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Automatic: Your Smart Driving Assistant
- parad0x1 14y agoThis is really intuitive! I never even knew my car had this port. If only they could support Android sooner, I'd preorder right now.
- hadem 14y agoDo most cars have an Onboard Diagnostics Port or is this more so in newer cars only? I wish there was some information about what cars this is expected to work with.
- cpenner461 14y ago1996 and later. http://www.epa.gov/obd/ http://www.epa.gov/obd/
- evan_ 14y agoIt says on the page "It works with just about any car sold in the United States since 1996." It's been mandatory for all car manufacturers in the US since 1996.
- mcescalante 14y agoAny car with a OBD II port should work with the device... just Google your car. As noted, it's basically anything after 96 save for Hondas and a few other models.
- VLM 14y ago"Save for Hondas and a few other models." How does that work? There's 11 counties in Wisconsin where you cannot register your car unless you pass a biannual smog check which for any post '96 car involves the OBD-II check for codes and readiness indicators. So no ODB-II port means no wisconsin license plate with very few exceptions (mainly antique cars and electric cars)
- subway 14y agoSearch the Google Play store for OBD-II. You'll find a number of apps that allow you to get at the data in various forms using a <$10 Bluetooth adapter.
- xoail 14y agoI wonder what happened to these guys www.mavizon.com?
- Zuph 14y agoThey missed a major deadline and their primary investor pulled the plug.
- hantusk 14y agoLook up ODB-II. Lots of cars have this port. The app Torque for Android has a lot of users. Cheap bluetooth adapters can be had from China :)
- mcginleyr1 14y agohttp://arduino.cc/forum/index.php?topic=95037.0 http://arduino.cc/forum/index.php?topic=95037.0
- patrickk 14y agoWow 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-cleandrive-app/ 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-black-blue-orange-dc-12v-42825?rt=1&p=6&m=1&r=4&k=1&t=1&s=&u=42825 http://dx.com/p/obdii-bluetooth-car-diagnostic-cable-black-b... Combine it with an app like Torque...: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq... ...or Rev and you've got some of the functionality already: http://www.devtoaster.com/products/rev/ http://www.devtoaster.com/products/rev/ edit: the advantage of Automatic is that it's an all in one solution for the mass market, rather than the DIY/car enthusiast nature of the existing apps and hardware.
- zdw 14y agoLast I looked, none of these were iPhone compatible, as they were Bluetooth Serial profile (SPP), which isn't supported for app use. 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.
- X-Istence 14y agoThe Pebble smart watch uses Bluetooth Serial Profile.
- patrickk 14y agoRev, linked above, has been around for a few years and is iPhone compatible. See the hardware page on their site for bluetooth info.
- machfive 14y agoRev only advertises/supports wifi dongles, for the reasons listed above
- danielsamuels 14y agoI'd be interested in having one of these in the UK.
- graiz 14y agoAny idea when it actually expects to ship?
- iyulaev 14y agoCongrats guys! This product has come a long way.
- anandkulkarni 14y agoVery cool, guys! Love the design.
- carlob 14y agoIs this well localized? Metric units, European cars and speed limits?
- patrickk 14y agoRegarding european cars... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-board_diagnostics#EOBD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On-board_diagnostics#EOBD "The technical implementation of EOBD is essentially the same as OBD-II, with the same SAE J1962 diagnostic link connector and signal protocols being used." So it likely will work with European cars. (I'm not associated with Automatic, but I have done research into OBD-II previously).
- drivebyacct2 14y agoDamn. Awesome idea and that app is ohmygod amazing. The downside of course is much more immediate guilt about my fast accel/deceleration habits.
- NelsonMinar 14y agoWhat a great looking product idea! I pre-ordered; don't normally do that, but they promise not to charge until they ship.
- digitalmerc 14y agoExactly. I wouldn't either, but they said "when they ship". Pre-ordered one for my lady friend as well. Doesn't say on the site, but is there an expected ship date? Ah says in the email: > You’ll only be charged once your Automatic Link ships in May (for iPhone) and Fall (for Android).
- gms 14y agoDo all cars have this 'data port'? I had no idea this thing existed.
- damoncali 14y agoyep. It's used to interface with maintenance tools usually. That's how they figure out what "check engine" actually means.
- mcescalante 14y agoYes, it is the OBD II port, and is typically used for on board diagnostics and connects directly to the ECU. The bluetooth "dongles" have been around for a number of years.
- damoncali 14y agoI was under the impression that it was mandated by the government for all US cars in the 90's. Is that not the case?
- cmelbye 14y agoIt was mandated that all cars built and sold in the US starting in 1996 have it..
- beachstartup 14y ago> Honda cars that use VTEC often don't have OBD II ports. i'm a car guy and i've never heard of this before. source?
- mcescalante 14y agoMy apologies, this was greatly mislead information from me. Not sure why I had that note in there, but fixed it.
- UnoriginalGuy 14y agoAll cars produced after 1996 will have it. A lot of cars produced before 1996 will have it too. 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.
