Amazon buys smart doorbell and home security firm Ring for over $1 billion

Amazon has opened up its wallet and splashed more than $1 billion on buying Ring. Famed for its selection of smart doorbells, security cameras and other security devices, the purchase of the Santa Monica, California firm is Amazon's latest foray into home security.

While details of the deal are currently a little thin on the ground, it is expected that the Ring name will live on, and it is likely that future products released under the brand will feature Alexa smart assistant integration.

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Amazon has already made some headway into the connected home and the world of IoT, and this latest purchase came somewhat out of the blue. It's possible that the move was spurred on by Google's recent push of its Assistant into Nest products, and it represents the company's second biggest acquisition after Whole Foods.

Neither Ring nor Amazon has given any details of the acquisition deal, but Reuters sets the price at more than $1 billion:

JUST IN: Amazon has agreed to acquire https://t.co/C3cz9IFjqe for more than $1 billion - source $AMZN pic.twitter.com/7o3jAlRvVk

— Reuters Tech News (@ReutersTech) February 27, 2018

Now under the Amazon brand, we're likely to hear much more about Ring in the coming months as it becomes rather more of a household name. It could just be what's needed to normalize the idea of the smart home, and popularize connected devices with a much larger audience.