'Find My Car Smart' is the First Low Energy Bluetooth App for iPhone 4S

[andiwm2003]

if I get this right then as soon as you leave your car you lose the bluetooth connection and the disconnect signal triggers a one time GPS location.

So the only battery you save is during your ride in the car since there the bluetooth is constantly connected to the dongle.

Since you most likely have a car charger for $9.99 anyway if you are concerned about battery I don't see an advantage. Even if you don't have a car charger it's not an issue because my handsfree system is always on and often I'm too lazy to plug the phone into the charger because the battery loss due to regular Bluetooth is negligible.

I think this whole thing is a gimmick and uses Bluetooth 4.0 only to get the media attention. It could be done easily with regular bluetooth as well for less money.

However is there a software restriction or what is the reason that there is no bluetooth disconnect triggered location App in the AppStore? It's been available for Android for over a year at least.

 

[ghostlyorb]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

So the hardware does not exist yet but you can buy the .99 app?
And your car needs to have a USB port?

I think we are still a little early...

Well I have an aftermarket radio in my 1998 Stratus.. that has a USB port. A lot of cars have usb ports too. Especially a lot of newer Ford vehicles.

 

[mmoto]

if I get this right then as soon as you leave your car you lose the bluetooth connection and the disconnect signal triggers a one time GPS location.

Turn off car (including Bluetooth dongle) --> App starts up and tags location
Turn on car (including Bluetooth dongle) --> App shuts down

I used to own a car that supplied power to the cig lighter when when the car was off. This could be a problem.

My understanding, after reading the website, is that the location tagging is not triggered by the loss of proximity to the Bluetooth dongle. It's triggered by the Bluetooth dongle loosing power.

 

[pgiguere1]

I'm 99% sure that is only shown to demonstrate the size of the actual device.

It wouldn't have made sense since everybody knows how big is a USB connector already, and they don't know how big would have been this specific battery.

Anyway, I found the reason. They used the image from the Bluetooth dongle supplier's official website, which talks about its low power usage and suggest it can run from a low energy source like this small battery. It has nothing to do with this specific project though.

See: http://www.bluegiga.com/BLED112_Bluetooth_low_energy_dongle

I changed my opinion on this project. Bluetooth 4.0 makes no sense in this case, since it's not using a small battery, but is rather powered by your car which has more than enough power for regular Bluetooth.

Basically, they are just using Bluetooth 4.0 to gain media attention since it's the first app to use it. They are reselling a Bluegiga BLED112 USB dongle and an optional USB->cigarette plug charger they get from Dealextreme. The real work is in the app, which could work with any kind of Bluetooth.

 

[arn]

I changed my opinion on this project. Bluetooth 4.0 makes no sense in this case, since it's not using a small battery, but is rather powered by your car which has more than enough power for regular Bluetooth.

Basically, they are just using Bluetooth 4.0 to gain media attention since it's the first app to use it. They are reselling a Bluegiga BLED112 USB dongle and an optional USB->cigarette plug charger they get from Dealextreme. The real work is in the app, which could work with any kind of Bluetooth.

I don't know if I agree with that. Can this be done with current Bluetooth in iOS? I'm not sure the backgrounding works like that. Rules changed with Bluetooth 4.0 in terms of what people can do on iOS.

I still think the full functionality shown here is not possible otherwise on iOS.

arn

 

[fermat-au]

When you leave your car, it remembers this last GPS location automatically.

May not be that useful if you pack in a multi-story or underground car park. One of the most likely times to lose your car. GPS needs a view of the sky.

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

A useful App I am sure.

But I wonder what the owners of the worlds 800 million cars did to 'find' their vehicles, before this App came along....?

Same goes for electricity and water.

Why should we do anything to move past cavemen! I am with you! What did people do before forums and message boards?

 

[gkpm]

May not be that useful if you pack in a multi-story or underground car park. One of the most likely times to lose your car. GPS needs a view of the sky.

Location is also determined by cell tower triangulation, which works indoors.

Most multi-story car parks - especially underground ones - have small cell stations around.

 

[Johan Perjus]

Confused perception of the meaning of “Standard”

The units option button should say “IMPERIAL” or possibly “CUSTOMARY” instead of “STANDARD” as “METRIC” is the defacto world wide standard for measurements.

Quoted from Wikipedia;

“SI is the world's most widely used system of measurement, which is used both in everyday commerce and in science.[3][4][5] The system has been nearly globally adopted with the United States being the only industrialized nation that does not mainly use the metric system in its commercial and standards activities.[6] The United Kingdom has officially partially adopted metrication, with no intention of replacing imperial units entirely. Canada has adopted it for all legal purposes but imperial/US units are still in common use, particularly in the buildings trade.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_units
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customary_units

 

[seclusion]

So if someone scams your iPad or iPhone, now they'll be able to find you car too.
Hmmm

 

[justperry]

It has its own battery. That's the point of BT 4.0, otherwise it would run out of juice too fast unless it had a massive battery.