- isalmon 14y agoVery good concept overall, I like the idea A LOT. One thing that surprised me: >> Speeding doesn't save as much time as you might think, but driving 10 MPH over the speed limit reduces fuel efficiency by 12-15%. How's my fuel efficiency related to the speed limit set by local authorities?
- garethadams 14y agoI think it's probably saying that every 10MPH increase has a corresponding fuel efficiency hit
- dbrian 14y agoObviously it varies by car but the the theory is that most engines are less fuel efficient at higher speeds. So driving the speed limit is more fuel efficient than driving over the speed limit.
- acgourley 14y agoThey mean common US freeway speeds of course, shortened for copy punch/length.
- smileysteve 14y agoThe highest gear's most efficient peak of most "consumer" cars maximizes efficiency around 65mph. The NHTSA considered efficiency along with safety when making their recommendation so many years ago.
- nawitus 14y ago65mph is slightly too high for most models. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fuel_economy_vs_speed_1997.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fuel_economy_vs_speed_1997...
- thejo 14y agoHey isalmon, fuel efficiency is not related to the speed limit. We just use that as a frame of reference. The actual numbers are that fuel efficiency drops by 12-15% for every 10 mph above 50 mph. Here's an article which talks about that - http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/01/thomas-20130117.html http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/01/thomas-20130117.html
- contango 14y agoPrediction: No one will buy this. It does not solve an actual problem. It's a toy for data geeks. How the hell much did that domain cost?
- tomasien 14y agoWhere is my car parked? Why is the check engine light on? If I'm in a crash find me help? Those are real problems.
- freehunter 14y agoMore: What is my gas mileage? How long can I go without refilling (can I make it to my destination)? How has my (friend/significant other/child) been driving when they're in my car? What can I do to be improving my driving habits or fuel economy? How far did I drive and what did it cost me (anyone who travels for work)?
- stevenkovar 14y agoI can see several good pairings: * Car rental companies * Insurance companies (rebates if you use it) * Business vehicle fleets * Parents
- jaspero 14y agoI do not want anyone of them tracking my movement. May be except Business vehicle fleets.
- ebzlo 14y agoI'm sure I paid more than this for BMW Assist in my car (I think like $100-$300, can't remember). I was in an accident a couple years ago; it wasn't a terrible accident, but if it had been, the service it provided would have been well worth the price tag (notifying all the right people, making sure I'm okay, tracking my location for me, etc). If the functionality is similar, this is easily worth the $65 price tag on that alone. If I'm a parent with a first-time driver, you can bet I'd pick one up for my kid.
- jmvoodoo 14y agoVery cool. I'm still waiting for a phone version of the Tactrix open port though. Would love to be able to do in-depth data-logging of my car and ECU flashing from my phone... the market for that is significantly smaller though I'm sure.
- marban 14y agoI feel like the Beta flag next to Crash Alerts gives a new twist to what you can expect from a beta version.
- freehunter 14y agoI'm just hoping there's a way to turn it off without losing any other functionality. I really don't want to be hit with the bill from an accidental 911 call, I'll take my chances that if there's an accident someone around (or I) will be able to call 911 without a $70 app deciding it for me. I would also be concerned (this seems to be an extreme edge case) that off-roading may trip the sensor. I try not to break my equipment, but I've seen some guys running their daily driver pretty hard, and it's not uncommon to have some extreme jarring going on if you hit a jump wrong or run over a log going a bit too fast. I can see a good deal of this functionality from the device being applicable even off the road, but having 911 pay you a visit down in a mud pit because your tire hit a rock and bounced off doesn't seem like a positive.
- oostevo 14y agoThe privacy policy implies that there might be a way to turn it off ("...If you use..."): "If you use Crash Alert, in the event you are in a crash, we may share your location and personally identifiable information with emergency responders and your emergency contacts."[1] [1] https://www.automatic.com/legal#privacy https://www.automatic.com/legal#privacy
- ceejayoz 14y agoWhere do you live that you get a bill for 911 calls?
- freehunter 14y ago911 is free, but you foot the bill for services rendered and face a fine for false 911 calls.
- jonknee 14y ago
- vineet 14y agoSeems very similar to these guys as well: http://moj.io http://moj.io I am looking forward to the competition (and innovation) in this space.
- acgourley 14y agoIt's shocking to me how much better the automatic web design is. They tell a similar story but I leave automatic's site with a much clearer understanding of the features, price and value proposition.
- Aloha 14y agoand yet they are very different products, moj.io uses a mobile data network, automatic is just a bluetooth dongle.
- heywire 14y agoI've had one of these cheap Bluetooth OBD-II adapters for quite a while now, however, the tight integration that this solution shows in the demo is enough to get me to preorder. There was just too much fiddling with the other apps. Maybe the gamification of maximizing my MPG will keep me off the pedal...
- UnoriginalGuy 14y agoI'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... Nothing dramatic but if you're a "city driver" (i.e. no high-speed driving to recharge your battery) then you could get yourself into a situation where you need to be jump-started. So as I said, great concept, however until the OBD-II port is "fixed" so it can be switched on and off I wouldn't get one for my car. Too high a chance that I wouldn't use my car for a weekend and then find it wouldn't start on Monday.
