Alexa is coming to the Amazon Dash Wand, which is making a comeback since its 2014 debut alongside a special promotion for Amazon Prime subscribers that essentially makes it free.
It has a large, circular keychain loop, a strong magnet (meant for affixing the thing to metallic refrigerators), and a circular button that illuminates blue when pushed. But unlike the previous generation Amazon Dash, which only let you add items to a shopping card via limited voice controls, the new model supports Alexa natively. You can buy items directly instead of having to check out manually, like you can with Amazon’s other Echo devices. Using an attached bar code scanner, the wireless Wand instantly adds items to your Amazon shopping cart, making restocking the pantry as simple as scanning a used package.
The Dash Wand can find recipes, convert cups to ounces, reorder past items, find nearby restaurants, show movie showtimes, save reminders, set timers, and more. And Amazon says it supports third-party apps — or “skills” — in Alexa’s library, including ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber, food-ordering apps like Dominos and Grubhub, and smart home appliance apps like Hue and SmartThings.
Of course there is a caveat, Alexa on the Dash Wand won’t support Alexa Calling, Amazon’s new messaging service and Prime Music, Amazon’s internet music service.
The Amazon Dash Wand is available in the US for $20 for Amazon Prime members, who can save even more thanks to an ongoing $20 credit promotion and free 90-day trial of its AmazonFresh grocery delivery service simply for registering a new device.
