Automatic Labs Inc has announced the availability of their new Connected Car Assistant, which brings some of the most popular features of connected driving services like OnStar to nearly any vehicle.
The new product features a simple approach of using a small OBD-II adapter that plugs into that port underneath your steering column, allowing it to communicate with the car’s computer. With the data the computer provides, the Connected Car Assistant can deliver various analytics about your engine, such as engine performance or troubleshooting diagnostics error codes that cause your check engine light to come on.
It goes further by being an IoT connected device that makes use of the internet to deliver all of those familiar features that you get with other connected companies, including roadside assistance when a collision occurs, as well as the ability to immediately reach out to emergency services and emergency contacts.
You can monitor your vehicle’s location at all times, which allows you to find it if someone decides to take it for a joy ride, or where it might be located in a crowded parking lot, or simply track your various trips on the map.
Taking it even further than that, it features a number of third-party services that help you track your mileage for work, and pay tolls for toll roads automatically as you drive. It also supports smart home services like Alexa, Nest, and IFTTT, allowing you to control various devices or appliances within your home as you get close or leave.
They even set you up with a free trial when you first buy it, covering you for three years for certain services like Crash Alert, and six months for premium services. Then it runs $5/month after the premium trial to keep those features.
Installation, as mentioned, is as easy as sliding the device into the port under your steering column. Then you download an app (supports both iOS and Android devices) and link the device to your account. After that, you are filled with a long list of features that bring with them a lot of potentials. The only catch is that your car has to support the OBD-II interface, which pretty much covers most vehicles made since 1996.
Automatic Labs is a company owned by SiriusXM, that they acquired back in April 2017. They have since been working at using the company to expand on their vehicle service portfolio with. Compared to some of the competition, it is easy to assume that the new Connected Car Assistant will make waves with its unique approach and feature list, and you can jump at getting your hands on one today, available via multiple retailers for $99.
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