The post Company Created by Ex-Apple Employees Launches Aftermarket Backup Camera That Is Actually Cool appeared first on written by Tyler Toner.
In 2014, three former Apple engineers, each responsible for helping design and create such seminal products as the iPod and iPhone, formed a startup in Scotts Valley, California. Since its inception, that company, known as Pearl, has grown dramatically – it now employs some 70 employees, with roughly 50 among them that also formerly worked at Apple. According to Forbes, the company raised $50 million total from venture capitalists, and it just announced its first product.
RearVision, an after-market backup camera, is the first offering from Pearl. Although it may sound a bit anticlimactic – there are hundreds of after-market backup cameras available after all – RearVision offers the same style, grace, and simplicity that Apple has become famous for. The product comes in the form of a license plate frame, made of painted die-cast aluminum with two low-profile cameras attached at the top.
Powered by a solar power strip at the bottom of the frame, the cameras transmit via Bluetooth and WiFi to a tiny dongle that the driver hooks up to the car’s onboard diagnostics port (standard on all vehicles after 1996). The dongle, which is powered by the same processor found in Samsung’s Galaxy S5 smartphone, not only transmits high-definition video to the driver’s phone, but also determines how far away objects are, and warns the driver when it is approaching an object that the car may collide with.
According to Pearl, a full day of sun will supply the unit with a week of charge, and an entire month’s worth of power can be stored in the battery. The high-definition cameras cover a 180-degree field of view, and a phone mount is included so that users can view the video hands-free.
The frame is durable, weather resistant, and fantastic to look at. The app is simple, beautiful, effective, and feature-rich. Best of all, installation can be performed by the driver in under five minutes. There are no wires to run, and the unit doesn’t require an external battery to function – mount the frame, plug in the dongle, download the app, and go. The RearVision is beautifully designed, durable, simple, and it offers top-of-the-line performance – just what one would expect from a team of Apple employees.
Why a backup camera, though? The Pearl team has decided to focus on high-quality and affordable after-market accessories for automobiles. The company wants to make all of the wonderful technology that has become available on new cars easier to access for the great majority of us that are driving cars several years old (or older).
“We’re surrounded by amazing technology,” the company claims on their website. “Pearl believes the latest automotive technology should be available to every driver – whether it’s time for you to buy a new car or not.”
The company is dedicated to making “transformative change in the auto industry by delivering advanced, adaptive, and continually improving driver assistance features to all 1.2 billion cars on the road.”
RearVision does just that. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently mandated that backup cameras come standard in every new vehicle beginning in May of 2018. According to the NHTSA, there are 210 fatalities and 15,000 injuries per year caused by back-over crashes. Backup cameras and audio/video notifications of impending collisions are already beginning to save lives every year, but many people with cars built before that deadline won’t have easy access to the technology.
Although some poorly made after-market backup cameras are available for $100 or under, they often require lengthy and complicated installations, which can take hours or cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. The RearVision is a premium quality device that requires no installation, and is less expensive than you’d probably imagine.
The product is available for preorder beginning today, and customers can expect the product to begin shipping in December. The RearVision is actually quite an exciting product, and expectations are high for future offerings from the Pearl team.
The post Company Created by Ex-Apple Employees Launches Aftermarket Backup Camera That Is Actually Cool appeared first on written by Tyler Toner.