Roav Viva: Bluetooth car kit from Anker brings Alexa on the road
Add Amazon's Alexa service to almost any modern car with this amped up car charger from Anker's Roav sub-brand.
Anker's Roav sub-brand just announced the Viva, a new car kit and USB charger that brings the Alexa voice service instantly to almost any modern car.
For the unfamiliar, the Roav focuses on automotive accessories such as phone chargers and dashcams and Viva is the latest product in the brand's small portfolio. It's also part of a growing wave of aftermarket accessories, like Logitech's ZeroTouch and Garmin's Speak, that bring Amazon's Alexa service on the road.
The Viva connects to the host vehicle and phone via Bluetooth 4.0, so your car needs to support wireless audio streaming for everything to work. Once connected, the Viva's dual noise-canceling microphones allow the driver to use the "Alexa" key phrase and Alexa skills for navigation, news, music and all sorts of smart home stuff.
The unit itself looks like a standard USB car charger with a larger-than-average business end and plugs directly into the car's 12-volt power point. That's where you'll find the dual "PowerIQ" 2.4A USB charging ports for your phone, a multicolor LED light ring that indicates Alexa status and two pinhole microphones. There's also a microphone mute button for when you don't want Viva and Alexa listening in on you.
When you're not using the Roav Viva to chat with Alexa, the Bluetooth connection and voice-isolating, noise-canceling microphones should come in handy for hands-free calling and audio streaming.
In the US, the Roav Viva will be available for preorder on Amazon.com with an MSRP of $50 with shipment expected in early 2018. Global availability will follow, but for now that roughly converts to AU$63 or £35.
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