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Do all cars have this 'data port'? I had no idea this thing existed.
So if your car is newer than 1996 then you're good to go. Just assume you have it. If it is any older then check.
I would label this as "Mint.com for your Car". And along with that, I'm sure your data will be collected, analyzed, and sold. I imagine they'll eventually partner with insurance companies too and these stats will influence your rates. Companies like Progressive are already doing this. Don't get me wrong though. I'm not saying any of this is wrong or bad. I'm just trying to imagine what the bigger picture here is for…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It could, but keep in mind many OBD-II ports are out of reach. The one shown in the marketing is real, but many are located on the passenger side or a lot deeper on the driver's side. OBD-II might be a standard, but as I said it was designed to be used while the car is in a garage, never while it is being driven. So there is no "standard" for manufacturers to position it.
I think what he meant was, can't the device shut itself off in software to appear as though it is unplugged. Not having the user unplug it himself.
I bet it could. But how would it ever turn its self back on? I mean if it is receiving OBD-II information then it knows when the car is running, but if it isn't (which it wouldn't be if it is "off") then it couldn't know to switch its self on.
Kind of a chick/egg problem.
Wait, so this 69$ little contraption can read the code behind a check engine light? That's $100 in savings that would otherwise go to the Car Mechanic Mafia. Pre-ordered.
It can read the code but that doesn't give you much to work with. You won't be able to clear the code and you will have to pay for the replacement parts and undertake the repairs yourself. I'm not sure what the situation is in the US but here in the UK, if you took your car to a mechanic purely for the sake of reading the code then it would only cost about £50.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can't the dongle just kill its own connection to the OBDII port? i.e. appear inert to the car's hardware as if nothing is plugged in?
It could, but keep in mind many OBD-II ports are out of reach. The one shown in the marketing is real, but many are located on the passenger side or a lot deeper on the driver's side. OBD-II might be a standard, but as I said it was designed to be used while the car is in a garage, never while it is being driven. So there is no "standard" for manufacturers to position it.
Wow I had an idea similar to this back in college, couldn't get any co-founders interested in doing a proper startup sadly! iPhone accessory manufacturer had a smartphone-OBD-II product called CarTrip which they discontinued: http://www.griffintechnology.com/blog/new/cartrip-and-cleand... As others have noted, you can buy the hardware yourself for pretty cheap: http://dx.com/p/obdii-bluetooth-car-diagnostic-cable-bla…
This may have changed, so for now the conventional ELM### devices are Android/Jailbreak only.
As an iOS user, this alone makes me interested in Automatic's product.
I've seen these before. There are several companies working on similar products (and things like HUDs you can get off of eBay which show you OBD-II information). The main problem with these (all of them!) is that the OBD II was never designed to be used like this. It will run the device 24/7 even when the car is turned off. So it will run down your battery in a similar way to leaving the cabin light on would do... No…
We're paranoid about not running your car's battery down. When the ignition is off, we consume less than 1 mA. By itself, the Automatic Link would take 3-4 years to drain even a cheap battery.
The Automatic Link includes a built-in accelerometer that can detect many types of crashes. Automatic uses your phone's data connection to immediately report the crash to 911 with your name, location, and vehicle description. Now this fascinates me. I wonder what parameters are required to trigger the automatic emergency notification.
That raised my eyebrows too. I can't help but see a lot of false positives from this, maybe even just from accidentally whacking the device.