- Wintamute 14y agoCan'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?
- UnoriginalGuy 14y agoIt 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.
- freehunter 14y agoI 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.
- UnoriginalGuy 14y agoOh I see what you mean. 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.
- paul_f 14y agoIt is my understanding that engine codes are not public and car manufacturers consider them copyrighted information, requiring a license. I wonder if Automatic reverse engineered the codes or licensed them from the manufacturers. The check engine light is only used to indicate problems with the car's emission system. It is unlikely to provide anything actionable unless you're planning to get your car smogged soon.
- Sanddancer 14y agoMost of the in-depth codes are proprietary, but at the same time, things like mass airflow sensor info and throttle position sensors are under the standard specs for OBD-II info. So even without paying the many thousands of dollars to Ford, etc for the info, you can usually get a good idea of what's going on. Also, the check engine light is something that can display things that people would only consider tangentially related to the car's emissions system. Things like misfires, or even occasionally transmission problems, can also trigger this light.
- moe 14y agoI wonder, could a malware on my phone issue a command such as "ENGAGE BRAKE FRONT-LEFT" while I'm going 130mph on the autobahn?
- jarito 14y agoAs I understand it, no. ODBII is a read-only data port that surfaces information about the state of your car. I don't believe it lets you enter commands. That being said, there have been man vulnerabilities in car software which is all proprietary and hasn't undergone any public review, so I guess it is possible.
- Peroni 14y agoI don't believe it lets you enter commands. They can but they are usually pre-programmed commands set by the manufacturer. Most electronic elements to a vehicle can be controlled with the correct manufacturer equipment and software that most branded dealerships have.
- UnoriginalGuy 14y agoOBD-II isn't completely read-only. I mean at the very least it is used to control car keys. I know that because MANY cars are being stolen locally via the keys being reset using the OBD-II port. They target particular models of a car. They drive around, find that car/model, then use a slim jim to open the door, plug into the OBD-II port, and reset the key to one in their possession - then they can just drive the car away as if it was their own.
- to3m 14y agoThere's an article about this here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/17/bmw_car_theft_hack/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/17/bmw_car_theft_hack/ (Apparently it is particularly straightforward on recentish BMWs, because the alarm has a dead area that allows a thief to gain access to the OBD port undetected.)
- creativityhurts 14y agoToo bad they're US only.
- goatforce5 14y agoNot even Canada, which shares a lot of the available car line up with the US.
- togasystems 14y agoIs there a reason for not selling in Canada?
- TkTech 14y agoI'd buy this in an instant if it was available in Canada.
- goatforce5 14y agoMe too. I found out the lack of support for Canada as I was filling in my credit card details on their purchase page.
- davidw 14y agoI would think that fleet cars / rental cars / company cars might be more of a market than consumers for this kind of thing in some ways.
- Peroni 14y agoThe 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.
- xur17 14y agoAnd how is it reported to 911? Does Automatic have someone manually call it in? I didn't think 911 had an api that you could report stuff through.
- pageld 14y agoFord Sync and OnStar somehow already do this. I'm just guessing, but it probably just makes a phone call like "Air bags deployed at xxx lat yyy long location. This has been an automated call."
- dougk16 14y agoThat 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.
- toomuchtodo 14y agoThe device is going to be looking for the "airbag deployment" code on the OBDII/CANBUS port, as well as accelerometer data.
- goatforce5 14y agoDoes the onboard computer report that the airbags have deployed? Sudden deceleration + airbag deploy = 911?
- Peroni 14y agoDoes the onboard computer report that the airbags have deployed? Yes the ECU has a state that detects airbag deployment but even the airbags can have a false deploy (see the most recent episode of Top Gear for a prime example).
- vyrotek 14y agoI 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 them. (Edit) From their Privacy Policy: In an ongoing effort to better understand and serve our users, we often conduct research on our customer demographics, interests, and behavior based on the Personal Data and other information provided to us. This research may be compiled and analyzed on an aggregate basis, and we may share this aggregate data with our affiliates, agents and business partners. This aggregate information does not identify you personally. We may also disclose aggregated user statistics in order to describe Automatic to current and prospective business partners, and to other third parties for other lawful purposes. As we develop our business, we might sell or buy businesses or assets. In the event of a corporate sale, merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar event, Personal Data may be part of the transferred assets; in this event, you will be notified via email and/or a prominent notice on our website of any change in ownership, as well as any choices you may have regarding your Personal Data. We may also share your information with our subsidiaries and affiliates, if any.
- hyperbovine 14y agoIf the service turns out to actually be usefil, I hope they will consider charging money for it in lieu of spiriting away my personal information as you suggest.
- jonny_eh 14y agoIt's not free, it costs $70.
- freehunter 14y agoYou could argue that the device costs $70, but the service is "free". What seems to be the plea is to have the device cost something and have the service cost an amount of money, rather than an amount of information.
