Amazon released customizable Amazon Dash Buttons for developers earlier this week and they sold out in less than a day. According to Amazon’s Werner Vogels, the initial stock sold out “in a few hours.” Amazon says that the new button is a “limited release.” The company has not commented on whether more of the buttons will become available in the future.
Many people have been asking for customizable Dash Buttons since they launched. The new button is fully programmable, allowing you to connect to pretty much any connected device or service you want. The new button looks just like the existing Dash Buttons, but is designed for developers to tinker with. The devices currently are only available to developers with an AWS account.
Amazon Dash Buttons were first launched in March of last year. Since then, the buttons have become an increasingly familiar sight in homes across the country. The device is one of the simplest on the market and is designed with one job in mind.
The new button can connect with many different Amazon services automatically. However, if you know some programming, you can code the button to do things like start a car, make a phone call or turn on a connected coffee maker. You can also program the button to work with apps and programs, like Netflix and Uber. Amazon said that the button was a good starting point for any developer that wants to build apps in AWS IoT, AWS Lambda, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon SNS and any other Amazon Web Services.
The new customizable Dash Buttons cost $19.95 apiece, considerably more than the $5 charged for the other types of Dash buttons. For the regular Dash Buttons, that initial fee is refunded when you make your first order. It is unclear whether the company will also offer a rebate for the customizable Dash Buttons. All Dash Buttons need to be replaced after about 1,000 presses, which is when the irreplaceable battery runs dead.
