Amazon Cloud Cams will be dead come December, complementary Blink Mini and Echo on offer

[Daniel Sims]

Bottom line: Amazon is notifying Cloud Cam users via email that it will stop supporting the device later this year as the company transitions to newer home security solutions. Although Amazon is offering impacted customers free upgrades, killing a product still raises e-waste concerns.

Amazon confirmed last week that it will end online services for the Cloud Cam and Cloud Cam Key Edition on December 2. After that deadline, the cameras and their companion app won't function. Amazon will delete all camera recordings, but will let users back them up before December.

Amazon introduced the Cloud Cam in 2017 as a way to keep watch inside homes from anywhere through a mobile app. The Key Edition worked with its namesake service to ensure safe Amazon deliveries. Since then, the company shifted to newer smart home devices like its Amazon Echo and Blink camera, which it's offering to Cloud Cam users for free.

The Cloud Cam's replacement -- The Blink Mini

Before December 2, Amazon will send Cloud Cam users instructions for redeeming a complimentary Blink Mini—which has similar functionality—along with a free year of the new device's subscription plan.

Cloud Cam Key Edition owners can get a free 4th generation Echo smart speaker. Unfortunately, they'll lose interoperability with Amazon Key, which now only supports Amazon's Ring Indoor Cam, Ring Stick Up Cam, and myQ Smart Garage Camera.

Due to their reliance on Amazon's servers, after December the older cameras will essentially become another obsolete paperweight. The company would do well to let users turn them in for recycling.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/94777-amazon-cloud-cams-dead-come-december-complementary-blink.html

 

[Dimitriid]

You know, the fact that they apparently would just deal with the e-waste criticism makes me think there might be more to it: Essentially it would be very little effort for them to just release a driver for the webcam so people can at least repurpose them if they want even if it's outside of their ecosystem (As a very tiny minority of users would bother to go deploy a homebrew/open source surveillance solution and would instead just take the free upgrade)

So if the solution seems simple, that tells me that there must be something that they don't want people to find out by looking at the driver details. Something to do with how Amazon is handling the information, when it is collected, who ends up having access to it, etc.

 

[wiyosaya]

Sounds about right for Amazon.

 

[DZillaXx]

You know, the fact that they apparently would just deal with the e-waste criticism makes me think there might be more to it: Essentially it would be very little effort for them to just release a driver for the webcam so people can at least repurpose them if they want even if it's outside of their ecosystem (As a very tiny minority of users would bother to go deploy a homebrew/open source surveillance solution and would instead just take the free upgrade)

So if the solution seems simple, that tells me that there must be something that they don't want people to find out by looking at the driver details. Something to do with how Amazon is handling the information, when it is collected, who ends up having access to it, etc.

That could all be patched out before opening it up to the public.

Honestly they probably have no interest dedicating employer time into this product. And most likely this has been a dead product for a long time, kept on life support by a few employees. Which is not uncommon.

 

[Milkyjoe]

If every time a camera passes the 5 year mark it gets bricked, that's gonna make a lot of waste. The should unlock it or pay for it to be recycled.