sesame Workshop. It plans to work with other kid-friendly companies going forward, and is opening an SDK to developers.

The Amazon Glow is going live through the company’s Day One program, letting those who receive invites purchase the new display for an early access price of $249.99.

Wow, it looks like Amazon filmed this part of the keynote at Disneyland in California. Boy, do we wish we were there.

A new collaboration is centered around a version of Alexa called, “Hey Disney.” In Disney Parks and Resorts, the Alexa-backed AI connects guests with their favorite Disney characters. It caters the Alexa experience to Disney fans, improving guest experiences with park information, hotel services and more.

You can purchase Hey Disney separately, too. Though the partnership is clearly designed to enhance the resort and park experiences, users will have the chance to bring a bit of the magic to Echo speakers at home. Will you complete the experience with a Mickey-themed Echo Show stand?

Now for Amazon Kids Plus announcements. Amazon Kids Plus members will get more content, including the Do Re Me show, a Super Spy Me mobile game, a Lego Monkie Kid show, and a Blippi’s Treehouse series inspiring kids to be immersed in the world around them.

These shows and games will become available on Echo Show and Fire Tablet devices.

Meet the Amazon Echo Show 15, the company’s biggest smart display yet. It’s coming later this year for $249.99.

Pitched as a kitchen TV, the Echo Show 15 looks more like a smart picture frame or perhaps a Samsung Family Hub, minus the fridge. It can be wall-mounted, so you and your family can see all sorts of information and content easily.

The Amazon Echo Show 15 features a brand new user interface with Alexa widgets so you can customize the display to suit your family’s scheduling, dining and communication needs. The sticky note widget is especially cool. 

Another widget shows you controls for all the Alexa compatible devices you use most often. You can also see live Ring camera views, so you can check in on who’s at the door while you’re cooking or listening to music. 

The display offers 1080p streaming for watching the news or shows on Amazon Prime Video as well. Sling TV is coming to Echo Show devices soon, too. 

Lastly, the next-gen AZ2 processor in the new display allows for faster and smarter on-device processing. The AZ2 processor also supports visual ID, which lets the Echo Show 15 know you using the camera. Then, the display can show content personalized to your schedule or preferred content.

Amazon just announced the Amazon Smart Thermostat in partnership with Honeywell Home for $59.99. Pretty competitive price, if you ask us. Of course, the thermostat is compatible with Alexa, so you can set routines for your temperature needs throughout the day. It should work with most existing HVAC systems, too.

Time to talk privacy. According to Amazon, privacy is an opportunity for invention. Customers in the U.S. with the Echo Show 10 or latest Amazon Echo (4th Gen) can have all commands processed on-device without anything being sent to the cloud. 

Let’s talk Ambient Intelligence. Ambient Intelligence is when artificial intelligence (AI) adapts to your environment, helping you when you need it and receding into the background when you don’t. So not only does Amazon’s AI learn how to become smarter, but it learns how to grow to your life and needs. Creepy, or brilliant?

The Amazon event is happening now! It opened with a cute montage of moments captured by Alexa and Ring cameras. Just goes to show how much these smart home devices are integrated into our lives. 

Hold up! Minutes before the Amazon event is due to kick off, a few press images seemed to have seeped into the waiting room. We only caught a glimpse, but it appears the company is announcing a new Amazon Halo product, some kind of thermostat and a Disney-branded Amazon Echo. 

While we wait, let’s go over some Amazon event history. This is the second year in a row the company’s fall product event is virtual. Unlike Samsung, Google, Apple and many other big players, Amazon doesn’t open its keynotes for public viewing. That said, Amazon will share news from the event on its own live blog. Though it’s not as cool as ours, it’s a good source for learning more about the services and devices being announced today. 

Before public safety precautions caused a shift to virtual events, Amazon regularly held a fall event in person. It’s been held in the beautiful Amazon Spheres in Seattle, where following a presentation, members of the press can go hands-on with the new hardware. 

We’re about 20 minutes away from start time. Amazon has opened a virtual waiting room for the live stream, complete with a countdown timer and some tunes. Tom’s Guide is currently jamming out to Khalid’s “Better” — and we couldn’t help but wonder, is anything better than techtember? 

Are you excited for today’s Amazon event? We don’t know much about what’s coming during the keynote, but we’re game for some fun surprises. Tom’s Guide senior writer (and the voice of this live blog) Kate Kozuch took to Twitter yesterday to share some announcement predictions, given the air of mystery looming over the event. 

She’s optimistic about an Echo soundbar, as reported by Bloomberg. Her two other guesses include a portable Echo that can move around your home and a premium pair of over-ear headphones. Amazon already makes the Amazon Echo Buds and Amazon Echo Buds 2 — could the company expand its headset lineup?