Samsung is developing a small black box device that will plug into your car under the dashboard and instantly turn it into a smart, connected car. Speaking at its annual Developer Conference in San Francisco, the director of the company's Connected Car program, Val Zinchenko, showcased a rectangular black box roughly three …

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Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:05 GMT Ugotta B. Kiddingme

I'll pass, thanks.

"But the bigger question of course is: why do car owners actually want a connected car?"

Well, silly, to make it even EASIER for ne'er-do-wells to hack into my vehicle.

"The main advantage of the device, according to Zinchenko, is that it might enable you to get smaller insurance quotes – because the company would be able to see how safely you drive."

More likely, 'because the company could use that data against you to deny claims, etc.' Especially when one remembers how Samsung got caught gathering privacy-invading data via their smart TVs and the like.

"That's going to be a very, very hard sell to consumers."

On the one hand, I'd call that El Reg's understatement of the year so far. On the other hand, looking at electoral results I see that people will fall for pretty much anything so this will likely garner "Product of the Year" honors or somesuch...

46 1 Reply
1. Thursday 28th April 2016 00:56 GMT John McCallum
  
  Re: I'll pass, thanks.
  
  Samsung are a bit slow on this if all people want is lower insurance payments you can already get a "black box" that logs how you drive.
  
  5 0 Reply
  1. Thursday 28th April 2016 09:48 GMT g e
    
    "a rundown of your driving"
    
    Seriously, I don't want an e-nanny. No thank you.
    
    Even if it doesn't spaff all my data to some damned cloud I don't want a bot telling me it doesn't like my driving 'style' - the ruddy in-car camera is bad enough beeping at me when I go round corners too ~~fast~~ 'enthusiastically' (as I believe BMW handbooks call it).
    
    2 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 12:46 GMT Peter Simpson 1
      
      Re: "a rundown of your driving"
      
      I'd like to see some research results that indicate a correlation between the quantities measurable thorough the OBDII connector and accident rate.
      
      For example: do frequent rapid deceleration events correlate more highly with increased accidents or only with increased brake wear?
      
      Just because the insurance company has declared certain measurable quantities as indicators of "bad driving", doesn't mean there's any basis in fact.
      
      3 0 Reply
  2. Thursday 28th April 2016 11:58 GMT tmTM
    
    "you can already get a "black box" that logs how you drive."
    
    and they're about as popular as a fart in an elevator.
    
    They're only ever forced on young, in-experienced drivers or those with a very sketchy driving record.
    
    Shockingly Joe Public doesn't actually want some faceless organisation watching his every move.
    
    4 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 13:34 GMT strum
      
      Re: "you can already get a "black box" that logs how you drive."
      
      I've got one. (I'm 65) It knocked about £100 off my insurance.
      
      0 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:06 GMT Anonymous Coward

So funny :-)

"it might enable you to get smaller insurance quotes"

O how I laughed.

42 0 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 22:00 GMT shade82000
  
  Re: So funny :-)
  
  Smaller insurance quotes? That won't happen.
  
  The unsafe drivers will pay more and safe drivers will continue paying the same, but you can bet quotes won't get smaller for anyone.
  
  29 0 Reply
  1. Thursday 28th April 2016 00:46 GMT Vic
    
    Re: So funny :-)
    
    Smaller insurance quotes? That won't happen.
    
    I've been buying car insurance for rather more decades thatn I'd like to admit to...
    
    My premium has always[1] been about £350, whatever car I own, whatever cover I select[2]. Except for last year's policy which was about £240.
    
    I have only ever made one claim on my insurance[3] - that was in the year before my last renewal. And this year, where I haven't made a claim, my renewal is back to £350...
    
    I am convinced that car insurance companies are simply insane.
    
    Vic.
    
    [1] I'm ignoring my classic policy, which was for a very restricted mileage.
    
    [2] My choice of vehicle and cover has changed somewhat over the years, and to some exent has been influenced by what I can afford. but you'd be amazed how that really doesn't correlate...
    
    [3] I had a split in my windscreen. Don't know how it happened, but I got a new one for £80. Which was nice.
    
    6 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 09:54 GMT g e
      
      Re: So funny :-)
      
      Strangely enough I just paid £263 for my insurance elsewhere when Tesco decided my renewal would be £530 instead of £370 due to an address change (to a 'nicer' area, too). Got the price from the opera-singing-now-robot company.
      
      Which I consider pretty reasonable for fully comp with PNCD and legal for an XKR (hence why I don't want an acceleration/braking/cornering e-nanny).
      
