Google rumoured to be working on a detachable Nest Hub. At Google I/O this year, the firm said it was working on a gadget in this category, but it’s a regular Android tablet with a base, not anything more extreme. If you can’t wait till 2023 or don’t like Google Assistant, Bosch’s smart home device may be for you. At IFA 2022, Bosch debuted the Smart Kitchen Dock, an Alexa speaker that docks your tablet or phone.
When not linked to a phone or tablet, the Smart Kitchen Dock is a strange-looking Amazon Alexa smart speaker. Use it for all your smart speaker’s commands. Two 41mm active speakers and a passive resonator promise passable audio quality. Four microphones help the device comprehend you even when food is sizzling.
The cylindrical form with a smartphone slot at the top makes the black polycarbonate item more than a speaker, though. When you pair your phone or tablet with the speaker, the Bosch Dock turns it into a recipe and smart home hub using Bosch’s app. We assume it works via a proximity sensor or a scale that identifies when a device is set down and pushes the app to said device, given the stand was demoed with an iPad, which doesn’t have an NFC chip that could serve a similar function.
The Smart Kitchen Dock supports gestures too. Bosch’s cooking software lets you swipe between processes and ingredients by waving your hand in front of the device. At IFA, this worked surprisingly well, and it’s a credit to Google’s Soli radar efforts on Nest Hub devices.
Bosch promises a number of future services, so it seems the company will offer extended software updates to the Alexa-equipped device. Bosch advertises the Smart Kitchen Hub as the control centre for its future Home Connect software and appliances.
There are drawbacks to the setup. From what we can gather, the dock has no wireless charging coil. If you wish to charge your device while using the dock, plug it into the USB-A port. This isn’t perfect compared to Google’s tablet. A caution on Bosch’s German website says Android support is coming shortly, suggesting the device may ship without Android connectivity.
Alexa can set timers, answer inquiries like a vegetable’s average lifespan, and find a recipe. You may control the gadget using gestures, such as a swipe hovering over the screen, owing to inbuilt sensors. Home Connect and Alexa voice commands let you operate other smart home devices.
The dock contains a built-in speaker that amplifies sound from streaming services. Smart Kitchen Dock has volume and mute buttons. In January, the Bosch Smart Kitchen Dock will cost €189 ($188).
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