[KomS_CarLog]

Honda Cars India has launched a mobile app, to connect various stakeholders of a Honda car.

Honda Cars India on Tuesday launched an advanced information platform Honda Connect which would enable communication between the customer, the car, his family and Honda through sharing of driver location, trip monitoring options, impact alerts and vehicle health notifications
The Honda Connect platform supports connected car features enabled by a connected device which has been launched at an introductory price of Rs 2,999 for the first 20,000 units.

The device has been developed by Minda i-Connect and is being offered at Honda dealerships to all new customers of Honda Jazz, Honda City and Honda CR-V

The platform would also allow customers to make service bookings online, send manual alerts in case of an emergency through a single click, and give information about nearest fuel stations and Honda dealerships and record fuel consumption data

source

Some more information available here:-

What is Honda Connect?

Presenting Honda Connect. A new, advanced and exciting information platform with 20 ingenious features that run round-the-clock, providing a sense of safety, security and convenience. All this, because to us, you matter the most.

Safety and Security

Honda Connect is designed to make every Honda safer and more secure. Honda Connect comes with a host of features that makes our cars better

Convenience

Honda Connect makes your driving experience far more convenient with features like locating your nearest fuel pump, booking a service, keeping a track of your car invoices and much more.

Price

Introductory Price for initial 20,000 units of Connected Devices Rs 2,999/- (all inclusive) Connected device comes with 1 month free subscription

[Aditya]

Honda Cars India (HCIL) has launched Honda Connect, a smartphone app for new owners of the Honda Jazz, City and CR-V. The launch of Honda Connect marks the celebration of HCIL's 20th anniversary of incorporation. The company has achieved cumulative sales of more than 1 million units in its tenure.









Link to Team-BHP News Article

[GKMahajan]

The introductory price for the Connected Device is Rs. 2,999 for the first 20,000 units and it comes with a 1 month free subscription.

What is the meaning of this?
Do I have to 'buy' something?
What is the monthly subscription?

Girish Mahajan

[GTO]

In theory, it's good. In implementation, this is a very poor move. I don't think too many Honda owners are going to opt for this.

What I don't like:
- You have to buy a device! Most of the features (service booking, SOS etc.) are possible with just the App
- Rs. 2,999 fee
- Over & above that, there's a monthly subscription! How stupid

Honda is missing the wood for the trees. What they should have done - and one that would be an awesome differentiator - is offer Honda Connect as standard / factory fit on their high end variants.

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

What is the meaning of this?
Do I have to 'buy' something?
What is the monthly subscription?

Hope my post clarifies. Yes, the press release is definitely confusing & could have been better typed. Aditya has simplified it at this link. You can get just the App and most of its features (except impact alert etc. which require the device).

The Minda i-Connect device can be seen here. Connect it to the OBD port.

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by GTO

In theory, it's good. In implementation, this is a very poor move. I don't think too many Honda owners are going to opt for this.

What I don't like:
- You have to buy a device! Most of the features (service booking, SOS etc.) are possible with just the App
- Rs. 2,999 fee
- Over & above that, there's a monthly subscription! How stupid

Honda is missing the wood for the trees. What they should have done - and one that would be an awesome differentiator - is offer Honda Connect as standard / factory fit on their high end variants.



Hope my post clarifies. Yes, the press release is definitely confusing & could have been better typed. Aditya has simplified it at this link. You can get just the App and most of its features (except impact alert etc. which require the device).

The Minda i-Connect device can be seen here. Connect it to the OBD port.
Attachment 1450780

Dear GTO,

Thanks for the update.
I have not yet checked the links. Let me check it out.

I have already installed and configured the app.
Looks okay.
I contacted the dealer/SA. He did not have any details. He said he would come back to me. Let us see.

Girish Mahajan

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Dear GTO,

Thanks for the update.
I have not yet checked the links. Let me check it out.

I have already installed and configured the app.
Looks okay.
I contacted the dealer/SA. He did not have any details. He said he would come back to me. Let us see.

Girish Mahajan

Further update:

The whole thing is very mysterious! Like a block-buster indeed!

The product site says that the product is for Rs 6,499. The Honda site says that the first 2,000 buyers will get it at Rs 2,999 with one month subscription free.
The monthly charges are Rs 175 + 14% = approx Rs 205. (Off Topic: How do I know if I am in the first 2000 or not! They can coolly charge everybody 6.5 k and get away with it!)

