Amazon recently launched a new gadget in the form of its WiFi Amazon Dash Buttons that are available in the US for $5 each.
Buttons that are available in the US for $5 each. Ted Benson has now published details on how these new buttons can be hacked to provide additional uses very easily.
The palm sized Amazon Dash Buttons have been created to enable users to purchase a single product from Amazon with the single press of a button. Placing the button near a product such as washing powder (after wirelessly connecting it to the Internet) enables a quick re-order when levels are low.
Watch the video below to see how Benson has used the WiFi Amazon Button to suit different needs and explains how you too can use the button and easily hack it to suit your needs.
OK, so our goal is to detect when one of these Dash buttons is pushed and then do something other than order more diapers on Amazon. The impressive hack would be to rip open the button and reprogram it. But I’m a dad: I don’t have time for that shi — err.. doody. So we’ll take the lazy route: we’ll just write a simple program that sniffs our wifi network for evidence that the button was pushed and then records a data point when it hears some.
It turns out Amazon gave us a very easy way to do this because they were so concerned with power saving. Dash buttons are turned off most of the time to preserve the battery inside. They only turn on when you push them. And that means they have to re-connect to your Wifi network every time they are pushed. That’s easy to detect.
Source: Medium: Engadget
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