      When an insurance co puts their prices to silly levels I just assume it's cos they no longer want to cover your demographic any more, having focussed on a more 'profitable' one for that year. It all seems like a mahoosive scam anyway, imho, I'm sure these buggers all cahoot and collude together.
      
      3 0 Reply
      1. Friday 29th April 2016 16:50 GMT Triggerfish
        
        Re: So funny :-)
        
        No joking they raised my friends by £200 odd on the justification he hasn't had a crash or his car broken into in years so it must be likely to happen soon.
        
        0 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:06 GMT Throatwarbler Mangrove

Toy store

"And is going to a toy store for your child really that big of a hassle?"

Shudder. Yes. But that's what Amazon is for.

13 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:10 GMT Mark 85

Ah... then this is just another solution looking for a problem then. Meh....

16 0 Reply
1. Thursday 28th April 2016 10:19 GMT TeeCee
  
  Aha! A sort of NFC 2.0 then?
  
  0 0 Reply
2. Thursday 28th April 2016 13:03 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  "Whatever you can imagine doing with a smartphone app, you can do with a smart car app,"
  
  Like "Angry Birds"?
  
  2 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:14 GMT Anonymous Coward

This all assumes that it will be a voluntary arrangement. There is a distinct and increasing chance that various governments in the Free World will legislate a requirement that all cars be retrofitted with such a device for "safety".

34 1 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:17 GMT js1592
  
  All hail safety, our new God. Sacrifice all your privacy unto It.
  
  20 1 Reply
  1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:48 GMT TRT
    
    until some hacker opens the doors whilst I'm on the motorway withe the kids in the back.
    
    13 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 00:51 GMT Graham Marsden
      
      > until some hacker opens the doors whilst I'm on the motorway withe the kids in the back.
      
      So there are some positive benefits, then...?
      
      4 0 Reply
      1. Friday 29th April 2016 11:13 GMT TRT
        
        @Graham Marsden...
        
        ...open the doors on the motorway...
        
        ...there are some benefits then...
        
        Not the kids, no.
        
        The wife's door.
        
        And seatbelt release.
        
        And the transverse rotational electrical seat adjustment.
        
        And the airbag between the front seats.
        
        Or the panoramic electric sunroof and the passenger side under-seat airbag...
        
        0 0 Reply
  2. Thursday 28th April 2016 09:28 GMT PNGuinn
    
    "All hail safety, our new God. Sacrifice all your privacy unto It."
    
    All hail safety, our new God. Sacrifice all your SAFETY unto It.
    
    There - FIFY
    
    1 0 Reply
2. Wednesday 27th April 2016 20:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  ...will legislate a requirement that all cars be retrofitted with such a device for "safety".
  
  Abd exactly how does that work with cars and trucks that don't have computers built in?
  
  2 1 Reply
  1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 20:34 GMT bazza
    
    Abd exactly how does that work with cars and trucks that don't have computers built in?
    
    Given that the vast majority do have a CAN bus interface, they'd simply ignore the ones that don't.
    
    I think that the problem is that people would learn that you unplug it and throw it away in the event of a smash. It's too easy a law to flout. When it's all built in it can't be disposed of easily. And governments are unlikely to force people to spend the money; every driver is also a voter, mostly, and an unpopular imposition would be remembered at the ballot box.
    
    3 0 Reply
    1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:01 GMT Chloe Cresswell
      
      oooh, plug it into a 2001ish diesel focus! It has an ODBII socket. It doesn't talk ODBII however.. :)
      
      4 0 Reply
    2. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
      
      @bazza
      
      You're forgetting: governments love laws that are easy to flout. A law that is easily ignored and easily transgressed is a law that can be used to judicially punish just about anyone with impunity, which in turn gives the state an enormous level of control over its citizens. Smash the box and you may never be caught out, or you might be pulled into a checkpoint and your car subjected to a "routine inspection", and end up with the car impounded and destroyed and yourself with a huge fine and a potential prison sentence for driving with an "unsafe" vehicle which, by the requirements of the law mandating the little retrofitted box, was not legally insured.
      
      13 0 Reply
    3. Thursday 28th April 2016 21:31 GMT John Brown (no body)
      
      "an unpopular imposition would be remembered at the ballot box."
      
      I think you may be overestimating the attention span and memory capacity of the average voter.
      
      0 0 Reply
  2. Thursday 28th April 2016 09:14 GMT jonathanb
    
    All cars registered after a certain date are required to have it. Eventually all the old cars will be scrapped.
    
    0 0 Reply
    1. Friday 5th August 2016 10:12 GMT Erlang Lacod
      
      ... Would you like to explain that thinking to classic car owners ?
      
