“The startup is called Pearl, and it was co-founded by three former Apple engineers — a crew that helped lead the design and development on several generations of iPods and iPhones,” Ben Popper reports for The Verge. “That core group has since hired around 70 employees, 50 of whom previously worked at Apple, and has been working for over two years on its first product, a rearview camera it’s unveiling today.”
“The unit, called RearVision, isn’t revolutionary. It’s a set of rearview cameras that fit around your license plate and sync with your smartphone. The differentiator is the attention to quality and detail that Apple is known for,” Popper reports. “This craftsmanship shines through in Pearl’s offering, as well.”
“The cameras turn on when you’re backing up and shut off if you start traveling forward at more than 10 miles an hour. It gets all the data on motion from the OBD port. You get a live stream of the rear view on your mobile device and can shift between portrait view, with two levels of zoom, and a landscape view. It will sound two different kinds of alerts: one to let you know a vehicle or person is passing behind you, telling you to slow down, and another indicating a stop to avoid a collision,” Popper reports. “Pearl’s RearVision costs $500, which the company is positioning as a price point in between the cheap DIY options you can find online and the installation you could get at a dealership. A professional install can run few thousands bucks.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Looks cool, unobtrusive, and that’s not a bad price for all it offers, especially with the promise of more (parking lines, etc.) coming via free software updates.
Nice – but the frame at the bottom covers up the state slogan – some states give tickets for that?
Or you could tape a few $100 bills behind a regular license plate holder with a Pearl logo, that a thief could also remove in under 10 seconds.
Installs in minutes, stolen in seconds.
Is this battery powered? How do you charge it?