AT&T and Voxx upgraded features for the aftermarket Car Connection Elite device that plugs into a vehicle’s OBD (on-board diagnostics) port adding add safety, control and convenience features to the original monitoring services for the car. “While Car Connection Elite was about your vehicle, Car Connection 2.0 is about being there for you, when you need it most,” said the companies. Features include an automatic call for help when the vehicle detects a crash, emergency roadside services 24/7, stolen vehicle recovery assistance, Safe Driver text blocking service and vehicle maintenance reports. Buyers can also add security and remote start to control a vehicle via computer or a smartphone with the purchase of an add-on module. Device price is $99 and monthly subscription is $10, said the companies.

Cisco reported some progress in industry efforts to allow sharing of the 5850-5925 MHz band between unlicensed wireless users and automaker incumbents. Cisco updated FCC officials last week on its "proof of concept testing" to detect dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) devices that automakers are planning to deploy in the spectrum. "Cisco noted that its technology has been reliably able to listen for DSRC signals at a -95dBm level, which is the first step in ensuring that unlicensed users of the bands can detect DSRC," Cisco said in an ex parte filing posted Monday in FCC docket 13-49. "Lab work is proceeding to demonstrate that unlicensed use can be stopped when DSRC signals are present." Cisco said it believes "personal portable devices would likely require on-board mitigation capabilities."

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology sought comment on a waiver request by John Deere to permit the use of a TV white space (TVWS) device manufactured by Koos. Deere asked for a waiver to permit operation of fixed TVWS devices installed on non-fixed, off-road agricultural equipment, including tractors, self-propelled harvesting machines and sprayers, OET said Friday. “The TV white space device would transmit real-time crop and equipment data as the agricultural equipment moves across a field and share that data via radio links with other machines equipped with TV white space devices on the farmland and/or with the farmhouse,” OET said. “Deere requests that the devices installed on the farm equipment be permitted to operate at the higher power levels permitted for fixed equipment as opposed to the lower power levels required for personal/portable operation.” Comments are due Sept. 21, replies Oct. 6, in docket 15-184.

Consumer Watchdog asked the California Department of Motor Vehicles to amend its autonomous vehicle regulation to require police to investigate any crashes of robot cars being tested on public roads, a CW news release said Thursday. “Robot car accident reports are prepared and filed by the company doing the testing,” Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director John Simpson wrote in a letter to DMV Director Jean Shiomoto. “Relying solely on the word of the testing company is not adequate to protect the legitimate public interest in ensuring robot cars are tested safely.” The DMV also should require any data and video gathered by a robot car before and during a crash to be provided to the department, CW said. After personally identifying information is redacted, the video and data should be released to the public, it said. CW has been criticizing Google over the safety of autonomous cars (see 1406110040), with the company saying it's open to releasing driverless car accident reports (see 1506030036).

Voxx added a hybrid system to its Advanced Driver Assistance Systems product line. The ACA900 ($129) integrates a backup sensor and camera into a single enclosure, boosting safety benefits to drivers by delivering both video and audible warnings to drivers, said the company. The camera has a 130-degree field of view and a 120-degree sensor that detects objects or people in the vehicle’s path. The ACA900 is designed to work with any monitor or screen with an RCA input (sold separately), said the company. Voxx also introduced the RVM200 replacement rearview mirror ($269) with a 4.3-inch HD color monitor that allows the driver to view the image from a backup camera with backup lines to eliminate blind spots. The replacement LCDM414 rearview mirror ($349) has a 4-inch backlit LCD monitor with auto-adjusting brightness and contrast that adjusts to the vehicle’s interior light level. The mirror also has optional auto-dimming, said Voxx. The LCDM41A displays selectable alignment overlay lines and has dual video input for additional cameras and an audio input for cameras equipped with a mic, it said.

A vulnerability affecting the Uconnect software in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) that may have allowed an unauthorized user to take remote control of an affected vehicle requires access to Sprint’s cellular network, as Sprint connects FCA vehicles to the Internet, a U.S. Cyber Emergency Readiness Team (U.S.-CERT) alert said Monday. Sprint blocked the port used for attacks, it said, and FCA and the National Transportation Safety Administration initiated a safety recall for all potentially affected Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models, the alert said. Uconnect users are encouraged to review the recall announcement and apply the software update, it said.

