by
Mark Ollig
While
writing this column during the early pre-dawn hours, I looked out the living
room window and noticed it had snowed overnight.
With
yard lights shining on the new-fallen snow, it looked as if an enormously
white, fluffy blanket was covering the ground.
The
branches of the surrounding pine trees also held copious amounts of the white
stuff.
I
checked the outdoor thermometer, and sighed. “I will need to put on my heavy
winter jacket before heading outside into the frozen Minnesota tundra,” I
thought.
Of
course, being we’re hearty Minnesotans, we are used to going through these
“good old-fashioned” winters; however, I am now anxiously awaiting the warmer
temperatures of spring.
I
took a sip from my coffee mug, and resumed typing.
Last
week’s column talked about some of the new products from the 2014 Consumer
Electronics Show, or CES2014.
I
viewed the follow-up videos produced by the International CES about this year’s
show, and was blown away by some of the numbers.
For
example, they reported around 20,000 consumer products were displayed on 2
million net-square-feet of space; equaling some 37 football fields’ worth of
technology being exhibited.
The
number of people attending the CES2014 from outside the US was impressive:
approximately 35,000.
They
reported, between Jan. 7 - 10, 150,000 people had attended the CES2014.
The
Twitter hashtag, #CES2014, was mentioned over 256,000 times, and was seen by an
estimated 2.9 billion online users.
The
CES2014 car show floor exhibited examples of wireless Bluetooth technology
solutions for connecting various smart devices (such as your tablets or
smartphones) to your automobile.
These
product solutions included: BluClik, BluStream, InSeam, and Tranzit BLU HF.
I
also noted an assortment of high-tech replacement rear-view mirrors.
A
display screen on one of these rear-view mirrors allowed a person, when backing
up their car, to view the lower hidden area behind their vehicle, via a video
camera lens positioned on the back of the car.
This
low, hidden area at the rear of an automobile is normally not viewable when
using a standard rear-view mirror.
Look
for rear-view surveillance camera display systems to be installed as a standard
safety feature in future car models.
I
have come to appreciate the rear-view surveillance camera and display screen in
my new car – it makes me feel a lot safer knowing what is directly behind my
automobile when backing up.
It’s
also a great assist when parking the car, too.
CES2014
also exhibited vehicle dashboard video recording cameras, known as “dashcams.”
These devices record what you see while you are driving your car.
Dashcams
can be surface- mounted, or discreetly installed high on the inside windshield,
right behind the rear-view mirror.
There
are forward-window- facing dashcams, and other models with wider viewing
angles.
There
are models which provide excellent video quality during the day and night.
Dashcams
can also operate 24 hours a day.
Many
dashcam systems use loop recording, which means if the video storage disk runs
out of space, new video will begin recording over the oldest video files,
allowing the dashcam to record for an indefinite period.
Video
from the dashcam can be watched on a smartphone or smartdevice via Wi-Fi, or a
cellular data connection.
Some
dashcam systems can stream their video live to the Internet, where it can be
stored in a cloud server and/or viewed live.
Having
a dashcam installed would certainly be of benefit, especially if one is ever
involved in a car accident; you could use the dashcam’s video to see what
happened, and possibly to prove who was at fault.
Another
benefit would be having video proof of the person(s) who vandalized your car
while it was parked.
People
also have dashcams installed for recording any suspicious activity occurring in
the area where their car is located.
Some
folks use dashcams as a video road diary for recording and narrating long,
scenic road trips.
Oh,
and how about using a dashcam to record those zealous, preoccupied road-raged
drivers who are always in a hurry, and scream at anyone who makes eye contact
with them.
To
watch some of these road-rage dashcam videos, just do a YouTube search on “road
rage driver” and you’ll keep yourself entertained for hours.
Many
uploaded dashcam videos to YouTube have become popular, some have even gone
viral.
For
example, we would not have seen the huge, bright, exploding meteor streaking
across the skies of Chelyabinsk, Russia in February 2013, if not for the
dashcam video recordings provided by the Russian drivers who were in the right
place at the right time.
I
expect more people in this country to be installing dashcams in their
automobiles; you never know – your dashcam might someday record the “no one
would believe it” flying saucer hovering silently in the sky.
DVR
(digital video recorder) dashcams normally range from $50 to $400.
To
view the YouTube dashcam video of the spectacular meteor flashing across the
sky in Chelyabinsk, go to: http://tinyurl.com/bytes-meteor1.
Next
year’s CES2015 event will take place Jan. 6 - 9 in Las Vegas.
