Today we're excited to announce new features for Amazon Sidewalk, the neighborhood network designed to make your devices work better both inside and outside your home. First, Tile will join Sidewalk to help you find your lost items, and Level will work with Sidewalk to conveniently control your smart locks from anywhere in the world. Second, we're introducing a new pilot program with CareBand, a company that has created a wearable technology designed to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and provide peace of mind for families. Finally, we're expanding Sidewalk support to compatible Echo devices in the U.S. starting June 8 so you can use Sidewalk for simplified new device setup and faster network reconnections.
Photo by TileFind your lost items with Tile and Sidewalk
Tile, a leading finding service that locates millions of misplaced items every single day, will join Amazon Sidewalk beginning June 14, further strengthening your Tile finding experience. Tile uses Bluetooth technology to locate lost items, and with Sidewalk, your compatible Echo devices will be able to extend Tile's network coverage even further to help you securely locate your misplaced keys, wallets, and other items.
Sidewalk will also strengthen Tile's existing in-home finding experience with Alexa. Just say, "Alexa, find my keys," and your Tile will start ringing from your coat pocket or from under the bed, signaling where to find your lost item. Additionally, if you have multiple Echo devices connected to Sidewalk, you'll be able to find your misplaced items faster around the home. For example, Alexa can tell you which Echo device your Tiled item is closest to, whether it is your kitchen speaker or your bedroom speaker, and the day and time it was last seen near that device.
"Tile helps millions of people every day find their things, and we're always looking for opportunities to enhance the finding experience for our customers. To that end, working with Amazon to extend our finding network by securely connecting to Amazon Sidewalk devices like Echo smart speakers was an obvious choice," said CJ Prober, CEO of Tile. "Amazon Sidewalk will strengthen Tile's finding power for our devices and Find with Tile device partners that leverage our finding technology, making it even easier to find lost or misplaced keys, wallets, or other Tiled items both inside and outside the home."
Photo by LevelConveniently control your entryway with Ring Video Doorbell Pro, Level, and Sidewalk
Level, which offers a portfolio of invisible smart locks for homes, now uses Amazon Sidewalk, so you can conveniently control your locks in the Ring and Level apps without needing to be in Bluetooth range of your mobile device. Instead of relying on your mobile device's Bluetooth connection, your Level lock will be able to connect directly to your compatible Ring Video Doorbell Pro device using an Amazon Sidewalk Bluetooth connection shared only between your two devices.
This means that even if you are across town, your Level lock will stay connected and provide increased convenience, greater control of your entryway, and optimized battery life. Plus, you can now see and speak with whomever is at the front door and easily lock or unlock your door, all within the Ring app. These new features are rolling out through updates in the Ring and Level apps and will be available by the end of May.
"Sidewalk is a game changer for the connected home. Level was founded to reimagine the smart home, and we create products that are simple, intuitive, and seamlessly fit into everyday life," said John Martin, CEO and co-founder of Level. "With Sidewalk, you can control your entryway from anywhere, even if you are not home, so welcoming friends and family has never been easier. We're thrilled to be one of the first Sidewalk-enabled devices and offer more value, options, and convenience to our customers."
Photo by CareBandBuilding new ways to improve your quality of life
In addition to improving devices you may already have in your home, we believe Sidewalk can help you and your community in new ways too. We're working with CareBand, a company focused on empowering people with dementia and their caregivers, to explore how Sidewalk can help improve the quality of life and the standard of care for people living with dementia. Through a new pilot program, we're combining Sidewalk's long-range connectivity with CareBand's wearable technology to support features like indoor and outdoor activity tracking, a help button, and automated analysis of activity patterns.
What makes this pilot unique is that it eliminates the need to use a smart phone or pair CareBand wearables with a Wi-Fi network. This lets Sidewalk deliver the long-range connectivity CareBand needs to help caregivers identify the onset of common behaviors, such as wandering, agitation, and apathy, so that non-pharmacological interventions are possible. With more than 50 million people living with dementia worldwide, we believe Sidewalk and CareBand together can deliver a vital service to families and caregivers.
"We know the value that CareBand produces from our NIH-funded research studies and senior living community deployments, but getting to the at-home community has been challenging without a strong, scalable, and secure network partner," said Adam Sobol, founder and CEO of CareBand. "I am extremely excited about the opportunity to work with Amazon and further CareBand's mission to empower people living with dementia. It is no secret that many older adults want to age in place, and I look forward to making this a reality with CareBand and Sidewalk."
Expanding the convenience of Sidewalk through Echo
We're also welcoming compatible Echo devices to Amazon Sidewalk beginning June 8 to provide benefits like even simpler setup and faster reconnection to your Wi-Fi router when you update your password or network name. Beyond making your Echo device work better, your compatible Echo will also help extend the coverage for Sidewalk-enabled devices like Tile, so they can stay connected and continue to work both at home and in the community. And with multiple layers of privacy and security, Sidewalk was built to keep your data secure and provide you control of your experience. Data shared over the Sidewalk network is protected with three layers of encryption, only accessible by the devices you choose, and automatically deleted every 24 hours to protect your privacy.
What's next for Sidewalk
Our long-term vision for Sidewalk is to deliver a secure, flexible network that makes devices work better for you around your home and in your community. We can't do this alone, and we're excited to work with more brands like Tile, Level, and CareBand to explore how better connectivity can make life easier, safer, and more convenient. We are very excited about the future, and we are just scratching the surface of possibilities for how better-connected devices can improve our lives.
