Amazon brings Alexa into the car with Echo Auto

The Amazon Echo is taking a road trip. 

Amazon already announced plans for car makers to integrate the online retail giant’s digital assistant Alexa into car infotainment systems. But if that’s too far off, a new product was unveiled Thursday that might satiate your appetite: Echo Auto.

As part of a bevy of product announcements at Amazon headquarters in Seattle, Echo Auto was announced as an in-car Echo device that sits on your car dash.

It’s invite-only to get your car hooked up with the Auto, which is supposed to ship out to invitees “later this year.” The Echo Auto will use your phone’s connectivity and Bluetooth connection to listen and respond to your navigation questions or music demands. It has eight microphones that are supposed to be able to handle noisy conditions inside and outside the car so you can ask it questions without turning off the A/C or radio. 

Other gadgets have tried to bring the voice assistant experience into the car (like the Muse) but it always falls short. Instead integrated systems part of the car like Nuance’s Dragon or Mercedes or BMW virtual assistants dominate the space. So that makes sense why Amazon decided to offer Alexa up to car engineers directly. 

But until then, Amazon wants to you to be able to ask Alexa where’s the nearest coffee shop or to add items to your shopping list — all while driving. This is Amazon after all.