Amazon's Bee launches Frontier and Eclipse AI recorders

Bee, the maker of personal AI wearables that Amazon bought the previous year, has announced its first new hardware since the acquisition. There are two devices. The Bee Frontier is the next generation of its wearable, worn on the wrist or pinned to clothing. The Bee Eclipse is a credit card-sized recorder that attaches magnetically to the back of a smartphone.

Prices and colours

• Bee Frontier: $74.99, in Onyx, Lavender and Sage. On sale now on Amazon.
• Bee Eclipse: $99.99, in Silver, Midnight, Honey and Blush. Coming shortly after the Frontier.

The Eclipse puts Bee up against card-shaped recorders such as the Plaud Note, listed at $159, the Plaud Note Pro at $189 and the Pocket at $129.

Hardware

Both devices have a single button that switches them on and off, plus a light that shows when a conversation is being summarized. The Frontier adds dual microphones with noise filtering, IP67 water resistance, USB-C charging and up to seven days of battery life.

What the devices do

Bee listens to everyday conversations and turns them into summaries, to-dos and insights. If friends agree on a date and time, it can create a calendar invite. It can also take lecture notes or record a care plan discussed with a doctor. Free features include conversation summaries, recaps and 14 days of memory. Bee Pro, at $11.99 a month, adds unlimited summaries, suggested to-dos, daily memories, a personal chat assistant, templates and integrations with Amazon.com, Alexa+ and third-party apps.

• Bee works with Gmail, Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook to draft emails, schedule meetings and surface action items.
• Photos and Apple HealthKit data can feed into its insights.
• Optionally, Echo speakers can use Alexa Voice ID to recognize the user and record conversations for Bee.

Privacy design

Bee does not store raw audio. Audio is handled in real time and discarded afterwards. Transcripts are encrypted with keys created and held by the user's device, so Amazon employees cannot read them unless the user shares them. Transcripts and summaries can be deleted at any time. The mobile app has been redesigned, and a new desktop app has been added.