Amazon's Ring brand is upgrading its home security subscription service, launching a smarter and more comprehensive Ring Home Premium service, providing users with advanced features such as 24/7 video recording, AI-driven video search, and a more affordable Ring Home Standard and Ring Home Basic package options. This move reflects Ring’s ambitions in the smart home field and its application of AI technology, and also marks the entry of home security systems into a new era of intelligence. The editor of Downcodes will explain in detail the details of this service upgrade, including the specific functions and prices of the new package and the possible impact on existing users.
Amazon’s smart doorbell and camera brand Ring is comprehensively upgrading its subscription service to bring users a smarter and more comprehensive home security experience. This move not only demonstrates Ring’s ambitions in the smart home field, but also highlights the in-depth application of artificial intelligence technology in daily life.
Starting from November 5, Ring will launch a new Ring Home Premium service in the United States, starting at $19.99 per month, providing users with advanced features such as 24/7 video recording and AI-driven video search. At the same time, Ring also launched the more affordable Ring Home Standard and Ring Home Basic packages. Although they do not include 24/7 recording and advanced search functions, they still include a number of practical functions.
This reform of subscription services is an important strategic move for Ring under the leadership of new CEO Liz Hamren. Hamren, a former Microsoft executive, breathes new life into Ring. According to research by Parks Associates, Ring has become the second largest security system supplier in the United States. Even more strikingly, Hamren revealed to Bloomberg in May that Ring had finally become profitable six years after it was acquired by Amazon for $1 billion.
The specific changes to the new subscription plan are as follows:
All Ring Home subscribers will enjoy person and package alerts, video preview alerts (short GIF previews of camera motion alerts), and 180 days of video event history. Ring Home Standard users can watch up to 30 minutes of video streaming with the Extended Live View feature. In addition, Ring Home Standard and Ring Home Premium users will also get the doorbell call function. When a visitor rings the doorbell, the user's phone will receive an alert similar to an incoming call.
However, this reform may be a mixed blessing for some Ring users. Starting November 5, Ring Protect Pro users will lose features such as local video storage, Internet backup, and Amazon's Eero Secure suite. If they don't have a Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro device, they'll also lose the SOS Emergency Response feature (which is part of professional alarm monitoring). These features and more, including various monitoring capabilities for Amazon’s Astro home robot, are now included in the Ring Home Premium package.
For new customers, Amazon will start charging $10 per month for professional alarm monitoring starting November 5 if you have a Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro device. It is worth noting that the Ring Home Premium package does not include this service, but does include the SOS emergency response function.
In order to ease users' financial pressure, Amazon provides existing Ring Protect Pro users with a one-year trial period of Ring Home Premium (including professional alarm monitoring). After the trial period ends, users who wish to continue using the professional alarm monitoring service will need to pay full price: $10 per month for monitoring plus a $19.99 Ring Home Premium subscription.
One of the highlights of Ring Home Premium is the smart video search function. The feature leverages AI technology to allow users to locate specific moments in footage by entering text queries into the Ring app. For example, users can search for raccoons in the backyard last night to find out why a trash can was knocked over, or search for red bicycles in the driveway to find heartwarming images of kids learning to ride.
Smart Video Search currently supports search queries about animals, locations, packages, people, time, vehicles, weather and activities such as jumping, running, playing or riding. Amazon says it has implemented security measures to block searches for potentially offensive or harmful content and will continue to optimize this feature over time.
However, the technology also raises some concerns. A study released by MIT in August found that commercial AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4, were more likely to recommend calling the police when analyzing Ring videos in minority communities. In contrast, when analyzing footage of predominantly white neighborhoods, the models were less likely to use descriptions such as scouting property or burglary tools.
Faced with these potential bias issues, Ring’s Eric Kuhn said: Ring has always been committed to providing customers with privacy protection features, and we are also committed to developing responsible AI. We have a long history of listening to and learning from customer feedback.
The launch of Ring’s smart video search function marks the entry of home security systems into a new era of intelligence. With Google about to bring AI updates to its Nest cameras and doorbells, including detailed camera footage descriptions and similar natural language search capabilities, we can foresee that AI technology will play an increasingly important role in the field of home security.
However, while enjoying the convenience brought by AI, we also need to be wary of the bias and privacy issues that technology may bring. How to strike a balance between improving user experience and protecting personal privacy will be an ongoing challenge for Ring and other smart home companies.
All in all, while Ring’s subscription service upgrade improves user experience, it also brings some new challenges. In the future, how Ring solves the problem of AI bias and better protects user privacy will be its continued focus. The editor of Downcodes hopes that this article can help everyone better understand the changes in Ring’s new subscription service.