LAS VEGAS —
Cobra Electronics went
to International CES to unveil two lines of
radar detectors and a Bluetooth-based
tagging device, which is designed to
help smartphone users prevent the loss
of personal possessions such as keys
or laptop bags.
These debuts were in addition to a
crowd-sourced database enhancement
to its iRadar smartphone app, also announced
during the show.
The new radar detectors consist of
five models across two product series.
The three-SKU Formula S series
and two-SKU Formula R series feature
new detection circuitry, improved performance
and range, enhanced falsesignal
rejection, and a redesigned highgain
radar/laser lens, Cobra said. Both
lines will be available in March.
The Formula S series starts at $89.95
and includes the XRS 9370, XRS 9470
and XRS 9570. Features include 14-
band detection, city/highway selector,
auto mute, LaserEye 360 laser detection
and voice alerts.
The Formula R series, which starts
at $159, includes the XRS 9670 and
XRS 9770 with 15-band detection, Intellishield
Tri-Level City mode, Smart
Power, DigiView data display, and eightpoint
compass.
The PhoneTag Bluetooth-tagging
system is billed as a loss-prevention
device that links an iPhone, BlackBerry
or Android smartphone equipped with
a Cobra app to a user’s personal possessions.
Users attach the Bluetoothequipped
PhoneTag device to an item,
and when the tag is out of Bluetooth
range, the user’s smartphone emits an
alert.
If the alert goes unnoticed, the smartphone
app uses cellular to transmit the
last-known GPS location of the tag and
when it was lost to a user-defined contact
list through email, text message, or
optionally to a linked Facebook or Twitter
account, Cobra said.
Pricing and availability weren’t given.
In what the company expects to be
a source of competition for the popular
Trapster smartphone app, Cobra’s
crowd-sourced database enhancement
to its iRadar smartphone app lets iRadar
users share among one another the
locations where they have spotted radar
and laser.
The iRadar app is a companion to
the company’s iRadar dash-mounted
radar detector. The user community
will provide GPS-based, near-real-time
updates of laser/radar locations, Cobra
said. The crowd-source features will be
released as an update in the spring.
Users will be able to use their smartphone
to submit database updates,
alerting other iRadar users of such
things as hazardous roads, traffic congestion
and temporary speed traps. Cobra
said its iRadar app already contains
tens of thousands of user-contributed
radar/laser points. The app also features
known speed and red-light camera
locations.
