Amazon puts down its Astro robotic business watchdog

Amazon is axing its Astro for Business robotic security sentry just seven months after announcing the thing. The official kill command will go out on September 25, which will halt the mechanical guards for good and wipe all user data from their memory, Amazon said in an email to customers today. "We are fully committed to our …

[that one in the corner]

What is that robodog whining at now?

> I am a big believer in the long-term benefits robots will offer our customers, and advancements in generative AI make this only more exciting.

WTF is the connection between a (useful) robot and GenAI?

Your Roomba starts hallucinating piles of Dorrito crumbs and wears out the carpet trying to pick it up?

Robodog leaks oil on the kitchen floor "in the style of Monet"?

Mechabunny is given a Genuine People Personality?

[Jonathan Richards 1]

Re: What is that robodog whining at now?

Whining: because it has a pain in all the diodes down its left side.

Glad to be of service...

[Scotthva5]

Re: What is that robodog whining at now?

After wasting 30kwh of electricity ElectroPuppy tries to shag the cat after imagining it's Dua Lipa in a fur suit. Hilarity ensues.

[The Oncoming Scorn]

Re: What is that robodog whining at now?

Douglas saw that too...

Share and Enjoy,

Share and Enjoy,

Journey through life

With a plastic boy

Or girl by your side,

Let your pal be your guide.

And when it breaks down,

Or starts to annoy,

Or grinds when it moves,

And gives you no joy,

Cause it's eaten your hat,

Or had sex with your cat,

Bled oil on your floor,

Or ripped off your door,

And it gets to the point

You can't stand anymore,

Bring it to us,

We won't give a fig.

We'll tell you

Go stick your head in a pig!

[Anonymous Coward]

Leasing not buying

A handy reminder that with Amazon devices you are leasing not buying. In this case it seems a full refund is on offer but that remote kill switch is always there. Maybe they decide to end the product line, maybe Amazon goes bust (stay with me), maybe they get hacked, maybe they just don’t like you. After spending thousands of dollars on a device they still have all the power.

I just don’t like this modern trend. I think Sonos, Hewlett Packard and maybe some car manufacturers also wield this kill switch power. Not something I want to buy into, if it can be avoided.

[cornetman]

Re: Leasing not buying

Agreed. If I can't host it, I'm not interested.

[harrys]

Re: Leasing not buying

unless its dirt cheap :)

got plenty of discounted alexas, google minis, which have been used extensively over last few years

think ive got my monies worth out of them :)

if you can't beat them ... exploit them !!

[Irongut]

Re: Leasing not buying

I'm sure they got their money's worth out of you, yeah. And no I don't mean the paltry sum you paid for those devices.

[harrys]

Re: Leasing not buying

example.... got quite a few of the old google minis with the physical microphone switch...install squeezebox server and chromecast plugin and you've got an awesome whole house (better then sonos) home audio system using the minis in every room (some paired in stereo mode)

[Anonymous Coward]

Astro le petit robot

[Dan 55]

How did Big Tech make so much money in the first place if every product they launch now is discontinued within 6 months to 3 years?

[Terje]

A long long time ago the usually had a good product / service usually at the time they were run by engineers. As time went by the good product / service got marginalized MBAs got more and more power, products got worse as quality is expensive and "not profitable enough" and with the passing of time they end up as they are now.

[Anonymous Coward]

^ This. Exactly this.

[Anonymous Coward]

early adopter sold a pup

Think of it like a sort of legal Ponzi scheme. Sure you get your money back, but maybe as "credits", and without any interest. Meanwhile you've done the marketing department's job for free, to work out that the product's actually a bit of a... dog.

[Anonymous Coward]

The sound of Amazon's Robot Dog going up in smoke

Woof!

[Stuart Castle]

I'm yet to be sold on on the uses of robots for the average consumer or business. Warehouses, and factories, sure. Any large buildings that need cleaning, sure.

However, they should either operate independantly, or if they do require a server to control them, have a local option available.. It's generally not much more than an inconveniance if your consumer robot stops operating, but if a robot supporting a business stops. the business might as well. That's not good.

[Doctor Syntax]

Owners of the soon to be bricked bot are encouraged to take advantage of Amazon's recycling program not rely on IoT things in future.

Not that many will take the hint, I suppose.

[Irongut]

Not that many need to or they wouldn't be cancelling the thing.

[PB90210]

They already have all your data in the AWS cloud and now they've had a robot running around the place, taking thousands of pictures and looking for other weaknesses...

Blackmail time!!