Amazon has launched the $74.99 Bee Frontier wristband and the $99.99 Bee Eclipse phone attachment, and put the companion software behind an $11.99 monthly subscription. Neither device is on sale in Europe, where recording another person’s private speech is a criminal offence in Germany.
Amazon has launched two devices that record and summarise your day, and put the software behind a subscription. The $74.99 Bee Frontier is on sale in the US. Neither is sold in Europe.
Bloomberg reported the launch on Thursday. The card-shaped Bee Eclipse attaches magnetically to a phone and starts at $99.99, with no release date.
Frontier is lighter than the wristband it replaces, rated IP67, and good for seven days. It has dual microphones with noise filtering. The $49.99 Bee Pioneer is no longer sold.
Amazon said both devices run on Bee Private Compute, that audio is processed in real time and deleted, and that transcripts use keys only the device controls.
Bee Pro costs $11.99 a month. It adds unlimited summaries, integrations with Amazon.com, Alexa+, Gmail, Google Calendar and Outlook, and a desktop app that records Zoom calls. Free users keep 14 days of memory.
The paywall is the new part. Bee’s founder says existing customers keep their current features free. New buyers get 30 days of Pro.
Consent is the harder problem. Lawyers in four US states told Bloomberg last month that the Apple Watch’s conversation recaps may break eavesdropping law. Bee needs a button press, and Amazon says users are prompted to ask call participants.
Engadget notes the Eclipse looks enough like a battery pack that its light may not read as a recording signal. Amazon’s own release says that light is what signals a conversation is being summarised.
Meta shipped a palm-sized Muse device and audio-only glasses in September, and is building an AI pendant with a business subscription attached. Plaud added third-party integrations alongside AI earbuds in August.
Amazon discontinued its Halo health trackers in 2023. Bee is its way back into wearables.
The European absence is not a platform problem. Alexa+ has been in early access in Germany and Austria since May, and in Italy, Spain and France since spring. Amazon was beta-testing a Hindi version in June.
It is not a market problem either. Plaud opened pre-orders for $250 recording earbuds in eight countries in August, six of them European, Germany and France included.
Germany punishes recording another person’s non-public speech without authorisation with up to three years. France’s Article 226-1 carries a year and a €45,000 fine, and presumes consent only when a recording is made openly. Amazon’s prompt covers phone calls.