Amazon's Alexa is taking the show on the road. With a new in-vehicle version of the popular A.I. assistant expected to begin appearing in millions of GM vehicles in the first half of 2020, Cheddar spoke to Amazon Alexa Auto Chief Evangelist Arianne Walker to find out what exactly Alexa has to offer on the go.
To start with, drivers will be able to use voice commands to complete tasks, like adding groceries to a shopping list or setting a reminder in the car, she said.
"One of the things that we wanted to make sure is that people had a familiar experience in the car or outside the car with Alexa," she said. That experience means controlling entertainment, communications, navigation, and the car itself and using tens of thousands of skills the device is capable of completing.
In-car assistants have yet to take off in popularity, but Walker hopes Alexa changes that trend. "The beauty of an in-vehicle system like Alexa, that you can use at home, in the car, is that continuity. And she's in the cloud. She gets smarter every day. And she uses natural language understanding, so you can talk to her like you would a person."
Car devices are notoriously bad at recognizing what drivers are asking for. Walker said that industry data shows problems with voice-recognition systems are a chief complaint from drivers, so Amazon hopes that adding its Alexa device directly into vehicles will be a game-changer.
"We heard from customers that they wanted to bring her with them when they leave the home," according to Walker.
For those not looking to purchase a new car with embedded Alexa software, Amazon hopes they'll consider an Amazon Echo Auto, which is available now, can be used in any vehicle, and uses third-party apps to let drivers do things like control music, adjust smart appliances, and navigate.
Amazon isn't the only player looking to corner the driving assistant market. BMW also announced last week that it will bring Android Auto to its cars in the summer of 2020.
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A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
