At KnowledgeFest in Dallas this weekend, Automotive Data Solutions (ADS) showed a new “dock” that will allow more remote start solutions (without the need for the customer to sacrifice a car key as part of the installation).
The new ADS Weblink HUB will join* the current ADS Weblink USB cable for flashing remote start bypass modules. Instead of linking into the car’s bus system, it replicates the customer’s key. “It’s a different model than the one used in the industry since the 1990s,” said ADS’s Andrew Taylor at KnowledgeFest.
Installers place the customer’s key in the Weblink HUB. It clones the key and sends the information to ADS servers which then sends back information to flash the remote start bypass.
“This greatly expands the range of vehicles in which mobile electronics retailers can install remote starters without requiring consumers to sacrifice a key,” said ADS.
Kits for Mazda and Subaru will be the first new no-key-sacrificed solutions with Weblink HUB. Both Weblink HUB and the new kits are due in early fall, followed by new General Motors solutions.
Installers will need a new accessory, the RFID1, that will be available on platforms including iDataStart HC, Firstech’s DC3,
and VOXX’s FLRSBA, inT–harnessed or hard–wired installations.
The Mazda and Subaru solutions will also be available on compatible CANbus integration modules, such as the ALCA, FLCAN, and Blade AL.
“We are extremely proud to once again introduce an important milestone in the evolution of remote start integration,” said Sébastien Boulais, Senior Director of Engineering at ADS. “Multiple teams, from product development to technical support to vehicle research to software engineering, collaborated over several years to develop this innovative way to keep ADS products at the heart of remote starter installs despite the ever–increasing complexity of today’s vehicles.”
Weblink HUB is on display at KnowledgeFest in Dallas, August 26-28, at the Firstech booth.
*The original version of the story incorrectly stated the position of the Weblink HUB in the ADS line.
How soon will we see a solution for Hondas?