Google’s Android Auto infotainment platform requires a constant connection between the smartphone and the vehicle for use on the car display – in most cases by cable. With a practical dongle, the cable can be eliminated and Android Auto can be used wirelessly even without meeting the technical requirements. Now the AAWireless dongle is coming of age and is expected to be available worldwide soon.
A lot has already been written about the wireless use of Android Auto and this convenient method of use has also often been a topic here on the blog, but viewed from the crowd only a few users benefit from this option. The screen in the car only serves as an external display for the smartphone, so a constant connection is necessary. And for historical reasons, this still has to be done in most cases using a USB cable.
Google was very late in enabling wireless use for all smartphones and vehicles, so the use of practical dongles such as AAWireless will be essential for several years to come if you want to take advantage of this. AAAWireless started as a crowdfunding campaign a long time ago and went through the roof due to the huge benefit. Record support followed and a little later a similar product with Carsifi. Even Google launched its own dongle a few months ago in cooperation with Motorola.
It’s been a long time since the campaign, and the startup has faced many production and distribution issues but says it’s got it all under control now. The production is running, there are no problems, the demand is still high and they were even able to build up the stock after endless delays. Now the product is supposed to grow up.
The AAWireless dongle will be available from a separate webshop outside of Indiegogo from mid-June. There will be a website, an online shop and thus also the possibility to order the dongle like any other product and hopefully receive it promptly. This is very good news for the easy global availability of the dongle, but unfortunately, there is also a small setback for all European users who are already happy to wait.
By mid-June, we are targeting to have a completely new website and webshop going live. We will first enable the webshop for people outside the EU and US. The reason why we are doing this is that we have to make some further preparations before we can ship to the EU and US from our own webshop. Of course, you can still order via Indiegogo. Later on, we will make the webshop available to the rest of the world as well.
It will initially only ship outside of the US and EU. Both markets should then be tackled in the near future, but some further preparations will probably have to be made for shipping to the EU area. It doesn’t go into detail, but it could well be various seals of approval, maybe technical tests, problems with the brand or other legal hurdles. In any case, it is not due to the logistics, because the dongle has always been shipped from the production site in Asia to Europe and shipped from there.