However, in less than a year since its public launch, Amazon has announced that it will discontinue Astro for Business permanently.

On September 25th, all Astro Business robots will stop working, and Amazon will issue full refunds for businesses, enterprises, and individuals who purchased this model. The exact amount that will be refunded is $2,349.99 plus a $300 credit. It is important to note though that this is only true for the business model and all home versions of Astro will continue to work.

While Amazon did not close how many Astro Business robots were sold, the company’s Vice President of Hardware Engineering, Lindo St. Angel, says that he’s “increasingly convinced the progress we’re making in home robotics is where we should focus our resources,”.

In his full internal memo, he states, “We are fully committed to our vision of bringing world-class consumer robotics solutions to the home. To accelerate our progress and ongoing research to make Astro the best in-home robot, we’ve made the decision to wind down support for Astro for Business. We’re excited about the in-home experiences we’re inventing for Astro, and look forward to sharing more in the future.”.

If you’re one of the customers who bought an Astro Business Robot, then you can also scrap the idea of perhaps repurposing the bot into a home robot. Amazon spokesperson, Courtney Ramirez, confirms that the business bot cannot be converted into one for the home. However, Amazon is offering a free shipping label for its recycling program should you want to discard your unit.

Truth be told, the decision to discontinue the Astro Business Robot just less than a year after its launch is pretty alarming. It makes you wonder if this “mishap” is a telltale of what may happen in the near future with its home counterpart.

When Amazon first unveiled Astro, many critics were skeptical about the home assistant robot’s safety, functions, and technology. After listening to the market, the conglomerate has put these qualms to rest as they continue to make upgrades on Astro and improve the overall performance of the robot tremendously, perhaps even upstaging Alexa in some aspects.

Looking at the current features and commands of Amazon’s Astro, one can say that it’s like seeing Alexa on wheels. Here’s a list of what Astro can offer as your personal robot assistant at home.

Added In-Home Security

The security of the Astro home assistant robot is possibly the biggest selling point for many. Astro can act as an added in-home security feature for a homeowner who may be in or out of the house.

While Astro has a virtual face that can flash on its screen, the home assistant robot actually has a periscope camera that acts as its AI eyes that will be on the lookout for you. It can go around the house, check for any doors and windows left open, and even check on your kids and pets. If you’re also one to worry if you left the stove open or any other appliance, you can also have Astro check on it and send you a photo for confirmation.

The Astro home assistant robot can also be paired with a Ring Protect Pro subscription using Alexa Guard. This gives you another security layer as Astro can send you notifications to your phone if there are any intruders or suspicious activity happening outside your doorstep.

Simple Tasks

Although it’s no robot vacuum, the Astro can run errands that will make your life at home easier and more efficient. Using Alexa-powered voice commands, you can direct Astro to run tasks in various parts of the house.

Functioning as a home assistant robot, Astro can deliver items, charge your phone, create to-do lists, prompt reminders, and follow a person in case any assistance is needed. Astro also has facial recognition technology that will also allow it to find and remember people at home.

For pet owners, Astro can be conveniently paired with a Furbo pet camera to monitor your furry pals at home. If you’re away but want to give your dog or cat a treat, then the Astro paired with Furbo can launch them a treat for you.

Communication

Further fulfilling its duty as a home assistant robot, the Astro can help in facilitating communication tasks for you. The Astro can set video calls with your friends and family, and even follow you around the house as you do this, personally relay messages to people at home, and make emergency calls.

Entertainment

When you have a robot at home, it’s only natural for you to expect that it can also entertain you or play with your kids. Fortunately, Astro is a home assistant robot that also knows how to have fun amidst the work it has to do.

You can command Astro to dance with you as it simultaneously plays a song of your choice, beatbox as you rap, and even imitate various animal sounds. If you want to commemorate all these moments, you can even ask Astro to take a selfie with you. If you want to watch a show or movie while you’re running tasks around at home, you can have Astro follow you as it streams your program of choice on its screen.

Just for added novelty, Astro even has virtual facial expressions that will be shown on its screen. Overall, this supersedes what Alexa can do in terms of entertainment and in a sense, companionship.

Final Verdict

The Amazon Astro definitely upstages Amazon’s Alexa when it comes to performing manual tasks. Primarily, Alexa is an AI voice assistant so it will perform less than a home assistant robot even if the Astro is powered by Alexa. Ultimately, the requirements you need will determine which one of the two can be more useful. But one cannot deny just how impressive Astro is looking right now.

As Amazon continues to make upgrades and improve on Astro, the home assistant robot is currently by invitation only for a hefty $1,000 price. Once it becomes available to the mainstream market outside of Amazon Day 1, the price tag is said to increase to $1,500. With such an increase, we are left wondering what other features may we expect from Astro.

A year since its limited launch, Amazon adds new customer-inspired upgrades to their home assistant robot, Astro.

As more people return to their daily routines outside, the concern regarding home security is raised as our nests become empty for the most part. With Amazon’s home assistant robot, Astro, homeowners can leave their homes at ease because this robot is designed to patrol, monitor, and even report back to you in real-time all the activities happening inside the house.

That goes without saying that Astro can also assist you while you’re at home. When integrated with Alexa Together, the Astro robot can deliver small items like bottles and vitamins to wherever you are at home. The Astro robot can also serve as a walking and talking home assistant that will prompt reminders, timers, and alerts ensuring that you never forget an important task or date again. In case of an emergency, Astro can also be prompted to call for help via Amazon’s 24/7 Professional Urgent Response Team.

With such features and more, the $1,000 price tag of Astro can arguably be reasonable. However, after the Day One offering of Astro (by invitation only), Amazon reportedly received many customer requests to also include pet detection and specific window and door recognition features. It seems like Amazon listened as the Astro now comes with these customer-inspired upgrades!

Using a periscope camera, the Astro home assistant robot can now have an expandable view of a room and record the surroundings, including pets. For the time being, the periscope camera can only detect cats and dogs. Astro can, however, send you a short video clip of your furry friend lounging at home and even start a Live View so you can say hi to your pet in case you miss them already.

Leveraging the periscope camera and artificial intelligence upgrade, the Astro robot can now also alert you if any door or window is left open by sending you a photo of the door or window in question. Along with the photo, the Astro robot will ask for your validation if said door or window should be left open and will use your answer for future reference. With this feature, the Astro robot can give you added security may you be in or out of the house.

Seeing the imminent need for more customer-inspired upgrades in the future, Amazon will soon be sharing its software development kit (SDK) for Astro with three universities; the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and the University of Maryland.

With this move, robotics students of said universities can be part of the process of creating third-party feature development and upgrades for Astro. This also tells us that Amazon may have plans on designing Astro as a home assistant robot that can be upgraded and expanded with functions and features.

Speaking of upgrades, Amazon may be planning more up their sleeves as they have acquired iRobot, the company that built the popular Roomba robot vacuum. Perhaps with the technology of iRobot, we may see more new upgrades for the Astro robot, Alexa, and maybe even future robot pets under Amazon soon!