For a number of years monitoring and control technology has been creeping into OEM and aftermarket vehicle offerings. LoJack pioneered stolen vehicle tracking. OnStar combined GPS location capabilities with remote control and human intelligence so you could unlock your car with a phone call or get help when you've had an accident. There are even data logging devices such as CarChip or RoadSafety's RS-1000 that hook into your vehicle's on-board diagnostics port to tell you if your teenager has been driving too fast. A new product from Arizona-based Inilex bundles similar remote location, control and alert capabilities into a customizeable service that you can manage from their website.
Looking first at how the vehicle can be controlled, there are basic-but-useful capabilities to start, lock, unlock and flash the lights/sound the horn of the vehicle remotely. Users can access these functions through the Inilex website (screenshot below), through an internet-connected PDA or by calling a 1-800 number from their cellphone.
Beyond remote control, Inilex uses GPS and wireless data transmission to track your vehicle's location on a map and receive email or text message alerts when your vehicle strays outside of a user-defined area or trips other user-definable triggers. The Inilex website also keeps a running history of events for later review.
Recently unveiled at the DEMO 2007 technology conference, the Inilex offering combines some interesting features with a self-service capability that could be very appealing to parents of teenagers or anyone who likes to stay in close contact with their vehicle. Services such as LoJack and OnStar aren't geared for "casual" monitoring of teen drivers and data logger chips only provide downloads when you phyically transfer data from the car using a memory chip or computer cable. The Inilex product is a couple of small boxes and cables that appear to be suitable for under dash or other out-of-sight mounting locations.
A physical product photo is available at BusinessWeek and a video interview with Inilex can be found at CNET's Webware . Inilex also has a demo on their own website.
Beyond remote control, Inilex uses GPS and wireless data transmission to track your vehicle's location on a map and receive email or text message alerts when your vehicle strays outside of a user-defined area or trips other user-definable triggers. The Inilex website also keeps a running history of events for later review.
Recently unveiled at the DEMO 2007 technology conference, the Inilex offering combines some interesting features with a self-service capability that could be very appealing to parents of teenagers or anyone who likes to stay in close contact with their vehicle. Services such as LoJack and OnStar aren't geared for "casual" monitoring of teen drivers and data logger chips only provide downloads when you phyically transfer data from the car using a memory chip or computer cable. The Inilex product is a couple of small boxes and cables that appear to be suitable for under dash or other out-of-sight mounting locations.
A physical product photo is available at BusinessWeek and a video interview with Inilex can be found at CNET's Webware . Inilex also has a demo on their own website.
estreka says:
05:15 AM, 03/17/07
That's just begging to be hacked.
crashtestdingo says:
08:21 AM, 03/17/07
Finally, an aftermarket solution that gives non-GM vehicles some of the capability of OnStar.