Amazon's new AI-powered Bee Frontier wearable and Bee Eclipse accessory are... kinda creepy
As long as you're not too worried by their privacy concerns, Amazon has two new "personal AI devices" you should consider if you constantly have trouble remembering your conversations.
Between Google's all-new Fitbit Air, the even newer Garmin Cirqa, and the much older but still growingly popular Whoop Band family, you could say that screenless wearables are all the rage right now.
But what if you could buy a smart band that also lacks any health monitoring and activity tracking capabilities in addition to a display? That... obviously doesn't sound very appealing, and yet Amazon seems to believe you can be convinced to spend $74.99 (plus $11.99 a month) for such a rudimentary device that's only really able to perform one task... many people consider to be a major violation of privacy.
The Bee Frontier is "personal AI you can wear on your wrist or clip on to clothes"
What does that mean exactly in terms of actual day-to-day use and utility? It's pretty simple, but also quite hard to understand why anyone would voluntarily wear the Frontier bracelet 24/7.
Designed for "people on the go who want to stay present in the moment", the Bee Frontier has as its sole goal to monitor your conversations and turn them into actionable summaries, which kind of sounds like an encouragement to... not really be present in the moment at all.
The Bee Frontier looks like it could be useful... if it wasn't so problematic from a privacy standpoint. | Image by Amazon
Of course, Amazon promises no audio is ever stored on the device itself (or anywhere else, for that reason), and all your transcripts are encrypted and carefully protected from any prying eyes. Naturally, artificial intelligence is behind the entire conversation-summarizing process, and over time, the screenless and fitness tracking-less wearable is supposed to become smarter and more useful as it starts to pick up your usage habits.
The Bee Frontier claims to be able to competently do its (one) job even in noisy and crowded environments with the help of dual microphones equipped with "advanced" noise filtering, and its (very short) list of features also includes USB-C charging, IP67 water and dust resistance, and perhaps most importantly, up to seven days of battery life.
The Bee Eclipse does the same thing for even longer
The Bee Eclipse shouldn't add too much weight to your iPhone or Android handset. | Image by Amazon
With a 4.6mm profile, this thing magnetically snaps on to your iPhone or Android handset to keep an eye (or rather an ear) on your conversations for up to 21 days on a single charge.
Like the Frontier, the Bee Eclipse doesn't really do anything else than that, strictly focusing on helping you remember the details that matter most from your business or personal talks, be them face-to-face or on the phone.
Would you ever be interested in this kind of "personal AI" gadget?
3 Votes
Both AI-powered gadgets come with a single button allowing you to easily start and stop a recording, and unfortunately, a Bee Pro subscription setting you back 12 bucks a month is needed to unlock the full power and most advanced features of both the Bee Frontier and Eclipse.
How sketchy are these products?
According to Amazon, there's absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of your data privacy and security. But a lot of Redditors are not convinced that's actually true, and even if we assume it is from a user's standpoint, there's still the issue of everyone else that the Bee Frontier and Eclipse will record with or without their consent.
Not a lot of people seem excited to give the Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse a chance. | Image by Reddit
Very simply put, many folks are describing Amazon's latest attempt at making AI ubiquitous and "helpful" for as many aspects as our daily lives as possible as "kinda creepy", and I'm not sure I can find a very solid argument to disagree with that characterization.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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