seamless

Motorists are flocking to Amazon to get their hands on a smart bit of car kit that’s seen a dramatic tumble in price.

The gadget is the second-generation Echo Auto, and it’s been picking up some proper rave reviews from blokes and lasses who have snapped it up.

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Amazon Echo Auto (2nd gen), £19.99 (was £59.99)

Originally fetching a hefty £59.99, the nifty Echo Auto is currently on sale for just £19.99 on Amazon.

That’s a cracking deal and a perfect time for anyone looking to introduce some smart tech into their motor – and crucially, without splashing out a fortune.

This price drop is part of a wider Amazon promotion, with savings as high as 45% across the retailer’s smart devices.

It’s the best deal we’ve seen on a piece of car tech since we covered a slashed cheap CarPlay alternative on Amazon back in April (which is on sale again).

What does the Echo Auto do?

This little gizmo is designed to be your co-pilot, letting you command Alexa while you’re busy at the wheel.

• Hands-free control: You can talk to Alexa to play music, make calls, or set reminders without ever touching your phone.
• Navigation: Get directions from apps like Google Maps just by asking Alexa where you want to go.
• Play music: Listen to your favourite songs and podcasts from services like Spotify or Amazon Music.
• Smart home control: You can ask Alexa to turn on your house lights or adjust the heat while you are driving home.
• Hear your voice: It has special microphones that can hear you clearly over car noise, like the radio or air conditioner.

The 2nd-gen Echo Auto is a small and discreet piece of kit that slots right into your car.

It hooks up to your phone and your car’s speakers to bring a whole new level of voice control to your ride.

Getting it all set up is a doddle too. You just plug it into a spare USB slot, link it to your phone’s Alexa app, and you’re sorted.

This brilliant bit of kit has an average rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, with thousands of happy drivers raving about how it’s transformed their motors.

One buzzing punter, who slapped a 5-star rating on it, wrote: “Highly recommend this. Works in my 23-year-old Nissan Micra.

“Voice activated, can listen to a music playlist or podcasts, can make hands-free calls, listen to LBC, etc. Works brilliantly.”

Another shopper commented: “Works seamlessly… very useful as just a Bluetooth pass through to car speakers.”

Another chuffed buyer said: “Great piece of tech, [I] love Alexa at home.

“Now she comes on the road with us and, unlike my phone, she hears very well and plays whatever I want. Terrific.”

A proper ringing endorsement came from a verified customer who simply put: “This is an amazing piece of kit, highly recommend.”

Whether you want to listen to tunes, get directions, or just stay connected on the go, the Auto is a simple and cheap way to do it.

At that sale price, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.

Amazon Echo Auto (2nd gen), £19.99 (was £59.99)

For more savings on other smart gadgets, head to our Amazon device deals round-up.

Earlier this week, we also spotted a great deal on some bargain earbuds on Amazon, which have been slashed from £130 to £22.

President Donald Trump creates LA28 task force to prepare for the first Olympics in the US since the 2002 Winter Games.

United States President Donald Trump established a task force on the 2028 Olympic Games being held in Los Angeles that he said would ensure the event is “safe, seamless and historically successful”.

The 2028 games will be the first Olympics to be hosted by the US since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“The LA Olympics is shaping up to be a wonderful moment for America. It’s going to be incredible. It’s so exciting,” Trump said on Tuesday as he signed an executive order at the White House establishing the task force.

The White House did not immediately release the text of the order or details about the task force’s work.

At the event, Trump praised Gene Sykes, chair of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) board of directors, for the USOPC’s move to effectively bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

“The United States will not let men steal trophies from women at the 2028 Olympics,” Trump said.

He questioned why he did not hear applause from the room when he praised Sykes for this, and then received some claps from some people in the room.

Trump “considers it a great honour to oversee this global sporting spectacle”, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement, calling sport one of the president’s “greatest passions”.

LA28 president and chair Casey Wasserman said the task force “marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028.”

During a briefing Tuesday afternoon, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the task force would “coordinate across federal, state and local agencies to ensure streamlined visa processes, robust security and efficient transportation”.

Members of the task force include Vice President JD Vance, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, among others, Trump announced Tuesday.

Along with the 2028 games, Trump has said that the 2026 FIFA World Cup, being hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico, is among the events he is most looking forward to in his second term.

In preparation for next year’s competition, the governments of all three countries on Tuesday said they had held the first meeting of a trilateral coordinating council of government officials, industry leaders and security professionals discussing a variety of issues, including preparedness for any security threats ahead of the World Cup.