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Major Alexa deal will bring Amazon services into more cars

Amazon and its personal assistance service Alexa are partnering with HERE Technologies to create a new connected mobility service powerhouse. Alexa will integrate with HERE's navigation and location services to offer what the two companies are calling a "true voice-first-navigation experience." Alexa will come pre-integrated with HERE navigation on-demand, which the automakers can then enable, which should help cut down on development time. One of the biggest features from this partnership is how directions could be offered and delivered using HERE's Open Location Platform (OLP). Currently, the OLP uses data from several car manufacturers to provide insights into real-time location and traffic. But on Alexa, this could be used to provide directional context. For example, Alexa could say, "Turn right after [such-and-such a building]" rather than just, "Turn right." Amazon has been testing the automotive waters throughout the past decade. Its home-based Alexa-enabled devices are already offered with connections to several manufacturers. To various degrees of integration, it can already pair with Ford, Genesis, Toyota, Lexus, Hyundai and BMW vehicles. At the end of 2018, Amazon took things a step further when it introduced the Echo Auto, a Bluetooth-connected Alexa assistant device that can be physically kept in a car. Currently only available by invitation (its production and distribution have been delayed), the $25 device is essentially a voice service that works together with smartphones and connects to a car's speakers. Users can command it to do a variety of things, including playing music, setting navigation, opening the garage door, finding local stores, making calls, setting reminders, and thousands of other "skills." According to The Verge, nearly 1 million people have already ordered the device. Some (well, probably few) may know HERE Technologies from its maps on Windows Phones. We all know how that turned out, though. Today, HERE has expanded into a multi-function suite that is available in multiple mediums, including many automotive applications. HERE Automotive's connected vehicle services include real-time traffic, parking, weather, fuel prices, hazard warnings, traffic sign integration, and even EV charging stations. These all incorporate and extend the use of HERE's location and tracking programming. HERE is already partnered with BMW, Audi, Daimler, Intel, Mobileye, NVIDIA, and has investments from Bosch, Continental and Pioneer.

We check out Hyundai's HRL exoskeleton, a robotic mobility suit for paraplegics

Hyundai makes some of the largest vehicles in the world – to wit, 185,000-ton ships with 56-foot high engines making power at 84 rpm – but its R&D division has found enough human-factor synergy with autonomous vehicle development that they're now working on robotic exoskeletons. We were recently introduced to two of these devices: the HRL designed to increase mobility and therefore quality of life for paraplegics; and the WEX, designed to assist in repetitive-motion lifting. Both of these machines are powered by replaceable lithium-ion battery packs with a 4-hour run time and 40-minute recharges. The HRL robotic legs are designed for people 64 to 71 inches tall and less than 250 pounds. The aluminum segments are adjustable in centimeter increments over a 10-cm range, and the 22.4-inch width means it would fit in many long-haul aircraft forward seats. With the 4.4-lb battery pack, the HRL weighs about 41 pounds. There are six 50:1 reduction-gear actuators, two pelvic actuators rated at 224 pound-feet of peak torque with 60-degree range of motion, and two hip and knee with 112 lb-ft peak, 180 degrees and twice the rotational speed of the pelvic motors. Twenty sensors control it all with default speed of just under a mile per hour and a top speed of 1.5 mph, and step length can be adjusted by smartphone via Bluetooth. One of the accompanying crutches has four thumb buttons much like a video-game controller, though they're experimenting with simpler inputs including a joystick. The crutch communicates with the leg unit over a few feet of distance via Zigbee wireless protocol, with security layers added for both obvious reasons and to ensure two users in the same vicinity won't transmit to the other's unit. An HRL can help you sit, stand, walk or climb and descend stairs; it will also stand on its own, simplifying the process of putting it on. Your correspondent is outside the design height limits so rather than do any impromptu CG research we deferred to colleague Chris Davies of Slashgear for impressions wearing it: "It grips tightly, the support would be comforting, and it delivers good posture. It does take some getting used to – when it first lifts up a leg to move it forward you do feel like you're going to fall over – but once you establish a gait and stop over-thinking it becomes much easier." Indeed, he never fell over and most who tried established a rhythm within a few minutes, if not a 1.5-mph sprint.

2018 Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition is way more subtle than the Ant-Man Veloster

Update: A representative from Hyundai has told us that the Iron Man Edition Kona will only be offered with the 1.6-liter turbocharged engine, but can be had with either front- or all-wheel drive. The text has been updated to reflect this. Following Hyundai's collaboration on developing a frankly garish Veloster for Ant-Man and The Wasp, the company is teaming up with Marvel once again to launch a special edition of the 2018 Hyundai Kona compact crossover SUV. This one is themed after superhero Iron Man, and unlike the Veloster, this car is actually available to purchase. It's a little odd to see a car that's not an Audi used to go with Iron Man, but Hyundai has done a lot to get the Kona Iron Man-ready. The upper daytime running lights have been adjusted in design and color to more closely match the glowing eyes of Iron Man's mask. The hood has also been redesigned with an insert that looks like a heat extractor vent, but is just a red plastic piece. The whole car is painted matte black with a metallic red roof and matching accents all over the exterior. The roof gets a giant Iron Man mask decal, too. On the sides there are badges of his mask on the fenders and on the wheel center caps. The rear doors get Stark Industries logo decals. The inside hasn't been left out either. It appears to be the interior found on the lime green Limited and above trim levels, but instead of lime accents, there are even more red ones. Tony Stark's (Iron Man's not-so-secret identity) signature is found on the dashboard. The gauges have custom graphics themed around Iron Man, including a custom design for the heads-up display. On a side note, the Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition is not the first superhero-themed car available to the public, nor is it the first Iron Man car. Jeep previously had a special edition Renegade for the Batman vs. Superman movie. And while it wasn't the Iron Man superhero, Isuzu had a special edition Vehicross for the Iron Man Triathlon event. The Hyundai Kona Iron Man Edition goes on sale in the first quarter of 2019, and it will be a limited-production vehicle. Pricing hasn't been announced yet, but a Hyundai representative told us what will power it. It won't get the the entry-level Kona's a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 147 horsepower, but rather the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder making 175 horsepower. It will also be available in either front- or all-wheel-drive versions.