Get Alexa Hands-free for your car: [ Ссылка ]
Smart digital assistants are great and helpful entities, at least until you leave the house. Now it’s becoming possible to access these hands-free smarts while on the road. Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant is now being offered on GM, Buick and Chevy vehicles in Canada. What’s it like to drive around with Alexa? I had a chance to spend a week with a new Chevy Blazer equipped with Alexa Built In, and I’ll tell you all about what it can do, how well it works and whether it adds to the overall driving experience.

What can Amazon Alexa Built In in a car do?

Alexa Built-In allows you to:

use voice commands to stream music
navigate to any location with voice
make phone calls
connect to your smart home devices at home
Check the news, control smart home devices like lights or thermostats when you arrive or leave home
add items to an Amazon shopping cart, and access Alexa skills.
Navigation – Ask Alexa to get directions to a specific address or point of interest, such as a vehicle dealer, or ask for nearby coffee shops. Alexa seamlessly integrates with compatible, embedded navigation systems in the vehicle or available OnStar Turn-by-Turn navigation using natural language.
Media – Ask Alexa to play a specific song, artist, genre, or station, as well as audiobooks or podcasts. Alexa can fulfill the request by bringing up available streaming services.
Calling – Drivers can ask Alexa to call friends and family using their voice when they pair their phone via Bluetooth and sync their contacts in the Amazon Alexa app.
Home Integration – Ask Alexa to turn on your smart light blub, open the garage, change the temperature on your Smart thermostat or make an announcement from the car to your home Echo device
Make grocery lists, jot down reminders
Answer burning drive-home questions
Read Audible Audio books

Set up process for in-car Alexa Built-In

Anyone who’s ever tried to set up their clock in the car knows that getting stuff configured on the dashboard can be frustrating, because it’s never intuitive. So I was pleasantly surprised to see the set-up for Alexa in the Chevy Blazer was super simple:

What can I ask Alexa in my car?
You can ask Alexa to do any number of things specific to your car.
“Alexa, ask Chevrolet for help”
“Alexa, ask Cadillac to start my car”
“Alexa, ask Chevrolet to lock/unlock my car”
“Alexa, ask GMC to stop my car” (must be parked)
“Alexa, ask Buick what vehicles are in my garage”
“Alexa, ask Cadillac to secure my garage”
Integrating Alexa in car with Alexa at home
One of the advantages of having Alexa in your car and at home is that you can seamlessly integrate your smart home. When you pull up you can say, “alexa, turn on the outside lights’ to light your way. Or ‘Alexa, unlock the front door’ so you don’t have to fumble for keys while carrying groceries.
Similarly, you could be inside your house and ask Alexa to unlock or even start your car on a chilly morning.
Subscription package needed?
If you like the idea of this service, it does come at a price, kinda. The Alexa Built-In app is free for customers to download and use but it does require a connection to the cloud, using Chevrolet Infotainment 3 Plus connected radio to access the internet.
 
Overall impressions of in-car Alexa Built-In
I have to say it’s pretty handy having Alexa in the car. I was one of those people who thought having a digital assistant in the house was superfluous, but once I started using and taking advantage of what they can do, they become invaluable and you get used to calling on them for stuff. Same applies with the car. It’s so handy being able to ask for directions and have Alexa actually understand.
I often get deep in thought while I’m driving, so having Alexa take notes, make a grocery list or even just look something up for me was addictive. Plus, remembering I needed to order something on Amazon, then just being able to ask for it is pretty mind bending. Now if only they could deliver it by the time I pull up in the driveway…
Overall this system is easy to set up easy to use and integrates seamlessly with Alexa at home.

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