Amazon has opened up its low-bandwidth, long-range network Amazon Sidewalk for developer testing.
Amazon Sidewalk is a shared network that helps devices like Amazon Echo, Ring Security Cams, outdoor lights, motion sensors, and Tile trackers work better at home and beyond the front door. When enabled, Sidewalk can unlock unique benefits for your device, support other Sidewalk devices in your community, and even locate pets or lost items, Amazon's website said.
Sidewalk is optional and can be turned off at any time. It comes at no additional cost and has a capped data usage of 500 MB per month, per account.
Amazon Sidewalk concept illustration (Amazon)
In a Tuesday release, the world's largest online retailer said It is making free test kits available to "validate Amazon Sidewalk coverage" and build devices that use the free network.
"We’ve rapidly built out a long-range, low-bandwidth network that now covers more than 90% of the U.S. population, and this is an open invitation for developers to put it to the test," said Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices & Services.
Developers can use tech from Amazon Sidewalk, Amazon Web Services and other companies to build and onboard devices and support cloud-based applications to Sidewalk without deploying their own network infrastructure.
This April 16, 2020, photo shows the Amazon logo in Douai, northern France. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler / AP Newsroom)
The features and tools available include software development kits from Nordic Semiconductor, Silicon Labs, Texas Instruments and module vendor Quectel.
A mobile software development kit for iOS and Android devices was also designed to speed up the integration of Sidewalk tech on mobile apps, and Amazon offers a Tools App for the developers to debug and troubleshoot in the field.
Devices connected to Sidewalk come with a secure, persistent and low-cost connection to the cloud.
Amazon introduced Sidewalk in 2019.