The first examples are the Bee devices launched on Thursday: a band that can be worn on the wrist or detached as a pendant, and a credit-card-sized gadget that attaches magnetically to the back of a phone. They passively record audio and take notes about your day, surfacing to-dos, reminders and insights you might want later.

Privacy is built into how they work. The devices do not store raw conversation audio; they process it in real time and then delete it. Transcripts are encrypted with keys created and controlled by your own device, so nobody else, including Amazon employees, can read them unless you deliberately share them. Panay said designing with privacy in mind is critical for ambient products.

Panay, who joined Amazon after 19 years at Microsoft overseeing Surface, stopped short of predicting the smartphone's demise. He does not think one form factor will replace another, but expects an intelligence layer to connect devices, and a generation that stops asking for an app and simply expects technology to understand what it needs.