By Michael Gourlay, on December 8th, 2011 Valentine Research has finally released the Savvy device: see here.
It plugs into your OBDII sensor of your car (sorry everyone who’s car was made before 1996, you are probably out of luck and cannot use Savvy) and allows you to set a speed threshold. If your V1 receives a radar or laser alert and you are under the preset speed, the V1 will alert at the muted volume setting. The Savvy can also provide power to your V1, which I think is pretty cool. Is it worth $70? I don’t know, I’ll wait to hear some reports of how well it works.
By Michael Gourlay, on October 24th, 2011 Escort has revealed most of the details around their new Escort Live! service.
It seems to be a service that provides the following:
- DEFENDER database of speed traps
- Live Traffic
- Speed Limit data – For over speed alerts
- “Social Network” type functionality for reporting live radar/laser threats directly from your detector to others in the area
It comes packaged as a new “smart cord” and works with the following radar detectors:
You’ll also need a smartphone (either iPhone or Android – no support for other platforms has been announced yet).
Once you have the detector, the smartcord, and your phone, and they are all paired up together, you get a really slick display on your phone.
The system is very similar to Trapster except that it seems like the smartcord can automatically report threats (such as laser and Ka), while the it looks like the user will have to have some interaction to report K and X band threats.
In theory, this is a pretty slick solution, but it has a lot of factors working against it.
- How many people actually have radar detectors?
- How many of these people actually have these three versions of Escort radar detectors?
- How many of these people actually have smartphones?
- How many of these people actually have iPhone or Android smartphones?
- How many of these people will buy the smartcord?
- How many of these people will actually pay for the subscription?
I admit, I think this is pretty cool, but we also think the factors listed above will severely limit the amount of benefit you’ll get from purchasing one of these units. It just doesn’t seem like there will be enough data to provide any extra protection.
What do you think?
UPDATE: We’ve heard that this device may also add functionality to your radar detector to manually lock out false signals. If this is true, it may be a good reason for those of us who don’t have a Beltronics GX65 or Escort Passport 9500ix to buy the Escort Live!
By Michael Gourlay, on October 18th, 2011 Well, we don’t really know yet.
We think it is going to be a product similar to the Cobra iRadar, Trapster and RadarActive.
We have several reservations: It looks like it will be subscription based, it looks like it needs to be connected to a smartphone, and it looks like it will only work with Escort radar detectors. We are unsure if the number of subscribers will be large enough to make a difference.
Escort will be revealing all the information soon, and we’ll keep you posted.
By Michael Gourlay, on September 19th, 2011 Well look at this:
Look’s like Valentine Research has got something up their sleeve. We have no idea what it’ll be, but we are hoping for something good.
By Michael Gourlay, on September 1st, 2011 Since the invention of radar detectors, the industry has evolved as law enforcement has found other methods of speed detection. The basic radar detectors of years ago are not able to detect LIDAR (laser) beams, ENRADD beams, or photo enforcement cameras. As each one of these technologies were put back into use and improved upon by law enforcement, speed enforcement detection has kept up. But previously, a motorist had to have several different units in order to detect signals, cluttering their dash or windshields. And some of the units were not very effective in preventing those costly speeding citations, since law enforcement countered with more advancement in technology in order to stay one step ahead of speeding motorists.
Recently newer models of speed enforcement detectors were introduced on the market that are all-in-one units that include radar and laser detection as well as photo enforcement detection and GPS technology. There are different reviews with opinions that are both pro and con in their effectiveness and features as well as the price of the units. However, the general consensus is that the convenience of an all-in-one unit is well worth the price. But is it really?
The newest models that are currently on the market have some good features as well as having a lack of other features. For example, some consumers are frustrated by the fact that map updates for their GPS functions are not free on some models, and real-time traffic information is not available. On other models, the updates are free but laser detection is not always reliable, or the units give false alarm readings due to other devices in close proximity. On the other hand, some units have excellent radar and laser detection, allowing the motorist to slow down before a speed overage is detected. However, law enforcement has developed radar and laser detector detectors. Since they are aware that a motorist is using a detector, they are better able to make use of “instant on” technology in catching speeding motorists.
