If you own a recent Jaguar or a Land Rover there's good news, as you'll soon be able to ask Alexa to control various functions in the car on top of a host of other things.
The integration of Amazon's smart assistant will bring a range of voice-enabled functionality to Land Rover and Jaguar vehicles, including the ability to control navigation and music, manage calendars, hear the news, check the weather and control your smart home devices just by asking.
No phone will be required for Alexa to work in the vehicles either, with the system using your car's built-in connectivity to connect to the cloud.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) isn't the first automotive firm to add Alexa to its vehicles, but it likely won't be the last either, as connectivity in ours cars continues to advance.
For owners of a Jaguar or a Land Rover, your vehicle has to be equipped with the Pivi Pro infotainment system running version 3.0 or above, you need to be signed in to your InControl account and you'll need the Online Pack subscription. Oh, and you'll also need an Amazon account.
According to JLR, “Alexa will be made available to more than 200,000 existing owners of compatible Jaguar and Land Rover models” with the new feature arriving via an over-the-air software update.
Check on your car remotely
JLR has even developed its own Amazon Alexa skill which – when you've installed Alexa in your car – will allow those in the US and UK to check in on their car's status remotely from home.
You'll be able to ask your Echo smart speakers to lock or unlock the doors, enable climate control or check on the charge status and range of EV models.
The Pivi Pro system already supported wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, giving owners access to Siri and Google Assistant voice control in their cars, so while Alexa integration wasn't necessarily required, its inclusion will be welcome news to those embedded in the Amazon ecosystem.
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