John_Dumke
Well-known member
What is Escort Live? As most of you know Escort makes radar detectors. Escort Live is an added iPhone / Android app that communicates (via bluetooth) with your Escort Radar detector, and with the rest of the Escort Live Alert community. When you or any other Escort Live user obtains an Ka or Laser alert, that alert is posted to the web and visible to all Escort Live users.
What originally got my attention to this product was it winning one of the Top 5 products at CES last year. That says quite a lot as I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of new products at CES every year.
The hardware: You buy an Escort Live Smart Cord, or if getting a new detector get the package deal. This Smart Cord replaces the normal power cord. The new Smart Cord enables bluetooth communication between the radar detector and the smart phone. In addition the smart cord has a USB header to connect power for the smart phone since it will be always running. The smart phone app is downloaded. You need to create an account. There is a subscription fee, but this is included in the purchase of the product for a year.
How does it work, the details: As I mentioned before, Ka and Laser sightings are automatically reported by other users Radar Detectors. In addition, other users can manually report police. These manual sightings automatically then show up on my smartphone screen immediately. I can visually look at the map to see where police or radar have been spotted, and the smartphone feeds the data back to the radar detector to give me audio warnings as well.
Living in Los Angeles, the product seems ideal. There is obviously a high volume of people, and it only takes a couple of users traveling the streets to give advance notice of police or speed traps. As an example, the first time I powered on the phone app. I saw Laser in Huntington beach at PCH and Seacliff, a very common place for police to write tickets. Ka also shows up at on Ocean Blvd in Downtown Long Beach, another heavily ticked area. So right from the get go, it looked promising.
The real weak point of a conventional Radar detector is our ability to combat instant on speed traps. This app really fills this void. In addition, just normal police sightings are very freequently posted by other users, showing you where the hot spots are. Certainly this type of product will work better in a heavily populated are. But this is exactly where most instant on speed traps are used. Cops don't sit on the side of the road in rural areas, waiting to zap people (for the most part). My experience has been that in most rural areas, police will use "Always On" radar, which gives you a fighting chance.
I definitely give the product "Two Thumbs Up"
What originally got my attention to this product was it winning one of the Top 5 products at CES last year. That says quite a lot as I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of new products at CES every year.
The hardware: You buy an Escort Live Smart Cord, or if getting a new detector get the package deal. This Smart Cord replaces the normal power cord. The new Smart Cord enables bluetooth communication between the radar detector and the smart phone. In addition the smart cord has a USB header to connect power for the smart phone since it will be always running. The smart phone app is downloaded. You need to create an account. There is a subscription fee, but this is included in the purchase of the product for a year.
How does it work, the details: As I mentioned before, Ka and Laser sightings are automatically reported by other users Radar Detectors. In addition, other users can manually report police. These manual sightings automatically then show up on my smartphone screen immediately. I can visually look at the map to see where police or radar have been spotted, and the smartphone feeds the data back to the radar detector to give me audio warnings as well.
Living in Los Angeles, the product seems ideal. There is obviously a high volume of people, and it only takes a couple of users traveling the streets to give advance notice of police or speed traps. As an example, the first time I powered on the phone app. I saw Laser in Huntington beach at PCH and Seacliff, a very common place for police to write tickets. Ka also shows up at on Ocean Blvd in Downtown Long Beach, another heavily ticked area. So right from the get go, it looked promising.
The real weak point of a conventional Radar detector is our ability to combat instant on speed traps. This app really fills this void. In addition, just normal police sightings are very freequently posted by other users, showing you where the hot spots are. Certainly this type of product will work better in a heavily populated are. But this is exactly where most instant on speed traps are used. Cops don't sit on the side of the road in rural areas, waiting to zap people (for the most part). My experience has been that in most rural areas, police will use "Always On" radar, which gives you a fighting chance.
I definitely give the product "Two Thumbs Up"
