Amazon’s Alexa lets you control a Lamborghini’s air conditioning with just your voice - The Verge

Amazon is taking a bigger step into cars today by integrating Alexa into Lamborghini’s Huracán EVO, and not just to ask questions or remotely control your home — it’s giving the assistant the ability to control settings inside the car, hands-free. The partnership was originally announced last year as part of Amazon’s push into cars, but the integration goes beyond Alexa’s usual bag of tricks.

Alexa’s integration allows users to control “climate and comfort settings including air conditioning, heater, fan speed, temperature, seat heaters, defroster and air flow direction, as well as lighting,” Lamborghini says. (It can also pull up a screen showing you the car’s torque vectoring and traction control.) Of course, Alexa also has its own suite of skills for interacting with your smart home appliances, playing music and podcasts, and basic navigation.

The Huracán EVO has some physical controls on the steering wheel and driver side door, but a majority of the car’s features are adjusted through a screen in the center console. Giving Alexa more control over the actual car itself means less time hunting and pecking through menus — “Alexa, I am hot” is apparently enough to get air conditioning going — and more time with eyes actually on the road, which could be a win for safety and convenience.

It’s not like Alexa will be driving your car, but give it time.

The automotive industry’s switch from controls like knobs and dials to entirely touchscreen-based displays has been ongoing, and we even ran a review series examining in-car displays as gadgets a few years ago. Amazon’s tried to help smooth the transition with the Alexa-enabled Echo Auto in the past, but we found the accessory worked best as a simple speakerphone and Bluetooth adapter in our review — tasks that required knowledge of location or a consistent cellular connection did poorly. The Huracán EVO’s implementation of Alexa, with all the benefits of actually having real control over a connected car, might be a better version of the idea.

Amazon and Lamborghini isn’t the only automaker / tech company team-up tackling the problem of built-in car software. Volvo’s Polestar 2 launched in 2020 with Android Automotive built-in and Google Assistant integration for similar control over settings like air conditioning, something that wasn’t part of the old Android Auto. We liked the Polestar’s Google-built software, though much like Lamborghini, it comes with a high price tag.

New Huracán EVOs should have the feature from the jump, but Lamborghini says all existing Huracán EVO customers can be retrofitted with support for Alexa, free-of-charge.

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Prince William 'struggling' not to share his story after Prince Harry, Meghan Markle interview: report - Fox News

Prince William is having a hard time following his brother Prince Harry's bombshell interview with Meghan Markle and Oprah Winfrey.

Just weeks ago, Harry and Markle sat down with the "Color Purple" star to discuss their struggles since the Duchess joined the royal family.

In the sit-down, the pair made allegations of racism and turning a blind eye to mental health needs against the royal family and the Institution at large.

Since the interview first aired, it has become understood that William, 38, is not pleased with his brother and sister-in-law, who also made mention of William's wife, Kate Middleton, during the interview.

PRINCE HARRY, PRINCE WILLIAM WILL EVENTUALLY REPAIR THEIR RIFT FOR PRINCESS DIANA'S SAKE, ROYAL AUTHOR SAYS

Now, a source has told Us Weekly that the Duke of Cambridge wants to publicly share his side of the story.

Prince William is reportedly 'struggling' to hold back sharing his side of the story following Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's recent tell-all interview. (WireImage)

"The queen is insisting that the royals handle the matter privately," said the insider

Furthermore, they also said that Queen Elizabeth II "thinks that retaliating will only add fuel to the fire and make the situation worse."

That doesn't mean William isn't antsy about responding to the claims, however.

"William is struggling to hold back," shared the source. "He wants to get his side out there."

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The insider said that the mention of Middleton is his priority for wanting to speak out, as he's reportedly felt "very protective" over his wife since Markle claimed Middleton made her cry around the time of her wedding to Harry.

Additionally, the royal would like to "clear the racial allegations," said the source.

Prince William reportedly wants to speak out to defend his wife Kate Middleton, who has been accused of making Meghan Markle cry. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Reps for Kensington and Buckingham Palaces did not immediately respond to Fox News' requests for comment.

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William previously responded to the claims made by his brother and sister-in-law in a public statement deemed "unusual" by royal expert Katie Nicholl.

When confronted by reporters shortly after the interview aired, William said that the royals are "very much not a racist family."

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He added that, at the time, he had not yet spoken to Harry about the contents of the interview. Gayle King recently reported that the brothers have since spoken, but conversations were "not productive."

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