You don’t need to purchase an expensive in-car accessory to get Google Assistant. JBL is offering a cheaper solution as part of the expansion of Google Assistant into its wide variety of products. The JBL Link Drive is one of those products, it brings the Google Assistant to your car.
The JBL Link Drive is plugged into the car’s 12V cigarette lighter socket and can then be paired with the phone’s or car’s Bluetooth. It also lets users plug in an Aux cable. It thus makes it easier to use Google Assistant to get things done without having to play with your phone or take your eyes off the road.
The phone provides the main connection for the Assistant but the Link Drive is always-on and listening. It even has dual noise-cancelling microphones to improve command recognition when the window is down or a few people are talking inside the cabin.
Much like Google Assistant speakers, the Link Drive will also quiet down the music or the radio when it picks up the “Ok, Google” command. The content is resumed once the request is finalized. No precise release date has been confirmed as yet but JBL will be selling the device through its website in spring 2019 for $59.95.
Filed in . Read more about CES, CES 2019, Google Assistant and Jbl.