Amazon is exploiting the opportunities presented by the Internet of
Things (IoT) with the launch of a new service called Amazon Dash
Replacement Service (DRS).
Initially only available in the US, DRS simplifies the ordering of
consumables for a wide range of consumer and business devices and
enables manufacturers to take advantage of Amazon’s authentication
and payment systems and fulfilment network.
Amazon offers manufacturers two ways to implement DRS. They can
either build a button into a device that the user must press to order new
supplies; or the machine itself can monitor supplies and automatically
order replacements as soon as they are needed.
This type of managed service is already familiar to many printer
users, through entry-level managed print services (MPS) offered
by vendors and resellers to business customers, and through new
consumer offerings, notably HP’s Instant Ink.
DRS extends automatic consumables ordering to any device that can
connect to the internet directly or through a proxy. In addition to printers
from Samsung and Brother, DRS will be offered with Brita water jugs
that will automatically order new filters; pet food dispensers that will
place orders when supplies are getting low; Sealed Air soap dispensers;
and a smart lock that orders new batteries when they are needed.
Supplies are ordered from Amazon itself or from a supplier’s own
Amazon.com store with fulfilment by Amazon.
DRS is currently in beta, but will be made publicly available to
manufacturers and their customers in the autumn.
Amazon would not say if or when DRS will be launched in the UK.
However, UK e-commerce fulfilment specialist ParcelHero believes that
Amazon’s new one-hour online groceries delivery service in Birmingham
and London is paving the way for a UK launch.
David Jinks, ParcelHero’s head of public relations, said: “As ground-
breaking as the launch of the Amazon Fresh one-hour delivery service
is in the UK, it is clearing the way for something even more significant in
the long-term, its ‘Internet of Things’ service Dash. Dash will eventually
enable your fridge to automatically order your milk or pizza when you run
out, or your coffee machine to know when you need your next Espresso
or Caremelito.”
He added: “The warehousing and logistics needed for launching
Fresh will also underpin the Dash service. In a number of US cities where
Amazon Fresh is available, Dash has already been introduced. Over 500
products are now available in the US for instant order through Dash,
including Tide, Kraft Foods and Hershey’s. At the moment users literally
tap a button attached to their fridge or other appliances to order without
fuss, but the technology is already available to enable freezers etc. to
keep track of various products and send a replenish order automatically.”
Dash for deliveries
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INTERNET OF THINGS
Samsung and Brother are among the first manufacturers
to take advantage of Amazon’s new just-in-time
consumables delivery service
The Versatile Collaboration
System (VCS), combining a 2D/3D
digital camera, projector and a
movement sensor, lets you scan
documents and 3D objects,
project images onto larger
surfaces and edit said images
in real-time using intuitive
gestures. The all-in-one unit can
even recognise and extract data
from documents and transfer it
to back-end systems.
Canon’s Mixed Reality (MREAL)
technology immerses the wearer
into computer-generated imagery
so that they
can view and
interact with
prototypes in
360°.