The all-in-one units that have just come out on the market may have their short-comings, but a lot of consumers are willing to pay the extra price for the convenience of having all of the features at their finger tips. Others are waiting for upgrades to the units that help to work out the “bugs” and add to the features available. In the meantime, law enforcement is scrambling to come up with upgrades of their own. And so the speed detection war continues.
By Michael Gourlay, on August 25th, 2011 Looks like the Beltronics STi Magnum is now available and for the same price as the STi Driver. Beltronics is claiming a 60% increase in performance over the STi Driver.
I can’t tell for sure yet, but based on what we are seeing on the page (https://www.beltronics.com/store/sti-magnum.html), it doesn’t seem to have any of the STiR Plus’ sweet features (RDR and Ka band segmentation). Based on that we are thinking this will end up being similar in performance to the Escort Redline.
By Michael Gourlay, on August 18th, 2011 Looks like Escort’s got an update to the Escort Passport 8500 X50 line that they are calling the 8500 X50 Black.
According to this page this new version of the radar detector has a 40% increase in performance.
Well they say it’s black, but all the info below is still for the RED and BLUE.. perhaps this is just an updated version of those models, and not a specific model itself.
By Michael Gourlay, on August 18th, 2011 For every new method of speed detection used by law enforcement, new technology for detecting its use is developed. With the introduction of radar guns, radar detectors were invented to warn motorists that the signals transmitted are targeting their vehicle. Since traditional radar guns use high frequency radio signals that are in the microwave, or X band range (10.475 to 10.575 GHz), the signals are easy to detect. However, the radar guns are still in use today because of their lower cost compared to other methods of speed detection. But they have changed, with law enforcement trying to stay one step ahead of speeding motorists.
The radar guns most commonly used by the police agencies have evolved from using the X band frequency to using the K band (24 to 24.25 GHz) and the Ka band (33.4 to 36 GHz) to avoid false readings caused by devices such as automatic door openers. In addition, the different frequencies were harder to detect. But radar detector technology kept up with the changes, still alerting motorists when the radar guns are in use.
Once again, police agencies had to make a change in order to enforce traffic speed laws. Toward that end, Light Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR was developed. LIDAR uses pulsed laser, or infrared light for speed detection. Similar to the way a radar gun works, the laser beams are aimed at the desired target and the beams bounce back to the LIDAR gun in a particular pattern of scattering that allows the equipment to calculate the speed of the moving target. Since LIDAR technology does not use radio waves, radar detectors are unable to detect their use. But in keeping up with technology, LIDAR detectors were developed.
However, LIDAR detection is not as effective as radar detection in being able to slow your vehicle down to avoid a speeding citation. The output beams of the LIDAR gun are highly focused, being able to detect the speed of vehicles that are in close proximity to others at ranges of up to 3,000 feet. In addition, the beams are most often aimed at the center mass or headlight of the vehicle. Since the LIDAR detector is usually mounted on the windshield or dash of the vehicle, it may not sense the beam and will not alert the driver. With advances in this technology, your vehicle can be targeted by a beam at close range, without allowing the time to slow your vehicle down.
By Michael Gourlay, on August 16th, 2011 Looks like we have another new radar detector on the horizon – the Whistler Pro 78 XRI. It was also mentioned in the same SML labs radar detector test as the Beltronics STi Magnum. The performance from this device looks on par with the rest of the Whistler line, so we are really wondering what this detector is going to bring to the table. We’ll be sure to let you know when we find out.
UPDATE: It turns out that the XRI is not meant for the US market. According to a rep at Whistler: “The 78XRi is not for the US market. The SML test was to include more testing for the international market but unfortunately did not follow thru with the testing. The 78XRi has many new features to deal with the types of speed measurenent challenges not found in the USA”
The 78XRi is not for the US market. The SML test was to include more testing for the international market but unfortunately did not follow thru with the testing. The 78XRi has many new features to deal with the types of speed measurenent challenges not found in the USA.
By Michael Gourlay, on August 15th, 2011 Looks like Escort/Beltronics’ TSR has got some competition now. The latest version of the Valentine1 has a traffic monitor filter to weed out those annoying K-band alerts that occur every half mile on some highways. This is GREAT news for those living in Ohio!
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