Daily Slideshow: Alexa from Amazon Will Now Ride Shotgun in Some Lexus Models
With every passing year, technology looks to make our lives easier and less stressful by taking on some of our burdens. Now Toyota will be adding Alexa into some Lexus models to bring some personal assistance aid to your time behind the wheel.
Never alone
With the number of carmakers introducing Amazon's electronic personal assistant Alexa into models it was only a matter of time until Toyota joined in. However, Toyota is going to a step beyond the rest by not only having voice commands but integrating the full Alexa AI into cars. Starting this year the full Alexa suite will be offered in Toyota and Lexus models with either EnTune 3.0 or EnForm 2.0 infotainment systems. Toyota isn't saying just yet what models will get the AI system but signs point to the LC, NX, RC, and LS models as they all have EnForm 2.0 available. The Japanese automaker said that in 2019 more models would be added to the list of Alexa vehicles.
Always there for you
Toyota suggests a number of ways users could use Alexa in the car, such as for taking notes and setting reminders, activating apps, or for controlling other smart devices, such as the heating and cooling on your house. Things like that will help to make the system seem even more personal to consumers as the transition from traveling to coming home will seem more fluid and natural.
“Voice services are rapidly becoming more popular and through our integration with Amazon Alexa, Toyota and Lexus customers will soon be able to easily speak to Alexa in their cars while on-the-go,” Toyota Motor North America chief information officer Zack Hicks said in a statement.
Well they finally added CarPlay recently
What's interesting is that Toyota has gone the route that they have but won't integrate Android Auto on any Toyota or Lexus vehicles. The reason that I point this out is that when it comes to phone operating systems, the world public is split between Apple and Android products and use them on a daily basis. Way back in 2015, John Hanson, the national manager of Toyota’s advanced technology communications, remarked to The New York Times that the company “preferred to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions.” Even when Toyota switched to another company’s system in 2016, it was to adopt Ford’s SmartDeviceLink app platform, not Apple or Google’s software.
Something for everyone
Whatever the thought process was at Toyota, Alexa will bring with it all the niceties of the service as well as the ability to order an item that you desire right then and there. Need to write a to-do list? Done. Can't find your phone? Alexa can trigger a ring. In the mood for a dad joke level knee-slapper? The AI can toss those out like nobody's business.
From home to vehicle to home again
Toyota says that customers will have the ability to ask the digital assistant for complex tasks like driving directions on the fly, reading the news, and activating internet-connected home devices. The announcement by Amazon marks yet another step forward from the house that Bezos built in working with third-party devices to use Alexa that go beyond things like the Echo and Echo Dot. Case in point was Ford and Amazon announcing at last year's CES show a similar pairing of Ford's infotainment system with Alexa.
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