Smart Home companies August and Ring look set to introduce new products this year. Today we’ve got a look at August’s upcoming View doorbell cam that has a sharp aesthetic, while Ring is poised to launch its first lineup of security lights.
After August previously filing for trademark rights for View last year, Dave Zatz discovered an image of the upcoming smart doorbell today.
In a nice change from the blocky square design that August currently uses with its current Doorbell Cam Pro, the View takes a more minimal, rectangular form factor. It also brings a space gray color compared to the silver finish on the existing Doorbell Cam Pro.
The new rectangular design of August’s View also matches the hardware of its main competitor Ring (now owned by Amazon).
No pricing or release details are known yet, but we could hear more about View next week at CES.
In case you missed it, the August brand is being reinvigorated and will debut this sexy new "View" doorbell cam. https://t.co/XjcAM0YCA1 pic.twitter.com/MTcm7HI2EA
— Dave Zatz (@davezatz) January 2, 2019
As for Amazon’s Ring smart home products, it looks like we’ll soon see a dedicated lineup of security light arriving sometime soon. Again reported by Dave Zatz via The Verge, details about the Ring Beams lights have been leaked in an FCC filing.
After Amazon acquired Mr. Beams last year, the new filing shows off multiple new security light products under the Ring branding.
Here’s what Zatz reported on his blog Zatz Not Funny!:
- Ring Beams Spotlight is a single hardwired, motion controlled, and connected spotlight.
- Ring Beams Floodlight is bigger and brighter than spotlight, designed to cover larger areas. Interestingly, the motion detection system can be removed… and replaced with a Ring Spotlight Cam!
- Ring Beams Pathlight look somewhat similar to original Mr. Beams walkway lighting, but now with supercharged connectivity. Sadly, some details have yet to be revealed due to what looks like a FCC filing error.
- Rings Beams Bridge is probably a Zigbee-WiFi bridge that both the Spotlight and Floodlight require (and probably those pathway lights, too) to communicate with the Ring app and ecosystem. I assume it’ll be bundled.
- Ring Beams Landscape Transformer is a connected power source that I suspect is intended to give our existing “dumb” landscape lighting a bit more smarts through Ring app scheduling and triggers.
No pricing or release details for the new Ring security lights, but like the August View, it’s possible we could hear more as soon as next week. Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for on the ground CES coverage!
Unfortunately, we’re not expecting these new smart home products from August or Ring to include HomeKit support. But in the case of smart doorbells, there’s nothing on the market that does. Apple even entirely removed the doorbell category from its HomeKit webpage last year.
As for Ring, just about a year ago when Amazon acquired the company it said that it would still bring HomeKit support to some of the Ring products, but I’m not holding my breath.
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