Glow from Amazon goes the way of Fire Phone and dodo

Glow from Amazon is no more. The tech giant has discontinued a baby device that included an 8-inch display and a projector that could display games on a mat, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

You can no longer buy Glow from Amazon. The device retailed for $150 on Tuesday (up from $300), according to Bloomberg, before becoming unavailable later that day.

The publication cited low sales as the cause of the product’s demise. He also noted that the device is geared towards remote connectivity as pandemic-related restrictions have been eased. Amazon announced Glow on September 28, 2021 before launching invite-only access and public access in March.

“We…constantly evaluate the progress and potential of our products to deliver value to customers, and we regularly make adjustments based on those assessments,” Amazon spokeswoman Christy Schmidt told Bloomberg. “We will share updates and recommendations with Glow customers shortly.”

Glow allowed children to video chat, draw and play games with family members remotely via an 8-inch display. It was also projected onto a 19-inch mat that children could interact with. One obvious downside was the requirement for an Amazon Kids+ subscription to play games and access other content like books and art. The service costs $5 per month. Glow appeared in the Amazon Grand Challenge Lab, which produces experimental products.

Some reviewers praised Glow’s innovation, but some, such as PCMag, also lamented Glow’s reliance on a subscription and a phone or tablet given the high price. And some reviewers, including CNET and The Verge, have noted buggy behavior.

Amazon workers who were focused on Glow are moving to other parts of the company, Bloomberg reported.

Amazon’s other recent moves that appear to be cost-cutting amid slowing retail sales include closing warehouses and, according to a Bloomberg report yesterday, suspending retail hiring.

Amazon’s Glow device will meet other Amazon devices sent to food hell, including the Amazon Smart Oven convection oven/deep fryer/microwave oven announced in 2019 and the FireOS-based Fire Phone that Amazon destroyed in 2015.