Bosch taps into Alexa for next-gen smart appliances

The "Invented for Life" brand has finally jumped into the Alexa bandwagon with Amazon integrations for its coffee maker and dishwasher.

Germany-based home and kitchen appliances supplier Bosch has followed the footsteps of fellow competitors and international giants the likes of Haier, Samsung and Whirlpool, finally debuting a new line of smart appliances integrated with Amazon functionalities.

Smart integrations in appliances are not a new thing for Bosch, however. The "invented for Life" brand is known for adopting Home Connect technology, which enables users to control their appliances remotely through an app. Introducing a new line of Home Connect- and Amazon-enabled units could potentially be a game-changer in terms of connecting and controlling multiple brands from the US and Europe simultaneously.

One of such appliances that integrate Amazon services is the coffee machine, which can now be controlled via voice control through Alexa. What happens is that as soon as Alexa receives the command from the user, she will relay the information to Home Connect, which, in turn, will execute the task.

Bosch's dishwashers are also being integrated with Amazon skills, but this time, with the Dash Replacement. For this appliance, the service is programmed to automatically reorder dishwasher supplies online when stocks are low. A manual Dash button is also available, with replacements being delivered days or hours after the purchase.

Currently, Bosch's 2017 catalog of smart appliances include a built-in coffee maker, dishwasher, washing machines, dryers, ovens and refrigerators. With the adding of Amazon Alexa in its latest offerings, the company is now expected to roll out "smarter" units, which may integrate Nest and IFTTT, with voice controland online restocking features becoming the norm.