Not really ST related, but this is really cool (if it’s not an early April Fool’s). Amazon will ship you a IOT button for reordering staples like detergent, paper towls, etc… Stick or hang the little guy anywhere you want and with one touch, it places an order for that item in the size you’ve specified.
1 Like
Sounds like it’s the real deal.
Looks similar to the Flic, which is supposed to start shipping in April. I’ve ordered some through indiegogo. 
I have a feeling that quite a few retailers would love to partner with SmartThings to offer this service to their Customers.
Anybody want to work out the partnership agreements and ST compatible hardware?
As much as I know this a way to make money for amazon as much as the echo was, this one I like. There’s one thing I can’t add to subscribe and save, my dog food. I’d love to put this thing on the dog food container and when I notice it’s running low give it a tap.
Look like only certain products for now though.
I believe the manufacturers are paying the hardware cost, not Amazon, I’d guess around $10 per customer. So it’s a brand loyalty/customer acquisition cost.
1 Like
Hmmm… This seriously sounds like something we could design and implement as a proof-of-concept.
Amazon’s one-click or shopping cart API should be callable from a SmartApp (or from an intermediate server if necessary). Any “button” device could be associated with any product link.
For now, Aeon Minimote is 8 buttons for $25. That would cover dog food, treats, flea drops, and poop baggies!
Looks like their will eventually be an open api
https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-replenishment-service
How do I get started with DRS?
DRS is currently in a limited participation beta. It will be publicly available this fall. There are two ways to get started: apply to participate in the beta, or sign up to be notified when our self-service APIs are ready. Click here to choose an option.
You’d have to get Amazon’s approval, they won’t open up the buy button to just anyone for security reasons. But Samsung is big enough it might be possible. Can’t hurt to explore it. 
The biggest practical issue I see is this only works on a subscribe and save model where you know the approximate price at the time the order is placed. Or trust the retailer not to burn you. So there’s a limited set of RTM products where this fits.
Well… According to the Dash page, there will be a cancellation mechanism (hence, a way to verify the price). The ideal button, perhaps, ought to have a little LCD display showing the current price or offering a cancel option, etc., instead of having to switch to your mobile or web for these functions. It’s friction in favor of the seller, not the customer – BUT Amazon is known for excellent Customer Service … I am certain they will gladly pay for return shipping for an item that you reasonably claim was accidentally ordered (the first couple times), or for which the price has changed substantially…
https://www.amazon.com/oc/dash-button/ref=tsm_1_tw_s_amzn_nm31vy
Amazon sends an order alert to your phone, so it’s easy to cancel if you change your mind.
I agree Amazon wants to see lots of companies using it, but “publicly available” isn’t quite the same as “open API.”
If you’ll notice, there’s also text about the goods having to come through Amazon’s fulfillment system (which allows for the cancel option Terry mentioned).
I do think Amazon would like to see SmartThings involved (why not?), I just think there will likely be granular approvals of various kinds.
1 Like
It looks like Quirky has already integrated some new products with Dash.
EFFORTLESS ORDERING
The products connect to your Amazon account to reorder your preferred brands.
Yeah, their page is a little conflicting. They mention working with “hobbyists” but at the same time, it seems like you have to be a seller on amazon or maker of goods to sign up. It would be great if they would allow customers to set up our own virtual buttons and tie them to our own IOT devices
1 Like
They plan to be, “late 2015” with their new Poppy line.
First wave is P&G, who are already in the subscribe and save program, for commodities like Tide. (Making the DASH button name somewhat ironic, since that’s a P&G brand that was discontinued in the US some time ago, although still available in other markets.)
1 Like
Without using the Amazon Dash App maybe there is a way to use one of these free Amazon Dash Buttons to control a ST device or change a ST mode?
Short answer: no. These are WiFi and trigger a preset encrypted buy message to Amazon. Very black box.
Long answer: yes, if you want to set up your own ghost Wi-Fi network that never actually reaches the Internet, accepts any activity as the trigger so you don’t have to decrypt anything, and go from there. But it would be a huge amount of work for very little return. Much easier to just use a contact sensor.
Personally, I have high hopes for the flic button, which is supposed to start shipping this month. Looks like solid engineering, workable physics, nice form factor, and a decent price at under $50. And reprogrammable. I ordered five of them from the original indigogo campaign and we’ll see how they work.
Meanwell, I’m using the Smarten IT three toggle switch to switch modes, and I like it a lot. Different form factor, of course.
2 Likes
I totally agree. You could just buy and Aeon minimote and have 8 such options. The old ones are $27 on Amazon and work fine. That’s 8 buttons for $27!!!
2 Likes
So after seeing this https://medium.com/@edwardbenson/how-i-hacked-amazon-s-5-wifi-button-to-track-baby-data-794214b0bdd8
I think i want to try and get a Dash to send a command via a ST endpoint. I know it wont be the fastest response time but i would like to have one by my bed and hit to send goodnight command or outside the shower to make a fresh pot of coffee. Ill have a RPi do all the work. Again it wont be the fastest but for $5 i could place them all over the place and have them do different things. Guess now i need to learn Java and use python.
1 Like
I think there are only 18 products (?) supported by Dash Buttons, so perhaps they limit the number you can purchase to one per product per Amazon Account? They will each have unique MAC addresses though, so might not be a problem.
To simplify the SmartThings connectivity, you could consider a $35 ThingShield, which uses UART communication to your Pi (or whatever) and then uses a custom firmware’d ZigBee directly to SmartThings. Really easy to write a Device Type that could handle … anything.