Bluedriver: Vehicle data capture for geeks

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Automatic, a dongle that plugs into your car’s OBD-II connector and sends data about your car’s performance and your driving via Bluetooth LE to an app on your iOS or Android smartphone.

As I noted:

… if you’re a geek, let me warn you up front; [Automatic] doesn’t slice and dice all of that car data goodness.

Today I have just the opposite, Bluedriver, an OBD-II data capture and diagnostic system that is definitely for geeks.

Mark Gibbs

This gadget supports all OBD2 Protocols including ISO 15765-4 (CAN), ISO 9141-2, ISO 14230-4 (KWP2000), SAE J1850 (VPW & PWM) and works with Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) running iOS 7.0+ and Android devices (phones, tablets) running Android 4.0+.

Mark Gibbs

Incredibly easy to set up, the Bluedriver provides realtime graphing (which are good but could be much better), diagnostic reports, and data sharing (email, Bluetooth, and Skype) and data saving (Dropbox and Google Drive).

Here’s an interesting thought: The Bluedriver effectively introduces your vehicle to the Internet of Things making it something that can be tracked and analyzed.

Priced at $99.95 this is a terrific tool but a little expensive. The Bluedriver gets a Gearhead rating of 4 out of 5.