After Siminoff appeared on Season 5 of "Shark Tank," the business saw immense growth. 
 
 "It has now been four years since 'Shark Tank,' and the business is now valued at $1 billion," Siminoff said on an update for "Shark Tank" that aired Nov. 12, 2017. "Today we're over 1,300 people, 10 core products, [sold in] 16,000 stores." Ring even landed Virgin Group billionaire Richard Branson as an investor after he saw one of the company's products. 
 
 Richard Branson declined to comment on the Amazon deal to CNBC Make It through a spokesperson Tuesday. 
 
 Before his doorbell idea, Siminoff built and sold a handful of other companies, one for a price tag as high as $17 million in 2009, according to the Los Angeles Times. (The profits were split between Siminoff and his partners, and Siminoff invested his share in new businesses.) 
 
 He's a constant inventor who has been tinkering since he was 7 years old. Siminoff remembers projects like a blanket through which he could pump icy water from an aquarium to cool down on hot summer days as a kid. And despite early success with other businesses, like SimulScribe, offering voicemail transcription services, or Unsubscribe, which promised to declutter email inboxes, he wasn't fulfilled. None of his ventures had captured his whole imagination. 
 
 So in late 2010, Siminoff set up shop in his garage and put all his focus into dreaming up new products. There was just one problem: He couldn't hear the doorbell ring from his work space. He looked for a product that could buzz his phone with a notification when someone rang and couldn't find one. 
 
 "I literally built myself a WiFi doorbell," he said, not seeing it as a future business but a solution to an annoying problem. He remembered thinking, "I need this damn thing so I can be in my garage inventing." 
 
 Then his wife remarked how much safer she felt with a device that could tell you who was knocking before you let them inside. When he began to envision a bigger mission around home security, he realized he'd found his idea. ||||| January 18, 2018 
 
 There's much to report on Ring after CES 2018. The famous maker of video doorbells apparently has settled with ADT in the “Zonoff” lawsuit and will launch its newly branded Ring Alarm system soon. Also, Ring enhanced its surveillance app, and acquired the wireless lighting company Wireless Environment, LLC, dba Mr. Beams. Details on the acquisition below, and forthcoming. 
 
 First, the lawsuit. ADT filed a claim last year, alleging Ring stole IoT-related intellectual property from a now-defunct platform-developer called Zonoff. By that time, ADT had sunk $36 million into Zonoff to develop Z1, a SHaaS (smart home as a service) platform that would be used in two new security and automation systems from ADT. Those solutions never materialized. 
 
 A single source says Ring and ADT settled for $25 million, but the figure cannot be confirmed. That amount would be twice what Ring offered ADT last year to make the lawsuit go away. As CE Pro exclusively reported back then, ADT had declined that original $12.5 million offer. ADT put its own Zonoff property on the auction block, but apparently never sold it. 
 
 The next question is this: Won’t Alarm.com sue Ring now? More on that below. 
 
 Ring Protect Becomes Ring Alarm 
 
 It was just a few months ago that Ring announced the new Ring Protect security and home automation system based on Zonoff's Z1. Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff has maintained all along that his company rightfully owns the technology through a $1.2 million contract it had with Zonoff before Zonoff shut down. 
 
 The unsympathetic judge in the case at the Delaware Chancery Court issued a temporary restraining order to halt sales of Ring Protect – apparently an unusual move since his honor was still deciding the case. 
 
 Ring Alarm is a scary prospect for the status quo in security and home automation. 
 
 Now that the lawsuit is reportedly settled, Ring will start shipping the newly branded “Ring Alarm” this spring. We imagine the company dropped the "Protect" moniker because Nest already uses the brand for its smoke/CO detectors. 
 
 Nest’s competing security system is called Nest Secure. 
 
 RELATED: Alarm.com & Icontrol Lawsuits 
 
 Ring Alarm is a scary prospect for the status quo in security and home automation. The service will cost just $10 per month for remote access, professional security monitoring, cellular back-up, and 30 days of video storage for an unlimited number of cameras … with no long-term contracts required, 
 
 Service like that usually starts at $30 on the low end, but typically costs over $50 per month with a two- or three-year contract. 
 
