Motorola Inc.’s FLEX Architecture Solutions Division has introduced the CreataLink Control Module, a messaging receiver developed for wireless, wide-area automotive applications.
Essentially, the CreataLink module gives users the ability to “page” their vehicles with command messages to control various functions from anywhere in the country. Users dial an 800 number, enter a code to identify the vehicle and then enter another code or codes to prompt the desired responses.
The module allows customers to remotely lock or unlock power doors, start or disable the engine, engage the horn and flash the lights or turn on the air conditioning or heat. It also can display in-vehicle messages containing local traffic and weather conditions.
With CreataLink, car owners who can’t find their cars or have locked themselves out can activate the horn or unlock the doors with a phone call. Not just for individual car owners, CreataLink’s car disactivation capability is expected to attract car rental, leasing, financing and insurance companies.
While similar functions currently are available through existing products, Motorola contends a paging network-based system is simpler, more effective and lower-priced. Its other advantages include lower vehicle battery drain, better coverage and better in-building penetration (such as a parking garage), the company said.
CreataLink is being released as an after-market product, much like a car alarm, to be sold through specialty retailers or dealerships. Motorola is looking for distribution partners and expects to begin shipping to car alarm companies in January. The unit, which fits in the dashboard or engine compartment, costs $100 with a $25 charge for unlimited pages for a year, as well as installation costs.
CreataLink is the latest in a planned series of what the FASD calls “off-the-hip” paging applications, which use paging technology in ways other than person-to-person communications. Motorola sees a big future for the person-to-thing or thing-to-thing paging market.
“The potential market for a product like Motorola’s CreataLink Control Module is obviously enormous,” said Allan Spiro, marketing manager for Motorola’s FASD unit. According to market research conducted by the company, 80 percent of research subjects said they would buy a product with CreataLink’s features.
