Amazon announces pet tracking Fetch, which uses the new Sidewalk network

Amazon has announced a new secure wireless standard called Amazon Sidewalk, a low-bandwidth protocol designed to power very low-power devices and connect them over long distances. The first device to use this new standard is a necklace connected to Amazon called Ring Fetch, designed to allow you to track your dog, allowing you to fence your garden and be alerted to his departure.

Fetch uses the new Amazon Sidewalk network standard. Sidewalk uses a 900 MHz spectrum and, according to Amazon, operates over distances up to 500m and even up to one kilometer with a network of access points. Amazon said it had distributed 700 devices to its employees, friends and family, and the LA Bassin network was fully covered by the network in three weeks.

Image: Amazon

Amazon wants the secure protocol to be used in low-cost devices ranging from smart lighting to weather sensors and rain sensors in your mailbox. He hopes that this protocol will allow devices with exceptionally long battery life of a year or more. It also supports automatic updates to help your devices receive the security updates they need.

Sidewalk joins a range of wireless standards for Internet of Things devices, which Amazon already uses in one form or another for its own products. Ring products currently use Z-Wave, Echos use Zigbee, and Eero supports Thread.

Amazon has admitted on stage that its new wireless standard was still in its infancy, but said it will be released today for developers so that it can see what they've built for it. The animal tracking, Ring Fetch, will arrive next year, the company announced.