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    Garmin’s new Speak Plus includes a dashboard camera

    Garmin’s new Speak Plus includes a dashboard camera

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    An upgrade from last year’s Speak gadget

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    Garmin

    In 2017 Garmin introduced a dashboard device called Garmin Speak that gives turn-by-turn directions and wirelessly connects with a smartphone app to give drivers access to Amazon’s Alexa – offering, effectively, an on-the-go-solution for Alexa, which originated in home products. Now an updated version will include a dashboard cam.

    The new Garmin Speak Plus, revealed today at CES, has a built-in dash cam that automatically records your drives and saves video clips when an incident happens. The addition of the dash cam also means that the Speak Plus now offers features like collision warnings and alerts when traffic up ahead had started moving again.  It’s a small gadget – about an inch-and-a-half in size, Garmin says – and like last year’s model, has an OLED display and blue LED ring that lights up when you talk to it.

    Garmin

    The Alexa integration is really the standout feature here (even with the addition of the dash cam), though last year The Verge’s Dan Seifert found this didn’t always work perfectly with the original Garmin Speak, as promising as it sounded. Most notably, you couldn’t use Alexa to pull up Spotify music. Turns out that won’t work with the Speak Plus at launch, either.

    A spokesperson for Garmin said that Spotify is expected to be added “as soon as it becomes available. As of now, we are ready to integrate the streaming service. We are simply waiting on Spotify to give us the green light.” In the meantime, he added, you can access Amazon Music, Pandora, Sirius XM, and other streaming services through the Speak Plus.

    The Garmin Speak Plus starts shipping in mid-February and will cost $230, or, $80 more than the cost of last year’s Garmin Speak. Early buyers (people who order between now and February 10) will get a deal on the Speak Plus, though, at a price of $200.

    Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said that the Garmin Speak Plus would be available in January.