What started off as Doorbot in 2013 and later rebranded as “Ring” and then later acquired by Amazon, was a smart doorbell system that offered video security features to peoples homes.
Now, nearly 7 years later, Amazon’s Ring is now offering security systems for cars and trucks.
Amazon has recently introduced their new Ring Car Cam, which is a dash cam like setup that has a front facing camera as well as an interior facing camera on the main unit.
The front camera will be able to record video of the road in front of your car, which can be used after a car accident to share with your insurance company, or to simple record interesting things you my see on your daily drive.
While it’s not clear if the interior camera is meant to be used by rideshare drivers who work for companies like Uber and Lyft who want to record their passengers for liability purposes, it certainly can be used to record someone breaking into your car. Having an interior camera connected to the cloud that can remotely upload video of a car prowler or someone that breaks into your car can be a great tool in recovering stolen items or even your car.
Remote Live View of Dash Cam
The Amazon Ring Cam can provide a live video feed from your car 24/7. This will require you to have a WiFi connection, or can be done through a LTE data plan.
The wifi option could connect to a hotspot through your phone, or you could have it connect up to your homes wifi connection when you are parked in your garage or near your house. This would save on data usage plans.
Remote Cloud Video Storage
In the same way that the Amazon Ring Doorbell camera system is able to upload videos to be stored in Amazons cloud storage service, the Ring Car Cam can also store videos remotely.
Other dash cams with cloud video storage
“Alexa, I’m being pulled over”
With Alexa integrated into the Amazon dash cam, there is a voice activated featured that is meant to be used during a traffic stop with police. The feature can be activated by saying “Alexa, I’m being pulled over”, which prompts the dash camera to begin recording and will also contact people you have put on a contact list.
Car Cam Connect
If you already own and drive a vehicle that has a built in car dash cam or car security camera, the Ring Car Cam will be able to connect directly to the camera on many car models.
They have already collaborated with Tesla to sync up Ring with the S, X, Y and 3 models. With a special dongle you can plug the Ring dash cam right into a Tesla USB port. This will allow you to save your Tesla car videos from Sentry Mode right to the Amazon Ring Coud video storage, so it can be remotely accessed if needed and not tampered with locally.
The Car Connect from Ring that will be compatible with various Tesla models with be priced around $200 when it will be released sometime in 2021.