      0 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:15 GMT zanshin

Not until someone makes me, and maybe not even then

I already turn my nose up at the insurance companies that offer these little dongles that monitor my speed and driving habits. I'll tell you straight up, I'm very sure that's *not* going to earn me lower rates. Despite the fact that I've only had one accident, ever, over 20 years ago, and it was a low-speed fender-bender.

But even if it would lower my rates, I view paying more for not being monitored as just fine, exactly how I view things like paying a subscription rather than being tracked on-line to get "free" content. Until someone legislates that cars must have these things built in (and I fully expect that day to come), the folks who'd like me to use them can get stuffed. And maybe they can still get stuffed even once the cars come with them, depending on how hard or illegal they are to disable.

The idea, then, that I'd willingly choose to pay a *third party* to curate this data is mind-boggling ludicrous to me. Odds are good there's already a third party involved in the branded equivalents that the insurance companies offer directly, but why would I want to pick a middleman like that for myself?

The rest of the things this doodad purports to do sound like a solution desperately seeking problems. I at least see the utility in the insurance thing, even if I disagree with the wisdom of taking advantage of it.

16 1 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 22:29 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  They day will never come that they are mandated
  
  Self driving cars will make it moot, since this will pretty much be required for them to properly operate. Those who drive their own will continue to be free, but insurance costs will begin to rise once self driving cars are able to demonstrate a safer driving record.
  
  1 0 Reply
  1. Thursday 28th April 2016 04:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    @DougS - Re: They day will never come that they are mandated
    
    Erm, please try to enlighten me on why should I pay for insurance for a car that I'm not driving ?
    
    Actually, insurance companies should start fighting against self-driving cars because this is going to kill most of them. Do you really think Google will do business with 30000 insurance companies ? They'll pick 20 or maybe 50 and good luck for the rest of them.
    
    Insurance companies should also figure out that a real human driver will "drive" way much more revenue than a robotic car with an impeccable safety driving record. Pushing me to quit driving will surely spare me of the need to buy an insurance.
    
    4 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 06:02 GMT Public Citizen
      
      Re: @DougS - They day will never come that they are mandated
      
      Actually, Google is big enough and well enough funded that It won't do business with ~any~ insurance companies.
      
      They will opt to self insure.
      
      Those jurisdictions that don't allow self insurance will find life becoming increasingly difficult and the cost of the lawsuit campaign Google will wage more expensive than is politically acceptable.
      
      3 0 Reply
    2. Thursday 28th April 2016 12:38 GMT Anonymous Coward
      
      Re: @DougS - They day will never come that they are mandated
      
      I think you're vastly overestimating the number of insurance companies - most are just different brands. I'd be surprised if there were even as many as 20 actually independent companies out there...
      
      1 0 Reply
  2. Thursday 28th April 2016 05:59 GMT Public Citizen
    
    Re: They day will never come that they are mandated
    
    Hard to demonstrate a safer driving record than some of us already have, or over as broad a range of vehicles and driving conditions.
    
    The only motor vehicle insurance claims I have ~ever~ been involved in have been generated by other peoples screw ups.
    
    With these tracking devices the standard algorithms would label me a higher risk, strictly based on mileage driven. Above a certain average mileage there is an inverse correlation between risk and mileage, statistically demonstrable but ignored by most insurance underwriters.
    
    4 0 Reply
    1. Thursday 28th April 2016 21:45 GMT John Brown (no body)
      
      Re: They day will never come that they are mandated
      
      "Above a certain average mileage there is an inverse correlation between risk and mileage,"
      
      Agreed. At least anecdotally, most of my near misses have occurred when I'm just leaving my home town or arriving back and I can be reasonably certain that the idiots doing the "wrong" thing are the ones doing the local commute and probably rarely drive more than 20 miles per day in town traffic only.
      
      Of course there's always the odd idiot doing 70/80mph in driving rain and road spray on the motorway with a lane "closed for safety" and a 50mph limit in force. Usually in a big expensive car, so obviously too important to worry about minor restrictions when time is money :-(
      
      0 0 Reply
  3. Thursday 28th April 2016 08:34 GMT Ahab Returns
    
    Re: They day will never come that they are mandated
    
    Surely insurance costs are going to drop if driverless vehicles deliver fewer accidents?
    
    0 0 Reply
2. Thursday 28th April 2016 21:40 GMT John Brown (no body)
  
  Re: Not until someone makes me, and maybe not even then
  
  "The idea, then, that I'd willingly choose to pay a *third party* to curate this data is mind-boggling ludicrous to me."
  
  Ever since these insurance "black boxes" were first mooted I've wondered if the policy includes cover for the eventual and inevitable data breaches.
  