Connected car app company Automatic Labs is banking on a recent $24 million infusion from CDK Global, Comcast Ventures and United Services Automobile Association to fuel a fast track for its Automatic App Gallery and developer program, said CEO Thejo Kote in a Q&A with Comcast Ventures. Kote has lofty goals for Automatic’s connected car platform, which he said can allow developers to build apps that enhance the driving experience “just as Apple’s App Store unlocked the power of the smartphone.” The platform works with post-1996 vehicles regardless of make, model or year, using an in-car adapter that pairs with a smartphone app. The $99 Automatic adapter plugs into the standard diagnostic port that’s been installed under the dash in most cars since 1996, and when the Automatic app links with the adapter, consumers can access their car’s data from the company’s app gallery, he said. Automatic’s app enables users to call for help, remember where they parked, diagnose engine trouble and display trip history, while also connecting them to “dozens” of online services, he said. Kote developed the Automatic platform to move beyond the “few token ‘connected car’ features we have today, such as streaming radio and GPS,” he said. The key to unlocking the full potential of the connected car is a “thriving ecosystem” of apps designed for the car environment, he said. An example of a third-party app in Automatic’s gallery is expense-account software from Concur that tracks mileage to simplify the process of submitting expenses for reimbursement. The app logs mileage, route map, start/end address and a visual receipt “so your expenses are accurate and defendable,” said Kote. Apple Watch users can access the information by tapping the watch, he said. Kote is "surprised" by the lack of attention paid by others in the vehicle space to “the mountain of valuable data hidden under the hood of our cars.” Streaming music and GPS, what most people think of when they hear connected car, “only scratches the surface of what’s possible,” he said.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., pushed Monday for increased cybersecurity protections for all sectors of the economy. Speaking on the Senate floor, Daines backed passage of the student privacy bill he and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, R-Conn., introduced last week, The Safeguarding American Family from Exposure by Keeping Information in Data Secure (Safe Kids) Act (see 1507160024), before turning his attention to the Fiat Chrysler recall (see 1507280003). “Through the radio of a Jeep Cherokee, hackers disabled the vehicle’s transmission as a driver drove on a public highway in St. Louis,” Daines said. “This episode is telling [us] that cyberhacks can affect every sector of our economy, from the financial sector to our automotive manufacturers,” he said. Military installations are vulnerable to a cyberattack, Daines said, citing a new report from the Government Accountability Office, as are utility systems that provide water, electricity and other essential services. On Sunday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said on ABC’s This Week that a cyberattack by the Islamic State is one of the terrorist group’s biggest emerging threats to our country. “In the interview, Lynch noted that the terrorist group now boasts more than 20,000 English-language Twitter followers,” Daines said. “Our country’s most sensitive data can be in the hands of our enemies at the mere click of a button or press of a screen,” he said. He criticized the Obama administration for what he sees as its lack of transparency after the Office of Personnel Management breaches and urged OPM Chief Information Officer Donna Seymour’s resignation, and encouraged his colleagues to “act more quickly and more nimbly than those seeking to wage a terrorist attack on our nation's cybersecurity infrastructure.”

The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment on a waiver request by auto body parts supplier Kathrein Automotive of consumer signal booster anti-oscillation and labeling requirements. The waiver would allow the FCC certification of an in-vehicle, pre-installed wideband consumer signal booster offered by the company, the bureau said Tuesday. Comments are due Aug. 10, replies Aug. 20.

Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced legislation Tuesday that would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the FTC to “establish federal standards to secure our cars and protect drivers’ privacy,” a joint news release said. The Security and Privacy in Your Car (SPY Car) Act also establishes a rating system known as a “cyber dashboard” that “informs consumers about how well the vehicles protects drivers’ security and privacy beyond those minimum standards,” the release said. “Rushing to roll out the next big thing, automakers have left cars unlocked to hackers and data-trackers,” Blumenthal said. “This legislation will set minimum standards and transparency rules to protect the data, security and privacy of drivers in the modern age of increasingly connected vehicles,” Markey said. As cars become more connected, the importance of software security increases, as does a need for technology to monitor, log, detect and possibly stop attacks, said Director-Vehicle Security Research Chris Valasek and Security Researcher Charlie Miller of security consultant IOActive. Consumer Federation of America Public Affairs Director Jack Gillis said the legislation will “help prevent hacking attacks and insure personal privacy.”