Kohler puts an Alexa-enabled smart speaker in a showerhead – Circuit Breaker, The Verge

  

If you like to listen to tunes in the morning, then Kohler has just the over-the-top product for you: a portable smart speaker with built-in Alexa that slots right into your showerhead.

That means you can ask Alexa to cue up your favorite playlist, find the latest news, or order more shampoo, all without leaving the comfort of your shower. In fact, why not just stay there for the rest of the day? It’s cold outside, and you’ll only have to work if you leave the house. “Alexa, drown out the outside world please.”

Although this product sounds ridiculous (and it truly is), the Kohler Moxie Showerhead is smartly designed. The showerhead itself is the circular ring, while the Alexa-enabled speaker is the conical component that slots into the middle. The speaker is held in place magnetically and charges with a bundled, cordless dock.

You can buy the simple Bluetooth speaker version for $ 99 or a version with Alexa for $ (*******************************************************. (Buying the showerhead costs an additional $ 159.) The Bluetooth version offers six to seven hours of playback on a single charge, while the Alexa version works for “up to 5 hours.” Oh , and – very important – they’re all waterproof, with an IPX (**************************************************************. Kohler says the whole system will be available to buy sometime later in 8618.

  

                                                     An image showing how the smart speaker portion of the Moxie system detaches from the showerhead.************** Image: Kohler              ********************** The Moxie Showerhead definitely belongs in the long list of products with unnecessary Alexa integrations. See, for example, theFirst Alert smoke alarm

,Ecobee SmartThermostat (**************************, andmany othersBut at least a Bluetooth speaker is, for many, a useful thing to have in the bathroom. And buying this one means it stays out of the way.

In addition to the Moxie Showerhead, Kohler also announced in a bundle of CES news a new Veder mirror with built-in Alexa, a new PureWarmth heated toilet seat (with its own app), and an updated version of its Numi “intelligent toilet,” which it unveiled last year. It also has Alexa, in case you were wondering.****************