  If you ask, they tell you it's all "secure" and proper measures are taken. But we already know that the entire industry is based on risk assessment. How much risk are they taking with our data? If they are confident of their risk assessment then an addendum to the policy to cover against a data breach or even a hack which could cause physical damage ought to be a free add-on, not an extra insurance charge.
  
  0 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:29 GMT Eduard Coli

Been here before

Progressive is the mother of this horrible concept or at least some bastard sibling.

One hopes this massive invasion of privacy never catches on or makes its way into la buried in some larger, perhaps unrelated script inserted there by a well meaning or more likely well paid MP or Congressperson.

6 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:29 GMT tfewster

> By 2020, there will be [50% more cars ] on the road.

That seems unlikely, but it would negate the "bad driver detection" concern. You wouldn't be able to go more than 8mph anyway. But, on the bright side, there wouldn't be any accidents serious enough to cause an entire motorway to be closed, so it would be a _consistent_ 8mph

12 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:32 GMT tony72

DriveWiz

[...] showcased a rectangular black box roughly three inches long that he said contained GPS, Bluetooth, a Wi-Fi hotspot and motion sensors.

Hmmm, It's almost like having your smartphone in the car...

The main advantage of the device, according to Zinchenko, is that it might enable you to get smaller insurance quotes – because the company would be able to see how safely you drive. That's going to be a very, very hard sell to consumers.

That is your "main advantage"? How about HELL NO! Also, again, if you really did want this, all you need is an app on your phone.

The other main advantage? As per the video, you can open your trunk and someone can drop off something you have bought online straight into it.

Well, you could get stuff delivered to work, or if that's not an option then there's "click & collect" or similar. Or you could let some numpty mess around in your car while you're not there. For me, not a difficult choice.

If you ask me, they really seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for reasons for this product to even exist.

19 0 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:05 GMT Chloe Cresswell
  
  Re: DriveWiz
  
  How good is the gps going to be hidden under the dash anyway?
  
  3 0 Reply
  1. Thursday 28th April 2016 04:05 GMT Anonymous Coward
    
    @Chloe Cresswell - Re: DriveWiz
    
    That GPS is not to help you navigate, it is to help them track you.
    
    5 0 Reply
    1. Friday 29th April 2016 06:50 GMT Chloe Cresswell
      
      Re: @Chloe Cresswell - DriveWiz
      
      I'll rewrite what I put.
      
      "How good is the GPS signal going to be under the dash?"
      
      If I had meant a navigation device, I would have put "satnav", not "GPS".
      
      0 0 Reply
2. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:42 GMT Captain DaFt
  
  Re: DriveWiz
  
  "If you ask me, they really seem to be scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for reasons for this product to even exist."
  
  Oh, they have a very good reason for this product to exist, more detailed monitoring of you by the corporations and the state.
  
  The hard part is coming up with a reason why in seven Hells would you voluntarily want it.
  
  Have to keep up that illusion of 'free choice' for at least a while longer, don'cha know.
  
  8 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:50 GMT Eddy Ito

Sorry, too much "Gee" and not enough "Whiz".

3 0 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:54 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Sorry, too much "Gee" and not enough "Whiz".
  
  No way. The people pushing this have definitely had too much "Whiz".
  
  5 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:56 GMT Herby

Similar to a "connected toaster"

And about as useful. What did we do before computers invaded every part of a vehicle. It seems that we got along "just fine".

At one time I drove a 1964 VW bug (seatbelts installed) and had little problems. Great car to learn how to drive, and not a computer in sight.

If you wanted a "self driving car" you hailed a taxi. Life goes on.

No, a toaster does NOT need to be "connected". Go away!

15 0 Reply
1. Wednesday 27th April 2016 21:48 GMT Captain DaFt
  
  Re: Similar to a "connected toaster"
  
  "No, a toaster does NOT need to be "connected". Go away!"
  
  Oh! For the good old days when that concept was laughable!
  
  2 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:57 GMT Da Weezil

Just - No

Given my past experience of Samsung products its the LAST thing in the world I would allow to be connected to my car - in fact I DONT want my car "connected".

My phone works fine - via a very reliable Nokia "cark" bluetooth unit that I have had for many years, it just works... I can make calls or even dictate a text. I don't need a wi fi hotspot, an insurance company spy or even a government friendly Tracker.

As others have said - a "solution" in search of a problem.

No Thanks - I'll pass.

4 0 Reply
Wednesday 27th April 2016 19:58 GMT oopsie

Hopefully, my car will be able to drive itself before this kind of thing becomes mandatory.

2 0 Reply