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Tech

SmartRadar Apple Pack Brings Social Networking to the Road

By Laptopmag.com
Published | Updated
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You're cruising on the highway and all of a sudden see the fuzz. Hitting the breaks, you take your speed down to the limit just as you drive by, but then those dreaded red and blue flashing lights appear in your rear-view mirror. You've been busted by a radar gun.

Wouldn't it be nice to get more advanced warning from your fellow drivers? Automotive accessories-maker Escort aims to solve that dilemma, among others, with its new Bluetooth-enabled SmartRadar Apple Pack ($399).

The all-band radar and laser detector for iPhone and iPad brings a social networking element to driving. Its Live Escort! app provides real-time information on red light and speed cameras as well as radar detection, and compiles information from all users to give you up-to-date traffic information. This way, when a SmartRadar Apple Pack user is driving on a patch of highway five minutes before you and passes that cluster of cop cars, the app will warn you well before you reach that point, giving you time to slow your speed.

The only hitch is that those other drivers will need to be using the same tech. But you can note regular speed traps to help other drivers.

SmartRadar Apple Pack's full capabilities include alerts for speed limit changes, alerts for red light and speed cameras and live traffic in map view and dashboard view, all miles in advance. It has X, K and SuperWide Ka radar capability, and uses ExpertMeter, which tracks and displays up to eight radar signals at the same time.

The SmartRadar mounts to the driver's windshield behind the rear-view mirror, so it's hidden from sight. Users then insert one end of the included cord into the cigarette lighter and the other end into their iPhone. Once the Escort Live! app is downloaded from the App Store and paired, you're ready to drive.

The Apple Pack is can be found in Apple stores with a free subscription for 12 months. An Escort Live radar subscription is $19.95 per year after that. And Android version is also available.