Halfords unveils ‘smart bicycle’ with Alexa, Sat Nav mapping and a THIEF tracker at CES 2019
Your bicycle has never looked more like an iPhone
HALFORDS has launched a new range of "smart" bicycles powered by Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant.
It's the latest in a growing line-up of gadgets featuring the voice-controlled digital helper – and seems slightly more useful than the new Alexa toilet.
The new Cybic bicycle range was announced at the CES 2019 tech show in Las Vegas this week.
All of the bikes have special features that can be accessed using voice commands.
This includes all of the usual Alexa functionality like finding out about the news and weather.
And it's even got a special control mounted to the handle bars that lets you control some functions – if you'd rather not be shouting at your bike while riding.
For instance, you can check up on cycling performance data, including details on speed, time, and the distance you've travelled.
This works based on GPS data, and a small screen will even show a map so you don't get lost on your ride.
The map can provide turn-by-turn navigation, just like a Sat Nav in your car.
The bike features personalised light settings, which control built-in lights on the front and back of the bicycle – as well as on the handlebars.
And there's also a security lock and alarm that can be accessed via the bike's app.
Better still, the bike features theft tracking, so you can follow its location using a smartphone app if it's ever stolen.
What is Alexa?
If you've never heard of Alexa, here's what you need to know...
- Alexa is an "intelligent" personal assistant built by Amazon.
- You can find her on several different devices, including Amazon's Echo speakers.
- Alexa responds to voice commands, and can talk back to you.
- She can perform thousands of different tasks, including telling you about the news or weather.
- But she can do more complex things too, like ordering a pizza or arranging an Uber taxi pick-up.
- To activate Alexa, you need to say "Alexa" to an Amazon Echo speaker.
- Alexa currently only works in English and German languages.
- Because she's powered by artificial intelligence, Alexa is constantly getting smarter.
- Alexa will also get more used to your voice, and better understand what you want her to do over time.
There's a HD music player on board, and you get a Vodafone SIM card with three years of free 3G data thrown in too – which is necessary to use the bike's smart features.
Halfords' bike expert Andy Whitehall said that smart bikes will be "the next big trend for commuters".
"This technology will help cyclists with many things including getting traffic updates, getting turn-by-turn directions, personalised light settings, playing music and much more."
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There's no specific release date for the Cybic bike range, with Halfords offering a very vague "summer 2019".
And sadly there's no pricing available yet, but we bet these smart bicycles will be far pricier than your average two-wheeler.
What do you make of this hi-tech bicycle? Let us know in the comments!
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