- sajid 14y agoHow does the engine trouble codes feature compare to something like VAG-COM?
- nuclear_eclipse 14y agoVAG-COM is much more powerful and flexible than an OBD-II reader.
- kerbs 14y agoWait, so this 69$ 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.
- Peroni 14y agoIt 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.
- Scorponok 14y agoAccording to the video you can clear the code, the example if if the code reports "Loose gas cap".
- Peroni 14y agoLet me rephrase then. Let's assume the check engine light is on due to a fault in the fuel pump. You can clear the code but you aren't clearing the problem. As soon as the problem occurs again, the light returns. In most cases the faults that trigger 'check engine' lights are in a constant state of fault until the part is repaired or replaced meaning the light will return essentially as soon as you press the accelerator.
- MartinCron 14y agoOne of the most common causes for the "check engine" light to come on is a loose gas cap. That's something I'm happy to be able to address and clear all on my own. Granted, I tighten my gas caps like a gorilla these days.
- slashedzero 14y agoThat part of the video left me confused, because it's often not that easy. I wonder if this function depends on the model.. Also, loose gas cap often goes away after a certain period of time anyway.
- mrbill 14y agoBeen using Torque on my Android phone (~$5) along with a $12 OBD-II bluetooth dongle from Amazon for over a year now, to do much the same thing.
- dmmalam 14y agoDoes this also connect to the CAN Bus, if so will you offer a simple high level API to it. I would buy one now if it did. Background: I showed Lockitron to my dad a while back, and he wanted it for his car. ie unlock/lock from his phone, or even by just walking up, like keyless-go on the mercs. I did a bit of googleling, and it seemed like it should be pretty simple. Connect a dongle to the diagnostic port (inc CAN bus wires), and then fire the correct CAN messages down. On most modern cars you can pretty much control anything, from the locks, cruise control, windows, seats, radio, lights, wipers etc. The problem is the CAN message format isn't documented anywhere, and it varies from car to car. You would have to sniff bus, with lots of trial & error. If there was a high level API, ie openDriverSideWindow(), I could image the community creating a whole host of automation possibilities. ie Open windows when the temp is above 30C, or turn radio down when I'm close to home.
- mseebach 14y ago> unlock/lock from his phone Liability hell.
- umsm 14y agoIt depends on the driver and the area you're from. In front of my home, I rarely lock my car.
- mseebach 14y agoNo, it depends on who you can blame (and sue) if someone steals your car.
- stcredzero 14y agoDepending on the jurisdiction, you could be liable for stuff that happens if someone steals your unlocked car.
- jessaustin 14y agoIf this is a common thing, how does the party holding you liable typically show that the car was unlocked?
- xur17 14y agoLooks similar to this: http://moj.io/ http://moj.io/ except your's doesn't require a monthly fee (which was a big turn off for moj.io for me). I almost preordered one, but I saw android wasn't supported yet - I'll probably come back and check in the future. There are some android apps in the marketplace for bluetooth OBD II devices that can be ordered for <$20 from China. I'd pay >$10 for an app with similar features to this if anyone's looking for an idea.
- ck2 14y agoSo it's a $10 elm327 ? http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=elm327&_sacat=0 http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=elm327&_sacat=0 With a Torque clone? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq...
- cmelbye 14y agoWow, I wouldn't necessarily call it a "clone". That skeuomorphism would make Scott Forstall cry. And what's with using Copperplate for logo? It makes the app look like something a child designed in Microsoft Word.
- Alexx 14y agoOnly if you could call the ipod a clone of all previous mp3 players. Technology != Customer Experience.
- msprague 14y agoExcept torque is only for car enthusiasts, and it looks like the general population would have use for this.
- ck2 14y agoI drive a 15 year old car and find Torque very valuable, it's not just for enthusiasts. And you can make the screens as simple as this displays. I guess this one is just easier out of the box.
- mdellabitta 14y agoThis thing doesn't really offer me more than my Honda Insight already does built-in. I'm going to get a ScanGuageII soon: http://www.scangauge.com/products/scangaugeii/ http://www.scangauge.com/products/scangaugeii/
- dave1010uk 14y agoThanks for those links. I'm tempted to buy one to experiment. Torque says it allows you to upload data to your own website too, which means you could use it with Tasker to do probably much more than the Automatic can do. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch....
- pdog 14y agoOff-topic: Excellent use of Bootstrap. Someone should add this to the Bootstrap Expo[1]. [1]: http://expo.getbootstrap.com/ http://expo.getbootstrap.com/
- harshaw 14y agoI know this is going to sound stupid, but I wrote a pretty detailed business plan for this exact same idea. Glad that these guys decide to run with it. An interesting link from the past: http://37signals.com/better/motors/index http://37signals.com/better/motors/index
- ctz 14y agoI also had this idea (with more of a feedback-based efficiency training tool, but still). I did get quite concerned with the privacy implications of logging somebody's vehicle location, though.
- Nycto 14y agoDoes this interact with door locks and car alarms at all? Is that even possible? At least once a week I find myself walking back to my car to make sure I hit the car alarm. I would definitely pay to solve that problem. Getting an iPhone app for my home security system has already saved me a lot of grief.
