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We have to admit, when we first told you guys about Navdy — a HUD projector for your car that displays notifications from your phone — we thought it was cool, just not $300 cool. I guess not everyone felt the same way. The device, described by many as “Google Glass for your car,” seems to have been an early success, gaining over $1 million in first week pre-orders (that’s roughly around 3,333 units sold). But that’s only half the story.
According to TechCrunch, Navdy CEO and co-founder Doug Simpson says he’s been seeing a huge response not only from consumers, but from developers looking to get their apps up and running with with the new tech. What’s more, Navdy seems to have caught the eye of automakers who are also expressing their interest in Navdy, but more to the tune of having the device pre-installed into vehicle dashboards.
Using a combination of voice-guided gesture controls, Navdy will display notifications from your smartphone over a Bluetooth connection. The device then projects it’s UI on a transparent display acting similar to the way the prism in Google Glass works, forcing the driver to focus further away than just the display. Of course, the device doesn’t come without it’s share of controversy, mostly from safe driving proponents who feel this is yet another way to distract drivers from the current task at hand (like getting home in one piece).
Just like we saw with Coin, Navdy is using direct pre-order system, skipping fund raising sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo altogether. For those interested, there’s still 20 days left to pick up a Navdy at a discounted $300 (40% off) before it jumps up to the full price offering of $500 early next month. You can pre-order a Navdy here.
I drove a car with a HUD in it once. That was pretty nice. I would consider this.
Really? What kinda device was it using?
It comes as an option in Corvettes. It only displays speed, RPM, g-force and radio stations.
W.
T.
F.
That is….. AWESOME. :O
Time to get a Corvette?
BMW also offers HUD in their upper 5 and 7 series cars.
I borrowed my uncle’s corvette for my wedding. It also had those, i was blown away, especially considering it was over 10 years old
My mazda does 3 of those things. Standard
What kind of Mazda? That’s pretty awesome. My last Corvette I had to have it installed aftermarket.
They’ve been in caddies for years
Yup, as others have said, GM cars, in this case it was my dad’s Corvette. Makes a lot of sense to have that info in line of sight with a car that goes like that.
Really? Didn’t think anyone would want this awkward device. A hud is less clunky when built into the vehicle.
I’d seriously consider this if they put Android Auto on it… until then, no thanks.
Don’t be so closed minded. It wouldn’t work with iOS other wise. They’ve got to tried and make it work for everyone.
Close minded??? Why would I care about iOS support, when I don’t own any iOS devices? I stated what it would take for me to buy it, I didn’t say no one should buy it.
The problem with Navdy is it’s a completely new platform, which needs completely new apps developed for it. The advantage of Android Auto is that it uses the apps on your Android phone, with no need for completely new apps to be developed (although existing apps do need to be updated to support it).
look at pebble. they are not OS specific and no one knocks them. They likely have some advantages that the iWatch wont and do have known advantages over android wear. to each their own, but don’t knock it.
There’s only so much one would do with a smart watch, and smartphone apps don’t typically fit with a watch such as they are. For auto however, all the apps you’d want on in your car already exist on Android. Why wait for Navdy versions of all the apps we already have?
This is brilliant. And I personally think the price is completely justifiable.
A friend of mine felt the same way and actually pre-ordered. While I can’t bring myself to pull the trigger, I wont knock anyone that thinks it’s worth getting.
I won’t be getting it myself, but it’s definitely a good idea. Maybe if you didn’t buy so many phones haha.
I don’t care how fancy something can project, if it means wires running across my dash I say no thank you.
umm where do u see wires running across the dash??? r u stupid or just plain dumb??? its connected to the phone via bluetooth,,,,guess what, bluetooth is wireless…well wudddya f*%$kin know?!?
Does it run on AA batteries or what? How is it powered? That could add a wire.
Navdy requires a cable be plugged into your OBD II port…
Take it back to 4chan, buddy
well this escalated quickly ….
Just pre-ordered! Used my friend’s referral link. We should create a network of referral links for this. Is there a website/forum where people can share referral links to get rewards?
http://www.navdy.com/w9ytySbI
I wonder how it does when sunlight shines on it and stuff. Also not sure how worthwhile it is, the product looks amazing, but you’d have to find a way to run wires under the dash to the OBD-II port, not to mention how bad it may be in bright daylight or glare from in front or behind from the sun.
Overall, it has a dual core chip, camera, and projector with microphone and speakers and bluetooth. it’s similar to a smartphone, but no data. I’d say based on the specs, and depending on the cost of the projector, it’s probably worth $150-$200 retail. $300 feels a bit high, and $500 full retail is just crazy.