Ring Car Cam and Car Alarm: What we know so far

Ring Motorcar Cam and Car Alarm: What nosotros know so far

(Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon is going all in on car security. The visitor appear three Ring-branded devices for cars at its Sept. 24, 2022 issue — an alarm, a dash camera and an aftermarket device called Ring Car Connect that will integrate some of these monitoring features into vehicles themselves. And there's a software API for Ring Car Connect, likewise.

These products are still not available, but Amazon says it'south received massive demand from automobile owners who desire to integrate the aforementioned Ring suite of security feature inside their vehicles that they may already employ in their homes. Here'southward what we know about them so far.

Ring Car Alarm

We'll start with the Ring Car Alarm, an OBD-II device that sounds when it detects a interruption-in, towing or an accident. Should any of those situations occur, y'all'll be notified via some other Alexa-compatible device, and you lot can even remotely fire the alarm manually if you so choose.

You might wonder how the Band Car Alarm is capable of linking upwards with other devices. Equally it turns out, the OBD-Two dongle doesn't utilize a data connection or even Wi-Fi, just rather relies on Amazon's yet-to-be-launched Sidewalk network of Bluetooth Low Energy devices. Sidewalk figures to be an underlying part of Amazon's Band and Echo hardware going forward. We were initially told it should be alive earlier the terminate of 2022, but it's now 2022, and there's notwithstanding no sign of the device.

Considering of this, the Band Car Alert doesn't require any sort of monthly fee. That means all buyers will have to pay is the $59 cost of the device itself.

Ring Machine Cam

Next, we step upwardly to the Band Machine Cam, a $199 nuance cam that does rely upon Wi-Fi and LTE. (And with this device, yous'll have to pay for data separately.) Band Car Cam features 2 Hard disk cameras: one facing out the windshield, and another facing back into the cabin. Like the Ring Auto Alarm, it'll notify owners should information technology notice anything awry, but being a full dash cam with a true data connection and a link to the cloud, it tin do a lot more that.

For case, if y'all've been pulled over, you can say "Alexa, I'thousand beingness pulled over," and the Ring Car Cam will begin recording a feed of the interior. Amazon promises all footage will exist "securely stored," and that you tin can as well opt to have a loved 1 notified upon saying that control.

Additionally, the Ring Car Cam's Emergency Crash Assist system volition notify kickoff responders immediately when an blow occurs. It's an appreciated feature, though it must exist said that this kind of functionality is also making its way into phones, like Google's Personal Safety app on Android.

Band Car Connect

Call back of Ring Motorcar Connect equally a mode to integrate the Ring Car Alarm and Ring Machine Cam'south software into a vehicle that already has around-view or interior cameras. Car companies are free to integrate Ring Car Connect in their vehicles as they please, only until that happens, interested car owners can purchase a standalone, aftermarket $199 device that essentially enables these features within cars.

For example, all four vehicles in Tesla's current model range can add Band Motorcar Connect to supplement Tesla's Sentry Mode. When Sentry Mode is on, owners will be able to watch the feed through Band apps. They'll also exist able to spotter recorded driving footage on other devices, though it'due south worth pointing out that similar the Band Car Cam, you'll have to pay a monthly fee to upload your data to the cloud via LTE.

Ring Car Cam and Auto Alarm outlook

Given Ring'due south increasing prevalence, too as the prevalence of dash cams, it was only a matter of time before Amazon made a play like this, leveraging the forcefulness of the Alexa software and footprint for car security. It's besides encouraging to come across that the visitor's chosen to offer to options for customers — one that'due south more agreeably priced, too every bit some other with a truly extensive feature set.

Sure, $199 for a dash cam is quite expensive, as a brief exam of the best selling candidates on Amazon demonstrates. That said, many of the companies in this field are quite lesser known, and the pricier options from mainstays like Garmin and Vava end up costing about the aforementioned as Amazon's suggestion, if not more.

Nosotros wait forward to testing out Amazon's slate of machine products as shortly as they're available.

Adam Ismail is a staff author at Jalopnik and previously worked on Tom's Guide covering smartphones, auto tech and gaming. His love for all things mobile began with the original Motorola Droid; since then he's owned a diverseness of Android and iOS-powered handsets, refusing to stay loyal to ane platform. His piece of work has also appeared on Digital Trends and GTPlanet. When he's not fiddling with the latest devices, he's at an indie popular show, recording a podcast or playing Sega Dreamcast.