Dash Connect + is a new car audio interface brand for the aftermarket launched by the makers of NAVTOOL, which have provided products on an OEM basis for other brands in the past.
The company is releasing a line of interfaces and harnesses that connect with a vast number of new car models to add cameras (front, rear and/or side) plus smartphone mirroring and lane monitoring to the factory radios. But it allows this through only four basic modules that work with 39 T-harnesses.
Dash Connect lists over 30 car makes that its interfaces work with including Ford, BMW, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Over 60 models are listed for Chevrolet alone.
The company says it aims to make inventory simple for retailers by using only 4 modules to work with various T-harnesses. With some cars, the modules must also be flashed by the installer via a laptop or PC.
The Dash Connect + modules are built in the US.
If you run Waze on your phone, the module allows it to be mirrored on the radio screen. You can add side cameras to your factory radio to get blind spot monitoring. The cameras link to your turn signals to display the adjacent lane on the radio screen. You may also add rear and front cameras and get a split screen view.
You get a view of the cameras on the factory screen. The view changes between the 4 cameras by the pushing of an assigned pre-existing dash button manually thus cycling from camera to camera. The view also changes based on the activation of the left and right turn signals or shifting into reverse or forward.
Ian Castell VP Sales and Marketing said, “I understand really well the challenges of both retail and wholesale businesses and one of them is inventory management. To have the ability to cover all these cars typically would have meant a lot of SKUs. The way we’ve approached this is like a Chinese menu of four modules and 39 cables to pick from that are plug and play into the factory harness, no cutting and soldering.”
The company says it offers tech support from 9 am to 9 pm EST week days plus noon to 6 pm Saturday and Sunday.
It is also supplying retail-style packaging.
The interfaces are USB updatable. They start shipping this month at prices from $250 to $500 depending on the car model and mirroring capability.
Source: http://www.ceoutlook.com/2016/02/02/new-car-audio-interface-brand-debuts/
