Always Home Cam: Amazon’s Flying Ring drone could be hard to get your hands on

Amazon announced during its fall material event Tuesday that the Ring Always Home Cam – the flying drone camera announced at the same event last year – will start selling this fall. Starting today, you can request an invitation to buy the Always Home camera.

The Ring Always Home Cam will cost $ 250 and will be able to fly around your home following a predefined flight path. You can plan a route around the house or trigger a trip manually. Additionally, the camera will be able to respond to certain events, such as an armed door / window sensor in the Ring Alarm system being triggered.

The camera is not designed to cover multiple floors, so going up or down the stairs appears to be off limits, as well as the remote, which Ring says will not be possible for security and privacy reasons. The Always Home camera will not be able to record footage while docked, and its powerful propellers will make its presence known, in case you are worried about its access to the private spaces of your home.

Ring’s privacy has been the subject of close scrutiny and harsh criticism – in particular for the way he shared user information with the police and how he facilitated the sharing of videos on his public app and with the police. Despite some recent improvements to its policies, the release of a flying drone camera complicates already difficult questions about Ring’s stance on privacy. Indoor security cameras have contributed to serious privacy breaches as they stand; Attaching propellers to one and allowing it to fly autonomously around a house potentially worsens existing problems. (Ring’s indoor cameras, including the Always Home Camera, cannot be used to respond to requests for police assistance.)

Amazon’s strategy for deploying the drone camera is perhaps more revealing than it looks. The tech giant relied on invitation-only sales when adoption of a device was uncertain – the Auto echo, Alexa microwave and other devices known as Day 1 comes to mind here. The strategy, in these cases, has been explicit: limit the initial release to gauge market interest. (UK and Australia pricing has not been announced, but $ 250 is roughly £ 185 or AU $ 345.)

The Always Home Camera has certainly made the headlines. The question is whether this will cause people to withdraw their credit cards – or their Main cards. Or maybe, possibly, ask Alexa to order it for them.

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At Tuesday’s event, Amazon also announced the Alarm Ringtone Pro, Amazon Blink, Astro, a new custom alerts feature and more. The company disclosed that Ring soon allow you to hire virtual security guards to also monitor the flow of your doorbell.