Turn Your Echo Dot Into the Ultimate Smart Light Switch
The Echo Dot Mount (Full-Kit version) from PANDO Gear
Start-up PANDO Gear wants to help you find a convenient place for your Echo Dot – by mounting it on the wall. The Echo Dot Mount plugs directly into an outlet so there is no need for the power adapter and charging cable. There is also a “Full Kit” option which allows you to turn any existing light switch into an Echo docking station. The price for the mount will run you about half the cost of the actual device at $25 for the outlet version and the full kit costing just as much at $50.
Improving the Echo Dot?
While the price is a little steep when you compare it to the cost of the device itself, the Echo Dot Mount could be useful. The founders believe it could actually make the Echo Dot “more user-friendly, responsive, and aesthetically pleasing.” This could be true as the cord can be bulky when you consider the size of the actual device and it can be difficult to find an ideal place where it can listen and be heard easily. The latter was one challenge Boston Children’s discovered in implementing Echo devices throughout the hospital. The Echo Dot Mount could make that easier.
But that being said, how many households outside of the kitchen have a power outlet that isn’t near the ground? (Although the kitchen is the number one place consumers use their smart speaker.) The light switch version provides ideal placement, but it also requires home installation which may be a turn off to consumers.
A New Market
Many compare the rise of the Amazon Echo and other smart speaker devices to the iPhone and smart phones. Given that association, think about how many accessories we now own to accommodate and to improve the usability of our smartphones. The popularity of the smart phone spurned an entire industry of mobile accessories, which now has a market value of almost 25 billion dollars. The founders at PANDO Gear could be on to something. That something could be a new industry worth millions in the future.
