Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Smart Home

Amazon Glow projects fun activities onto surfaces to keep kids entertained

Kelly Hodgkins
By

Amazon held its annual fall hardware event today, announcing more than a handful of new devices and services, including the new Amazon Glow for kids. The Glow allows the younger generation to connect with family members and trusted friends in a way that goes way beyond a video call.

Kids can talk with and see their family or friends using the 8-inch LCD display, but that’s just the beginning. The Glow’s killer feature is a 19-inch, touch-sensitive projected area and object scanning feature that creates a virtual play area for the kids and their remote family members or friends.

Recommended Videos

The immersive communications device merges the physical world with the virtual, enabling kids to interact with physical objects while the remote viewers can respond virtually. A drawing can become a puzzle that the child and the remote relative can work on together. Remote callers don’t even need a Glow device. They can interact using a tablet and the Glow app.

Child using the Amazon Echo Glow.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Glow ships with a wide variety of hands-on activities that are bundled into the Amazon Kids+ service. Kids and their remote family members can read books together, play games, and even create works of art. It’ll ship with content from Disney, Mattel, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Workshop. Amazon plans to continually expand the activities with content from future partners.

Related

Activities on the Glow include Glow Bits, which are mini-activities that allow kids to learn and explore using physical objects. The Glow ships with the Tangram Bits puzzle game, the first Glow Bits content Amazon is releasing. Kids use physical shapes while the remote family member uses a digital version to solve challenges together. Amazon plans to add new Glow Bit challenges in the future that users can purchase.

Children using the Amazon Echo Glow.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Like most Amazon devices, the Glow ships with privacy features to protect children from unwanted interactions. Kids can only call those on a preapproved calling list that parents configure in the parental controls. Parents also can immediately shield the child by disabling the camera and the microphone by closing the privacy shutter.

The Glow will be available in the coming weeks with a retail price of $249. Glow includes a one-year subscription to Kids+, a mat that covers the projected area, and a protective mat case. Amazon also added a two-year worry-free guarantee that means if the Glow breaks, Amazon will replace it for free.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kelly Hodgkins
Kelly Hodgkins
Contributor
Kelly's been writing online for ten years, working at Gizmodo, TUAW, and BGR among others. Living near the White Mountains of…
Everything you need to know about Amazon Glow
Child using the Amazon Echo Glow.

Amazon unleashed a number of new devices in fall 2021, with one in particular designed for kids ages 3 to 9. The product is especially useful for kids in remote learning or distant communication situations. The Amazon Glow is an Echo-like device with a focus on engaging activities and digital communication. Let’s take a look at everything it can do and how to find one if you’re interested in trying it out.
Amazon Glow basics

The Glow is made of two important parts. The first part is an 8-inch touchscreen device and smart speaker, a bit like a vertical version of an Echo Show, and like that model, the Glow includes mics and a cam. The Glow device also features a downward-facing projector, which leads us to the second part of this setup: A 19-inch “projected space” that appears on an included mat that kids can interact with. If you have seen those touch-sensitive projected spaces used at museums and zoos, the principle is largely the same. The Glow can project all kinds of images onto the space, and kids can initiate activities, move things around, and generally interact with it in many ways. It’s a kid-friendly solution that avoids the risk of breaking expensive screens while still offering many of the benefits of a large tablet.

Read more
Is the Ring Always Home Cam worth it?
The Ring Always Home Cam and its charging dock.

Ah yes, we all knew the day would come when near-sentient flying drones could be piloted around our homes, serving our every need. Like all things tech, though, the future tends to land faster than we think. Ring, the Amazon-owned smart security company known for its video doorbells, floodlights, and cameras, is taking to the skies with the upcoming release of the Always Home Cam, a security drone that responds to Ring Alarm motion triggers.

During your initial setup of the Always Home, you'll use the Ring app to build pre-determined flight paths that the drone will glide along when it leaves its charging dock. Once airborne, you'll receive a notification on your mobile device, allowing you to pull up live video of whatever your Always Home has its sights on. Real-time footage streams in 1400 x 1400 HD video, and rest assured about your treasured home decor, for there's plenty of object-avoidance tech loaded into the drone to keep it away from walls, furniture, and other valuables.

Read more
Amazon reveals the science behind Astro, its new home robot
Amazon Astro Robot on a wooden floor.

Amazon has unveiled a canine-like home robot assistant called Astro.

The Alexa-powered, wheel-based bot is designed for a range of functions, including home security, communication, entertainment, and transportation (in its slick promo video, it’s seen carrying a beer, though it doesn't have a robotic arm to actually grab one). Astro has a cute look, too, mainly thanks to its big round “eyes” that appear on a display located at the front of the machine.

Read more