Possible Scangauge Replacement

[limamike]

Found this the other day while looking around the interweb.

I've had a Scangauge in my trucks since 2004, and I love the capability. But, it definitely seems expensive for the electronics you get, and it is somewhat limited in its capability. I've been waiting for someone to release a comprehensive vehicle monitoring/tracking system that meets all of my needs like real-time diagnostics, pulling codes, and fuel efficiency logging. This new product Automatic looks like it might fit the bill, and it's less expensive (minus the smartphone needed) than the Scangauge. I pre-ordered one!

Automatic - Your Smart Driving Assistant

 

[ster]

just 2 pages back...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/137505-automatic-connecting-car-smartphone.html

 

[wdlsmaerw]

Sweet find! Ordered.

 

[phillyd2]

No need to replace.

OBDII Splitter Y Cable, J1962M to 2-J1962F, 1ft (145802) : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

[jrhaze]

I wonder if the average smartphone will allow you to be simultaneously connected both to this device as well as to the truck's entertainment system for calls, music etc...?

 

[DannyLlama]

I wonder if the average smartphone will allow you to be simultaneously connected both to this device as well as to the truck's entertainment system for calls, music etc...?

That was my thought exactly. I think not as of now, I haven't came across a phone that can be connected to more than one bluetooth device at the same time.

 

[Intruder]

Automatic Questions & Answers

Can I use Automatic while my phone is paired with another Bluetooth device?

Yes! Automatic works seamlessly with other Bluetooth peripherals like a Bluetooth headset or your car's hands-free calling system.

 

[DannyLlama]

Automatic Questions & Answers

Can I use Automatic while my phone is paired with another Bluetooth device?

Yes! Automatic works seamlessly with other Bluetooth peripherals like a Bluetooth headset or your car's hands-free calling system.

I have my doubts. While you can listen to music through BT and receive a call simultaneously, I don't understand how it can be connected to a second devices that's transmitting at the same time. I would have to see it in action.

Unless it's transmitting through the head unit.

 

[1engineer]

I have my doubts. While you can listen to music through BT and receive a call simultaneously, I don't understand how it can be connected to a second devices that's transmitting at the same time. I would have to see it in action.

Unless it's transmitting through the head unit.

A Music is data
B Receiving calls are data
C Gathering data from a data port is data

So, if A and B are true and can happen simultaneously, and C is equal to both A and B then AC or BC can happen together as well, and quite possibly AB&C.

 

[Intruder]

I have a BT keyboard and BT trackpad simultaneously connected to my Mac right now, both transmitting simultaneously. It's the same idea.

 

[DannyLlama]

A Music is data
B Receiving calls are data
C Gathering data from a data port is data

So, if A and B are true and can happen simultaneously, and C is equal to both A and B then AC or BC can happen together as well, and quite possibly AB&C.

From different devices though? A & B would be from the same device, C is a different set of protocols from a third device.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I just have not seen my personal (S3) phone have the ability to connect to more than one BT device. For example I can't use the BT car stereo and a separate BT headset at the same time.

I have a BT keyboard and BT trackpad simultaneously connected to my Mac right now, both transmitting simultaneously. It's the same idea.

Again, I really think it has to do with the protocol it's using to transmit that communication. Another factor is computers have more capacity than a smart phone. Again - not saying it's impossible. Just trying to connect the dots from an IT perspective.

 

[jrhaze]

From different devices though? A & B would be from the same device, C is a different set of protocols from a third device.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I just have not seen my personal (S3) phone have the ability to connect to more than one BT device. For example I can't use the BT car stereo and a separate BT headset at the same time.



Again, I really think it has to do with the protocol it's using to transmit that communication. Another factor is computers have more capacity than a smart phone. Again - not saying it's impossible. Just trying to connect the dots from an IT perspective.

Looks promising - for iPhone5 users anyways:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4485245?start=0&tstart=0

I have certainly never tried to connect to 2 different devices at once myself though. Maybe I'll give it a try later.

 

[Intruder]

From different devices though? A & B would be from the same device, C is a different set of protocols from a third device.

The protocol should always be bluetooth and the data encapsulated within the packets.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I just have not seen my personal (S3) phone have the ability to connect to more than one BT device. For example I can't use the BT car stereo and a separate BT headset at the same time.

This sounds more like a device limitation than a bluetooth limitation. I don't stream music through BT and don't own a BT headset so I've never noticed this on my own phones. If you connect your phone both as a phone (handsfree) and a music player via BT does it show up as two different BT devices?

Again, I really think it has to do with the protocol it's using to transmit that communication. Another factor is computers have more capacity than a smart phone. Again - not saying it's impossible. Just trying to connect the dots from an IT perspective.

