The Bixi gesture controller is getting an E Ink and Alexa-infused successor

Bluemint Labs' Bixi, a device that lets you add gesture control to smartphones and smart home gadgets, is expected to ship in March after finishing a Kickstarter campaign last year. But Bluemint Labs isn't stopping there, and has already announced the successor — Bixi 2.0 — at CES 2017.

The Bixi 2.0 brings several new additions to the gesture control puck, including an E Ink display for showing temperature, time, and notifications. It’ll also integrate Amazon's Alexa Voice Service. The whole thing comes with a Wi-Fi connected hub to let you control smart home devices without requiring a connected phone.

Additionally, it will have the same customizable gesture control abilities of the original Bixi, along with an estimated one month battery life. The Bixi 2.0 is still very much in the early stages of development — the display model at CES is still a plastic mock-up — but Bluemint Labs hopes to have the device available by the end of 2017.

The original Bixi is already available in Europe. US customers can pre-order it for today $99, with an expected ship date sometime in March.

The article was published on : theverge