Tag: connected car

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Automotive Connected Objects Imaging

RecSmart social dash cam streams the good times as they roll

Dashboard cameras provide a pretty good way to capture what happens while driving a car –- especially if there is an accident and evidence is needed to provide proof of what happened.

RecSmart is a connected, social dash cam with built-in Wi-Fi and GPS that connects to the user’s smartphone and continuously records whatever happens during a drive and saves it onto the included 8-GB microSD card. It collects data including the vehicle’s position, speed and time –- all while shooting HD video and making it easy to share video and photos from the road with the user’s social networks.

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Automotive Connected Objects

Carloudy guides your car’s way with a heads-up display

The advantage that heads-up displays (HUDs) have over tradiitional GPS devices is that, with HUDs, drivers can keep their eyes on the road while getting navigation and other useful information. But, unfortunately, it’s often just as difficult to see the information on a HUD as it is to make out the directions on a GPS device while driving in bright sunlight.

patent-claimedCarloudy resolves that issue by using E-Ink display technology –- the same technology that makes it easier to read on a traditional e-reader than it is to read on a tablet. Carloudy features a patent-pending design that makes it work fine whether it’s bright or dark out. When it’s night, the device’s ambient light sensor activates LED backlighting for the display. It connects automatically to Android and iOS mobile devices via Bluetooth.

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Automotive Connected Objects

Driver Watchdog’s dual cameras keep watch over your car inside and out for a fee

With the smart home space getting more crowded and connectivity coming to he vehicle, there’s been a growing number of driving assistant and monitoring devices that have sought crowdfunding in recent months.

Driver Watchdog is a wireless plug-and-play device featuring dual HD 175-degree panoramic cameras. The external camera records road conditions and accidents, while its internal camera monitors distracting behavior going on inside the car. The cameras record simultaneously and automatically stream data to the cloud for storage and review at a later time.

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Automotive Connected Objects

Light your ride up with the XKChrome connected light kit

It’s easy to spot a souped-up car enthusiast: in traffic. Just look for a car that looks like its straight out of Need for Speed or a Fast and Furious movie. Considering the kinds of under-the-hood and aesthetic upgrades these cars have, it’s no wonder their owners are always on the look out for something that can make them stick out.

The team behind the XKChrome is hoping to illuminate the undersides and interiors of cars and motorcycles everywhere with the smartphone-connected lighting kit. Users will be spoiled for choice with XKChrome’s 16 million color palette that can be customized for various occasions, even syncing to music playing for a spectacle of a light show.

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Automotive Connected Objects

Exploride makes a clear case for a smart car display

editors-choiceThe OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) II port in all cars produced since 1996 has been tapped for the wide array of information it can yield about a car’s status and performance . Much of this information has been transferred to an app or a clunky tablet-like device on the dashboard.

Exploride, though, ties together input from the OBD II connector, your smartphone and even the good old car stereo (via Bluetooth) to create an ambitious and holistic smart car retrofit solution. The basic functionality includes tasks we’ve seen in many other in-vehicle systems, including control over phone calls, navigation and music. What really sets the product apart is its 6″ fold-down transparent display that also features a dash cam for good measure. While companies such as Garmin have experimented with heads-up displays, the car computer from the Maryland-based company has a much slicker, sleeker and colorful experience.

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Automotive Connected Objects

Caruma captures your drive, watches your car when parked

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.