Shouldn't be a BT issue or even a smartphone issue. BT is a standard protocol (unless it's an iPhone running the latest version of iOS) so the communications should all work fine - or at least the capacity for the communications is there. Could be the way the OS handles multitasking and background processes though.

EDIT: Don't joggers use those Nike+ things and BT earphones together all the time? That'd be two different BT devices connected at once...

 

[diverscale]

subscribed for more news about the product. The page is pretty shallow on the features.

 

[Intruder]

There are also a couple of other similar products out there...

GL1-OBD Reader-GoLink for iPhone | GoPoint Technology

Soliport ELM 327 Bluetooth OBDII OBD2 Diagnostic Scanner : Amazon.com : Automotive

 

[DannyLlama]

[MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION] - Your right, it might be an OS or device limitation and not necessarily the BT firmware/protocol limitation. I sent them an e-mail, lets see what they respond with.

When listening to music and using the head unit as hands free, it's essentially the same device. Which goes back to what I was saying, I haven't been had the pleasure of being able to connect to more than one device through an Android phone (thought I would specify )

I don't know about Nike's + apple product interaction.

I actually like this idea, especially for finding your car at parking garage, I wonder what the range is for that and if it will help with locating a stolen car.

 

[mace.]

I actually like this idea, especially for finding your car at parking garage, I wonder what the range is for that and if it will help with locating a stolen car.

If I had to guess, I would think it is just marking the location using the phone's GPS and storing it in the application. When the vehicle is off, I don't think power is supplied to the obd II port for it to send a signal. Even if it did have power, the range for Bluetooth isn' t far. If the vehicle was stolen, it wouldn't have access to GPS or data connection to let you know where it was.

 

[jrhaze]

If I had to guess, I would think it is just marking the location using the phone's GPS and storing it in the application. When the vehicle is off, I don't think power is supplied to the obd II port for it to send a signal. Even if it did have power, the range for Bluetooth isn' t far. If the vehicle was stolen, it wouldn't have access to GPS or data connection to let you know where it was.

On that note you can have GPS monitoring installed with an aftermarket alarm.

I have this and I can check the location of the 4runner whether it's on or off using my iphone. I can also start it from the iphone and receive text messages if the alarm trips, if the battery is disconnected, if the battery voltage gets low etc etc.

Something like that might be a better option for someone who is more interested in the location features...

 

[Intruder]

[MENTION=66300]Intruder[/MENTION] - Your right, it might be an OS or device limitation and not necessarily the BT firmware/protocol limitation. I sent them an e-mail, lets see what they respond with.

When listening to music and using the head unit as hands free, it's essentially the same device. Which goes back to what I was saying, I haven't been had the pleasure of being able to connect to more than one device through an Android phone (thought I would specify )

I don't know about Nike's + apple product interaction.

Right now Automatic is only going to be available for iOS anyhow, so us Android users are out in the cold until fall according to their site. For the multiple BT devices - I found a thread on an Android forum that says the SII supports it, so I'd guess your SIII does as well. I think the limitation is that they couldn't be the same type of device ie. you couldn't connect two headsets or two keyboards.

If I had to guess, I would think it is just marking the location using the phone's GPS and storing it in the application.

I think you're right. If I were designing the software I'd have it drop a map pin at the location where it loses contact with the OBD dongle under the assumption that's where you turned the vehicle off and presumably parked it.

 

[JeremyB]

Scangauge always struck me as a Palm Pilot in an iPad world.

just 2 pages back...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/137505-automatic-connecting-car-smartphone.html

I agree with Jeremy556. Besides the nanny nagging, I don't see anything this does that Torque doesn't. Although Torque doesn't work the iApple due to their BT restrictions.

Per the developer of Torque:

Some android phones handle multiple bluetooth connections well, others don’t – this is mainly due to a bug in the bluetooth stacks in some phones which hasn’t been fixed properly for some time.
The result is that some phones are perfectly fine with multiple bluetooth devices, and others arent (by aren’t, I mean will occasionally ‘drop’ one of the connections and close it, at random)

The second bluetooth connection dropping out is a problem with the bluetooth drivers on the phone – basically in two or more connections, there is a strong chance that the inactive connection will be terminated on some handsets
On other handsets (nexus s, etc) this works fine – unfortunately it’s an issue at the bluetooth driver side (which makes it impossible to fix from my side)
It’s possible to use handsfree, Torque OBD, and also an external bluetooth GPS unit all at the same time (bluetooth supports multiple simultaneous connections) with handsets whose drivers don’t have this bug