Toyota will bring Alexa to its US cars this year

Toyota is planning to bring Alexa to some of its US-bound cars this year.

Alexa is Amazon’s intelligent virtual assistant, similar to Siri or Cortana, which can interact with users via voice, make lists, set alarms, provide news and weather information, as well as control smart devices connected via the internet.

Both Lexus and Toyota vehicles will benefit from the voice assistant; in particular those with the Entune 3.0 App Suite, including the 2018 Toyota Camry and Sienna, and the vast majority of current model year Lexus vehicles with the Enform App Suite 2.0. Toyota is planning to bring Alexa to more of its own models this year and in 2019.

Alexa will be able to aid drivers and passengers with directions, news, shopping, and smart home control from the car, among other functions. Just like the home version, Toyota’s Alexa implementation can also gain skills from third party developers.

Other manufacturers are adding AI assistants to their vehicles as well – Samsung’s Bixby is making its way to cars that may be equipped with the HARMAN concept. Google Assistant is being introduced into Android Auto equipped vehicles including certain offerings from Ford, Holden, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Subaru.

Voice control has been available for quite some time in Android Auto equipped cars, but the actual assistant will provide a little more functionality and usability.

While Alexa is yet to be offered in Australia, it is coming in the first quarter of this year. Alexa has proved to be compatible with many smart devices and will be an easier way to connect your home than trying to hack together a solution with several different apps or assistants.

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