Ford CEO Jim Farley has made it quite clear that he sees advanced driver-assist technologies (ADAS) as a major source of future revenue for the company, though those features will reap financial benefits in different ways. We caught a glimpse of what this might look like thanks to a recently formed joint-venture between Ford and security company ADT called Canopy, which combines the former’s AI-driven camera technology with the latter’s security monitoring services to provide improved vehicle security. This new feature can give vehicle owners alerts right on their smartphone when it detects that someone is not only trying to break into a vehicle – but also when they’re trying to steal things out of a pickup bed or the exterior, to boot. However, Ford has a bit of competition in that space via the brand new Ring Car Cam, which just launched.
The Ring Car Cam builds upon that company’s home cameras and security products offerings by introducing a convenient dash-mounted camera for vehicle owners. The unit features dual-facing HD cameras that consist of two wide-angle cameras with Night Vision, one of which faces the road to capture driving footage, while the other, cabin-facing camera provides security against potential break-ins.
Like its home cameras, the Car Cam provides users with motion alerts and real-time notifications on their smartphone via the Ring app, which users can also use to communicate with anyone inside the vehicle. Additionally, with the paid Ring Protect Go subscription, users can also record and store highlights with voice commands and access up to 180 days of cloud storage.
With a retail price of $249.99, the Ring Car Cam is a relatively affordable way to add these features to a vehicle, though it remains to be seen what sort of alternative Ford may offer in the future – possibly with cameras that are already installed in a vehicle, neatly integrated – not sticking out of the top of the dash. For now, however, the Car Cam is already on a 3-6 month backorder, so it’s clear that there is an eager market for such a product.
We’ll have more on Ford’s connected vehicle services competition soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
With another subscription of course. Nickel and dimed to death!
Now Amazon will know where you are and what you’ve done.
No thanks.
If Apple offered this with something like “Secure Car Video” via Car Play like they offer in Home with iCloud+, I’d be all over this.
Until then, I’ll stick with an SD card.
I appreciate that Mr Farley is looking to find new/additional revenue streams with the whole ADAS program. FORD would be better served putting this attention into designing, building and selling better ‘transportation’ products. Leave the personal security technology to the after market. An example that is doomed to fail between Honda and Sony will not promote the underlying products of either in a a joint design and build exercise. Ford needs to get back to vehicles… before my hope is realized that they become an industry supply/build service.
You have weird ideas.
Why do you think these two things, vehicle & services must be mutually exclusive?
They’re not and the skill sets for delivering these two things are different.
Finally, the services side has far greater ROR potential than the vehicle side. (Similar to FMCC, financing has been a profitable service that has reliably kept Ford profitable (or losing less) in some periods when the vehicle side has struggled.
So your suggestion is to give up on services and leave those profits on the table for some 3rd party. That’s no different than closing FMCC and leaving the financing profits to banks.
And your hope, who does it really serve? Some incumbent OEM or Wall Street M&A op.
Winston Smith tested and approved. Be sure to make a contribution for “hate week”. It’s gonna be big this year.