Sygic's speedometer app with integrated dash cam now exclusive to Windows Phone

By Daniel Rubino
published

Operating a car in 2014 is still in many ways like driving 20 years ago. However, technology is making a big push in our automobiles these days, especially with smartphones. One popular trend, particularly in Russia, is the dashboard camera. In many countries, drivers have taken to scamming insurance companies to collect money by faking accidents (or overplaying the severity of real ones). As a solution, motorists now record their movements, much like the police, for use if something happens

Sygic has just updated their Speedometer app for Windows Phone 8. Speedometer already features a GPS-Based based speedometer to set alerts, 50,000 fixed speed and red-light camera locations and community reporting feature with worldwide coverage but it's the dashboard camera feature that piqued our interest.

Version 2.1 is now live in the Store, and it brings a new, exclusive dashboard camera feature to Windows Phone. The new dashboard camera is not a free add-on though, as users pay a modest $1.99/1.99EUR a month or $19.99/19.00EUR a year for the service. The reason for that is the dashboard camera videos can be uploaded to Sygic's Azure servers for cloud storage. That may seem odd, as opposed to just saving them to OneDrive, but there's a good legal reason. Sygic's Daniela Zelinova tells us:

"The videos are uploaded to our cloud where we are processing them and adding metadata (location, date, time, speed) as subtitles. This way users don't have to worry about data usage in their OneDrives. Moreover, we can guarantee that users did not modify the metadata, so the videos are a reliable source of evidence in the case of an insurance claim."

If an accident occurs and the video was recording, the user can save the video to the cloud, which can then be used later in insurance claims or by police. It's a neat option, one that Americans may be unfamiliar with but some people in other countries will appreciate.

Besides the dashboard camera, bonus benefits for the premium subscription include posted speed limits, so you are aware of what your speed should be, premium speed camera information from TomTom, Eifrig Media, MapaRadar, and more features "coming soon."

Features of Speedometer 2.1

  • Alerts for over 55,000 speed traps and red light cameras worldwide
  • Alert other drivers about nearby cameras with the touch of a button
  • Track trip stats including time spent in the car, average speed and distance traveled
  • Set custom speed limit alerts in the app
  • Simple, intuitive interface that shows just the info needed, reducing potential distraction
  • Built-in dash cam
  • Crowdsourced updates of speed trap database and share information with other drivers*

In using Speedometer by Sygic, I found the app very clean and easy to use. It is an ideal dashboard app in that all the important information you need is easily identified, and core features are selected with a tap of a finger. Even if you do not use the premium features, the free parts of the app are still worth the download. The videos themselves are good quality with all the GPS, speed and location info stamped on the video. Although each trip is one long video, when viewed in the app they are broken down into one minute chapters so you can easily hop to the pertinent scene. Videos can then be moved from temporary to saved and from saved they can be selected for uploading at the user's discretion.

The dashboard camera and premium features are exclusive to Windows Phone before migrating over to iOS and Android next month. Grab Speedometer by Sygic and let us know what you think or whether you need such an app!

