Amazon on Thursday launched two new AI gadgets that the company says can listen to conversations, compose notes and issue reminders.
The first, the Bee Frontier, is a silicone wristband that can also be clipped to clothing and retails for $74.99. Amazon also announced the Bee Eclipse, a credit card-sized device that magnetically attaches to the back of a phone and costs $99.99.
The new tech offerings are engineered by Bee, an AI wearable maker that Amazon bought last year.
Equipped with microphones, Bee’s “personal AI” devices transcribe meetings or everyday conversations, helping people document hands-free moments. The devices can then recommend “personalized goals and actions” based on the conversation, Amazon said.
“It notes the details you might otherwise forget and turns them into useful conversation summaries, to-dos, reminders and insights,” the company said in its release.
When someone plans a vacation over the phone, for example, the Bee Frontier or Bee Eclipse creates a summary of the trip, documenting details such as flight times or hotel reservations.
Amazon said users can also connect Bee to existing apps like Gmail, Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook, allowing the AI technology to draft follow-up emails or create calendar invitations based on what’s been discussed. The Bee devices can also be connected to Amazon’s Alexa + and Amazon.com.
Users can get conversation summaries, recaps and 14 days of memory for free; if they want more advanced capabilities, such as integration with Alexa + and Amazon.com and suggested to-dos, they need a Bee Pro subscription, which costs $11.99 per month.
Amazon emphasizes Bee’s privacy protections, noting that “no one, including Amazon, can access your data.” The audio recordings are deleted after the Bee devices transcribe them, and no one can access your data unless you share it, the company said.
The Bee devices are part of a trillion-dollar market of AI gadgets that companies do marketing to consumers. Meta recently announced the Muse, an AI assistant that comes in the form of a pocket-sized keychain. Microsoft, OpenAI and Samsung are among the other companies that have introduced AI-powered products to consumers.