Kenwood, JVC to Show Alexa Radios

Kenwood USA and JVC Mobile Entertainment will show at CES in January several Alexa car radios under each brand.

The decks are currently undergoing the Amazon certification process for Alexa products and are expected to receive approval, said Kenwood.

Amazon has reportedly developed a new certification process for Alexa products specific to the automotive environment where voice control must overcome road noise and blasting heating and cooling systems.

Kenwood and JVC are keeping product details under wraps until closer to CES, they said.

Boss Audio Systems also announced earlier, a new DVD receiver with Alexa voice control to be shown at CES and delivered in the first quarter 2019.

Nearly 50 percent of consumers in the US are expected to own a voice activated smart speaker by the end of this year, according to Adobe.  Seventy-one percent of smart speaker owners use them at least daily.  In the past, as consumers enjoy consumer electronics products in the home, they tend to expect the same capability from their cars.

Smart speakers are on track to surpass 100 million units in use by the end of this year, said Strategy Analytics. Amazon remains the leading vendor with a 32 percent share to Google’s 23 percent share, as of Q3 2018, it said.