For anyone who is thinking of buying the new VCDS-Mobile interface, here is an update from Bruce sent to me (amongst others) this week.

 

I hope this answers a few questions you may have.

 

 

15 October 2013, Lansdale, PA

Dear Martin ******:

Getting VCDS-Mobile and the HEX-NET wireless interface ready has taken substantially longer than we had anticipated (or would have liked). Simply put, we found issues that needed to be addressed before we were comfortable with making production quantities.   We believe these issues have now been resolved and production has begun.

We are now confident that we will be able to begin shipping units to customers this coming January (roughly 3 months from now).  Initial production will be somewhat limited but will be ramped so we expect to have plenty of product available by the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

We know everyone is curious about price.  We are still working final costs but the price is expected to be in the low $400 range - and if possible, below $400 - but no promises yet.

Upgrades will not be offered at the start.  We will not offer them as upgrades until sufficient quantities are in stock - and that may not be until sometime in the 2nd Quarter.

For those who may be attending AAPEX or SEMA in Las Vegas November 5-8, Ross-Tech will be in booth 450 at AAPEX in the Sands Expo Center where we will be demonstrating VCDS-Mobile and HEX-NET live on a Beetle Cabrio as well as on stations where we will permit the attendees to connect to our demo stands with their own smart devices. We're excited to make this introduction to the market at the AAPEX Show.

As the end of the year gets closer, we will try to send you another email regarding the upcoming release of this product.

We thank you for your patience and understanding.

Kind Regards,

Bruce

I shall be having one of those.

It will be zoo much easier (quicker) to be able to use my iPad rather than booting up the netbook every time.

Like the sound of this.

Will make it so much easier logging using my phone then having using a laptop.

As we no longer have a Windows based laptop and I'm not about to buy Windows 7 or 8 to dual boot my Mac laptop, I think I could be changing to this new system pretty soon.

any updates on these?
 

alas i have money burning a hole in my pocket

Ross-Tech do not start back until Monday, I too am awaiting.

 

EDIT: They started back on the 2nd.

I was hoping there might be a way to use an android tablet with the existing cable/software soon.  I am tempted by a tablet at some point in the future and would definitely prefer using one of those than my mini laptop which is a bit slow sadly.

any updates on these?

 

alas i have money burning a hole in my pocket

The plan is to release a Beta version the last week of January.  This Beta will be released in the US only.  We want any support issues that may arise to be close to home. 

 

Inventory is growing, web pages are under development, videos for setup and installation are in process and all the details that go with getting this product to market are moving along. 

 

We know many will not be happy that we will release in the US first.  But we hope you understand that given time difference and so on, we feel that support needs to be timely and available by voice.  So, that is the decision we made.  Once we see how smooth the US roll out goes, we will decide when the roll out to the rest of the world will take place. 

 

Don't shoot the messenger please! 

Edited 17 January, 201412 yr by bearthebruce

January 31, 2014, Lansdale, PA

Dear Martin *****:

The HEX-NET WiFi interface will be available for sale in the US on Monday, February 10, 2014. There will be two versions of the product:

* An Enthusiast Version, which will work with a maximum of 10 different cars (VINs), at the introductory price of $399: http://store.ross-tech.com/shop/VCHN_10.html

* A Professional Version, which will work with an unlimited number of cars, at the introductory price of $499: http://store.ross-tech.com/shop/VCHN.html

Both versions have VCDS-Mobile on board, bringing dealer-level diagnostics to most modern mobile devices without the need to install any software on the device, and of course they will also work with VCDS running on a Windows PC.

This Beta release of the HEX-NET WiFi interface and VCDS-Mobile product will be sold only in the US and delivered only to US addresses. Sales will be limited to a small number of units per day initially.

Upgrades and sales to the rest of the world will not be offered at the start. At the conclusion of our Beta period, we will remove the daily limits, open sales to the rest of the world, and institute our upgrade program. We do not know when that will happen. The date will be determined by the success of the Beta program.

Kind Regards,

Bruce

_____________________________________________________________

Bruce A. Ruhf

Director of Operations, Marketing & Sales

Ross-Tech, LLC| 881 Sumneytown Pike| Lansdale, PA 19446|

p: 267.638.2300| f: 215.893.3816| email: [email protected]

Brilliant, progress at last.. How much is that in real money?

About the same price as a HEX+CAN cable for the enthusiast version. Given that it will only read a maximum of 10 different VINs, I think I'll stick with my laptop for the time being.

£303 for the Pro version (when I goggled yesterday) 

No thanks ...

£300 notes is well worth it, nearly always have a ipad with me for work stuff so it's ideal for me, I'm too bone idle to carry a laptop around and about the place.. is there any scope for trying to wangle a discount for a group buy martin?

They have said there are no plans for upgrade etc to be had yet and TBH I can't see them wanting to discount them yet for a GB as I imagine there will be plenty of takers..

Maybe in a year or two... Who knows?

I agree at £300 it is worth it and it is on my shopping list, I will then be able to stop using the netbook completely as I only use it for VCDS.

Not quite why you thought to give us your valued Input posterboy, now if you gave us some more info then I may change my mind.

I don't want to burst anyones bubble, but generally when IT stuff comes across from US they seem to use the dollar price as the sterling price as well. Or near enough.

So it's more likely to be nearer £499 for the new Pro version when it hits the UK market.

No accounting for the exchange rate, I bet. And I can't see it being only £40 more than the current version is now upon release of the new version.

Hopefully I'm wrong. Then I'll 'eat my hat' by buying a new version.