If this comes through, then my outlay will be 2,999 + 11x205 = 2,999 + 2,255 = 5,254 in the first year. I have decided to take a plunge. In the worst case scenario, I will have lost 5k and I will not spend the annual 2.3k at the end of the year. Fingers crossed!!

I have called up Deccan Honda and told them to book the device for me.

Girish Mahajan

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

I have called up Deccan Honda and told them to book the device for me.Girish Mahajan

Hi Girish
Can we only use the app like the Maruti one, i.e. where the service records, vehicle details, service appointment etc are uploaded?
If I'm not wrong, Honda was working on a similar app and wanted to check if this were the same.
Thanks.

EDIT: I installed the app and am able to see my service records. Not bad to have it on the app. I don't intend to purchase the device yet though. Will wait for some reviews to come out.

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

Hi Girish
Can we only use the app like the Maruti one, i.e. where the service records, vehicle details, service appointment etc are uploaded?
If I'm not wrong, Honda was working on a similar app and wanted to check if this were the same.
Thanks.

Dear avdhesh,

Yes. You can do everything that you do not need to connect to the car or its computer.

I can already see my service history on my mobile.
I have yet to update other information like insurance, etc.
However, all the information which is on Honda's servers is visible to me.
AND - this is free!

Girish Mahajan

[adimicra]

As I understand, the I-Minda device can be installed on any car.
So, what is the great innovation Honda is claiming here?
Am I missing something?

[fivebyfive]

Hey Guys,

Anyone here tried out the device? I am not able to understand if it has a sim connectivity in it. From the video and the features it seems to me that its purely bluetooth based and uses the mobile phone for data communication (in which case, why the monthly charge?!)

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

I can already see my service history on my mobile.

Please share screengrabs etc.

Also, do share a report once you get the device installed. Thanks!

Originally Posted by fivebyfive

I am not able to understand if it has a sim connectivity in it. From the video and the features it seems to me that its purely bluetooth based and uses the mobile phone for data communication (in which case, why the monthly charge?!)

Nope, it doesn't appear to have a SIM card. The website says "Inbuilt 50 channel GPS chip provides location with accuracy up to a few meters".

[GKMahajan]

Originally Posted by GTO

Please share screengrabs etc.

Also, do share a report once you get the device installed. Thanks!



Nope, it doesn't appear to have a SIM card. The website says "Inbuilt 50 channel GPS chip provides location with accuracy up to a few meters".

Dear GTO,

Don't ask me why I did not think of the screen-grabs!

I have taken some screen-grabs:

This is the home page or main screen



This is what appears when I select 'My Car'
Note: I have already configured it. Otherwise it went to that page first - I think!



This is what appears when I click on 'Jazz'



This appears when I click 'Service History'



This is when I click on 'CARS' from home page. From here it opens multiple marketing pages. I have been lazy and avoided taking screen grabs of those. Please excuse me!!



This is when I click on 'PIT STOPS' from home page. This shows the 'PUMP STATION' sub-page by default.



This is when I click 'Dealer' on 'PITS STOPS' page:



Since I do not have any devices, the 'CONNECTED CARS' does not show anything.

I hope this is useful.

Girish Mahajan

[GKMahajan]

Hello,

An UPDATE on this:

I got a call from Honda Delhi.
It seems the special price for the hardware unit is only for cars sold after 15 Dec 2015!

I have contacted the dealer and requested him to get one for me!

I am keeping my finger crossed.

Girish Mahajan

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by GKMahajan

Hello,

An UPDATE on this:

I got a call from Honda Delhi.
It seems the special price for the hardware unit is only for cars sold after 15 Dec 2015!

I have contacted the dealer and requested him to get one for me!

I am keeping my finger crossed.

Girish Mahajan

And what is their rationale behind this date? Is it the date of launch? Still a very bad move to push people who want to buy the product away from it stating such rules

[DrShaikNishan]

I contacted the Regional Trainer at Perfect Honda, Trivandrum yesterday and booked a device. I was informed that the models that rolled out before Dec 2015 have an old generation of OBD port and needs updation to accomodate the i-Connect device. What I feel is Honda has tweaked the OBD in some manner to accomodate the device in newer versions.

About the price when the device becomes available to the older customers, he assured he was expecting Honda to do something about it and not to disappoint its older customers.He also informed he expects a decision on this matter by mid January 2016. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Personally, I feel the premium for a functional accessory is well justified. And Rs. 205 a month for the connectivity doesn't sound like too heavy a price to pay.

PS: I drive a April 2015 City Petrol VX MT.