
BMW launches a personal voice assistant for its cars - jinqueeny
https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/06/bmw-launches-a-personal-voice-assistant-for-its-cars/
======
mmanfrin
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
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.

------
bengale
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
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
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
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
>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.

~~~
acct1771
The two companies you mentioned have one primary marketing tactic in the US/UK
- make midlevel people _feel_ rich.

