Amazon wants to release line of Alexa-controlled home hardware

If you haven’t been caught up with the smart assistant craze yet, soon enough you won’t be able to get away from connected devices that can be controlled with voice assistants. This is what Amazon is striving to implement through its most recent hardware initiative, and heavy recent interest in IoT technologies.

“We want customers to be able to use Alexa wherever they are,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in a statement in July. “There are now tens of thousands of developers across more than 150 countries building new devices using the Alexa Voice Service, and the number of Alexa-enabled devices has more than tripled in the past year.”

If we take a minute to consider Bezos’ words from only a few months ago, as well as the company’s overall expansion strategy in various segments, it’s pretty clear Amazon has been flirting with the idea of monopolizing the market. After recently acquiring the smart doorbell Ring, Amazon has just announced its plan to release at least eight new Alexa-controlled devices, including a microwave, an amplifier and an in-car gadget, CNBC reports.

Sonos and GE are looking at some serious competition now that Amazon is making its way into the home appliances space, creating an Alexa-only ecosystem. Since there are already devices on the market that can be controlled with Alexa, what will happen when Amazon releases its own closed-circuit devices? So far there’s no mention of a data security and privacy policy covering the devices, which will end up collecting tons of consumer data.

On another note, Bloomberg reports that Amazon is even working on developing domestic robots, and is partnering up with various builders to integrate its products with smart homes of the future.