Zubie, a company that is known for its device that connects to the car's onboard computer and offers diagnostic reports, has released an API that will see developers being able to expand upon the platform.
The platform is called ZinC, or Zubie for the Internet of Cars, and offers access to things like diagnostic reports, location data, driving data, trip activity and so on, all data that developers can use in the creation of their own apps.
These apps could have a number of different uses. For consumer use there could be apps created to track vehicle data such as fuel economy or social applications created to share trip data. Businesses could use the platform for fleet tracking and management.
According to Zubie, hundreds of companies have expressed interest in the platform, wanting to take advantage of the new API. Openbay, an online appointment booking service, and Urgent.ly, an on-demand roadside assistance service, have both reportedly expressed interest in the service.
"ZinC is easy to integrate into your own app experience," says the company on its website. "It is secure, scalable and comprehensive, so you can focus on creating innovative features and stellar experiences."
Of course, Zubie isn't the only company to bring a connected car platform to the market. Like Zubie, a number of other companies got off the ground by offering a dongle that connects to the car's computer and offers diagnostics. These companies include the likes of Dash and Automatic, companies that make hardware-software car-based telematics products. These companies, however, have been looking for ways to expand what they provide, turning their solution into more of a platform. Automatic is another company that has opened its hardware offering to software development, and has launched a software development kit.
The launch of Automatic's platform included the news that over 20 appmakers had built apps around Automatic's platform, including those for personal use and business use. Automatic then went on to raise a whopping $24 million in funding, which was led by USAA, showing that there is a serious interest in apps that can make use of car data in the enterprise.
As we move into an increasingly connected world it makes sense that systems such as this would be gaining in popularity. It is likely that we could eventually see data offered through these kinds of systems in systems like Android Auto and Apple's CarPlay, although both Android Auto and CarPlay are more geared toward in-car entertainment and navigation and rely heavily on the user's smartphone.
