Amazon Cloud Cam faces stormy skies ahead, with shutdown coming later this year

Blink and you'll miss the catch with what they're getting replaced with

Amazon's smart home segment includes brands like Blink Home and Ring. The company has announced that it is now focusing its smart home development efforts within these divisions and other newer technologies and has therefore taken the decision to discontinue the Amazon Cloud Cam and its companion services from December 2.

The company sent out emails to Cloud Cam owners notifying them that the camera will stop working and the associated services will be terminated. Any recorded videos will need to be downloaded from the camera prior to the deadline or risk being lost. In addition, Cloud Cam owners would be receiving a Blink Mini camera as a replacement along with a year-long membership to Blink Subscription Plus, a $100 value. Those with the Cloud Cam Key Edition will also lose the ability to connect to smart locks, but get a free Amazon Echo speaker in addition to a Blink Mini and subscription.

In a statement, Amazon told The Verge that Cloud Cams that have been active in the past 6 months will be eligible for replacement on a one-to-one basis: one Cloud Cam for one Blink Mini or one Key Edition for a Mini and an Echo.

Cloud Cam owners will receive further instructions on redeeming their replacement gear.

The Cloud Cam was first announced in October 2017 and was discontinued two years later. Its failure boiled down to a high price tag, fierce competition — between Google's Nest and even Amazon's other brands including Ring — and mediocre functionality.

Something that a number of new Blink camera owners may worry about is the fact that they require some form of subscription service for basic functionality — much unlike with the Cloud Cam where motion detection and such features came free. Blink's basic plan costs $3 a month or $30 a year. It doesn't help that the Cloud Cam was $120 at full retail price whereas a Blink Mini is just $35.

Also, the simple irony of seeing the demise of the Cloud Cam from the company that runs one of the largest cloud computing businesses in the world is just plain stupid.