4 ms·

BMW launches a personal voice assistant for its cars

6 points by jinqueeny 8y ago

mmanfrin 8y ago
Maybe I'm cynical but I see this as a negative. Nearly every voice interface I've used outside of the big ones has been abysmal, half baked, and temperamental.
- zhdc1 8y ago
  You're not cynical. This is another distraction on top of a plethora of distractions that BMW, Daimler, and other upscale manufacturers have added to their vehicles in the last couple of years. If this was only a way to simplify navigation, radio/streaming music access, or other comparable activities that already require the driver to look away from the road to operate, I would be all for it. However, Office 365 integration? Skype integration? I'm sorry, but those are the last things I want to be worried about when I'm driving a car.
- arethuza 8y ago
  "half baked, and temperamental" To be fair that describes most of my experiences with voice control on all devices (Apple, Android and various cars).
- cm2187 8y ago
  And non self-discoverable.
- pacala 8y ago
  The big ones are in the business of surveillance. Do not want any of them anywhere me or my car.
bengale 8y ago
Seems like an odd direction, I guess it'll be optional? But I just sold all of my sonos speakers because of this, it'll be weird to have a car manufacturer on the blacklist too.
gambiting 8y ago
On higher-end models from BMW(and also from Mercedes) you can get access to a personal concierge from those companies which I found absolutely brilliant - you press a button, it connects you with an actual human being within seconds and then you can say things like "I'm looking for a car park near the corner of X, can you help please?" , They have a look, then say something like "I found two, at X and Y - one of them closes at 9pm the other one at midnight - which one do you prefer?" "The second one please" "ok, the address has been entered into your navigation system, is there anything else I can do for you?" It's actually not even that expensive, and solves the entire issue of idiotic voice recognition systems completely.
- moltar 8y ago
  What else can they do? Can they access other car features? Eg can I ask them to adjust climate control? Can I ask them to order me things online? :)
  - gambiting 8y ago
    Not sure about climate control, they do have access to all information in the computer (they can tell you which petrol station you can reach given your current fuel level for example), but they can totally order things for you, you can say "please make a reservation at restaurant X for 7:45 for two people, and have flowers delivered to this address by tomorrow". They will call you back with a price and if you confirm then BMW just sends you an invoice for it.
    - jaclaz 8y ago
      >you can say "please make a reservation at restaurant X for 7:45 for two people, and have flowers delivered to this address by tomorrow". They will call you back with a price and if you confirm then BMW just sends you an invoice for it. ... at cost with only 30 to 50% surcharge, I believe ... While it is true that probably most buyers of new BMW's and Mercedes can afford it, I don't think it is a service most customers will be using, those with the real money surely already have a secretary/personal assistant for these chores.

6 points by jinqueeny 8y ago

Maybe I'm cynical but I see this as a negative. Nearly every voice interface I've used outside of the big ones has been abysmal, half baked, and temperamental.

zhdc1 8y ago
You're not cynical. This is another distraction on top of a plethora of distractions that BMW, Daimler, and other upscale manufacturers have added to their vehicles in the last couple of years. If this was only a way to simplify navigation, radio/streaming music access, or other comparable activities that already require the driver to look away from the road to operate, I would be all for it. However, Office 365 integration? Skype integration? I'm sorry, but those are the last things I want to be worried about when I'm driving a car.
arethuza 8y ago
"half baked, and temperamental" To be fair that describes most of my experiences with voice control on all devices (Apple, Android and various cars).
cm2187 8y ago
And non self-discoverable.
pacala 8y ago
The big ones are in the business of surveillance. Do not want any of them anywhere me or my car.

bengale 8y ago

Seems like an odd direction, I guess it'll be optional? But I just sold all of my sonos speakers because of this, it'll be weird to have a car manufacturer on the blacklist too.

gambiting 8y ago

On higher-end models from BMW(and also from Mercedes) you can get access to a personal concierge from those companies which I found absolutely brilliant - you press a button, it connects you with an actual human being within seconds and then you can say things like "I'm looking for a car park near the corner of X, can you help please?" , They have a look, then say something like "I found two, at X and Y - one of them closes at 9pm the other one at midnight - which one do you prefer?" "The second one please" "ok, the address has been entered into your navigation system, is there anything else I can do for you?" It's actually not even that expensive, and solves the entire issue of idiotic voice recognition systems completely.

moltar 8y ago
What else can they do? Can they access other car features? Eg can I ask them to adjust climate control? Can I ask them to order me things online? :)
- gambiting 8y ago
  Not sure about climate control, they do have access to all information in the computer (they can tell you which petrol station you can reach given your current fuel level for example), but they can totally order things for you, you can say "please make a reservation at restaurant X for 7:45 for two people, and have flowers delivered to this address by tomorrow". They will call you back with a price and if you confirm then BMW just sends you an invoice for it.
  - jaclaz 8y ago
    >you can say "please make a reservation at restaurant X for 7:45 for two people, and have flowers delivered to this address by tomorrow". They will call you back with a price and if you confirm then BMW just sends you an invoice for it. ... at cost with only 30 to 50% surcharge, I believe ... While it is true that probably most buyers of new BMW's and Mercedes can afford it, I don't think it is a service most customers will be using, those with the real money surely already have a secretary/personal assistant for these chores.