 Yikes! Traditional providers won’t be happy. On paper, Ring Alarm looks pretty sweet, with ZigBee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular radios in a hub that also includes a siren and 24-hour back-up battery. 
 
 A starter kit costs $199 for the Ring Protect Base Station, one keypad, one door/window sensor, one motion detector and a Z-Wave range extender. 
 
 That’s obscenely cheap. The closest equivalent is the ADT/Samsung SmartThings security and alarm system that retails for $450 and starts at $24.99/month for security monitoring and interactive services (no contract required). Granted, the Samsung product has a nice touchscreen, a much broader feature set, and a proven system with Nortek's 2Gig as the hardware provider. 
 
 Ring is still building out its ecosystem for the Alarm product. At CES, the company announced a water sensor, as well as a smoke/CO listener that reacts to the sound of a dumb smoke/CO detector. These, like the other announced sensors communicate via Z-Wave. 
 
 Furthermore, it appears Ring might be the first to incorporate the new Z-Wave SmartStart technology into its products, dramatically simplifying the process for enrolling devices into a system. 
 
 Will Alarm.com Sue? 
 
 Here’s the big and very complilcated question: Ring may have settled with ADT, but what about Alarm.com (Nasdaq: ALRM)? Will the very popular SHaaS provider move forward with a lawsuit against Ring? 
 
 Last year, Alarm.com inherited some patents from erstwhile competitor Icontrol, which it acquired last year (Comcast bought part of Icontrol, as well). At the time, Icontrol was in the process of suing Zonoff for patent infringement. 
 
 With Ring’s very threatening business model, it seems Alarm.com would absolutely continue the lawsuit it inherited … if the company believes there’s infringement (in general, merging professional security monitoring with interactive home automation via the cloud). 
 
 UNLESS … 
 
 It’s possible Alarm.com quietly “settled” with Ring when ADT settled with the doorbell giant, earning some kind of licensing agreement in exchange for kiboshing a patent suit. 
 
 ADT is Alarm.com’s customer for at least five years, thanks to a deal negotiated during the Icontrol acquisition. ADT had been Icontrol’s flagship customer since basically day one. 
 
 That could be one reason that Alarm.com isn’t suing ADT and Samsung SmartThings for their latest offering – a DIY security and home automation system powered by Nortek’s 2Gig. 
 
 Alarm.com still has lawsuits pending against competitors SecureNet and ipDatatel. 
 
 It would be really surprising if Alarm.com were to allow Ring to go forward unimpeded. Ring will be a real threat to Alarm.com’s business model, even though Ring targets DIYs and Alarm.com goes to market through professional installers. 
 
 More Developments at Ring 
 
 In addition to the Alarm-specific news, Ring introduced some other goodies at CES, including a relationship with pitchman Shaquille O’Neal (“Defend Your Home Court Like Shaq!), a real-life sheriff who made an appearance at the show. 
 
 In case you’re wondering, Ring’s products are “Approved by Sheriff Shaq,” who is “more than just a big person with a big personality.” 
 
 Also at CES, Ring introduced a “revamped” Stick Up Cam, the company’s “first-ever” indoor/outdoor camera. 
 
 More interestingly, Ring is improving its app and back-end services. Users will be able to group cameras by location and view multiple cameras from a single screen. Also, new “preview tiles” will give users a “sneak peek” of every camera in an ecosystem, and a new event timeline will provide a “scrubbed” view of video to present the most important events of the day. 
 
 Finally, Ring acquired a lighting company called Wireless Environment, LLC, dba Mr. Beams. Stay tuned for more details on that company and its patent portfolio. ||||| Dear Shark Tank, 
 
 On behalf of the 180 team members located in our Santa Monica, CA and Phoenix, AZ offices, I would like to thank you. Because if it was not for you we would not exist as a company. 
 
 It was 2 years ago on this day, November 15th 2013, that you aired our episode. At that time our team was 8 people, working in my garage and going out of business. While we had some sales we did not have enough to cover the massive costs that we were going to face in creating the product and company we have today. 
 
