BMW and Amazon are teaming up to build a new voice experience for drivers and passengers. The Alexa Custom Assistant platform is designed to be fully customizable, allowing automakers to put their own spin on the experience for their customers.
This approach is similar to how Alphabet's Android Automotive technology runs in the background of numerous automakers' infotainment systems while a branded screen is shown to users. Volvo, Polestar and General Motors currently use the technology.
BMW has a long relationship with another Alphabet company, Google, integrating its search engine into the first iDrive system in 2007. The following year BMW became the first automaker to unlock unlimited in-car internet access for its owners.
The iDrive technology has continued to grow smarter as generations debuted, with an online-based voice control system premiering in 2018 in what was then the new BMW 3 Series. It is underpinned by BMW Operating System 7 vehicle software, which is able to be updated remotely.
The latest version of iDrive, which premiered in the new iX electric SUV, is designed to bridge "the gap between analogue and digital technology" according to the automaker, allowing for additional levels of automation while cloud-based services utilize real-time data.
BMW says that the first vehicles with the new generation of BMW's voice assistant will launch in the coming 24 months.
Today's announcement by Amazon coincided with the news that a second-generation of Amazon Echo Auto will go on sale soon. Its slim design features a new adhesive mount. Amazon has installed five microphones in the model, which are designed to hear requests over music, climate control functions, and road noise.
Echo Auto allows users to listen to music, make calls and get roadside assistance hands-free, using voice commands. For example, for roadside assistance, a user can say, "Alexa, call Roadside Assistance" to connect with an agent who can request help on their behalf.
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Eileen Falkenberg-Hull leads the Autos team at Newsweek. She has written extensively about the auto industry for U.S. News & ... Read more
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