Alexa (Amazon Echo) and Cars?

[Flyn]

I know Alexa can read how much gas is in a tank but what else can she do? ("Alexa, how much gas do I have?" "Your tank is XXX full.")

Also, does anyone know how new a car has to be to have the electronics to sync?

Alexa is a write off for me if I consider her my education on smart homes. Need the info for Realtor skillz (not because I want to play with her).

Click to read more...

 

[Flyn]

Hmmm. Looks like a 3rd party device will hook the car up to Alexa if the car software won't.

The product is the Automatic connected car adapter , an $100 gadget that plugs into your vehicle's on-board diagnostic port and pairs with your phone over Bluetooth. Plugging one in lets you monitor gas mileage, investigate potential maintenance issues, and keep tabs on your car's GPS location. Starting today, you'll be able to sync it up with Amazon Echo, as well.

Doing so will give Alexa access to everything that Automatic tracks, and allow you to ask her things like how much gas is left in your tank, or where you last parked your car. You can also ask for quick glimpses of your driving history during specified periods -- for instance, asking her how many miles you drove last week, or in June.

https://www.cnet.com/news/alexa-where-is-my-car-automatic-syncs-your-vehicle-with-amazon-echo/

 

[Flyn]

Manufacturers are jumping on board, too.

Genesis, the luxury division of Hyundai, announced Thursday that it had partnered with Amazon to let owners of its Genesis G80 and its soon-to-be-released G90 start and control their cars remotely. Genesis says it’s the first automaker to introduce an Alexa skill, which lets users of Amazon’s Echo home hub give voice commands to order an Uber, stream music, and get a weather report.

In this case, Hyundai Genesis owners who also have an Echo in their homes would be able to remotely start their car engines, turn on the the car’s air conditioning, honk the horn, turn on the vehicle lights, and unlock the car. Hyundai is betting that these added conveniences—like having your car warm and toasty on a cold, snowy day—will help its luxury brand stand out.

Genesis is technically the first to create an Alexa Skill, but other automakers are hot on its heels. Earlier this month, BMW announced that it would add Amazon Alexa connectivity to its vehicles as part of a larger rollout of its new cloud service BMW Connected. The Alexa feature is expected to premiere in BMW vehicles later this year.

In January, Ford announced a partnership with Amazon that would let users not only talk to their car through the Echo in their home, but also control devices in their homes while driving. For instance, people could talk to their homes’ Nest thermostat and adjust temperature in their house while driving, or order the lights to be turned on and the garage door to open before arriving home.

Amazon Alexa Owners Can Control Their Hyundai Cars From Home

 

[Rent Free]

sounds like a hackers paradise.

even vehicles will be more and more "hackable" so to say.

im competent enough to use the gauges not rely or ask some gadget. how much id use something like this personally.

 

[Flyn]

Passwords now, voice prints later?

 

[EmersonHart13]

[MENTION=4746]Flyn[/MENTION] likes this

Ford expands Sync capabilities with Amazon Alexa and IBM's Watson - Autoblog

 

[Chet Donnelly]

Pretty awesome. I just got an Echo dot in my house and its pretty awesome!

 

[EmersonHart13]

More:

Alexa may be coming to more cars in the near future - Autoblog

Amazon's Alexa assistant can already communicate with some cars, but the conversations are a little one-sided. You can tell your home-bound Echo to start warming up your Hyundai on a frosty day, for example, or send directions to your BMW ahead of setting off; but when you're on the road, you're on your own. Later this year, though, car makers will be able to put Alexa in the passenger seat, giving drivers a virtual assistant that'll put on some tunes, load up an audiobook and carry out many other tasks while their hands are stuck to the wheel.

This won't be a result of individual car brand partnerships, however. Instead, Inrix is working to integrate Alexa into its OpenCar platform, which vehicle manufacturers can take and shape into their own, branded infotainment systems -- similar to BlackBerry's QNX platform, which could be powering your ride's dash even if you don't know it. Inrix acquired OpenCar early last year, and pitches it as an alternative to the more walled app ecosystems of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Putting Alexa in the coveted shotgun seat should represent a serious improvement over existing voice-controlled systems -- Volvo is trying to do the same with Cortana -- but car manufacturers have to ally themselves with the OpenCar platform first. In other words, we've no idea what cars Alexa might end up riding in. Before Inrix snapped it up, OpenCar was working with Mazda, so that's one potential customer.

Inrix isn't exactly small fry in the automotive industry. The company already serves data like real-time traffic and parking information to connected cars from the likes of Audi, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and others, so it has the contacts. (Alexa will also be able to access this kind of info in the car and in the home as part of the OpenCar tie-in.) But as it stands, we'll just have to wait and see which car makers jump at plug-and-play Alexa support later this year.

 

[Bru]

Many new cars already have data connections (4G LTE) and apps you can download for remote start, lock/unlock, fuel levels, service reminders, etc. It sounds like Amazon and Google are partnering up with them for their respective in-house ecosystems. Some of the integration (I don't remember which automaker or which system) also let you turn on the house lights from the car.

 

[EmersonHart13]

Its like Homelink on steroids.

 

[snakebyte]

I believe i saw a commercial for Hyundai where a woman asks Alexa to warm up the car and it does.

 

[cap42]

sounds like a hackers paradise.

even vehicles will be more and more "hackable" so to say.

im competent enough to use the gauges not rely or ask some gadget. how much id use something like this personally.

it already is, I attended a cyber security brief back in april of last year where they shown how easy it is to hack into a newer car via the TPMS as its only a simple logic controller with absolutely 0 security. It's a built in back door to the rest of the cars computer system. From what I've learned since then it's not the only easy way into a car nowadays especially with many cars being accessible via the internet.

Cars now with electronic steering, gas pedals and even emergency brakes can have all their systems very easily broken into. This brief showed a video of the car being hacked and then once broken into how easy it was to start the car remotely, change data outputs on the dash even control the above mentioned systems like the steering and throttle. The presenter basically said he could turn almost any new car into a full size remote control toy.

what really scared the shit out of me is I never put 2 and 2 together with all the electronics in a car noways and how they can control all manual input. The very worst being the "EMERGENCY BRAKE" seriously why is this electronic??

 

[boostedguy05]

sounds like a hackers paradise.

even vehicles will be more and more "hackable" so to say.

im competent enough to use the gauges not rely or ask some gadget. how much id use something like this personally.

You dont use it when you are IN the car.

if you forget how much gas you have, and want to check before you go out, you ask, and it tells you.

not everyone drives their car every day.

this would make little to no use to me as well though.

 

[Rent Free]

it already is, I attended a cyber security brief back in april of last year where they shown how easy it is to hack into a newer car via the TPMS as its only a simple logic controller with absolutely 0 security. It's a built in back door to the rest of the cars computer system. From what I've learned since then it's not the only easy way into a car nowadays especially with many cars being accessible via the internet.

Cars now with electronic steering, gas pedals and even emergency brakes can have all their systems very easily broken into. This brief showed a video of the car being hacked and then once broken into how easy it was to start the car remotely, change data outputs on the dash even control the above mentioned systems like the steering and throttle. The presenter basically said he could turn almost any new car into a full size remote control toy.

what really scared the shit out of me is I never put 2 and 2 together with all the electronics in a car noways and how they can control all manual input. The very worst being the "EMERGENCY BRAKE" seriously why is this electronic??

Exactly hack my car i wouldnt be able to steer it my mustang has an electric rack and pinion in it too.

Im not a fan of all the internet conectivity. But then i sure love all the crap i can do in my car just through the toucj screen. So its a love hate kinda thing.