Amazon is expected to roll out a second generation of its connected car platform as part of next week’s new product launch event that will also feature a larger Echo with a wall-mountable screen, a TV sound bar and wearable gear, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday (Sept. 24).
Some of the new products will be part of the Tuesday (Sept. 28) launch, the report says, but others will either be launched later or not at all if there’s not enough support.
The second generation of Amazon’s Echo Auto technology is code-named Marion. The first-generation Echo Auto product, which pairs with smartphones over Bluetooth and lets users access Alexa through car speakers using its microphones, has been criticized by consumers in some circles.
The new Echo Auto will have a new design, Bloomberg reports, and might include the ability to charge a device with inductive technology.
Amazon recently teamed with Ford Motor Co. on a plan to embed Alexa in 700,000 cars this year in a setup that allows users to access Alexa from their dashboard entertainment systems without a phone, app or button push. The company is in talks with other auto makers to get Alexa in their vehicles.
Related: Voice Operating Systems Like Alexa Will Power the Connected Economy: Here’s Why
Alexa’s November 2014 introduction showed consumers a new way of connecting with information and brands without a touch, tap or click, PYMNTS’ Karen Webster wrote earlier this week (Sept. 20).
Alexa also gave consumers consistent access to new experiences through connected devices, using their voices, regardless of the hardware at the heart of the experience.
Alexa’s voice AI operating system “has the potential to move consumers and businesses closer to an always-on connected commerce ecosystem, by leveraging that trust and embedding payment and identity credentials into a growing portfolio of connected devices powering new use cases that define the consumer’s daily routine,” wrote Webster.
That will become more important, she wrote, as more 5G-equipped devices are deployed in retail and commercial spaces.
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