This free device has been designed to encourage shoppers to purchase a lot more than they otherwise would.
Amazon has just launched its latest mobile gadget in the form of the Dash, a handheld device that is meant to make it a great deal easier for consumers to be able to add items to their shopping lists.
This device is currently available only by invitation, but it is being handed out for free.
According to the website, Every member of the family can use Dash to easily add items to your AmazonFresh shopping list.” The mobile gadget simply needs to be directed at the barcode on an item in the kitchen that is running low – perhaps the bottle of ketchup, the jar of peanut butter, or a box of cereal, for example – and press the scan button. The device retrieves the information about that product from its barcode and sends it to the cloud. Then, the next time an AmazonFresh order is made, the scanned items will already be on the shopping list.
Even without the barcode, this mobile gadget can receive voice instructions.
If the item isn’t handy, if the package has already been tossed, or if you’d just like to add it and you didn’t previously have it in your kitchen, the user simply needs to press the microphone button and tell the device what is wanted. Voice recognition software will allow the device to be able to interpret what is being said so that it can be added to the shopping list.
The Dash gadget is meant to work alongside AmazonFresh, which is the grocery delivery service from Amazon. It is currently available in Southern California, San Francisco, and Seattle, only. The device works by connecting to the WiFi network within the home in order to add the various desired items directly onto the shopping list for that service. Then, later on, a computer, tablet, or smartphone can be used to review the order, edit it, and complete it so that the items can be shipped to the home.
At the moment, the only way to obtain this mobile gadget is by receiving an invitation that includes a code that must be entered in order to request it – for free – online.
This will help people to be able to avoid people when they are aiming not to have a chance encounter.
For people who are looking to make sure that they won’t accidentally run into their exes while they’re out, there are now mobile apps coming out that have the exact opposite goal of many of the social media options that are currently available.
There are two applications that have been released within the past few weeks for this reason.
Both Split and Cloak are mobile apps that use geolocation technology to map the position of individuals that users don’t want to run into someone they used to date. Anyone who doesn’t want to be seen can be avoided through the use of this location based tech application. It utilizes updates on location in combination with check-ins that are made on other social networks.
The founders of both mobile apps claim that avoiding exes was the primary inspiration.
According to Split’s founder, Udi Dagan, there was one “bad night” in which he ran into two of his ex-girlfriends and. This caused him to come up with an app in which check-ins are used from Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Instagram, so that people can be tracked and avoided when they are located nearby.
From the Cloak side, a co-founder, Chris Baker, explained that “My co-founder Brian ran into his ex four times in one month.” He went on to say that this let them know that they “had to do something.” That application uses Foursquare and Instagram to help a user to be able to find both friends and not-so friends. Baker explained that Twitter and Facebook would be added very shortly.
The founders of both products were not completely unaware of the issue of privacy concerns that potential users would bring forward. They also both responded to claims that they would be contributing to potential stalking and other location privacy issues by saying that all of the information that would be made available through the applications would already be posted over social media. These mobile apps simply aggregate the information that is already being posted by the individuals to be avoided.
