Amazon's Bee launches Frontier and Eclipse AI note-takers from $74.99

Bee, the AI wearable start-up Amazon bought last year, has announced its first new hardware since the deal: the Bee Frontier and the Bee Eclipse, TechCrunch reports. Both devices listen to everyday conversations and turn them into summaries, to-dos and reminders.

Bee Frontier: the wearable

The Frontier replaces the original Bee Pioneer. It is a small module that slots into a wristband or a clip, so you can wear it on your wrist or pin it to clothes or a bag.

• Price: $74.99, available now on Amazon (the Pioneer is no longer sold).
• Colours: Onyx, Lavender and Sage.
• Durability: IP67 dust and water resistance; the Pioneer had none.
• Battery: up to seven days, charged over USB-C.
• Audio: dual microphones with noise filtering.

One press of the button starts a recording session; pressing and holding lets you ask Bee's assistant a question or leave a voice note.

Bee Eclipse: a magnetic card for your phone

The Eclipse is new for Bee. It is a credit-card-sized slab that attaches magnetically to the back of a smartphone, with three microphones, a single button and an indicator light. Because it is bigger, Bee promises more than 21 days of battery life. It costs $99.99 in Silver, Midnight, Honey and Blush and goes on sale shortly after the Frontier.

That puts Bee up against note-takers like the Plaud Note ($159) and Pocket ($129), but at a lower price.

Free tier vs Bee Pro

Every Bee can create conversation summaries and recaps for free, with 14 days of memory. A $11.99-per-month Bee Pro plan adds unlimited summaries, suggested to-dos, daily memories, a chat assistant, conversation templates, and integrations with Amazon.com, Alexa+ and third-party apps. Bee also connects to Gmail, Google Calendar and Outlook, and it can pull in Apple HealthKit data. The companion app has been redesigned, and there is a new desktop app.

Privacy

According to Amazon, raw audio is processed in real time and then deleted rather than stored. Transcripts are encrypted with keys that only your device creates and controls. An optional Alexa link lets an Echo speaker use Voice ID to recognise you, and you can delete transcripts and summaries at any time. With an always-listening device, it is still polite to tell people when it is on: the indicator light shows when Bee is summarising a conversation.