- uptown 14y agoOnStar offers that. Not sure if it's able to be added to your vehicle, but I can lock/unlock/start/trigger alarm/etc. my car from my iPhone.
- bargl 14y agoThat would be a really nice feature in this for anyone who doesn't like/want onstar.
- owenfi 14y agoLooks like such a thing might be possible. This thread seems to indicate someone was able to mimic door (un)lock codes via the CAN bus. http://www.mp3car.com/engine-management-obd-ii-engine-diagnostics-etc/141976-gmlan-sw-can-message-woes.html http://www.mp3car.com/engine-management-obd-ii-engine-diagno...
- the_ancient 14y agoThey lost me by making on the iPhone first...... Android should have been the first device they released it for.
- slapresta 14y agoWhy?
- ekurutepe 14y agoI wonder if it's possible to set a different emergency number instead of 911? Emergency services use 112 in Europe.
- jonny_eh 14y agoI'd hope it would automatically know that based on your location.
- nlh 14y agoThis 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 responsible for keeping track of/maintaining large numbers of vehicles used by a company) need a simple way of doing three things: 1. Locating their vehicles. 2. Getting data about their vehicles 3. Changing settings on their vehicles (i.e. lock/unlock, etc.) That's really basically it. And you would be surprised how totally awful the existing solutions are for doing even two of them (most focus on #1). 3 is a bit more difficult as not everything can be done through the OBD port, but many things can. There are, literally, a hundred different companies that sell products that do the first - usually in the form of a hidden box that has a GPS antenna and a (really crappy and expensive) cellular modem that pings a really expensive service via GPRS or some similar out-of-date tech and costs $30/month/device for service + $500 / device. It's absurd. What every fleet manager actually wants: The Automatic device w/ mobile data transmission ability (i.e. not tethered to an iPhone). Let me a) see where my car(s) are, b) get telemetry from the OBD port, and c) interact with the car in whatever fashion is possible via the OBD port. I know that's a 2nd gen product that I'm proposing - and I think these guys are smart to start with something that tethers to a consumer phone for data. But produce this product for a reasonable price and there are literally hundreds of thousands (millions?) of fleet vehicles on the road that will scoop 'em up. And I think the use case is stronger for an enterprise product. I hear fleet managers (and myself) asking for this product every day. I don't hear consumers saying "damn, I wish I knew how efficient my braking was." Anyway, the tl;dr is: Awesome. Eager. Good Luck!
- pdog 14y agoIf you're actually interested, Fleetio[1] already works with VHM hardware from Prova Systems for $5 per vehicle per month. [1]: http://www.fleetio.com/ http://www.fleetio.com/
- acavailhez 14y agohttps://www.getlocalmotion.com/ https://www.getlocalmotion.com/ has a solution with a connected box, which integrates with existing corporate RFID badges to open the car.
- namityadav 14y agoWhat I want from my driving assistant: Notify me (perhaps with a beep) if I go N mph above speed-limit for a road. Let me specify what that N should be, and let me override the speed limits for a specific road (this will hopefully allow the service to crowd-source the speed limits data)
- dzhiurgis 14y agoDoes Automatic impact my phone's battery life? ... more or less: no Next section: Does Automatic charge a monthly fee? No, all you need is the Automatic Link and a smartphone with an active data plan. From my experience that is exactly what kills 99% of smartphone batteries...
- tamal 14y agoSimply having a [paid for, up-to-date, active] data plan on your phone kills the battery?
- jpxxx 14y agoWhich is why it's a good thing that virtually every car has a place to plug in your smartphone.
- PeterisP 14y agoAt least my smartphone built-in stats app shows that my sync-everything-everywhere habits (both mobile data and wifi) cause just 20% of my battery drain, and more than half is spent by the screen which is used for much, much shorter periods. Sending a few bytes doesn't take much juice at all, and the phone radio is anyway communicating with the cell tower very often to "check in".
- szirka 14y agoAn insurance giant will attempt to purchase Automatic. That's my guess.
- yellow 14y agoProgressive already does this with a similar gadget: http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspx http://www.progressive.com/auto/snapshot.aspx
- modeless 14y agoI want the reverse of this: a way to use the car's superior GPS/IMU to augment my phone, instead of the other way around.
