Amazon also appears to be making a deeper commitment to the smart home initiative.
Ecobee, a smart thermostat company based in Toronto, Canada, announced on the 7th that it has raised $62 million (about 6.6 billion yen) from Alexa Fund, an investment fund led by Amazon.
The funding comes just a week after Amazon acquired doorbell maker Ring for $1 billion. It's also been reported that Amazon's "locking out" of Nest thermostats, which were reabsorbed by Google, is partially related to this funding.
Ecobee, the smart thermostat company, raises 6.6 billion from Amazon Alexa Fund
The original text can be found at Amazon is backing Ecobee, a smart thermostat company, just days after buying Ring.
In Japan, air conditioners and other air-conditioning equipment are managed separately for each device, as a matter of course. In Europe and the United States, on the contrary, the mainstream is to manage the temperature of the entire house, and the hub of this system is the thermostat (temperature control device). The reason to invest in a thermostat is to use Amazon Echo
/Alexa as a hub to realize the smart home concept.
Amazon and Google are the undisputed winners of the "platform business". However, I feel that it is still unclear where the smartness is that can be realized just by being able to control the hardware, and how much it frees us from housework and childcare. I feel that it is still uncertain.
Personally, I would love it if the system would automatically adjust to the most comfortable room temperature and air environment, no matter how hot or cold it is outside. It's just not smart to come home and wait for the air conditioning to adjust.
