Amazon is opening its Sidewalk wireless network to third party developers in a bid to expand its use beyond its own smart home ecosystem.
Amazon Sidewalk creates a low-bandwidth, shared network by pooling a small portion of the internet bandwidth funnelled into devices such as Amazon Echo devices and Ring security cams, and pushing it out into the street, allowing devices to operate beyond a user’s front door.
The more neighbours that participate, the stronger the network.
Amazon says its Sidewalk network now covers 90 per cent of America.
“It kind of hits the sweet spot between cellular functionality and Wi-Fi, but goes to a place where Wi-Fi doesn’t have the best coverage,” Dave Limp, the senior vice president of Amazon’s Devices and Services group, told Bloomberg.
According to Limp, “a large majority” of people who own Amazon’s Sidewalk-compatible devices opted to participate in the network.
Now Amazon is opening this technology up to third-party developers, allowing them to turn their own products into so-called ‘Bridge Devices’ and help push out internet into the wider community.
Texas Instruments, Nordic Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, and Quectel have all released software developer kits to aid in this expansion.
Amazon said among the Sidewalk products expected this year, is a logistics shipment tracker, a smart door lock, and a sensor that can detect water leaks.
“I think we’ll see [third-party] stuff coming down the pipeline in six to 12 months,” Limp said.
