New Radio Brings AI Voice Assistant to Law Enforcement

On the heels of several new acquisitions and product announcements in recent months, Motorola Solutions is announcing a new radio equipped with a voice assistant, which the company says is the first of its kind. The public safety radio is called APX NEXT, building upon the company's prior APX two-way radios, and the virtual assistant that controls it has been dubbed ViQi (pronounced "Vicky"). The company's news release on Thursday said the radio is FirstNet-ready, built with LTE connectivity, and is the first APX radio to feature a touchscreen, designed for field use including with rain or gloves. Motorola Solutions Chief Technology Officer Mahesh Saptharishi said that besides being able to control the radio, the virtual assistant responds to commands like "ViQi, run a license plate," and can also look up driver's license information and vehicle identification numbers. He said other functions will come with future updates.