5 ms·

This looks a little too elaborate for an April 1st joke, but they can't possibly serious? I mean, who will scatter these "buttons" all over their house, which

by moe 12y ago

This looks a little too elaborate for an April 1st joke, but they can't possibly serious? I mean, who will scatter these "buttons" all over their house, which will inevitably need new batteries at ever shorter and diverging intervals...

wedtm 12y ago
Actually, if you look at the Hue Tap, it could perhaps work on a similar battery-less fashion. Also, if it's only transmitting (presumably via Wifi) when the button is pushed, the battery could last a fairly long time. Hell, it could even automatically send you a new one when it detects it's battery is getting low.
notmarkus 12y ago
Stick a nice Duracell button beneath every one of them.
- hackaflocka 12y ago
  Use Dash to order new batteries when they run out. Simple.
  - afandian 12y ago
    Seriously, if a button can order new coffee, it can let Amazon know that it's running low automatically.
    - skorgu 12y ago
      I'd bet you'd just get a whole new button in the mail when the battery is close to dying.
  - winslow 12y ago
    Use Dash to order a new Dash!
  - timdaub 12y ago
    But what if your battery-dash button runs out of batteries?
    - ginko 12y ago
      Have it send an order automatically.
mcphage 12y ago
I'm guessing it's bluetooth low energy, which I believe you can run off of a small battery for around a year.
- icebraining 12y ago
  Even if it's Wifi, an ESP8266 only uses 78µA in deep sleep mode, which is how these buttons will spend 99.99% of the time, so it could last more an year on a single AA battery.
  - computer 12y ago
    It doesn't need to be on all the time. It can just take however long it wants to start up, connect, and transmit the order.
    - jayrox 12y ago
      i think many people are missing this key point. this isn't a "i need this right this very millisecond" its more of a "i need this later today if its early enough or tomorrow would be fine" button. which a single press of a button would wake up the device, connect to what ever configured network connection it is assigned to, send some data to an API end point, go back to sleep. that could make the button last many years.
  - blhack 12y ago
    "only" 78 microamps is a LOT of current for ultra low power applications like this. On top of that, ~~the ESP8266 doesn't seem to implement wifi, it's just 2.4ghz general purpose radio.~~ There is definitely some cleverness happening here that allows them to get this to where it is. I'd love to get one just to tear it down.
    - icebraining 12y ago
      No, the ESP8266 does implement Wifi. And not only that, as it can also run custom code, so it could be the only IC in the package.
chaosfactor 12y ago
The button can automatically order batteries for you when it's running low.
TehCorwiz 12y ago
I know a gent working on e-ink tags for grocery store shelves. They have a similar energy usage, lots of sitting idle punctuated by doing something. He's gotten 5 years on a single coin cell. I can't imagine that this would be much different.
radiorental 12y ago
I can see it being a very clever PR April Fools stunt. I wouldn't launch a real product like this around April 1st. However, launching a plausible but fake one will grab a lot of attention, genius.
- damian2000 12y ago
  Gmail launched on April 1st 10 years ago ... people also thought it was a joke due to the huge 1GB storage.
ccozan 12y ago
Actually, pushing the button might be the trick of generating enough energy to open a wifi connection and send a HTTP GET to an Amazon server.
petercooper 12y ago
I think the battery situation could be fine. I have a wireless mouse that boasts 3 year battery life. Since a 'dash' would only ever need to switch on and send a quick signal when pushed (which for detergent might be 50 times a year?) I imagine it could live for years (say a few hundred pushes) on a single cell.
- elahd 12y ago
  More like 2-3 times per year. You push the button when you run low, not every time you do a load.
jonknee 12y ago
I thought so too, but they have a real sounding TOS and quotes from executives at the various partner companies that check out. Seems like a really involved joke from a company that is quite serious about a lot of ridiculous sounding things (drone delivery for one).
xur17 12y ago
It really only needs to be on for a few seconds after pressing the button to connect to wifi, and submit the order. No need for it to be in sleep mode. I doubt the battery is even replaceable.
GlickWick 12y ago
Presumably these buttons would be free anyways, since they generate tons of revenue if they do what Amazon thinks they'll do. In the end though, the buttons are really just an advertisement for the real product: the API.

