Amazon wont build this Alexa cuckoo clock unless it hits a preorder goal

Amazon is launching a new consumer outreach program it’s calling Build It. The idea is a safer spin on a familiar crowdfunding idea: if enough people preorder something, Amazon will produce it. And if not, it won’t. The company is starting with three Alexa-powered gadgets: a cuckoo clock, a thermal sticky note printer, and a smart scale that can provide details on the food you’re weighing via a separate Echo device.

All three “concepts” are going up for preorder today as part of Amazon’s program for creating experimental hardware. It has already made some devices it doesn’t consider mainstream yet — like the Echo Frames — under the Day 1 Editions branding. Built It is a subset, designed for gadgets that won’t even be released without...

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