Amazon unveils Astro, its adorable Alexa on wheels

It feels like someone at Amazon has been watching Wall-E obsessively, as the company has just unveiled its first robot for the home.
 
This is a product that was rumoured to be in development for some time, with reports of Vesta — the device’s codename — first appearing back in 2018. As recently as last week, Bloomberg was reporting that the device was in doubt, with even Jeff Bezos said to be unsure of its utility. 
 
But it is indeed here, with a look that is undeniably cute, with more than a passing resemblance to robots from science fiction: the shape may look similar to Wall-E, but the colour scheme is all EVE.
 
Introduced to the stage by Amazon’s senior vice president of devices and services, Dave Limp, with a simple “Astro, join me on stage”, the robot duly rolled up alongside him.  
“I’ve had this robot in my home for about a year, and it does so many delightful things,” Limp explained. “Even in homes as Alexified as mine, there’s still lots of things my home can’t do because my devices are stationary,” he continued. “This robot changes all of that: with a live view in the app, you can send it to check on specific rooms, people, things or even pets.”
 
You may think that it can’t see much given its short stature, but that’s where its built-in periscope camera kicks in. When required, a camera pops out of its head, and while the extended height wasn’t given, it certainly increases its visibility.

While Astro has the usual Echo Show functionality like video calls and showing videos, its ability to move around makes it far more useful from a security and care perspective. If you’re worried you’ve left the oven on, or want to check on the cats, you can remotely send Astro over to check in on your behalf. 

Amazon also sees it as a rudimentary care robot, able to approach elderly users with reminders to take pills at certain times or simply connecting directly for a video check-in. 
 
Of course, it has limitations. The most obvious of these is that, like current robot vacuums, it can’t go up and down staircases, meaning it’s limited to patrolling one floor. There’s also no word on battery life or how it charges, but we’d imagine something similar to a robot vacuum, where it returns to its dock to charge as required. And with a far larger body, we’d expect a bit more than the couple of hours use you typically get from a robot vacuum.
 
Then there’s the question of price and availability: “a lot” and “limited”. Amazon says that Astro will sell for $1,450 (~£1,071) and will be available via invitation only, with no mention of it going for sale outside the US. However, there is a bit of a discount for early adopters, with an introductory price of $1,000 (~£739) when it goes on sale later this year.