Amazon Dash

The Amazon Dash Wand (originally branded simply Amazon Dash) was announced in April 2014. It is a Wi-Fi connected device that allows users to build a shopping list by scanning bar codes and saying product names out loud. It connects directly with AmazonFresh, the company's online grocery delivery service. The website for Amazon Dash highlights benefits such as "never forget an item again" and suggests users keep the device on the kitchen counter or refrigerator so that every member of the family can add items to its grocery list.{{Cite web|title = Amazon Tests Dash Barcode Scanner For Ordering AmazonFresh Groceries|url = https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/04/amazon-dash/|website = TechCrunch|access-date = 2015-12-01|first = Anthony|last = Ha| date=4 April 2014 }}

The Amazon Dash Wand is Amazon's first Internet of Things (IoT) device.

The second-generation Amazon Dash Barcode Scanner was announced in October 2016; it replaces the two buttons on the previous model with a single button used for both scanning barcodes and activating the microphone. The new model is also about an inch shorter and magnetic so it can be stuck to a metallic surface, like a refrigerator.

On June 15, 2017, a new version of the scanner was announced by Amazon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/news/354340/amazon-launches-dash-wand-with-alexa|title=Need Groceries? Tell Amazon's Alexa 'Dash Wand'|last=Humphries|first=Matthew|date=15 June 2017|website=PC Magazine|access-date=15 June 2017}} The new version has Alexa built in, allowing users to ask for recipes and order from Amazon Prime Now.{{Cite web|url=https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/15/amazon-dash-wand-alexa-voice/|title=Amazon's Dash Wand lets you order groceries with your voice|last=Krishna|first=Swapna|date=15 June 2017|website=Engadget|access-date=15 June 2017}}

The Dash Button and Dash Replenishment Service (DRS) were introduced by Amazon.com on March 31, 2015. Due to the timing of the announcement, there were a number of news stories questioning whether the Dash Button was an early April Fools joke.{{cite news| work=BBC News Magazine| url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32144005|date=April 1, 2015|title=April Fool's Day: 10 stories that look like pranks but aren't|author=Kelly, Jon|author2=Parkinson, Justin|author3=de Castella, Tom|author4=Sully, Andrew|name-list-style=amp }}{{cite news| url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/03/31/amazon-dash-ordering-button/70747342/|work=USA Today|date=March 31, 2015|title=Amazon's Dash button--Not an April Fools' joke|author=Weise, Elaine}}

The Amazon Dash Button is a small electronic device designed to make ordering products easy and fast. The Dash buttons come in packs; each device contains an embedded button emblazoned with the name of a frequently ordered product. Users can configure each button to order a specific product and quantity, via the user's Amazon.com account, and mount the buttons, using adhesive tape or a plastic clip, to locations where they use the products. Pressing the button sends a Wi-Fi signal to the Amazon Shopping app, and orders new stock of whatever product the button is configured to order; the click also sends a message to the user's mobile phone, giving the user half an hour to cancel.

Initially, the Dash buttons were made available by invitation to Amazon Prime members who were invited to request the devices. The devices received mixed reviews from critics and reporters upon release,{{cite magazine| url= http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-horror-of-amazons-new-dash-button| magazine=The New Yorker|title=The Horror of Amazon's New Dash Button|author=Ian Crouch|date=April 2, 2015}}{{cite news| work=PC World|date=April 2, 2015| title=Don't dash to Dash: new Amazon buttons aid brands, not consumers

| url= http://www.pcworld.com/article/2905401/dont-dash-to-dash-new-amazon-buttons-aid-brands-not-consumers.html|author=Fleishman, Benn }}{{cite news| work=CNN Money| url=https://money.cnn.com/2015/03/31/technology/innovationnation/amazon-dash-button/index.html| author=King, Hope|title=Amazon Dash: Never run out of toilet paper again|date=March 31, 2015}} and have been parodied online.{{cite web|website=Cnet.com|title=Low Latency 125 Dash Problems: Low Latency 125: Dash problems (Amazon's Dash has met its match)|author1=Bakalar, Jeff |author2=Stevenson, Blake|date=April 3, 2015

|url=http://www.cnet.com/news/low-latency-125-dash-problems/}} In Germany, the product was deemed illegal due to insufficient information about the price of the product being given at the time of purchase. This was allegedly part of a larger dispute between Amazon and Germany, where Amazon battles with unions and is under investigation for attempting to monopolize the country.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-germany-court-idUSKCN1P42HW|title=Court says Amazon 'Dash' buttons violate German law|date=2019-01-10|work=Reuters|access-date=2019-03-02|language=en}}

Amazon Dash Buttons initially partnered with more than 100 brands. The most popular Dash Buttons were the Tide, Bounty, and Cottonelle buttons.{{Cite web|title = Top 10|url = http://www.dashbuttondudes.com/top-10/|website = Dash Button Dudes|access-date = 2015-12-04|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161128054849/http://www.dashbuttondudes.com/top-10/|archive-date = 2016-11-28|url-status = dead}}

In August 2015, within a week of the first shipment of Dash buttons to Amazon Prime members, Popular Mechanics reported that it had already been reprogrammed for use as a push-button data tracker.{{cite web|last1=Limer|first1=Eric|title=How To Hack Amazon's $5 Wi-Fi Dash Buttons To Do Anything|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a16944/hack-amazon-dash-buttons-to-do-anything/|publisher=Popular Mechanics|access-date=12 April 2021|date=17 August 2015}} Computer scientist Edward Benson published instructions online to turn it into a wireless spreadsheet entry device, or a trigger for any other API endpoint.{{cite web|last1=Benson|first1=Edward|title=How I Hacked Amazon's $5 WiFi Button to track Baby Data|url=https://edwardbenson.com/2015/08/how-i-hacked-amazons-dash-button-to-track-baby-data|access-date=12 April 2021|date=6 August 2015}} The approach was based on hijacking and re-routing the button's network connection with Amazon's servers.

By May 2016, Consumers' Research pointed out that Amazon Dash was being reprogrammed to use for other purposes such as ordering pizza, tracking time, and controlling lights and outlets in households configured to respond to such commands. In response, Amazon introduced a programmer-friendly, but more expensive button in the form of an "Internet of Things Dash Button" which allows programmers to make programming modifications to the device.{{cite web|last1=Dolan|first1=Connor|title=Amazon's New Programmable Dash Button|url=http://consumersresearch.org/amazons-new-programmable-dash-button/|website=Consumers' Research|access-date=22 May 2016|archive-date=30 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160530030749/http://consumersresearch.org/amazons-new-programmable-dash-button/|url-status=dead}}

On March 1, 2019, Amazon discontinued the series, claiming that it was made unnecessary due to automatic reordering and product subscriptions. Additionally, Amazon claimed that voice-activated shopping on Alexa products would succeed the buttons."[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47416440 Amazon scraps Dash buttons]". BBC News. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 2, 2019. On June 22, 2020, Amazon sent an email to owners of the Dash Wand stating that they would be disconnected in a month on July 21, 2020 with no recourse other than to use other Amazon devices, and directed owners to simply recycle their devices."[https://voicebot.ai/2020/06/22/amazon-dash-wand-no-more-alexa-shopping-device-discontinued Amazon Dash Wand No More – Alexa Shopping Device Discontinued]". voicebot.ai. June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.

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• [https://fresh.amazon.com/dash/ Amazon Dash official site]

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Category:Amazon (company) hardware

Category:Internet of things