Amazon Introduces $20 Dash-Like Button For IoT (slashgear.com) 52
An anonymous reader shares a Slashgear article: Amazon has revealed a programmable Dash Button which can be assigned to any product or purpose, a customizable version of its one-touch reordering gadgets. The AWS IoT Button looks just like the existing Dash Buttons, which allow products from more than 100 brands to be ordered with a single tap -- no web browser required -- and delivered to a preset address, but is designed for developers and Internet of Things tinkerers to dig into. So, rather than having a new multipack of toilet rolls, or a fresh box of laundry detergent added to your shopping list, the AWS IoT Button could be used to trigger your lights, integrate with popular APIs from Twitter, Slack, Facebook, or others, or summon a car through Uber.It appears Amazon has already sold out its current batch.
For all of you who are INCREDIBLY lazy (Score:5, Funny)
...and also don't have a cat.
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My CAT [scene7.com] could crush your puny car.
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It's also good for when there is something strange in your neighborhood, and you're wondering who you gonna call.
Perfect! (Score:3)
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actually, they already have your data from buying from amazon. what this does is lock you in to amazon so you never have to think about supporting your local stores at all.
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Well since I live in a high rise apartment in a city and don't own a car, I don't give a fuck about "supporting" local stores that are out of walking distance anyhow, so I'm fine with that.
I'm not going to go out of my way to pay higher prices, have to go to the store when it's OPEN, and deal with service drones.
Sorry, that's the way it is.
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convenience is king, this is exactly why i own an SUV,
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Here's a problem: If this requires sending data of any kind to Amazon in order to turn on my lights (see: examples above), then it WILL fail eventually, and it wont score a sufficiently high WAF.
Meh (Score:2, Informative)
It's trivially easy to hack these things without going through sketchy amazon IoT services.
https://github.com/dekuNukem/Amazon_Dash_Button
Re:This already exists (Score:4, Informative)
Pointless (Score:5, Informative)
I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged and that the life expectation is around 1000 button presses.
It's fine if you only push the button once a week to order something regularly (lasts a bit over 19 years) but for IoT usage it's not going to last nearly long enough for anything useful.
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Although replacement batteries often cost more than the device itself did originally.
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I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged
Not with that attitude!
Re:Pointless (Score:5, Funny)
I've read on the website that the battery cannot be replaced or recharged and that the life expectation is around 1000 button presses.
It's fine if you only push the button once a week to order something regularly (lasts a bit over 19 years) but for IoT usage it's not going to last nearly long enough for anything useful.
The solution is easy. You get yourself a meta button, basically a second button to order new buttons.
And voila, you have yourself a self-sustaining recursive solution.
The Dash button singularity (Score:2)
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Apparently it's just a AAA battery spot welded in place. Just cutoff the metal tabs holding the battery in place and solder in some springy tabs from an old device and 3D print a new removable bottom cover. Simple!
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YES! (Score:3, Insightful)
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i just wait for the sun to come out, without a light button (tm) it was too much work lighting fires in each room.
Hack existing ones for cheaper. (Score:1)
$20 to get a blank one, or $5 to get one with a Tide logo or whatever on it but you can just hack it.
https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8 [medium.com]
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This. If Amazon wants people to take it seriously in this space, you have to actually get something of value for that extra $15. You know, like a way to replace the battery. I was ready to order one until I saw that bit. If I'm going to buy something where the hardware is just going to fail in a few months, then it will always be a lousy hack, and I might as well save $15 and make it an only slightly bigger hack by using the standard buttons and sniffing the packets.
Easy! (Score:1)
Built-in obsolescence? (Score:4, Informative)
"The battery should last for approximately 1,000 presses. When the device battery runs out of charge, there is no way to recharge or replace the battery."
Dash (Score:3)
a programmable Dash Button which can be assigned to any product or purpose
Also known as a 'button'.
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Alas, I don't have a rich combination of mental abilities. If I see the milk carton's empty, I should add it to my shopping list. But by the time I get to the shopping list, I've forgotten I need milk.
Worse, my SO discovers no milk and doesn't tell me.
So I can see the advantage of a few buttons here and there. Just don't want them hooked up to the Amazon/NSA servers, that's all.
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do you have this issue with only milk. other items on your grocery list do not experience this amnesia or are you going to have a button for each item.
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You have found me out. A milk button, a pet food button, a laundry detergent button and a great big red coffee panic button.
That's what Amazon envisioned. All I want is for me to control it and not them.
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i envision a launch control type panel with buttons :) ;)
maybe they could make it a gui with a list of items that you could add to a virtual... cart rather than physical buttons.
Doorbell button (Score:3)
Would make a great wireless doorbell button, if you could get in there and make the battery easily replaced.
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Re: Doorbell button (Score:2)
I'm not saying it won't last 5 or 6 years, but with package deliveries often getting a doorbell push when I'm not even home, I would expect 100 per year minimum.
It's true that $20 every 5 years isn't a lot, but there's no guarantee of there being a replacement still available by then. And on principle, I wouldn't pay $30 to replace a battery.
Doesn't FLIC do all this? (Score:1)
Here's a dismemberment video from 6 months ago: (Score:1)
https://youtu.be/bYYAzSzgU9c [youtu.be]
Published on Oct 29, 2015
This video shows how I managed to hack Amazon's Dash Button as well as wire up one of Amazon's AWS IoT Buttons with Node.js to order me beer via Drizly. I teamed up with Drizly to get access to their API and will always have my favorite beer available at the press of a button!
Slashdot special! (Score:2)
"Slashdot has signed an agreement with Amazon for an IoT button registered Slashdotters can get for free! It will 1-push reorder boxes of kleenex!"
Meh (Score:3)
You can get an Arduino Mini board with WiFi module for less than $10 total and have as many buttons as you like, and a replaceable/rechargeable battery. It won't be as small though.
Great - now I can order stuff I don't want (Score:2)
Why doesn't Amazon just add a color e-Ink display? (Score:2)
Amazon has a bunch of Dash buttons, but I wonder if they would do better making the buttons with an e-Ink display so only one model is needed, and depending on the function or product it is paired/activated with, would display the logo of that.
This would definitely be useful for IoT.