New Product Idea

Hi Guys/Gals,

 

Sorry for the long post. First some background. I am an engineer working for a small software/hardware company. We mostly develop communications equipment. The end point stuff not big servers. One of the areas we have been doing really well with is developing products for smartphones (Android, IPhone). It is very clear that smart phones are a very disruptive technology. A couple of examples of our work, 1: we are finishing up a 7 inch touch screen business class video phone running Android. 2: A communications system for IPhone that is starting field trials for the military.

 

We are currently doing a little market research into how we can expand our skill set into new markets using Android/IPhone. So what we are starting to look at are smartphone applications that also have a hardware dongle associated with it. Any product we come up with is probably 12 months or so from production.

 

So one of the ideas is for the automotive aftermarket, and I wanted to bounce it off of you guys to get some feedback. The hardware dongle would connect to the engine control system. It would have a lot of memory so it could hold various engine profiles. It would also be able to store high speed logging of engine parameters. Something like, 10 different log files that a tuner could use. Then there would be a nice Android app that would allow you to get the logs or to send new engine profiles down to the dongle. Then the dongle could reliable reprogram the flash of the ECU.

We are thinking about a price of $150 if we only sell it on a dedicated website or $199 if we have to go through distribution.

 

So the questions are:

1. What obvious features should be added?

2. Does the price sound reasonable?

3. Would you buy something like this?

4. For selfish reasons I would target Subaru first. But what market segments should be second or third?

 

Edit:

Think of the Dongle as a Cobb APv2, but Android is used as the display and better GUI

Basically you don't have to lug a laptop around. You can use your existing Android phone and the dongle.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I look forward to your feedback.

Have a look at the ANT+ dongles already in the market from people like Wahoo Fitness. The big part of development with devices like these is in getting Apple to approve them. Nightmare.

 

I don't think anyone is going to risk bricking an ECU because of a dodgy wireless connection. USB is flaky enough as it is. Datalogging / data display, hell yes. Flashing, hell no.

Have a look at the ANT+ dongles already in the market from people like Wahoo Fitness. The big part of development with devices like these is in getting Apple to approve them. Nightmare.

 

I don't think anyone is going to risk bricking an ECU because of a dodgy wireless connection. USB is flaky enough as it is. Datalogging / data display, hell yes. Flashing, hell no.

 

We would probably only target android first and then use a USB connection.

But the dongle would have a lot of smarts. The ECU image would be sent to the dongle and it would have a checksum to guarantee it was correct. Then once the dongle had the whole thing and it was validated then it would program the ECU. Android would not be involved at all. Think of it as an APV2 but the Android smartphone was being used as the display.

 

Yea we are jumping through hoops now with apple on a different product and dont want to deal with them if we dont have to.

I like the idea, kinda like a cheaper version of a accessport as long as the risk of bricking a ECU is minimal. For logging and showing things like, boost, engine temps... I'd be very interested but a price point closer to $100 would be a big selling point I think. Either way I'm all for it, so get started soon I'm due for a new smart phone soon

I'd be interested. Make it for the iphone and just put it on cydia (available for jailbroken phones).