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Amazon is making strides to crack into entering every industry it can, from its e-paper alternative the “Kindle Scribe”, to its new “Halo Rise”, which is looking to take a stab at sleep tracking tech.
The bulbous device is meant to help customers analyze and improve your sleep, while operating completely without any user intervention needed to start up. Its most basic features are its smart alarm and wake-up light, which will simulate the subtle darkening and brightening of the sun and can wake you up automatically in your lightest sleep stage, within a pre-set window.
The gadget operates without any microphones or cameras, and, for what it’s worth, Amazon makes it clear that health privacy is a top concern for them. It’s hard to tell whether this promise is good to be taken at face value or not, but it’s likely best to veer on the side of caution.
The thing that really jumps out to me, though, is its apparent “set and forget” nature. The rise is capable of telling when you get in bed, when you get out of it, and when you start actually trying to fall asleep, removing any chance of it picking up on a partner’s – or pet’s – sleeping patterns instead of yours.
However, this all ignores the single biggest caveat of the Halo Rise: the price. Coming in at $140, the Halo Rise is not a cheap product. That being said, if it has the ability to improve its user’s day to day sleep, it may just be worth picking up, when it eventually releases.