by moe 12y ago

wedtm 12y ago

Actually, if you look at the Hue Tap, it could perhaps work on a similar battery-less fashion. Also, if it's only transmitting (presumably via Wifi) when the button is pushed, the battery could last a fairly long time. Hell, it could even automatically send you a new one when it detects it's battery is getting low.

notmarkus 12y ago

Stick a nice Duracell button beneath every one of them.

hackaflocka 12y ago
Use Dash to order new batteries when they run out. Simple.
- afandian 12y ago
  Seriously, if a button can order new coffee, it can let Amazon know that it's running low automatically.
  - skorgu 12y ago
    I'd bet you'd just get a whole new button in the mail when the battery is close to dying.
- winslow 12y ago
  Use Dash to order a new Dash!
- timdaub 12y ago
  But what if your battery-dash button runs out of batteries?
  - ginko 12y ago
    Have it send an order automatically.

mcphage 12y ago

I'm guessing it's bluetooth low energy, which I believe you can run off of a small battery for around a year.

icebraining 12y ago
Even if it's Wifi, an ESP8266 only uses 78µA in deep sleep mode, which is how these buttons will spend 99.99% of the time, so it could last more an year on a single AA battery.
- computer 12y ago
  It doesn't need to be on all the time. It can just take however long it wants to start up, connect, and transmit the order.
  - jayrox 12y ago
    i think many people are missing this key point. this isn't a "i need this right this very millisecond" its more of a "i need this later today if its early enough or tomorrow would be fine" button. which a single press of a button would wake up the device, connect to what ever configured network connection it is assigned to, send some data to an API end point, go back to sleep. that could make the button last many years.
- blhack 12y ago
  "only" 78 microamps is a LOT of current for ultra low power applications like this. On top of that, ~~the ESP8266 doesn't seem to implement wifi, it's just 2.4ghz general purpose radio.~~ There is definitely some cleverness happening here that allows them to get this to where it is. I'd love to get one just to tear it down.
  - icebraining 12y ago
    No, the ESP8266 does implement Wifi. And not only that, as it can also run custom code, so it could be the only IC in the package.

chaosfactor 12y ago

The button can automatically order batteries for you when it's running low.

TehCorwiz 12y ago

I know a gent working on e-ink tags for grocery store shelves. They have a similar energy usage, lots of sitting idle punctuated by doing something. He's gotten 5 years on a single coin cell. I can't imagine that this would be much different.

radiorental 12y ago

I can see it being a very clever PR April Fools stunt. I wouldn't launch a real product like this around April 1st. However, launching a plausible but fake one will grab a lot of attention, genius.

damian2000 12y ago
Gmail launched on April 1st 10 years ago ... people also thought it was a joke due to the huge 1GB storage.

ccozan 12y ago

Actually, pushing the button might be the trick of generating enough energy to open a wifi connection and send a HTTP GET to an Amazon server.

petercooper 12y ago

I think the battery situation could be fine. I have a wireless mouse that boasts 3 year battery life. Since a 'dash' would only ever need to switch on and send a quick signal when pushed (which for detergent might be 50 times a year?) I imagine it could live for years (say a few hundred pushes) on a single cell.

elahd 12y ago
More like 2-3 times per year. You push the button when you run low, not every time you do a load.

jonknee 12y ago

I thought so too, but they have a real sounding TOS and quotes from executives at the various partner companies that check out. Seems like a really involved joke from a company that is quite serious about a lot of ridiculous sounding things (drone delivery for one).

xur17 12y ago

It really only needs to be on for a few seconds after pressing the button to connect to wifi, and submit the order. No need for it to be in sleep mode. I doubt the battery is even replaceable.

GlickWick 12y ago

Presumably these buttons would be free anyways, since they generate tons of revenue if they do what Amazon thinks they'll do. In the end though, the buttons are really just an advertisement for the real product: the API.