A short time ago Amazon revealed its Astro robot, a dinky little rolling Alexa machine with a dead-eyed stare and the ability to follow you anywhere that doesn’t include stairs. A little while after that, it launched a business version of the critter.
Astro-for-business was intended for sentry duty, fitted with a night-vision camera, two-way conversation ability, and always-on video surveillance. It also included a monthly subscription on top of the R44,000 ($2,400) price for the robot itself. Turns out, that wasn’t too popular.
Astro-no-money
Less than a year later, the robot is being retired. The in-home version is still around but the security guard model is out of work. That’s not a ‘get rid of it if you feel like it’ sort of firing either. Every one of Amazon’s business robots will cease functioning from 25 September this year.
Unlike the also soon-to-be-bricked Spotify Car Thing, Amazon has skipped over the possible customer indignation and will provide full refunds for the R44,000 purchase price, as well as a kickback of R5,500 ($330) to cover (some of) the subscription fees.
The whole Astro for Business side of Amazon is winding down at the same time, with the teams working in that section moving over to the home robotics sector. Amazon isn’t bailing on its robotics program any time soon, saying that it’s “…excited about the in-home experiences we’re inventing for Astro, and [we] look forward to sharing more in the future.”
