Alexa for the car

[Bhavin]

Hi Drwoodr: At a high level,  our companion app. that resides on your phone will connect to AVS (Amazon Voice Services i.e. Alexa servers) using your phone's data plan. This is why you do not need a Wi-Fi. It will not interfere with your car's BT connection - in fact, we recommend that you use it (or Aux or USB) to leverage your car's stereo system. We have tested this extensively internally with all 3 types of connection to car stereo (BT, Aux, USB) and all work seamlessly. Hope that helps.

[jsmith]

i have been planning to do the car thing for some time and with this round of discounted e dots, i got an extra one to play around with.  here are my observations:

-the echo does take a long time to start up but this could be a boon (see last item).
-the new ability to configure with one device only (hotspot) works for only one power-up, the next time you power up, it won't work anymore and you have to setup all over again.  this has been mentioned in other threads and other sites.
-if you configure using two phones/devices (i used an ipad), you can configure the echo to connect to the phone hotspot just like any other wifi connection.  the echo will reconnect to the hotspot again when it powers up.
-the problem i encountered was that when i started in the driveway, it connected to the wifi in the house.  apparently the connections/passwords are stored at amazon for all your devices.  no practical way to disable it unless you create a different amazon account(?).  so actually if you drive away while the e dot is powering up, eventually it will connect to your hotspot.  in my case, i just powered it off and on after i drove off.
-i am on a T-Mobile unlimited data plan. on their basic plan which allows lower res video, the e dot could not stream continuously.  i had to go for their "plus" plan that allows for HD video for $10 more a month.  still pretty cheap considering it's unlimited data.

for car use i think, amazon should improve the boot time and also have a way to set a "preferred" connection.

[Bhavin]

@malliekm - great question! What is your phone platform iOS or Android?

[malliekm]

Android

[jwlv]

I have an Echo Dot installed in my car that uses a ZTE Mobley WiFi Hotspot.

It's actually a good thing that the Dot takes a bit of time to start up because my Hotspot also takes some time to connect to the nearby cell tower. This works out great because it'll connect to the car WiFi instead of the home WiFi.  I don't want the Dot to connect to my home WiFi because it will be out of range as soon as I drive away.

In my past experiences, the Dot can store several WiFi access points in its memory. How many it can store and how to find out what access points are stored is unknown to me. I know this because the Dot in my car can connect to my home WiFi if my car WiFi is off. And it automatically connects to my car WiFi when I start the car because it has the stronger signal. These are separate networks with different SSIDs and passwords so the Dot does store this information in memory somewhere. My car WiFi is not a phone and does not run any apps. It's a dedicated mobile Hotspot only.

[Drwoodr]

Hi Drwoodr: At a high level,  our companion app. that resides on your phone will connect to AVS (Amazon Voice Services i.e. Alexa servers) using your phone's data plan. This is why you do not need a Wi-Fi. It will not interfere with your car's BT connection - in fact, we recommend that you use it (or Aux or USB) to leverage your car's stereo system. We have tested this extensively internally with all 3 types of connection to car stereo (BT, Aux, USB) and all work seamlessly. Hope that helps.

Yes, I was concerned about it not allowing a BT connection from my phone to my car while muse was also connected to my phone. I just placed an order.

[smeg]

Would love to get one but am a little apprehensive. Is the product complete and actually in production? Is the Muse shipping at this time?

Went to order one and saw this ..................."By clicking 'Submit Payment', you acknowledge you are contributing to a work-in-progress and not making a direct purchase."

[t2jock]

Is the product complete and actually in production?

I received an email yesterday saying that they are in production and expect to start shipping in a week or so.  But that they don't expect to get units into supporters hands before Christmas and will be sending out gift cards for supporters to give to people.

[smeg]

Thanks for the info, jockstrap..............(sorry, couldn't resist myself. Had a couple beers.)

[Computerchickwv]

How does it compare to this... aside from the price?
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=garmin+alexa&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=77996648660289&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_11p0zdqb2u_e

[t2jock]

Received a note from Muse yesterday saying that their first product shipments have cleared customs and that shipping to customers starts today.  I don't expect to see mine for Christmas, but I'm hoping for next week.

[t2jock]

How does it compare to this... aside from the price?
https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=garmin+alexa&tag=mh0b-20&index=aps&hvadid=77996648660289&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=t&ref=pd_sl_11p0zdqb2u_e

In my opinion, the Garmin Speak is being sold as a simple Navigation device that also includes Alexa.  The photos included in their advertising remind me of the first generation GM OnStar navigation instructions from 10 years ago.  Turn arrows, verbal instructions and a high price.

Muse is being pitched as a simple way to get Alexa into your car.  And that doesn't include any kind of GPS functionality.  A very different market.  We'll see how good the execution is in a week or so.

[zimbra95]

Android

Sorry, wasn't able to come back to this thread for a while since we are in the middle of shipping.
@malliekm with Android - wouldn't the Google Assistant be very close to a Google Home experience? I am curious to know why you are not currently using your phone (connected via BT or Aux to your car stereo) and using 'Ok Google' on the phone.

[zimbra95]

Hi,
We are working on bringing Alexa to the car. If you are interested there more details here.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/muse-alexa-voice-assistant-for-cars-car/reft/17676316/e?utm_source=social&utm_campaign=e

Disclaimer: I work for the company that is building this product. I don't intend to spam this, or other forums, but I felt this was pertinent information for an active Alexa community.

I have ordered four of these and am hoping that you'll deliver in time for Christmas.  My biggest concern is whether or not you can discriminate voice commands with all of the background noise in a car.

Hi t2jock, Thanks for backing us! I couldn't get to this earlier - as you know now, we are still scheduled to ship in December but won't arrive before Christmas. We have tested it with background noise, including highway noise, radio, etc. and it pretty much just works