Toyota Jumps on the Alexa Bandwagon, But Still Won't Offer Apple CarPlay
Toyota is the latest automaker to announce that Amazon Alexa will be available in its vehicles starting this year.
Alexa, Amazon’s intelligent cloud-based voice-recognition service, is becoming more popular in households around the nation. And soon, Toyota owners will get to take advantage of Alexa in their vehicles (which is interesting since Toyota still doesn’t offer Apple CarPlay or Android Auto compatibility). The Japanese automaker has announced select Toyota and Lexus vehicles with Toyota Entune 3.0 App Suite and Lexus Enform App Suite 2.0 will receive integration in 2018, while additional models will be available starting next year. The feature will allow owners in the U.S. to interact with Alexa in their car.
Other automakers that recently announced Alexa integration into their vehicles include BMW, MINI, and Nissan.
SEE ALSO: Nissan Vehicles are Getting Connected with Amazon Alexa
If you’re not familiar with Amazon Alexa, it allows users to ask her to do things such as adjusting their smart home’s temperature, add milk to their shopping list, or listen to an audiobook from Audible.
A full list of vehicles that will be compatible with Amazon Alexa has not been announced.
“Voice services are rapidly becoming more popular and through our integration with Amazon Alexa, Toyota and Lexus customers will soon be able to easily speak to Alexa in their cars while on-the-go,” said Zack Hicks, senior vice president and chief information officer of Toyota Motor North America and chief executive officer and president of Toyota Connected.
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Jason Siu began his career in automotive journalism in 2003 with Modified Magazine, a property previously held by VerticalScope. As the West Coast Editor, he played a pivotal role while also extending his expertise to Modified Luxury & Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Beyond his editorial work, Jason authored two notable Cartech books. His tenure at AutoGuide.com saw him immersed in the daily news cycle, yet his passion for hands-on evaluation led him to focus on testing and product reviews, offering well-rounded recommendations to AutoGuide readers. Currently, as the Content Director for VerticalScope, Jason spearheads the content strategy for an array of online publications, a role that has him at the helm of ensuring quality and consistency across the board.
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I'm a Lexus and IPhone owner and I could care less about apple carplay or android auto. I want my car to be simple, less distracting, and less generic. By putting those into my car it takes away the uniqueness of the dash. I am less likely to use any other functions on my phone besides answering phone calls, listening to voicemail and text, playing my favorite songs through apple music, and a gps navigation. Lexus and Toyota offer these functionalities so it's not a big deal. Alexa is certainly a nice addition but I won't be using it.
Toyota has announced that they WILL BE offering AppleCar play. Stop being lazy. Either delete this article or update.