 We had a good product, a great mission “To Reduce Crime in Communities” but that alone was not getting us where we needed to go. We applied to Shark Tank with the hope that maybe that would be the lucky break to take us to the next level but since 40,000 other people applied the year we did our chances were pretty slim… 
 
 And then we got the call. No one could believe it, we were going to be on Shark Tank! But as they say, “if it sounds too good, it probably is.” 
 
 What many people don’t know is that even after you are “picked” to be a contestant, Shark Tank is still a gamble. Being on Shark Tank requires a lot of preparation; from building a creative set, all at the entrepreneur’s expense, to the practicing and rehearsing that takes at least a month. And here is the kicker: not everyone gets a deal and even after you film your episode is still not guaranteed to air. 
 
 We went all in for Shark Tank. We spent $10,000 building our mock front-of-the-home set, and the entire team of 8 was fully concentrated on Shark Tank while also focused on running a business for a month in preparation for the show. We thought the exposure would be great, but at the time we really wanted (or more like needed) the money. 
 
 I will never forget leaving the set without a deal. It was horrible. I could not believe that we had done all of that work and were walking away with nothing. Sure I thought if we aired (the episode has a lower chance of airing without a deal) that we would get a little bit of traction, but I did not think it would be enough to make a real difference for us. 
 
 I was gutted telling the team. But the show must go on and we went back to work, maintained focus and did what we could. 
 
 And then we aired… and our lives changed forever. The bump we got from Shark Tank was not decent, it was extraordinary. And it wasn’t just something that lasted for the weekend..it’s still happening today, two years later. In terms of dollars, it was worth millions, but it also brought and provided an incredible amount of credibility and awareness for us with industry partners. 
 
 Thanks to Shark Tank, we were able to hire more engineers and take the company to another level. It was like replacing the gas in our car with jet fuel… 
 
 We are still driven by our mission “To Reduce Crime in Communities” and remain humble. We did begin in a garage, but we have certainly come a long way in the last 2 years. 
 
 Thank you to Mark Burnett, the Sharks, our amazing producer Kate Ryu and everyone who works on the show. Your dedication to making such a great show has allowed my team and I to really live the American dream. 
 
 Jamie 
 
 CEO and Chief Inventor, Ring ||||| (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) has agreed to buy video doorbell maker Ring, the companies said on Tuesday, in what analysts see as a growing bet on delivering packages inside of shoppers’ homes and on home security. 
 
 The deal valued Ring at more than $1 billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. Amazon declined to discuss the terms. 
 
 Ring is set to be one of Amazon’s most expensive takeovers, after its $13.7 billion deal last year for Whole Foods Market. 
 
 The world’s largest online retailer believes that selling internet-connected gadgets from Kindle e-readers to its new Cloud Cam will spark more shopping on Amazon.com. Ring offers the company a popular consumer electronics brand that it might not have replicated internally. 
 
 More importantly, Ring’s security devices could work well with Amazon Key, a smart lock and camera system that lets delivery personnel put packages inside a home to avoid theft or, in the case of fresh food, spoiling. 
 
 “As Amazon moves more aggressively into the grocery delivery space... we believe smart security devices will be an important factor in driving user adoption,” Baird Equity Research analyst Colin Sebastian said in a note. 
 
 Amazon’s Alexa Fund, which offers venture capital to companies working on voice technology, invested in the Santa Monica, California-based Ring. 
 
 Currently, Ring devices can integrate with Amazon’s voice-controlled assistant Alexa. Users of Amazon’s Echo Show device can say, “Alexa, show my front door” to receive a live feed of activity around their home via Ring cameras. 
 
 The deal creates potential for much more, analysts said. 
 
 “Amazon more than Ring can revolutionize home security,” Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. 
 
 U.S. security and alarm company ADT could be the biggest loser, he added. Ring’s “camera technology is far superior to physical security ... With Amazon having roughly 100 million Prime members, that’s a big addressable market for them to start selling this into.” 
 
