Think GPS, and the first name you probably think of, is Garmin. They’ve been making handheld devices and GPS’ for cars for the past few decades, helping the more directionally-challenged of us get from point A to point B with ease. Now, they’ve unveiled their newest innovation – the Garmin Speak.
This small GPS can pair with your Amazon Alexa, letting you user her in your car, talking to her to play Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, and much more. Garmin’s intuitive, turn-by-turn navigation will still work while Alexa does her thing, getting you wherever you need to be. During your travels you can play games, check your calendar, as well as receive traffic and weather updates. It pairs with any Bluetooth enabled smartphone, so you can talk safely on the phone without hindering your ability to drive carefully. It’s also very small and windshield-mountable, so you can put it somewhere easy to see, but without blocking your view. In fact, it looks much like the Amazon Echo Spot – small, round, and with a blue light-up ring around it. So if you’re a fan of Alexa, she is never too far away.
Another cool feature of this device is the ability to remotely control your in-home devices. So if you’ve started to integrate your lights, thermostat or locks with smart devices, you can now operate them from the Garmin Speak, no matter how far away you may be.
Does it really do anything that your smartphone doesn’t? Not really. The big draw here is how easily it works; it, unlike your phone, it integrates the GPS with Alexa, and gives you directions while you use it. No switching between apps or missing the exit because the sound got cut off. If you spend a lot of time in your car, we could see it being worth it.
