Smartphones are connecting us to our cars in fantastic ways, but all the remote start apps and horn honking doesn’t let us take car of our vehicles better. Thankfully, companies like Openbay make it easy to get your car the help and maintenance it needs with its new app, Openbay Connect.
Openbay is a company that allows people to find, book and pay for auto repair in their area. It maintains a network of professionals and, after submitting the car service issue that needs addressing, Openbay reaches out to mechanics on the client’s behalf. From there, the car owner gets a list of ranked offers, from which they can choose and book the service in question.
Its sort of like GrubHub for your car, only it’s for ordering oil changes, not cheesesteak sandwiches. Of particular interest is how Openbay Connect expands this with by getting the car’s direct input on the matter. A device (provided by Openbay) plugs into the OBD II diagnostic port and communicates with your phone directly via a cellular signal. If there’s a problem, your phone is immediately alerted with specific information about what the car’s monitoring sensors have noticed.
If it sounds familiar, Automatic has a similar device that’s garnered a lot of attention over the past year. While that too provides car health info, what Openbay Connect does over this is use it in conjunction with its repair booking system. Now, not only does it tell you whats wrong with the car, the app lets you know who nearby can fix it.
Openbay Connect will be available this spring to a select user base, which it will choose through its current users and partners. Anyone interested can go to the company’s website and apply to access if this sounds like something they want to get in on.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.