Your car will only recharge the battery, not power the device, so it will work for a while even if your engine is off given BT 4.0's efficiency.

And no, your car doesn't need to have a USB port, the 30$ pack includes the hardware, the app and a USB to lighter plug adapter.

Fair price, I might get one. The project will likely succeed with this media attention. I just hope the app is not too buggy.

EDIT: Actually I'm not sure about the battery part since it's not mentioned anywhere but I'm pretty sure this round flat metal thing written "Li-Mn" on it is a battery. I guess they will find a way to integrate it in a single USB dongle that they don't have images of at the moment.

That battery is a CR 2032 which means its diameter is 20 mm and is 3.2 mm thick, its too big to fit that USB dongle.

If this is powered by the car's lighter port, then it will only work on cars where it stays on after cars are turned off. My car doesn't give power to the lighter port if the engine isn't on. How do they get around those cars? I'm sure there are many more cars out there.

Its easy to rewire the car lighter port, just need to connect that one to a wire which has continuous power which can be done by almost anybody with a technical background

 

[Big D 51]

My wife will need this for sure.

 

[justperry]

I travel fairly often and remember where my car is. The lot I park at has row numbers. When the shuttle driver picks me up right at my car, he writes down the row number on a business card with the lot's name and where in the terminal to get on the shuttle at when I land. When I return, I give the row number to the shuttle driver, and he'll drive down the aisle and when I spot my car, I ask him to stop and I get dropped off right at my car.

GPS does not have the accuracy to pinpoint your car's exact location. It can get you pretty close, but you'd still be walking around trying to find your car. And if you parked in a garage, forget about it.

How on earth did people find their cars before technology?

Yes it has, but it's your government/military which makes it less accurate.

Luckily in Europe 1 yard/meter accuracy will be available in a few years free and it would be possible to accurately pinpoint which level a car is parked. (Galileo GPS System)
And for the ones who need even more accuracy they can but then have to pay.

 

[Bob Coxner]

Looks nice but in my 15 years of driving, I never found myself in a situation where I couldn't find/remember where I left my car...

Large sporting events, such as a NASCAR race or NFL game. The Rose Bowl doesn't (or didn't the last time I was there) have paved or marked parking. You're parking in a gigantic grass field with 50,000 other cars. Burning Man and similar huge outdoor events. Disneyland/DisneyWorld. Long term parking at the airport. I never lost my car but I've spent a lot of time looking for it at things like these.

This device will be a huge winner.

 

[thatoneguy82]

Its easy to rewire the car lighter port, just need to connect that one to a wire which has continuous power which can be done by almost anybody with a technical background

Yeah, I considered that idea. But several posts up it was addressed that there was some sort power source within the dongle. That seemed to be the point of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). I'm sure I'm not explaining it correctly.

 

[iTurnip]

That said, the first company to stick this in remote controls and maybe keyfobs, will deserve the nobel prize XD

The only problem with this concept is that when you lose your keys, you would probably have your car stolen as anybody would be able to find where it was parked

 

[JoeG4]

I meant, to find lost keys and remote controls. Such things kinda already exist, not with find my stuff though

 

[gizmosdad]

Good idea but too late

Auto companies are already set to release "key off" features starting early next year. This will be part of new software applications available on your iPhone (and other smartphones) and when you turn the key off the app will automatically capture your location as the vehicle bluetooth disconnects.

 

[DocNYz]

Large sporting events, such as a NASCAR race or NFL game. The Rose Bowl doesn't (or didn't the last time I was there) have paved or marked parking. You're parking in a gigantic grass field with 50,000 other cars. Burning Man and similar huge outdoor events. Disneyland/DisneyWorld. Long term parking at the airport. I never lost my car but I've spent a lot of time looking for it at things like these.

This device will be a huge winner.

Dude that's a great point about music festivals and other huge events where unmarked, makeshift parking is the only option. Also great for sharing your location to friends trying to meet up with you.

Auto companies are already set to release "key off" features starting early next year. This will be part of new software applications available on your iPhone (and other smartphones) and when you turn the key off the app will automatically capture your location as the vehicle bluetooth disconnects.

Re: "key off" above, you have links to any articles mentioning that?

 

[shko0003]

BT4 Power Supply

Hi everyone. I've been reading the forum for a while now and finally decided to chime in with a question. Just curious if anyone knows more about these BT4-type devices. I know they need their power supplies (battery or something else) but I'm interested in how the modules actually connect to the battery. If I was to insert a module into say my day-planner, how would I go about getting power to it? Any EE majors out there who can chime in?