Amazon Key

A handful of Amazon Key's main features are being rolled

out across the US.

That means you can now use the service anywhere in

the country for keyless entry, remote lock and unlock,

and guest access, the company said Thursday. Plus, five

more locks now work with Amazon Key, for a total of eight

locks available for Amazon Key customers.

But if you were waiting for in-home delivery using Amazon

Key, that's not part of the expansion. In-home delivery will still

only be available to Prime customers in 37 US cities and

surrounding areas.

Amazon is hoping to use Amazon Key to make itself an

even bigger player in smart home technologies, with the

company already dominant in smart speakers through its

Echo brand. Amazon is focusing on the smart home so it

can sell its Prime members new security cameras and

smart doorbells, and hopefully convince them to use their

Echo speakers for more voice shopping.

The company, though, faces loads of competition in the

new market, particularly from Google, so it's moving

aggressive to keep expanding and introduce new features.

Amazon since December has acquired two smart doorbell

companies, Blink and Ring, and has rolled out new Echo

devices to stay one step ahead of rivals. It's also had spats

with Google over Nest, Google's own smart home business

that's also partnered with Amazon.

Amazon introduced Amazon Key in October as a system

that includes a smart door lock, its own Cloud Cam security

camera and the Amazon Key app. Using these elements,

people can open and close their doors without a key or give

a guest a code to enter their homes. But the most interesting

-- and controversial -- part of Amazon Key is its in-home

delivery capabilities, allowing delivery people to open your

door, slide packages inside and then lock the door.

Besides deliveries, Amazon said the service can eventually

be used for in-home visits from local businesses on Amazon

Home Services, including house cleaners and dog walkers.