The rise of dash cams to record potential incidents drives home how important ti is to protect cars and the people who drive them. Most of the connected car products today do a good job of capturing statistics about mileage and short stops, but there’s a lot behind the numbers.
Caruma is a connected car add-on that uses cellular, GPS and camera technologies to capture a car’s status whether it’s being driven or parked. It mounts to either the windshield or dashboard. Like dash cams, it can record the road ahead, but also what’s going on inside the car. More significantly for anyone who has ever returned to find their car scraped, dented or towed, it can alert the owner via smartphone any time the cameras or its sensors detect any funny business such as another car backing into it or a tow truck approaching. An Indiegogo special price of $299 (a $100 discount off the expected retail price) will net backers a Caruma in April 2016. Caruma hopes to raise $100,000 in its flexible funding Indiegogo campaign by July 15th.
Caruma is very similar to LyfeLens, which is still accepting preorders. It has the same disc-based shape, two HD cameras, 4G hotspot feature, and remote alerts that allow the owner to peek into the car or its surroundings while away. It also shares the problem of staying charged and monitoring while the vehicle’s ignition for an extended time when the vehicle is turned off. One of Caruma’s nice additions is a panic button for emergencies. LyfeLens, however, is offering preorders at $199.