 Shares of ADT Inc (ADT.N) fell more than 2 percent after the news to close at $11.60. Amazon stock closed down 0.7 percent. 
 
 Amazon was working on a competing smart lock with camera prior to the deal, according to a separate person familiar with the matter. Its decision to buy Ring underscores the task startups have trying to win in the home security space. 
 
 “For consumer businesses, it’s going to be challenging to compete with folks like Google and Amazon,” said Luke Schoenfelder, chief executive of Latch, which sells smart lock systems to apartment building owners. 
 
 Amazon acquired the maker of Blink home security cameras for about $90 million late last year, Reuters reported. ||||| Ring 
 
 Amazon is to splash $1 billion to acquire smart home security company Ring – a company made famous for its video doorbell series. The move comes hot on the heels of Amazon's acquisition of Blink, another company with a video doorbell in its range, for $90 million back in January. 
 
 Having Ring in-house should have a big impact on Amazon’s Key platform – the service that combines a smart security camera and a smart lock for keyless entry, guest access and, most crucially for the e-retail giant, in-home deliveries. 
 
 When I spoke to Ring founder and CEO Jamie Siminoff in late 2017, for a profile on my smart home website The Ambient, he responded to a question about the effectiveness of Amazon Key: 
 
 “Amazon is both an investor in Ring as well as a strong partner, so we have a lot of respect there but, in this instance with what they’ve done, I was never a fan of how this was put together. I don’t believe the seal around the home should ever be breached by a third-party company. No matter how many cameras you have and how much control you have over it, I just don’t think it’s a good idea. 
 
 “To me it’s backwards because Amazon is usually so thoughtful around scale and when you’re doing like 50 million interactions a day, even if the smallest percentage – like 0.0001% goes wrong – that could be like five deaths a day!” 
 
 Siminoff told me that that the system could be done better and that something similar was on the Ring roadmap. “We have a lot of ideas around how to do it differently,” he explained. “Long term, the way we’re looking at things is a better fit for consumers and for companies themselves." 
 
 Chances are then, that we’ll get to see that “better fit” play out on a grander scale, with Ring reportedly set to continue as a brand under the Amazon roof. The Seattle giant is said to be planning on allowing Ring to operate independently, with Siminoff staying on as CEO of Ring. 
 
 With Nest also now in the video doorbell market, with its Hello device, it's certainly a boom time for an emerging tech genre. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| "To say Amazon will not compete with you is lunacy because they compete with everybody," he told CNBC. "They're like nuclear power. They are very, very powerful and you can get amazing, clean energy from them, but there's also the possibility of getting human radiation if you're not careful."
– Five years ago, Jamie Siminoff left the ABC show Shark Tank "in tears" after a "smart" doorbell he created was spurned. On Tuesday, Ring, the company he built around that invention, was sold to Amazon in a deal Reuters reports as being worth more than $1 billion—one of the e-commerce giant's largest buys and what CNBC says is perhaps its "smartest deal yet." The doorbells sold by Ring are hooked into a home's video cameras so users can see who's lingering on their front stoop. One Wedbush analyst tells the Los Angeles Times the acquisition "shows how serious Amazon is about privacy and security" and could boost the online retailer's efforts to make inroads in home security. It also positions Amazon better in its competition with Google, which has its own lines of smart home gadgets under the Nest brand, and could help Amazon combat some of its delivery issues, per Forbes. Siminoff, who thought up the concept after noting he couldn't hear his doorbell ring while he was toiling away in his garage, showed up on Shark Tank in 2013 with his product, which he then called Doorbot, CNBC reports. Out of all the show's judges, only Kevin "Mr. Wonderful" O'Leary made Siminoff an offer on the WiFi-enabled doorbell, and it was an unappealing one. "It was horrible. I could not believe that we had done all of that work and were walking away with nothing," Siminoff wrote on his blog in 2015. But business took off after that, with publicity from Siminoff's appearance on the show proving to be a major factor. "That drove sales to $3 million within the year," he said on a recent update for the show. One firm that's not thrilled with Ring: home security company ADT, which sued the startup for intellectual property theft over one of its products. That suit has reportedly been settled.