Fancy people, this one's for you. If you own a Mercedes and also have either a Google Home or Amazon Echo speaker, you can now start your car with the sound of your voice.
All 2016 and 2017 Mercedes-Benz models in the US now work with Amazon and Google's voice-powered speakers. If you have a Google Home device, just say "Ok Google, tell Mercedes me to start my car" to get your engine going. Or, if you have an Amazon Alexa-powered device, say "Alexa, ask Mercedes Me to send an address to the car" before you hit the road. This way, you won't have to fumble with your navigation system when you're ready to roll.
You can also ask your speaker to remotely lock your vehicle.
"We want to offer our customers a broad range of services 24/7, not just when they are in our cars," Nils Schanz, head of IoT and wearable Integration at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, said in a statement. "Mercedes-Benz's goal is creating an intelligent ecosystem around cars, and developing cutting-edge technology to make everyday life more convenient for our customers."
To get it to work, you'll need an active Mercedes me account and mbrace subscription. From there, just download the Google Home or Amazon Alexa app and connect it with Mercedes me. The feature is currently available in the US, and Mercedes plans to launch it in Europe later this year.
Mercedes earlier this month teamed up with Bosch to make robo-taxis a reality by the beginning of the next decade. By combining forces, it is expected that Mercedes will knock several years off of its existing driverless vehicle efforts.