Amazon's smart doorbell and camera brand, Ring, is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade to its subscription services, aiming to provide users with a smarter and more comprehensive home security experience. This move not only showcases Ring's ambitions in the smart home sector but also highlights the deep integration of artificial intelligence technology into everyday life.
Starting November 5th, Ring will launch the new "Ring Home Premium" service in the United States, priced from $19.99 per month, offering advanced features such as 24/7 video recording and AI-driven video search. Meanwhile, Ring has also introduced more affordable "Ring Home Standard" and "Ring Home Basic" packages, which, although not including 24/7 recording and advanced search features, still offer multiple practical functions.
This reform of subscription services is a significant strategic move under Ring's new CEO, Liz Hamren. Hamren, who previously served as an executive at Microsoft, has brought new vitality to Ring. According to research by Parks Associates, Ring has become the second-largest security system supplier in the United States. Notably, Hamren revealed to Bloomberg in May that Ring, acquired by Amazon for $1 billion six years ago, has finally achieved profitability.
The specific changes to the new subscription plans are as follows:
- The original "Ring Protect Basic" plan has been renamed "Ring Home Basic," with a monthly fee of $4.99.
- "Ring Protect Plus" has been upgraded to "Ring Home Standard," with a monthly fee of $9.99.
- "Ring Protect Pro" is now divided into two options: "Ring Home Standard" with professional alarm monitoring (monthly fee of $19.99) and "Ring Home Premium."
All Ring Home subscribers will enjoy features such as 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 video streams for up to 30 minutes with the "Extended Live View" feature. Additionally, Ring Home Standard and Ring Home Premium users will receive "Doorbell Calls" when visitors press the doorbell, similar to a phone call alert.
However, this reform may be bittersweet for some Ring users. Starting November 5th, Ring Protect Pro users will lose features such as local video storage, internet backup, and the Amazon Eero Secure suite. If they do not have Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro devices, they will also lose the SOS emergency response feature, which is part of professional alarm monitoring. These features, along with additional new features including various surveillance functions of Amazon's home robot Astro, are now included in the Ring Home Premium package.
For new users, if they have Ring Alarm or Ring Alarm Pro devices, Amazon will start charging a $10 monthly fee for professional alarm monitoring from November 5th. It is important to note that the Ring Home Premium package does not include this service but does include the SOS emergency response feature.
To alleviate financial pressure on users, Amazon is offering existing Ring Protect Pro users a one-year trial of Ring Home Premium (including professional alarm monitoring). After the trial period, if users wish to continue using the professional alarm monitoring service, they will need to pay the full price: a $10 monitoring fee plus a $19.99 subscription fee for Ring Home Premium.
A standout feature of Ring Home Premium is the "Smart Video Search" function. This feature leverages AI technology to allow users to locate specific moments in recordings by typing text queries in the Ring app. For example, users can search for "raccoon in the backyard last night" to find out why the trash cans were overturned, or search for "red bike on the driveway" to locate a heartwarming scene of children learning to ride.
Currently, the Smart Video Search function supports searches related to animals, locations, packages, people, times, vehicles, weather, and activities such as jumping, running, playing, or riding. Amazon has implemented safety measures to prevent potentially offensive or harmful content searches and will continue to optimize this feature over time.
However, this technology has also raised concerns. A study published 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 from minority communities. In contrast, these models were less likely to use descriptions like "scouting property" or "theft tools" when analyzing footage from predominantly white communities.
In response to these potential bias issues, Ring's Eric Kuhn stated: "Ring has always been committed to providing privacy protection features for customers, and we are also committed to developing responsible AI. We have a long history of listening to and learning from customer feedback."
The introduction of Ring's Smart Video Search function marks a new era of intelligence for home security systems. With Google set to bring AI updates to its Nest cameras and doorbells, including detailed camera scene descriptions and similar natural language search capabilities, we can anticipate that AI technology will play an increasingly significant role in home security. However, while enjoying the convenience brought by AI, we must also be vigilant about potential biases and privacy issues. Striking a balance between enhancing user experience and protecting personal privacy will be a continuous challenge for Ring and other smart home companies.