Amazon's Dash lets you refill your pantry with your voice and lasers
J Thoendell stashed this in Tech
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/04/amazo...
It appears to be a pint-sized laser scanner (we're checking with Amazon on that) that'll capture the barcode of whatever items you need, but you can add to your list by speaking the name of the product into a built-in microphone. That voice recognition bit seems like it would be better suited to generic products like apples, but the teaser video shows a young lady adding guitar strings to her cart -- presumably you can fine-tune choices like that once you jump onto the AmazonFresh site or mobile apps.
Word of the Dash definitely came as a surprise (especially on a lazy Spring afternoon), but it falls right in line with Amazon's existing hardware plans. These days the e-commerce giant is all about pushing low-cost gadgets to reduce the friction of buying more stuff.
Stashed in: Amazon, Commerce, Consumer Trends
I ordered groceries in Bellevue, WA on a regular basis back in 1999 from http://www.homegrocer.com/ Looks like Amazon bought them! It was a good service, and they were always careful to pick out the best produce for you.
The technology hasn't changed too much in 15 years, and the fridge that was suppose to order food for you, never panned out!
Scanner/voice command device could definitely make things easier, but you still need to go to your computer and be more specific ie What kind of yogurt? what brand? what size? So it is more of a list for yourself, to then work through when you get a minute at the computer.
2:49 PM Apr 04 2014