Amazon will launch a new location-tracking mesh network system later this year

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Amazon is preparing to launch an ambitious networking and location system later this year under the name Amazon Sidewalk. Sidewalk will link smart home devices and other Amazon products using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), connecting beyond the range of a standard Wi-Fi network.

Meant to be operated at the scale of a neighborhood, Sidewalk would turn devices like smart floodlights and home assistants into network bridges, passing along security updates and commands from a central Wi-Fi hub. In addition to transmitting software, the signals allow Sidewalk to triangulate a device’s approximate location based on its contacts with other Sidewalk-enabled devices.

The system will be built into the Echo, and Tile has also joined the project as the…

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via The Verge – All Posts

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