A $75 gadget that remembers my conversations? I’m intrigued and, at the same time, slightly nervous.
Amazon-owned Bee has launched two conversation-summarizing devices: the Bee Frontier ($74.99), available now, and the Bee Eclipse ($99.99), a magnetic phone card arriving soon. There’s also a new subscription: Bee Pro.
What are the new Bee devices?
The Frontier is a small module you wear on your wrist or clip to your clothes, replacing the first-generation Pioneer and adding an IP67 rating for dust and water protection.
Meanwhile, the Eclipse (coming soon), a thick, card-sized puck, clings magnetically to your phone and, according to Bee, offers over 21 days of battery life. Pressing the physical buttons makes both gadgets listen to your surroundings and instantly turn them into summaries and action items.
Bee wants the devices to summarize your meetings, negotiation talks, and pitches, or capture quick voice notes on the go, and I hope it stays that way.
Something that doesn’t sit well with me: the Eclipse resembles a portable charger. So, people may not realize it’s recording. Bee says both the devices have a status light that turns on when it’s recording, though.
What does Bee Pro add?
Every Bee device gives you two weeks of memory for free summaries. Bee Pro, the paid subscription I mentioned earlier, adds a couple of things on top of that.
For $11.99 monthly, it provides a chat assistant, daily memories, unlimited summaries, and suggested to-do lists. It also links Bee to Amazon.com to suggest products you mentioned, and to Alexa+ so you can ask an Echo speaker for your notes.
New customers get a 30-day Pro trial, and early Bee owners keep it free. Bee says it never stores raw audio and encrypts transcripts with keys your device controls. I like the sound of it, but in my experience, privacy claims deserve independent testing.
In the end, I’d like to say that the idea of on-demand listening or always-on devices worries me a bit. For those who can use it well, leaving it in the office after work hours might give them peace of mind.
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