Amazon has confirmed a new partnership with BMW which will see its popular Alexa voice assistant integrated into the automakers’ complete portfolio – including Minis.
BMW drivers will benefit from the voice assistant from mid-2018, it was announced.
Alexa is the cloud-based assistant that powers the Amazon Echo and Echo Dot, and is capable of quickly finding directions, playing music, reading the latest headlines and weather updates.
The smart assistant can also order takeaway, and control smart home appliances, like doorbells, garage doors and lightbulbs across your home.
BMW Senior Vice President Digital Services and Business Models, Dieter May said: “By making this step and integrating Alexa into our models from 2018, BMW and MINI will form a more intrinsic part of our customers’ digital lifestyles.
“Voice control first featured in BMW Group cars many years ago, and we are now enhancing its functionality by adding a digital ecosystem, which will open up all sorts of new possibilities that customers can access quickly, easily and safely from their car.”
“We are excited to work with BMW to bring the Alexa experience to their drivers,” said Ned Curic, Vice President, Alexa Automotive.
“Voice is a big part of the future, especially in cars.
“Using your voice to enjoy content and interact with your car makes a great driving experience even better. We can’t wait for BMW customers to try this out.”
Drivers will be able to use Alexa without a phone since each of the cars will come with a sim card installed.
It will also be compatible with any other Alexa-enabled device which means you can control certain car functions such as activating climate control or locking the doors remotely.
Every BMW and Mini model from mid-2018 will ship with Alexa preinstalled in US, UK and Germany.
The announcement was made during Amazon’s latest hardware event in Seattle, where the Seattle-based firm unveiled a swathe of new Alexa-powered devices.
The Echo is now smaller, boasts improved sound and ships with four interchangeable skins.
In addition to the revamped Echo, a new speaker, dubbed Echo Plus, was revealed.
It includes an enhanced 360-degree omni-directional audio, with Dolby processing, for better audio quality both at the low and high end.
The new Echo Spot, a 2.5-inch circular screen with in-built speaker, was also introduced yesterday.
As well as having Alexa functionality, the speaker doubles up as an alarm clock, nursery camera and can also make and receive video calls.
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