Automatic launches an app store for cars

Two years ago, Automatic released a $100 Bluetooth-enabled car adapter along with an accompanying smartphone app to give you all kinds of insight about your vehicle. You could use it to track your trips, figure out your fuel consumption, locate your parking spot and even find out what that Check Engine light really means. Today, Automatic is taking that whole smart driving assistant thing one step further: It’s opening an app store so that third-party apps can harness some of that same metadata too. And since Automatic’s adapter works with any car with an OBD-II (On-board Diagnostics) port — that’s all vehicles built since 1996 — that means this store will be compatible with a great majority of vehicles out there. Likely one you already own.

Automatic’s app store — also known as the Automatic App Gallery — will debut today with more than 20 apps from the likes of IFTTT, Expensify, Jawbone and Nest. It’ll work with Android and iOS, plus it even supports that fancy new watch from Apple. But that’s not all. Automatic is also introducing a second-generation adapter today that supports two Bluetooth streams simultaneously. One connection would be for the required Automatic app, while the other would be for any third-party app that uses the company’s brand new Streaming API, which would be used to access your car’s info in real-time. That API is just one of many that Automatic is also unveiling today as part of an open developer platform designed to encourage new apps.

Note that you don’t need the second-gen adapter to use the app store — it’s only if the particular app you want requires that second Bluetooth connection. Otherwise the first-gen one will work just fine. The new adapter costs $99.95 just like the old one and looks exactly the same, except it has a slightly snugger fit.

“We founded Automatic because we feel that cars weren’t and still aren’t living up to their full potential,” says Thejo Kote, Automatic’s co-founder and CEO. “They’re basically computers on wheels. They could be doing so much more.” After its initial product launched a couple years ago, the company received plenty of feedback and requests for more functionality such as the ability to expense trips, special apps for teens and more specific details for gearheads. While Automatic did expand its feature set with partnerships with Nest and IFTTT before, Kote and crew knew that there was no way they could meet the needs of everyone.

“What we realized was that the best way to solve all these problems is through a model that all of us are really familiar with already,” says Kote. “An app store, but for your car.”

Lljuba Milijkovic, Automatic’s founding designer and head of marketing, showed me the new app store, which he says is really more of a gallery. “We’re just a place that brings all the applications together in one place,” he says, adding that the company doesn’t actually host any of the apps. “You can access all the apps right within the software itself. Some of the apps are hosted on iTunes, some of them are web apps. We’re a gallery that puts them all together in a single interface. “

Milijkovic and Kote gave me a few different examples of third-party apps by taking me for a spin in a car. The first was an app called OBD Fusion, which gives really detailed information like engine temperature, speed, RPM and air injection rates. The app, Milijkovic says, is really popular with gearheads and even lets you create custom dashboards with digital speedometers and MPG tracking. It makes use of that aforementioned Streaming API to get all of that info in real-time. As we were driving around downtown San Francisco, I was amazed by how fast the numbers changed as he stepped on and released his foot from the gas pedal.

The app works with other OBD readers too, of course, but Milijkovic assures me that Automatic’s platform offers greater security because all of the data is encrypted and read-only. “With other adapters, the app sends the request, and it puts it into the car’s communication network,” says Kote. “It’s not secure. You don’t want a badly written app to mess with your car. That can never happen with our system.”

One of the more popular app categories are business expense apps like Expensify and Concur. Because Automatic’s car adapter records trips and miles automatically, you can simply login to your Automatic account from the Expensify app, for example, and submit those trips for reimbursement. Milijkovic also showed me an app called UnMooch, which lets you split the cost of gas with friends using Automatic and Venmo. Another was an app that texted Kote’s wife as soon as the car ignition started, to let her know he was on his way home.

“Software is key to the car,” says Kote. “There’s a pent-up appetite to use software and data in our cars … Traditionally the car industry isn’t very good at software, but Silicon Valley is.” As more car companies open offices in Silicon Valley and open their doors to the likes of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, it’s clear that even the automotive industry is well aware of this. But Kote feels that it’ll take years before the car industry will really step up its software game. Automatic, on the other hand, is ready to offer that software solution right now.

“We’re really positioning Automatic as a company that solves the problems every driver needs to have,” says Milijkovic. “Automatic connects your car to the rest of your digital life.”

I asked Kote if there was any app he wanted someone to develop. “This is one app I want. I have two cars. I suspect I’m spending too much money. I want to know what if I sell one and just use Uber instead, would I save money? Is that a sane thing to do? All of the data is there, but I don’t know the answer to that question. I want someone to prove to me with data that I shouldn’t be owning two cars.”

“The bigger question,” he later pondered, “is should you even own a car in the city.” And as car-dependent as Automatic is, it’ll help you solve that quandary. Even if the answer is no.

