The next development in remote start and possible alternative to the car radio may be the Amazon Echo Dot. Jeep last week announced it will offer in November the Amazon Echo Dot as an accessory in its one of its trim packages along with a free music streaming service trial.
This follows announcements for support of Amazon Alexa (the voice assistant for the Dot) last week by Nissan, and a recent announcement of Alexa support from BMW. Ford has also announced future support for vehicles with Sync 3 systems and Hyundai already works with Alexa. Aftermarket remote start maker Compustar is also offering limited Alexa support.
As part of the Jeep Cherokee’s new Tech Connect Package, buyers of the Cherokee’s basic “Latitude” trim line will get a free Amazon Dot (worth $50) plus 3 months of Amazon’s Music Unlimited Family Plan and Audible’s audiobook streaming service ($110 value). The package will allow natural voice command access to tens of millions of songs.
Also, for those with a Dot at home, they may remote start and stop the car from their livingroom using simple voice commands as well as lock and unlock doors, send commands to their navigation system and monitor vehicle functions.
This will hold true for owners of any of any 2018 Jeep Cherokee SUVs with an 8.4-inch screen and Uconnect starting November 1. But owners of the Latitude trim line specifically, which starts at $26,000, will get the free Dot and music streaming trial.
Mike Manley, Head of Jeep Brand – FCA Global said, “Jeep Cherokee’s new Tech Connect Package allows customers to minimize the everyday stresses of busy lifestyles by providing them with a variety of ways to stay conveniently connected to their vehicles, while making every drive exceptionally informative, entertaining and unique.”
Latitude models with the Tech Connect Package also get 3G connectivity, rear backup assist and a year’s subscription to SiriusXM.
Source: FCA via BusinessInsider, Cars.com
See also Remote Start With Alexa Gains Ground
My concern with the amazon voice control is its lack of ability to differentiate between users. We did a test with a Dot about a week ago where we were able to access someones Dot by yelling through the window. We were able to control his Dish receiver and shop on Amazon when his Dot was in certain places in the room. Hopefully it wasn’t set up completely but the owner of the Dot didn’t know how to train it to recognize only his voice therefore I could also control it even from outside his house. As a comparison he could not control my Pixel phone with his voice even holding it in his hand. Voice recognition is very cool but the security of it I feel is still questionable.
I sure hope they work out the security bugs. It would seem that it would be very easy for someone to hack the factory system via your home WiFi and steal your vehicle. If it operates without a confirmation command from your programmed cell phone number this could be easy pickings.
Voice control that is intuitive and at least 95% accurate is the solution to infotainment system distraction. It isn’t a 100% solution, but it is as close as we will get barring the car taking over the driving when we are distracted.