Autonet Mobile puts a new twist on the car key (video)

Autonet Mobile puts a new twist on the car key video

Remember Autonet? The company — which is best known for providing manufacturers like Chrysler with in-car WiFi hotspot solutions — is launching a new product designed to replace the key fob and enable low-latency remote vehicle control and diagnostics from any smartphone. Of course, this is nothing new — car makers have been featuring apps to unlock doors, start the engine and monitor vehicles for some time now. Still, most existing solutions rely on satellite or 2G connectivity and often require the car’s computer to be fully booted before responding to commands, which makes for a slow an unreliable experience. Autonet’s new system combines in-vehicle hardware, mobile software and cloud services to streamline this process for both manufacturers and owners. More after the break.

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Insert Coin: Dash charts your car data live, with gauges and a dashcam (update: Android)

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Insert Coin Drive with Dash charts car data live, with gauges and dashcams video

We’ve seen a few stabs at smartphone-enhanced car diagnostics as of late, but many good solutions like Automatic Link and Delphi’s Vehicle Diagnostics are primarily useful after you’ve parked. The upcoming Dash OBD-II adapter is certainly up to that side of the job, telling a Bluetooth-connected iOS device (and eventually, Android) about your car’s problems and estimating fuel costs based on the gas tank’s levels. Where it stands out is its usefulness while on the road: the custom app offers custom live gauges, including a Green-Meter for ideal fuel economy that you won’t usually find in a real instrument cluster. There’s even a dashcam mode that overlays travel details on captured video, whether it’s to support insurance claims or just to immortalize a drive through the back country.

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Source: Kickstarter

Verizon’s Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi now monitoring your car for $250

Verizon's Vehicle Diagnostics by Delphi now monitoring your car for $250

Who’d have thought we’d be happy to see an unassuming black box? Delphi and Verizon managed to whet our interest with their Vehicle Diagnostics kit and service at CES, and our curiosity is renewed now that the monitoring combo is available for drivers. The finished product costs a fairly steep $250 for the Delphi adapter, although it does deliver two years of free service and costs a contract-free $5 per month afterwards. Shelling out brings the promised remote troubleshooting and notifications, including alerts for any performance problems and warnings for any geofencing violations. If you’re willing to pair an Android or iOS phone with the kit over Bluetooth, you can also use the smart device in place of your keys — temporarily, we hope. Vehicle Diagnostics should work with most cars made from 1996 onward, but do some homework before any outlay: at least a few cars miss out on the full diagnostic suite, which might dampen dreams of a connected car utopia.

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Via: Android Police

Source: Verizon

Carrier IQ gives its remote smartphone diagnosing tool a global release

Carrier IQ gives its remote smartphone diagnosing tool a global release

Carrier IQ has let customer service reps diagnose smartphones from afar with its IQ Care software for a while, but now the solution has been given a worldwide release. By wielding IQ Care (and asking a phone owner’s permission, we’re assured), technicians can see device-specific stats such as a battery’s drain rate, percentage of app failures, frequency of dropped calls and more. The outfit hopes that its software will make support calls shorter and ensure that fewer fully-functioning devices aren’t misdiagnosed and returned needlessly. As of now, however, there isn’t any word on which networks or hardware manufacturers will join the metric-hungry flock.

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Carrier iQ Reinvents Customer Care with iQ Care[TM]

Leading Mobile Intelligence Provider Brings Proven Device-Centric Big Data Customer Care Solution to the Global Telecommunications Market

Mobile World Congress 2013
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Carrier iQ, a pioneer in mobile intelligence, today announced the worldwide availability of its iQ Care[TM] device-side care solution designed to reduce customer care costs, increase subscriber satisfaction, and reduce churn.

With the market for connected mobile devices accelerating, and smartphones and tablets continuing their market penetration, support costs are sharply increasing, fueled by a combination of factors, including uncertified applications, new interfaces, complexity of devices, fragmentation of operating systems, and the frequency of updates.

Mobile operators typically have access to a wealth of data from their networks and some user-generated information, but they have little insight on what is happening on the device itself. Only device-sourced metrics can give operators a true representation of the performance of a device to help resolve device support issues and improve the consumer experience.

“To truly create a differentiated experience across the customer lifecycle, mobile operators have to see the world from the customer’s view – the mobile device,” said Sheryl Kingstone, Yankee Group Research Director. “Operators are constantly striving to increase service quality and customer satisfaction to improve the overall customer experience. There is a great need to focus on improved care, particularly from the consumer’s perspective.”

iQ Care[TM] is a customer care solution aimed at reducing the duration of customer support calls, decreasing the number of no-fault-found device returns, and improving the consumer experience. Built upon Carrier iQ’s unique, big data Mobile Service Intelligence Platform[TM] (MSIP), iQ Care[TM] utilizes iQ Agent[TM] on-device software to analyze relevant user experience metrics from the device. With explicit permission from the end user, and without tangible impact on battery drain rates, data plan usage or user experience, iQ Agent[TM] gathers system information on the performance and usage of the device and delivers this information to the MSIP. Device-sourced information and actionable insights are presented to the care agents, enabling them to diagnose and resolve the consumer’s problem quickly and efficiently.

