JBL Link Drive brings Google Assistant to any car with a 12-volt adapter

The next battleground for ambience computing is in the car

JBL is building a small conduit chosen the 'Link Bulldoze' that plugs into a user's motorcar and so drivers and passengers can connect with Google Assistant without fiddling with their phone.

The Link Drive plugs into a car'south 12-volt input. Information technology then connects to your vehicle through either Bluetooth or an aux cable. Built into the conduit are racket cancelling microphones then the device tin work even if a car's windows are down.

To connect the device to the internet, users need to link it to the Google Assistant app on their phone.

To talk to the device, users tin apply the "Okay, Google" hot give-and-take or tap a little button on peak to arrive listen.

Users can ask the Link Bulldoze to perform regular Google Assistant actions like setting timers, taking notes or navigating home. However, it'southward unclear if navigation will be carried out through voice prompts or if the device will display a map on users' phone screens.

This device is similar to Anker'southward Roav Bolt. The master difference between the two plugs is that the Roav Bolt has two USB-A ports for device charging, while the Link Drive merely has 1.

The JBL Link Bulldoze volition exist bachelor sometime in jump 2019 for $60 USD (roughly, $80 CAD).

Many similar Alexa-enabled products have launched at CES 2019, including the Anker Roav Viva and the iOttie Easy One Affect Connect.

Ambient calculating has been exploding since smart speakers like Amazon's Echo striking the market, and they've gotten to a point where they're starting to expand into new territories like cars.

Even though both Amazon and Google are finding ways to bring their digital banana to users' cars, Google has a leg upward since its Android Machine platform is an already available infotainment platform.

On peak of that, Google is even building bespoke infotainment units for Volvo based on Android Pie. The Google-Volvo collaboration will incorporate Google Banana to control and monitor vehicle aspects like cabin heat/Ac and seat summit.

Source: Anker, JBL, 9to5Google