After first being announced back in January, Key by Amazon is now bringing its in-garage delivery platform to Prime members. The service was originally tested in 37 markets at the beginning of the year and is now available in 50 markets across the United States. Today’s announcement centers around a partnership with Chamberlain and its MyQ smart garage door openers. Smartphone control is a key aspect of this new service, which enables delivery personnel to drop off packages inside your garage whether you are home or not. Anyone in an eligible market, with the right hardware, can enter into the Key by Amazon program and grant garage access to delivery services. More below.
Key by Amazon available in 50 markets
Today’s announcement officially brings Key by Amazon to 50 markets across the United States, with new cities and metro areas including Charlotte, NC; Columbus, OH; Fresno, CA; Grand Rapids, MI; Hartford, CT; Las Vegas, NV; Norfolk, VA; Oklahoma City, OK; Omaha, NE; Rochester, NY; Stockton, CA; Virginia Beach, VA; and Wilmington, DE.
Key by Amazon users will be able to select “in-garage delivery” as their preferred service at checkout starting this week. Amazon also notes that customers can check on the status of their garage doors remotely through the Key by Amazon app to ensure that everything is locked up.
Rohit Shrivastava, GM of Key, details today’s announcement further:
“Today, we are thrilled to open Key by Amazon to millions of Prime members who can now have their Amazon packages delivered securely to their garages. With this new option, members can truly unlock the convenience of the Amazon experience.”
Getting started with Key by Amazon
As we told you in our getting started guide, there are a few different ways to bring Key into your home. Users will be required to have a myQ Smart Garage Hub. Amazon is currently offering a 37% discount to $50 at launch to help folks get started. A similar discount is being extended to Amazon’s Cloud Cam Key Edition. Head over to this landing page to learn about Amazon’s latest venture.
gadgetnewsonline’ Take
Key by Amazon may be the future, but at this point it’s hard to convince me that I should jump in head first. There’s still something peculiar about giving strangers access to your home, even if they are well-trained and the like. It will be interesting to see if this scales quickly or if the project goes the way of some of Amazon’s other questionable privacy ventures…we’re talking about you, Echo Look.
Source: Amazon
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