Gadgetory

imagine an alternate reality in which you don't have to go grocery shopping that is the future that haiku Labs is trying to provide with its new shopping assistant device haiku the haiku is available right now on the haiku labs website for fifty dollars but after New Year's the promotional period will end and it will be back up to eighty dollars basically the haiku magnets to your fridge and when you're done with a jug of milk or some other grocery you scan a barcode using the haiku and then you toss it and that item is added to your grocery list with the original haiku that's where things ended but now thanks to partnerships with Walmart and pea pod you can upload that list on to an online purchasing service while Walmart will only bag your groceries and get them ready for pickup peapod will actually deliver those groceries to your house the haiku actually works pretty well if you buy big-name products it will usually recognize what you're scanning but if you shop at smaller places like whole foods or trader joes then the scanning is a little bit more hit or miss similarly when you take advantage of the additional step of online purchasing the third party providers can be a little bit loose in their interpretations of what you want to replace your depleted groceries for instance is suggested a bottle of agave syrup to replace a bottle of patron at the end of the day I like the idea of the haiku more than its execution I just don't see it streamlining the grocery list making process any more than a pen and paper or a note on your smartphone already does but for families or for anyone who has difficulty getting out to the store for any reason this can save a lot of frustration for more on our smart home coverage checkout cnet com here at cnet appliances I'm Dave fries