Amazon's Alexa has put on some nice new skills thanks to a new found partnership with Genesis, the luxury auto division of Hyundai. As such, owners of the Genesis G90 or G80 will be able to control several features of the car remotely via Alexa simply by speaking to the Amazon smart speaker.
Genesis said G90 and G80 owners can issue voice commands using Amazon Echo, Tap, Echo Dot or the Fire TV digital media player. As of now, users have the option to start or stop the car, honk the horn, turn on the lights and so on. Slightly more complex commands such as those to start the car and set the temperature to a precise level are also acceptable. Locking and unlocking the car can be accomplished too via Alexa commands while more are to be introduced soon, AutoEvolution stated.
"With this innovative Alexa implementation, customers can now start their car, and get the heat going all just by asking Alexa from the comfort of their own home. We can't wait for our customers to try it out," said Steve Rabuchin, the vice president of Amazon Alexa.
Almost all automakers offer an app to let users have access to several of the car's functions remotely. However, Genesis has taken things to a new level by being the first to let users to reach out to their cars via smart home automation devices. BMW is believed to be working on introducing several remote commands for Alexa by this year-end itself, TechCrunch reported.
While this no doubt will mark the beginning of a new trend for other automakers to follow, this also brings thing closer to realising the Internet-of-Things dream that different companies are working to achieve.
However, so much for all the enhanced benefit that the feature brings along, users need to be signed in to the Genesis Connected Car Services to avail of it. Fortunately, it's free for the first three years beyond which it is going to be a paid service.
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