- itsprofitbaron 14y agoFirst of all, congrats on the launch guys! There are several people within this space and going beyond the fact that, they’ve got a nice generic .com (important for this type of product) which the public can easily remember they actually have an interesting product which, so far appears better executed than the others in this space. As well as that they also have an interesting team behind them as well for instance their CEO Thejo Kote, was previously a founder of NextDrop[1] which provides real value to people in India by informing them when nearby water is available (In case you’re not aware of this, despite having water pipes to them, water in India is only available for a few hours (usually once or twice a week) at a time and they have no way of knowing when that time actually is). The product is useful for some of the reasons listed on their website such as the Crash Alert, Engine Health, Where You Parked etc. Although the biggest interest they will receive is through, external parties such as Rental Companies and Car Insurance providers etc (In otherwords, I predict their market is far bigger on the business than the Consumer side although, in some instances they overlap). The Car Insurance feature may actually become their biggest ‘feature’ for consumers in the future going forward “With Automatic you can get an Engine Health Check, Remember Where You Parked, In The Event of a Crash Inform the Right People and more importantly save $100’s on your Car Insurance!” For instance, in the UK there are a lot of car insurance providers who give discounts to drivers who get a telematics policy aka install a “black box” within their car (something similar to Automatic without the additional features). These telematics policies in the UK are offered in 3 categories (the Behaviour-Based is the most common): - Curfew-Based Policies – if you don’t drive between 11pm – 5am you get a discount - Low Mileage Policies - Behaviour-Based Policies (which Automatic does with their “Drive Score” points system) which considers how will you corner, brake and speed etc so the better you drive your insurance becomes cheaper, you drive badly you get penalised with higher rates etc. [1] http://www.nextdrop.org http://www.nextdrop.org
- robmcm 14y agoThe problem with these telemetric policies is that I bet they are actually aimed at peanalising risky drivers rather than rewarding low risk drivers. Perhaps I am being too syndical and actually they are just trying to replace the, now illegal, female driver discount.
- dsr_ 14y agoThe privacy policy seems to boil down to "We're not planning on selling your information to anyone, but if it leaks or someone hands us a subpoena, tough noogies." That makes me itchy, and I'm not even planning on doing anything illegal.
- pc86 14y agoI think you'd be hard pressed to find any company that would willfully disobey a subpoena.
- jessriedel 14y agoI think the idea is that the company could take steps so that they never had access (either physically or cryptographically) to the data in the first place, making a subpoena useless. There are a few industries which are obligated by statute to keep certain types of data at hand in case the government wants it, but I'm sure that wouldn't apply here.
- frogpelt 14y agoYour idea presents two problems: 1. Automatic cannot do any expansion of capabilities using customer data without first changing their policy so that they can access that data. 2. If/when Automatic changes their policy it will create a negative reaction from customers that the policy is being changed. It's a lot easier to promise protection of the data and let the customer decide whether they believe the promise or not before they sign up.
- jessriedel 14y agoOK. I wasn't making a recommendation for Automatic, I was just trying to explain to pc86 how dsr_'s preferred strategy (that Automatic keep no data) was very plausible and, in fact, is used by many companies.
- jonknee 14y agoWhat information will they have that won't already be a subpoena away? It's tethered to your phone's data plan which means your phone company already has your location info
- jamesaguilar 14y agoVery cool. I'll probably buy one when it comes out for Android.
- joshAg 14y agoI wonder if the plan on making one for obd1 vehicles or if they plan on sticking to just obd2? A lot of gearheads who would love this are still driving obd1 cars.
- jpxxx 14y agoThis is egregiously well done, all of it. I have zero interest in my car or how it works, and yet I'll have one. Crystal clear website, crystal clear video, an unaggressive logo, they precisely explain what the product does, and you know exactly how much it costs up front. So well done.
- frogpelt 14y agoI'm right there with you. At this point, I'm driving a beater with close to 200k miles on it and I want this product badly. I guess I just love collecting data.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- joshaidan 14y agoCool, but seems like it's not available in Canada.
- ry0ohki 14y agoLesson for startups here: There are tons of devices/apps that do exactly what this does already. What's the difference? Automatic has great design, snappy domain name, and most importantly mass market positioning. These had traditionally been targeted towards gear heads, but Automatic smartly positioned it to be something mass market (gas mileage, etc...)
- jessriedel 14y agoCould you give an example or two of their best competitor?
- drone 14y agoAutomatic seems to be mostly aimed at consumers who wish to have statistics more than to perform optimizations or do diagnosis, but here are a couple that are fairly common in the aftermarket: Stats, Tuning, Android App, Bluetooth dongle: http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx http://www.superchips.com/Store/VIVIDLINQ.aspx App to work with any number of bluetooth OBD-II dongles: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torque&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.prowl.torq... Personally, as someone who regularly changes drivetrain, tires sizes, gearing, etc. on vehicles, I'll stick with things like VIVID which do work pretty well for the most part. I can see a market for people who just want an easy app that tells them statistics and such (but those do already exist, just not as easy for the average user since they've been the domain of tuners for a while).
- ry0ohki 14y agoI've never used any of them, but some quick Googling: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-dashboards/id321293183?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dashcommand-obd-ii-gauge-das... http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html http://devtoaster.com/products/rev/index.html
- admiralpumpkin 14y agoThe 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.
- austenallred 14y agoI want to know how much the domain cost.
- Skywing 14y agoThe android app version says it ships this fall. When does the iOS version ship?
- technoweenie 14y agoMay, according to the order page. https://www.automatic.com/order https://www.automatic.com/order
- Skywing 14y agoDoh. For some reason the orange tag on the android one made me expect to see one for the iOS so my eye didn't even read the text. It's right there, haha. My bad.