I don't have to do waste my time trying to convince you on how to spend your money. Another way to enjoy the hard work by RT, however, it's nothing innovative.

£300+ for a dongle with a 10vin limit - which could alienate enthusiasts who may just pay £10 for a basic Bluetooth dongle of eBay for easy...

They have said there are no plans for upgrade etc to be had yet and TBH I can't see them wanting to discount them yet for a GB as I imagine there will be plenty of takers..

Maybe in a year or two... Who knows?

I agree at £300 it is worth it and it is on my shopping list, I will then be able to stop using the netbook completely as I only use it for VCDS.

Not quite why you thought to give us your valued Input posterboy, now if you gave us some more info then I may change my mind.

There will be nothing to stop you buying from the US and paying in dollars like you can with VCDS already, and if the current VCDS pricing works out, then the price in USD when converted to GBP roughly comes out exactly the same just as now.

I do hope that this new platform doesn't mean that development work will stop on the traditional VCDS on Widows via a USB interface.

 

Having a 10 VIN limited edition doesn't make good sense to me, I help local members from time to time, that would have to stop as I would want to keep the limited number of VINs to myself and friends.

We've seen a lot of posts from people speculating that Ross-Tech will drop support for older platforms. 

 

In our 14 year history when did Ross-Tech ever do such a thing?  We are still supporting our free shareware product for which we no longer make or sell wires - and on that product, we don't even cover costs with the sales of the registrations to unlock it and make it a full product!  Why then do people assume we would now change our stripes and do something to strand all those who have already invested in our products? 

 

We hear the complaints about the 10 VIN product.  We thought we were doing the enthusiast community a favor.  So here is an idea: let's drop the 10 VIN and let's just offer the unlimited Wifi product for $499 USD. ..pause ...  wait for it .. here it comes...  "Ross-Tech ripping us off   -  that price is unreasonable!" 

 

The simple fact is, we can't make this platform independent WiFi product for nothing.  There are real costs.  We are in business not only to provide a good quality product but we also have to make a living while doing that.  Do you like to feed your families and have a place to live?  So do we.

 

So let's review all of the options:

• For some, there is the free version - pay Ross-Tech nothing.  (VCDS-Lite Shareware version)  (limited in what it can do and limited model year coverage)
   
• For more inclusive information, one can upgrade the free version to the full unlocked version and use it on an unlimited number of vehicles:  VCDS-Lite for $99 USD.  (still limited in what it can do and still limited on which model years)
   
• If you want current generation product with all the latest features, you can purchase one of our lower end full VCDS unlimited VIN wired products for $249 USD but the models and model years are limited... (KII-USB or MicroCAN) 
   
• Want a current generation, latest features and  full coverage from 1995 through the current model year on a wired product and with no VIN limits? You can buy that  for $349 USD (HEX+CAN)
   
• Want current generation, latest features, full coverage for '95 through the current model year with a wireless connection on virtually any compute device but you only have your car and few others to work on?  You can buy a 10 VIN limited wireless product for $399 USD (HEX-NET_10VIN)
   
• Want the current generation, latest features, full coverage, wireless connection on virtually any compute device and unlimited number of VINs? You can buy that for $499 USD (HEX-NET)

 

For those have complained about choice, where have we limited choice? We have given a wide range of choices and prices by which one can choose what works best for a particular situation. 

 

And we support all offered products and have done so since day one in May of 2000 (actually, early versions of VAG-COM existed before that date and they were fully supported too!)
 

Sure, we all want the top performing device for the lowest price.  I ask you, where can you find a full factory level diagnostic tool that is compute platform independent and works via wireless connection?  And should you find that product, at what price is it offered? 

 

Ross-Tech has been there for you - the enthusiast.  We still are. Nothing has changed.

 

Bruce

Director of Operations, Marketing and Sales

Ross-Tech, LLC

[email protected]

Thanks for that Bruce, I think the product is very innovative and also I don't think the $500 price tag is unreasonable, there will always be somebody out there that would rather have the $10 clone from Hong Kong but they deserve all they get when it kills thier car. Needless to say I will buying a 'pro' one as soon as I can get my filthy hands on it.

Tom, we appreciate your support.  We'll do our very best to get through the Beta period and get the world release rolling! 

Thanks for the feedback Bruce.

 

Don't get me wrong - I fully support Ross-Tech and will always recommend the genuine full product (matter of record on this forum by my past posts on the subject) - I was just voicing my personal concerns regarding the current VCDS Platform and development ongoing. Unless the development team size is increased (?) there is always the potential for the current VCDS HEX+CAN Platform development to slow.

 

I am on my third genuine Ross-Tech Cable - started with the original White Serial cable, Upgraded to Twin-K Serial and now have a full HEX+CAN (always genuine).

 

I as many others I suspect - can't justify the $399 USD to be limited to 10 VINs. 

I don't want to burst anyones bubble, but generally when IT stuff comes across from US they seem to use the dollar price as the sterling price as well. Or near enough.

So it's more likely to be nearer £499 for the new Pro version when it hits the UK market.

No accounting for the exchange rate, I bet. And I can't see it being only £40 more than the current version is now upon release of the new version.

Hopefully I'm wrong. Then I'll 'eat my hat' by buying a new version.

The current HEX+CAN is $349 or £260, so although it is dearer to buy in the UK than the exchange rate may suggest it's not quite 1:1

Bruce can you confirm if the updates will continue to be free on the Pro version?

Paul the HEX-NET device will certainly not be for everyone, but for many it is the ideal progression as the netbook/laptop would no longer be needed.