Just a little over a month after shipping its first Echo Wall Clocks, Amazon is pulling the product over connectivity issues. The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern first tweeted about the delisting and The Verge has since independently confirmed it. In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said, “We’re aware that a small number of customers have had issues with connectivity. We’re working hard to address this and plan to make Echo Wall Clock available again in the coming weeks.”
The clock’s listing is still live on Amazon, but it now reads “currently unavailable.” It’s unclear when exactly it’ll be back in stock or how extensive of a fix Amazon needs to apply; it could be a few weeks, like the company says, or the issue may run deeper and take a bit more time. (It’s also not clear if there’s a refund program in place, but it seems safe to say that Amazon would give you your money back if you were experiencing the apparent connectivity issues.) The device ran on four AA batteries and required both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for setup. A handful of reviews on the listing mention connectivity issues and the fact that it kept losing its Wi-Fi connection.
Still, the Echo Wall Clock cost only $29.99 and was designed for people who already owned a standard Echo — the clock didn’t have a microphone or speaker built in. People who did have an Echo could use the clock to display timers, with LED indicators for seeing how much time was left without having to ask Alexa. It was a strange and intriguing idea, so here’s to hoping Amazon figures out a quick fix and gets it back on the market.
This article is from The Verge