- antonpug 14y agoAlright. The product seems pretty good, especially the marketing and the spin. But I would have to place it in the category of "cool gadgets that you don't really need". For $20-30, this might be a cool thing to try. But I am not going to shell out $70 for a little tool that will tell me how efficient I am or where I parked my car. People have been parking cars without GPS systems for years just fine. And oh, want to help me be more efficient on the road? I think that people who are serious about saving money already know to now accelerate fast, drive over 65, etc.
- 3dptz 14y agoI like the design of the app and the idea of hacking cars ODB data. However I see plenty of things that make me raise (an) eyebrow(s). 1. It relies on the amount and quality of ODB data your car provides. The data is worth as much as the precision of the car sensors (fuel consumption on my 5 year old car is very unreliable). 2. "Upgrade your cars' capabilities" is just fluff. Your car doesn't gain any abilities. 3. I like the idea of making people aware of fuel economy but the quality of feedback is directly depended on 1. Bad sensors will give bad readings. If, however your car has state of the art fuel consumption sensors, chances are pretty high it's a nice car already showing that data right on the dashboard. 4. The emergency services will be contacted after a crash is detected by the accelerations sensors in your smartphone. A device that is loosely lying around somewhere in your car. In the assumption it survives a crash and isn't catapulted through the windshield landing 30 meters outside the range of bluetooth. Upon which it will give an auditive cue informing abrupt braking is bad for fuel economy and your social driving score will be negatively impacted. The idea is great and has good uses. But for now it looks like a gadget bringing little new to the table. For the features it does have, only time will tell on how fail proof they are implemented.
- dlokshin 14y agoOut of curiosity, why does it matter what Android or iPhone I have. Is the unit actually different? What happens if I get a different phone in a month?
- thejo 14y agohi dlokshin, we support the iPhone 4S and 5 because those are the only models that support Bluetooth 4.0. I'm sure we can theoretically support every Android phone out there, but as a small team, we'd rather focus on a smaller set and provide the best experience possible. Our goal is to support as many Android phones as possible over time. The Automatic Link supports both classic bluetooth and bluetooth 4.0, so it will work with both iPhones and Android phones.
- frogpelt 14y agoWhy does it matter what type of car I have as long as it's new enough?
- msprague 14y agoOBD-II just standardizes the connection port, meaning that you can plug in the device, but not all cars support the same information and features. Most of them do, but I'm sure that the guys over at Automatic don't want to sell someone a product that isn't supported or tested for their vehicle.
- thejo 14y agoThat's right!
- shurcooL 14y agoOn the pre-order page, it says only the iPhone 5 and 4S are supported. Why isn't 4 supported? I have an iPad mini with LTE as my only mobile device, is there any reason Automatic wouldn't work with it? I'm ok with it running in a smaller window (the way iPhone-only apps run on iPads). It also asks you to pick a car. Is that just to verify that it'll be compatible? I mean, is there anything stopping me from changing which car I use this device in or is it locked to use with the one car you pick? At first I wasn't really interested in this device (I didn't see any uses of it for me), but then I realized that sometimes I like to drive super-economically, and if I had some sort of efficiency score to show off for that trip, that'd be pretty neat. That way, I could compete with other drives in who can drive the most efficiently.
- trevorcreech 14y agoIt's probably using Bluetooth Low Energy, which is not available on the iPhone 4. The iPad mini should work, but its obviously up to automatic whether they build an iPad app.
- bernatfp 14y agoSo, this is a Fitbit for your car, right?
- perishabledave 14y agoWell done! I'd actually consider ordering one. I'm sure you've given these out to friends and family as testers; are there any examples of them saving on gas that you could tell us about? The other features seem more neat than useful, at least on a daily basis. I'd consider purchasing the device on gas benefits alone.
- Nimi 14y agoThe "driver score" feature sounds like a solution for the worried parent whose kid occasionally borrows the car in the evenings and on weekends. I wonder if they plan on entering this market.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- bargl 14y agoWow, 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 failed and may have been prevented if I'd replaced the part earlier). This tool seems like a great idea. I'm going to get one when the android version is released.
- Cub3 14y agoI'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?
- thejo 14y agoThe Automatic Link supports both Bluetooth Low Energy and Bluetooth Classic, so it will work with many Android phones that don't support BT 4.0 too.
- tsycho 14y agoI am really excited about this product, but had a couple of questions: 1. Will this be able to connect to more than one phone without significant reconfigurations? My wife and I own one car. It would be great to swap which phone to connect to depending on who is driving. 2. Will this need a tethering plan (or a jailbreak) for Automatic to use my iPhone's data plan? Since AT&T/Verizon charge extra for a tethering plan, even if you have a fixed data plan, that's an extra expense that you should mention in your FAQs.
- learc83 14y agoI can't imagine it would need a tethering plan. The device should be almost exclusively 1 way (to the phone) except for updates.
- thejo 14y agoAutomatic is designed to work with multiple drivers. So yes, you can share a car with your wife and both of you can use Automatic. A tethering plan is not required. The Automatic Link communicates with your iPhone over Bluetooth and uses your phone's data connection.
