Logi’s updated ZeroTouch dash mount gives any car an Alexa helping hand
Amazon's AI assistant is ready to be your co-driver, no Echo required
What tech voodoo is this – Alexa lives in her speaker, not my car!
You might have thought Amazon’s AI assistant was stuck at home, trapped inside her black speaker-shaped prison, but Logitech has set her free – or at least put her in the passenger seat of your car.
It takes ZeroTouch, the clever app-enabled hands-free kit that launched in the UK late last year, and throws Alexa into the mix. It’s all done through the ZeroTouch app, so it doesn’t matter if you’ve got an Echo or not – Alexa will be ready and waiting for you as soon as you sign in.
I’ve always wanted a co-driver. How is she with rally-style pace notes?
Slow down, speed racer – Alexa’s here to keep you safe, not for tackling mud-filled Special Stages.
ZeroTouch already let you use your voice to make calls, send text messages, get navigation directions and control apps like Yelp, but having Alexa at your beck and call means hands-free… pretty much everything.
That includes controlling your smart home kit while you’re on the way back from the office, if you’re already living in an IOT-connected cyber future instead of slumming it with the rest of us in the 21st century.
My house is as dumb as it gets, thanks – what else can Alexa do?
Well you’ve got a list of over 8000 skills to choose from, and that list is growing all the time. Update your shopping list, order the products you forgot to pick up while you were at the shops, check the news and weather, tell a joke, or play games.
That last one could be a journey saver if you’ve got a back seat filled with bored kids.
This latest version of the ZeroTouch app supports email and calendar updates now too, so you can keep on top of your schedule while you’re driving between meetings. Oh, and you’ve got full control over your Spotify playlists, too – just hover your hand over your phone’s light sensor and ZeroTouch takes care of the rest, completely hands-free.
But it’s another thing to plug into my cigarette lighter, right?
Nope, ZeroTouch is cable-free and magnetic, so you haven’t got to worry about cables snaking across your cabin. At £25 for the Air Vent mount or £30 for the dash mount, it’s hardly going to break the bank, either.
It’s still Android-only for now, but if you’re still pootling along in an oldsmobile with no built-in Sat Nav, adding Alexa will definitely smarten up your ride.
Which one is right for you? › Amazon Echo vs Google Home
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
