The popular Amazon home delivery service “Amazon Key” has officially arrived for 13 new locations in the United States. In addition, the service is now available for in-garage deliveries, adding on to the existing in-home deliveries.
According to CNET’s report, as of Tuesday (Apr. 23) the new cities available for Key customers include Charlotte, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; Las Vegas, Nevada; Oklahoma City; Rochester, New York, and Virginia Beach, Virginia. Also added to the delivery locations map are Fresno, California; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Norfolk, Virginia; Stockton, California; Omaha, Nebraska; and Wilmington, Delaware.
The announcement of these new locations makes Key available in 50 cities in the United States. Amazon also launched the Key in-garage delivery service on Tuesday. This works using a special Chamberlain myQ-connected garage-door device and software to allow entry for delivery people. A Chamberlain Hub with smartphone control currently sells for $49.99, while Chamberlain Garage Door openers sell for $198 to $245 on Amazon.
The Amazon Key technology is based upon using an internet-connected door lock along with a security camera such as the Amazon Cloud cam. Amazon Prime customers are able to use the service for in-home deliveries once these items are set up. There is also in-car delivery, but it’s only available to those who have an active OnStar account or a Volvo On Call account.
The Amazon Key service first arrived about a year and a half ago with a mixed reaction. It’s still unknown how many people use the service or how often they use it as Amazon has yet to provide specific data about it. However, it’s a “key” addition to the smart home lineup that Amazon continues to create products and services for.
Amazon continues to bank upon devices such as the Echo interactive speakers or Fire TV as products to keep an idea of what their customers buy, watch, listen to, or do, on a daily basis. Devices including Fire TV, Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show all use Amazon’s “Alexa” voice assistant to help with smart home and other requests. The company also has an interactive Alexa product slated to arrive for vehicles as well, but as of right now it’s unknown when this will officially launch.
Even so, the company appears to have positioned itself ahead of competitors such as Google and Apple, who are also trying their best to make an impact on smart home technology.