- atonse 14y agoPre-ordered. Way too cool! Sort of like a pedometer for your car (in that you get quick feedback on things, etc). Our Volkswagon dealership was going to charge me $110 to find out why we had a check engine light. I didn't know this is all they were doing. But thankfully our car was Certified so they waived it. Looking forward to fun with this little device.
- grill_master 14y ago$70 is crazy. For $20 I bought from www.carcarecheck.com and get OBD2 + a year's membership + their beta. They do real time diagnostics + crash notification = Much better deal.
- grill_master 14y agoOh yeah, and they're shipping to Canada + worldwide. Again, much better deal.
- xur17 14y agoAny idea what a year's membership will cost after the first year?
- bkorte 14y ago2 questions: 1) Why isn't this available in Canada? All of our cars have ODBII after 96 as well. 2) Is there an estimated completion timeline? 2 months? 2 years?
- Tenoke 14y agoI wonder how much time it would take automatic to save $70 of the average users' money.
- ianjkalin 14y agoWell timed release with the Department of Energy's Apps for Vehicles competition: http://appsforvehicles.challenge.gov/ http://appsforvehicles.challenge.gov/.
- digitalmerc 14y agoOut of interest, how much did the domain cost?
- dholowiski 14y agoI wonder what Automattic Inc. thinks of that company name?
- pixelcloud 14y agoPlease ship this to Canada. I went to preorder and I cannot.
- ianjkalin 14y agoThe release of this product seems like a great coincidence with the Department of Energy's Apps for Vehicles competition: http://appsforvehicles.challenge.gov/ http://appsforvehicles.challenge.gov/ I wonder if there are future partnership opportunities?
- gfodor 14y agoOk 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.
- masoninthesis 14y agoI 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.
- orangethirty 14y agoWhich distribution channels do you plan to use?
- pfisch 14y agoThis looks amazing.
- codedzy 14y agoNo mobile friendly site? I would expect a company that makes and sells a "smartphone" product would have a website that is optimized for a mobile browser, like my iPhone 5. Looks like a great product though!
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- efsavage 14y agoLove it. Want it. Except... Now I'm carrying around a device that can reliably be used to issue me speeding tickets. What is my protection from that?
- greggman 14y agocan't your phone already do that?
- efsavage 14y agoNot very reliably. AFAIK, the geographic resolution on phones GPS would not hold up to scrutiny if you were driving within 10-20% of the speed limit.
- Devilboy 14y agoYou could try not speeding?
- efsavage 14y agoI'm not talking about real speeding, I'm talking about driving 70-75 in a 65 because that's what traffic is doing. A week later I get a ticket in the mail because some zealous law enforcement agency subpoenaed a bunch of records from automatic.com. Maybe I'm being paranoid but it doesn't seem to fall far outside the realm of possibility these days.
- odysseus 14y agoHow does Automatic compare to Verizon/Delphi's coming dongle/app that does a lot of the same things? We don't know pricing for the Delphi dongle yet, but it does appear to include unlocking/locking the car for certain models: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avX0YRiXDI0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avX0YRiXDI0 http://shop.verizonwireless.com/?id=vehicle-diagnostics http://shop.verizonwireless.com/?id=vehicle-diagnostics Automatic's GUI definitely looks nicer. If Automatic could automatically unlock the door when I come near the car after being away from it from a period of time, that would make this a must buy for me.
- greggman 14y agoSo I ordered one almost immediately but now I'm having second thoughts and thinking of canceling. I really don't want some company spying on me or storing my location data. Yea, I know the phone company already does this but still, I'd like one less company doing it. Especially one that has no track record and is reserving the option to sell all my data when they sell the company and change the terms at any time. I'd be happier if, like Google, there was a guarantee I could export my data (and not on some TODO list someday maybe but at launch). And, that I could delete all my data from their servers at anytime. Including, like i can on Google Latitude, any specific data. Latitude has a "delete this day's data" and a "delete all data" button. Would I ever use these features? Probably not. But they'd make me feel good to know they exist. I also want to be able to opt out of any and all sharing of my data. Even anonymous aggregated data. I'm happy to consider paying more for that feature. Even a yearly fee if it was relatively low ($10-$20 a year)
- dutchbrit 14y agoHmm, I wonder if this would work on my Alfa Romeo ('95 GTV) - it's not in the list, but then again, it's not a car that was sold in the USA.
- newman314 14y agoI would love to have just a nice OBD II app that allows me to diagnose and reset params in my car. All the solutions that I've found so far seem to be thrown together and have generally horrendous UI. Maybe they would be willing to sell a lower tier product for the iPad with just that and none of the geo features? If so, TAKE MY MONEY.
- thomaslutz 14y agoIf this would available localized for Germany, I would buy it.
- azernik 14y agoHmmm. What's the multi-driver and privacy story for this? I see one mention (being able but not required to share your parking location with other drivers) but I'm curious about how this handles eg trip history information when a different smartphone plugs in.