Amazon’s new Dash Wand is the company’s latest connected device aims to make buying groceries from AmazonFresh delivery service or other items from Amazon.com even easier.
About the size of a remote control, Dash Wand incorporates Alexa, the virtual personal assistant persona that drives Amazon’s Echo devices. That means users can tell it what to order or they can scan in product codes. It can search for recipes but, unlike Echo, it will not play music.
Dash Wand costs $20; but that gets the buyer a credit for $20 good towards a purchase.
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Amazon (AMZN) has gotten much better at hardware devices since it launched its poorly received Fire Phone in 2014. It pulled the product the following year. In the two years since it debuted, Echo has been an unqualified success.
Last month, Amazon followed with Echo Show, which is basically another Echo, but one with a 7-inch touchscreen, camera, Dolby speaker, and eight microphones.
Related: Amazon Redefines One-Click Shopping
Amazon’s broad connected home device family competes with Google Home and will see a new rival late this year when Apple (AAPL) rolls out its HomePod, which will carry price premium: it will list for $349 compared to $180 for Amazon Echo.
That may or may not be a problem. In the past, consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for the Apple brand. On the other hand, a recent poll by research firm Morning Consult finds price to be a key consideration for buyers of this type of device.