Filed under: Transportation

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Source: Automatic

Zepp upgrades its tennis game with a beefed-up app

Just in time for the French Open, sports-tracking firm Zepp is launching a big update to its tennis app. The simply named Tennis 2.0 app works with the company’s multisport sensor — a bright, little widget that attaches to golf clubs, baseball bats and tennis rackets. We’ve taken a few swings with the sensor in batting cages and on tennis courts in the past, and while we praised its ease of use and the fact that it worked with most any bat/racket, we thought the accompanying tennis app lacked the depth of competing options like Babolat’s Play series or Sony’s Smart Tennis Sensor. Now, Zepp’s significantly beefed-up app looks to address many of those concerns.

The Tennis 2.0 app adds some new tricks while filling in some of the holes in existing features. The original app, for instance, offered a power rating for your various shots and serves, but used a mysterious and proprietary unit of measurement rather than, say, miles per hour. The updated app thankfully fixes that issue and adds some much-needed MPH ratings to gauge your power. It also boasts in-app training videos and more robust comparison options so you can track your progress over time — something we noted the original app sorely lacked. Without some hands-on time, we can’t say whether the update improves Zepp’s shot-detection — one of the drawbacks we noted earlier. That said, the list of updates is welcome and should make the upgrade a no-brainer. The app itself is a free download and users on both Android and iOS should be able to grab it later today. If you’re new to Zepp’s platform, though, $150 gets you the sensor, charger and mounting kits for most any racket.

Filed under: Misc, Wearables, Mobile

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Source: Zepp

UK to put space seeds in the hands of schoolkids

If we’re ever to inhabit other planets in our solar system, we must first make sure that we can grow our own food in order to survive. While space scientists have been experimenting with this for decades, the UK Space Agency, with help from the Royal Horticultural Society, is calling on Britain’s kids to help it understand more about growing food on different worlds. Rocket Science, as it’s known, will involve sending two kilograms of rocket seeds to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of British astronaut Tim Peake’s six-month Principa mission.

The seeds will spend a number of months on board and return to earth in spring 2016. They’ll then be packaged up with seeds that have remained on earth and sent to thousands of schools all over the UK. Around half a million children will be invited to take part in the experiment, which tasks them with growing and comparing the growth of two packets of 100 seeds and sharing their results on a national online database. While the project lets the UK Space Agency crowdsource data and better understand the effects space has on plant life, it’s mainly designed to encourage pupils to think scientifically in the hope that it’ll inspire the next generation of scientists, physicists and engineers.

Filed under: Transportation, Science, Alt

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Source: RHS

Deezer adds podcasts to its music streaming service

It’s become increasingly difficult for music streaming services to differentiate from one another. They all offer huge music libraries, mobile apps and the ability to store specific tracks, albums and playlists offline. Aside from dropping their subscription prices, how can a company like Deezer persuade people to switch? With podcasts, it hopes. That’s right, the company is now pitching its service as a home for all of your favortie audio. So whether you’re catching up on Serial or looking for some tunes to keep you company on the bus, there’s only one app you should have to keep on your home screen now.

Deezer’s new podcast integration is being powered by Stitcher, the popular podcast and internet radio service it acquired last October. Stitcher’s standalone apps aren’t going anywhere, but the team-up means listeners in the UK, France and Sweden will have instant access to over 20,000 shows spanning news, entertainment and sport. The feature will reach other countries in the coming months, but it’s no surprise that Deezer is starting with its strongest markets first. After all, it faces fierce competition from Spotify, which is also thought to be integrating podcasts into its service, and a new offering from Apple.

Deezer isn’t a big name in the US, at least not yet. The company has found success in other territories, and seems more interested in targeting new, emerging markets where other services are yet to make inroads. If it’s going to mount a serious assault on Spotify, Rdio and the rest of the gang in the US, however, it’s going to need something unique to set itself apart from the competition. It’s already tinkered with high-quality “Elite” audio, although at the moment it’s limited to Sonos hardware. Jay-Z’s Tidal is staking a claim in this space, and unless Deezer expands the service, it’ll always be a niche proposition.

Podcast popularity is certainly on the rise, but here’s the problem: there are tons of free, high-quality podcast management apps. Deezer needs to prove that its integration with Stitcher is significant, so that users feel like their paid subscriptions are now more valuable. Simply fusing your favorite shows with Deezer’s music library probably isn’t going to cut it. Still, the possibilities are intriguing — if Deezer knows that you listen to 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne as a podcast, it could automatically build playlists based on the tracks that were selected in each show. Likewise, the company could use your listening history to recommend new podcasts. That alone would take this new feature beyond a mere novelty.

Filed under: Podcasts, Internet

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