My startup, Maintaino, is a web-based preventive maintenance reminder app. It’s fairly generic, but should work well for car maintenance based on mileage. I’ve thought about just the sort of direct car/phone integration you described, but unfortunately getting electronic odometer readings from the car’s onboard computer currently requires custom hardware, and the protocol isn’t fully standardized.

As an alternative, though, I believe it should be possible to use the phone’s camera to OCR the odometer reading and then transmit that back to Maintaino. That method should work on any type of vehicle (cars, airplanes, boats, etc).

I may add a contact form to this page soon to make it even easier.

I know there is a good online patent search. I found it a month or two ago. I thought it was a .gov website but I haven’t found it in my bookmarks yet. I only found google.com/pantents right now- funny. I’ll keep looking for a better place to search. Let me know if you find anything. And, “NO” – don’t trust anybody with your ideas- just get a move on before somebody else thinks about it.

About three years ago, I heard about a new app that scanned barcodes. I thought it was going to find the cheapest prices for anything I scanned. To save money, I went out and bought the only phone that used this app. Like a child with a new toy, I scanned everything I could. I loved the app. It was the first of its kind as far as I know. Like other users, I quickly found that the app was limited. Don’t get me wrong, the app is great for larger priced items and electronics that you would find in large stores or online. It didn’t really help users find prices on smaller things like groceries in their area. I was upset about it at first but came to understand why.

I still love the app but it lost its charm after a few days. I quit scanning everything I saw after awhile. However, when I was shopping for groceries, I noticed a bag of potatoes with a barcode. Above the bags, there was a “Made in Texas” sign (with a giant Texas flag in the background). I figured the sign was just a marketing ploy.

I don’t know about other states, but Texans are very proud to support our local growers. Feeling that the sign may mislead shoppers, I pulled my phone out and scanned the bag. Not to my surprise, the bar code on the potatoes tracked back to a P.O. Box in Texas with no company name attached. I was able to use the app to look a little deeper. It only took a few minutes to track the bag of “local grown” potatoes to another P.O. Box- in New Jersey! Crazy, huh? If you think about it, it’s not really that hard to believe. It happens more than people know. Who would have thought the largest supplier in our country isn’t being honest?

I’d love to see how your idea develops. It would be so great to see what other people find with a little bar code scanning and database lookup. I never found out where those bags of potatoes really came from. It looks like good ol’ Wally lied again. Surprise. Surprise.

Recent events are making people question everything in “Big Business”. Places like muckety.com have become a giant help for people trying to make better buying decisions- for their own protection. Having a database right at our fingertips would be a great service.

Thank you for sharing your ideas.