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Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

automatic.com

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Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#241

Post by Cub3 »

bargl wrote: post #198

Wow, this could be really cool if you collected all the data from the cars anonymously and then built a data-set that mapped common car issues to mileage for specific makes/models/year combos. That could really improve car performance by predicting when issues will arise and warning the user (my 2002 malibu had a switch fail at 92k which is a common thing once I looked online, but this lead to more issues when it fai…

I'm concerned about the Android version, a week or so ago when I was researching the fitbit It quickly became apparent the lack of Low power BT4.0 support in android core (but available on the (S3 + Note), will this support all android or just low power 4.0?

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#243

Post by [deleted] »

admiralpumpkin wrote: post #235
ry0ohki wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never used any of them, but some quick Googling: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-das... http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html

The first link is a $50 piece of software that still requires a dongle. The suggested dongle is $99. The next piece of software is $40 and works with three listed 3rd party dongles each over $100 (unable to find price from the one in Germany). If these are Automatic's best competitors, they're going to clean up. They control the whole widget and they appear to have a good UI.

[deleted]

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#245

Post by [deleted] »

jonknee wrote: post #187
freehunter wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

911 is free, but you foot the bill for services rendered and face a fine for false 911 calls.

Who says it's a call? > Automatic uses your phone's data connection to immediately report the crash to 911 with your name, location, and vehicle description.

[deleted]

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#246

Post by freehunter »

jonknee wrote: post #187
freehunter wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

911 is free, but you foot the bill for services rendered and face a fine for false 911 calls.

Who says it's a call? > Automatic uses your phone's data connection to immediately report the crash to 911 with your name, location, and vehicle description.

Even if it accessed some 911 api (I don't know if such a thing exists), if emergency responders came to you it would still be a "call". The fine is for taking emergency crews away from potentially more serious calls.

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#247

Post by jarek »

ameen wrote: post #137
nlh wrote: post #99

This is a great start to what I hope will be an awesome product. One of the other commenters mentioned fleet/enterprise customers -- let me raise my hand (as one of those customers) and say how SORELY needed this sort of approach to tech is in the fleet space. I actually predict (hope?) this will take off more on the business side than the consumer side. Here's the problem: Fleet managers (that is, people who are res…

There might be a few challenges in evolving this product to an iPhone|Smartphone-free future. 3G modems are notorious for their energy inefficiency, and if one were to include them in this device, the drain on the car's battery will be significantly higher.

Unlikely. Cellular modems might be notorious when it comes to mobile devices, but the power use is tiny compared to car electrics (headlights, spark plugs, various fans).

A cell phone might have a 5 Wh battery (5.45 Wh in iPhone 5); car batteries are closer to anywhere from 500 to beyond 1000 Wh. If your phone can idle for two days with only occasional modem use (no screen and minimal CPU use), a car battery can do most of a year with the same load.

And of course your fancy monitor hardware would be able to detect that you're not moving for an extended period of time and decrease polling frequency to further lower the usage.

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#248

Post by gfodor »

Ok I know this is going to sound harsh given the praise of this thread, but I am just not getting it. The design is brilliant, the idea seems great, but of the applications listed there isn't anything there that makes me want to reach in my pocket and spend $70 on this. I'm not interested in how efficiently I am driving. This is not going to help me find my car in a parking lot, since it is an estimate and often these things are underground.

911 response is interesting but not enough to push me into purchasing. Check engine info is interesting but again this happens so rarely I can't justify purchasing this thing. I don't see a killer app here.

In the interest of not being all negative, I'll tell you the types of applications that would be far more useful to me and I would pay for. I'll list these as "pain points" since I don't want to assume too much about what this device will make possible:

- When I suddenly realize I am low on gas, I have to awkwardly (and unsafely) find a gas station with Siri. Can this make this easier?

- When I am driving to meet someone, they have no idea how close I am or when I will arrive. Can this make that easier?

- When I get in the car to go somewhere, I have to punch in navigation directions or press Siri before I leave. Can this do a better job of somehow getting the GPS navigation started on my phone intelligently?

- When I am driving into a city, I have no idea where to find parking. Can this help me find a parking spot?

I realize these may be wildly inapplicable to this device but these are real problems that I wish someone would solve for me. It seems like a more intelligent driving assistant that doesn't require unsafe gestures to be made on my phone while driving could potentially be more possible with something like this. For the problems above, there is surely "an app for that" but I'm not using them because they require me to awkwardly remember to use them before I leave or require me to take my eyes off the road. If this can solve those problems for me in a contextually sensitive way automatically, it would be great.

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#249

Post by masoninthesis »

gfodor wrote: post #248

Ok I know this is going to sound harsh given the praise of this thread, but I am just not getting it. The design is brilliant, the idea seems great, but of the applications listed there isn't anything there that makes me want to reach in my pocket and spend $70 on this. I'm not interested in how efficiently I am driving. This is not going to help me find my car in a parking lot, since it is an estimate and often thes…

I commend you for being part of the solution, but I have to say- for myself, the ability to check the cause of the check engine light would be worth it. If your car is fairly new, you may experience the check engine light very rarely. But for cars over 5 years old, I think that's the best feature. As opposed to taking it into a mechanic where you are completely ignorant of what the cause was.

Re: Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant

#250

Post by Karunamon »

cyanbane wrote: post #239
sksksk wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my employer (a car sharing company) we do have this API (for internal use only) and it is extremely fun to use. When you realise that you can just send commands to a car and get it to do things, the possibilities you can think up are incredible

Scary thinking about the fact that if there is a billing dispute or anything to that nature, for connected cars in the near future, someone could just turn a car off at whim for a driver. I would hope there is a high regulatory wall formed in the years to come if you want to disable a person's car remotely.

There's something like this already for used car dealerships who lease to high risk customers. A device is installed with a keypad in the compartment. The dealer programs it with a payment schedule and a time. Each time you make your payment, you get a new code and punch it in. If you fail to make a payment on time, car won't start. Some of them even have GPS to assist with reposession.. scary little devices.

http://www.passtimeusa.com/products/products

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