“iQ Care is a proven solution with the most recent deployment now handling eight million simultaneously reporting devices. We are charting a path forward for operators, device manufacturers and other service providers to leverage device-side insights, first for reactive care, then for proactive care and, ultimately, for self-care. This approach delivers a quick and substantial ROI while dramatically improving customer experience. iQ Care is another step in our vision to become the provider of choice for mobile intelligence to the smartphone industry and to the roaring growth of mobile-connected devices,” said Larry Lenhart, CEO of Carrier iQ.

iQ Care[TM] provides mobile operators and mobile device manufacturers with:

Reduced handling time on support calls

  • Higher first call resolution (FCR) scores
  • Ability to dramatically reduce unnecessary device returns (no-fault-found returns)
  • Robust privacy features that can be seamlessly customized to comply with customer privacy policies and applicable legislations
  • Actionable big data analytics about the device, its operation, and actual consumer experience
  • Ability to measure a device by comparing its performance to millions of other devices

iQ Care[TM] will be showcased at Mobile World Congress[TM] in Barcelona, Spain, February 25- 28 at the Carrier iQ booth (5H34, Hall 5), as well as at Carrier iQ partner booths.

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Source: Carrier IQ

Switched On: The fork, the ficus and the flandoodle

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

DNP Switched On The fork, the ficus and the flandoodle

As sensors and crowdsourcing give us ever more granular data into the norms and deviations of the world around us, enterprising developers and hardware companies have trotted out various combinations of atoms and bits to package that awareness, sometimes paired with recommendations, into products. Back in March, Switched On discussed a number of Kickstarter projects (all of which have now shipped) that extended sensor-based monitoring and notification to remote locations (provided there was WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity). Where does it end? Three recent product announcements enable us to know more about things that we might not ever have thought to track in the past.

Continue reading Switched On: The fork, the ficus and the flandoodle

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Mavizon Mavia tracker reaches pre-order at last, makes best friends of cars and iPhones

Mavizon Mavia reaches preorder at last, tracks cars by desktop and iPhone

Remember Mavizon’s plans for its Mavia car tracking device (formerly the AutoBot) from almost two years ago? The company promised availability sometime in 2012, and we’re here in earnest with the car companion ready for pre-order. The business model has changed significantly since 2010, however. It’s a cheaper $169 up front for the Bluetooth cellular OBD-II peripheral — $99 for the first hundred through the gates, or $299 for a two-pack — but the full tracking service will cost $5 a month, or $49 every year. Those who do make the leap can get a look at their car’s vital signs as well as set up geofenced notifications, track long-term performance and receive impromptu driving directions to a friend’s coffee shop check-in. The first batch of Mavia units should arrive within several weeks, we’re told, and should have both browser- as well as iPhone-based apps waiting in the wings.

Continue reading Mavizon Mavia tracker reaches pre-order at last, makes best friends of cars and iPhones

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Mavizon Mavia tracker reaches pre-order at last, makes best friends of cars and iPhones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioSoles know you’re you within three steps, deter shoe bandits

BioSoles know you're you within three steps, deter shoe bandits

It’s no secret that everyone has a unique swagger — so much so it can be used for identification. Many are working on this for biometric security, including a team at Carnegie Mellon University and Autonomous ID, who are collaborating on shoe insoles that monitor pressure and gait to confirm the identity of the wearer. So far, tests have shown a detection rate above 99 percent within just three steps, meaning they can alert you before that opportunist even makes it out of the locker room. It’s thought the cloud-connected BioSoles could be implemented in security access, although we’re not sure this offers advantages over similar, static technology also in development. We do, however, like the idea that subtle changes in your strut could be used to provide early indications of conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and diabetes. It’s likely that the insoles won’t be available any time soon, so until then, keep an eagle eye on those expensive kicks.

Continue reading BioSoles know you’re you within three steps, deter shoe bandits

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BioSoles know you’re you within three steps, deter shoe bandits originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Butter improves Android 4.1’s speed to a silky-smooth 60FPS

Project Butter

As part of its unveiling of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Google has unveiled Project Butter, a major effort to squash Android’s frequent problems with device lag, as well as Systrace to help diagnose performance. Project Butter lets the CPU and graphics run in parallel, rather than crash into each other, and has a big impact on both real and perceived speed: the entire interface runs at 60 frames per second on sufficiently fast hardware. Graphics are now triple-buffered to keep scrolling and transitions humming along, and the processor will swing into full gear the moment you touch the screen to keep input lag to a minimum. Systrace, in the meantime, will help developers stamp out what performance hiccups remain. The tracing tool will be a part of the Jelly Bean SDK, so every coder can get an app running in tip-top shape.

Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012’s opening keynote at our event hub!

Project Butter improves Android 4.1’s speed to a silky-smooth 60FPS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 12:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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