Automatic’s Connected Car Adapter lets your 20-year-old car talk to your Nest

Last week was a big one for connected automotive but the fun doesn’t stop now that CES is over. The Detroit Auto Show just kicked off yesterday and though a lot of the announcements this week will likely lean more towards automotive than connected, there’s still a healthy dose of IoT at the show.

Automatic Labs today announced that it’s Connected Car Adapter now features support Google’s Nest Learning Thermostat. This will improve the Nest’s ability to tell when you’re home. Nest owners will know that their thermostat uses motion sensors to figure out if there are people in the room. However, with Automatic’s Connected Car Adapter, the Nest will be able to obtain that information from your car. It has filters for location, time of day, and days of the week, so your Nest can learn rules and in turn a custom schedule for your home.

The Connected Car Adapter will pair with a companion app on your phone to access your vehicle’s data. The adapter can then track you progress as you make your trip home and pre-heat your house in preparation for your arrival. Automatic’s adapter and app can also tell you for how long and how far you drive each week, offer average MPG, send out an alert when you’ve been in a crash, remind you where you’ve parked, and calculate fuel costs for specific journeys.

The best thing about this (and any connected-device) is that it’s compatible with practically any gas-powered car made after 1996. We’ve seen some mind-blowing automotive technology over the last couple of weeks but the real value for consumers (at least for now) is in technology that will make their current cars smarter. Check for compatibility via Automatic’s website.

[source]Automatic[/source]