QR: Speedometer

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

67 Comments
  • Looks nice. Back when I was rocking an Android phone I was using the Sygic navigation app. It's really very good (paid). I wonder if they're looking at bringing that to Windows Phone? Would be a good bit of competition in our ecosystem.
  • Also, because of their GPS navigation app they know a lot about speed zones around the world. I found the speed information on their fully featured Android app to be "fairly" accurate (as inaccurate as the best of the competition). So.... this app should have the same speed information available to it.
  • It should be
    We are catching up with ios and android so well
  • Well, installed it, even payed for updates since Sygic was a well known name in the Symbian area. Deinstalled it 3 weeks later, since it was the poorest app I ever installed on WP8. If offers next to nothing, eats battery power like hell, and warnes even if you head off from any essential points, against taking into account if you get closer to it or not. I even reported an abuse to Microsoft since what they claim this app does offer is simply totally wrong. There's a couple of freely available competitors avaiable which simply do work. Not to mention that a support request about the issues was answerred 3,5 weeks later after iniated. A comapny which is simply not worth to exist nowadays. And an app which is equal in quality.
  • I used Sinc too on Android but I find Here Drive better
  • How do you 'rock' a phone? ;) I can just see me saying, "But officer my phone says I was doing 70 mph!" Try using that defence in a England & Wales court of law! But I love the speed camera warning though, I'd pay just to have that!
  • Nice
  • The UI looks good.. and I really think its probably the best speedometer app in the store right now... but for some reason it says "GPS inaccurate" even though my location is turned on and the maps are able to locate me accurately. I hope its just a temporary issue...
  • Sahil, I left you a PM on this issue. I work for Sygic and I'm responsible for this app.
  • I wish Sygic would also release their GPS navigation app on Windows Phone as well. :/
  • Same here... Loved it on Symbian...
  • Our ecosystem is growing so well
  • My thoughts exactly
  • What he said.
  • Also useful if the police beat the crap out of you.
  • +SPD
  • Now all I need is a mount that will hold my 1520.
  • +1520.3
  • +RM-938
  • Clingo the original not the knock off as seen on TV brand. clingo.com It works well enough to hold my RT without releasing from the window. I use it daily for my 920. My son uses it on his 1520 attached to the rear passenger window in my Tundra. I have tried the as seen on TV model and there is a differance in the sticky material that grabs the phone.
  • Looks cool! I'll probably try it out. A little of the path, but has anyone seen the new app customize tile. ? It lets you create transparent app shortcuts to apps, but you also get to draw the symbol for the app ( or write what you want) I didn't think it was tip worthy so I stated it here.
  • Windows Phone first?? Cannot compute. O_o
  • We are the small market beta testers. Smart because unpopularity on WP wouldn't be as bad as unpopularity in android or iOS. All devs should use WP as testing gounds.
  • Good idea, but this wasn't the case. We really wanted to see how the response on WP platform would be. By now it's been awesome, so you can expect more of that in the future. Note: I work for Sygic as product manager responsible for this app.
  • Awesome! Thank you for the support!
  • Are the speed zones kinda like that in HERE services like that a lot. Don't really get the idea of the recording
  • Sucks you have to pay monthly for the dashcam functionality.
  • Just get a regular dash cam. CR-500HD is one of the best.
  • I have one already actually. :P
  • I think its reasonably priced, especially for younger drivers who in the UK have ridiculous insurance premiums. If they drive responsibly and use this, but are involved in an incident, this can save them many hundreds of pounds each year.
  • We need a full blown sygic navigation app. It's one of the best for offline navigation in Android. I use this on my Nexus 7 tablet that's embedded in my car.
  • Salute respect to the developer who makes it for wp. The developer loves windows phone it shows
  • Potential purchasers should be aware that speed camera warning systems are illegal in several European countries.
  • In Slovak Rep as well and see?! This app exists.. 
  • We've done a research together with our data partners and I can assure you that the app is legal in most of the European countries. There are only two countries where apps like this are illegal - Switzerland and Liechtenstein (in these countries you cannot report and will not get any warnings). And there's and exception in France where you can't warn the user for a specific place (you can only use danger zones for alert). In other countries (like Slovakia, which was mentioned here) it's 100 % legal. Note: I work for Sygic as a product manager.
  • Yep, my fail .. Only radar jamms are strictly prohibited.
  • So does the dash cam save your current speed as well? That could work against the user lol
  • You're one of the reasons why people need apps like this one.
  • Well you're quick to pass judgement, you realize most drivers go over the speed limit usually by +10km/h (don't know about US) and the fact that most accidents are caused by erratic driving, not giving right of way and ignoring stop sign/ yield signs? Oh and another major cause was people being distracted using phones (not counting unskilled drivers that get scratches/dents + drinking and driving) Not saying speeding is ok, but consider this. Road engineers in my country had their calculated speed limit cut by 10km because the city "said" it would make the roads safer, but a neighboring city followed the recommendations and had the iirc less accident rates compared to before point is insurance can potentially deny claims even if you've only went over a little (if, they were dicks... )
  • To answer your US speeding question: yes, we do. Usually 5-10 mph over the speed limit will not get you in trouble, and everyone goes over the limit except in school zones and construction areas, where the penalty is double. (or higher).
  • It does.
  • Thanks :)
  • hm, just realized it did say speed in the ( )... not sure how I missed it
  • No Swedish version :(
  • We are adding new languages with every update. It is possible we will add Swedish in one of the future releases. Note: I work for Sygic as a product manager and I'm responsible for this app.
  • Sounds great, thnx.
  • Please, Sygic nav app for WP. I know your Windows team is kinda low on budget but I think it's time to rethink.
  • It's not a question of budget. Releasing such complex application on a completely new platform is quite tricky, as you have to basically dedicate a whole new team to it (UX, UI, development, product, marketing, etc.). Right now I can't promise anything, but we might release Sygic Navigation on WP in a short time. Please, don't ask when. :)
  • The premium version is too expensive,€20.00 a year :(
  • Slovak APP on WPC, nice :) ..
  • I used to use Sygic in the Razr Maxx I had and it was way better than here drive at the time since then however here drive has come a long way and I wouldn't change it for anything. Nothing wrong with choice though especially for people coming from Android.. Nice to have something familiar.
  • Well well premium features on WP first before ios and android, cant complain. I'd get this but maintaining a car, road tax, mot, insurance is just insane here (not to mention the parking.. In the city its mental) its much cheaper to commute but even that gets unfeasible over long distances due to the extortionate price of season tickets - a lose - lose situation lol.
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  • Looks pretty impressive, love the video functionality will test it in London tomorrow. Great that its WP first.
  • Sygic is the only app I miss from Android. It's to me much better than Here Drive. I especially appreciated the speed warnings for e.g. that in 500m you need to drop to 50km/h because there's a village (Here Drive could also easily implement this or make it optional). I also miss the multiple lanes in highways and also to understand on which side of the road is the POI I'm searching for. I'd pay another subscription to get! Therefore I'm really happy they created this app for WP. Pity their navigation app was dropped from Windows since Windows Mobile
  • Can anyone recommend a decent heads up display? Really want to get one as they look pretty cool.
  • We'll be adding HUD in one of the future releases to the Speedometer by Sygic app. Note: I work for Sygic as a product manager and I'm responsible for Speedometer by Sygic.
  • Hmm... How about phone battery life and data usage? Just wondered...
  • It depends on many things (device, settings, if you use all the functionality, etc.). When we tested the app while driving, it drained about 10 % each hour. However, that was without the video recording. When you take into account what device features the app uses (display, GPS, internet connection, and now even video recording), you can't expect it will last very long. I'd say a few hours max. Note: I work for Sygic as a product manager responsible for this app.
  • Nice :-) waiting for my 1020, finally ditching the iPhone 5S. if you need a free Norwegian translation just give me a shout :-)
  • Thanks! :) Drop me a message and I'm sure we'll work something out.
  • I have a speedometer, where is the Sygic's GPS Navagaion app for Windows Phone? It looks great and has offline maps too.
  • An important thing to note is that in the UK, use of this app in the car by the driver is illegal. The only interactive display that is permitted for use while driving is a sat nav system. Other than that, if the police catch you using it then you could potentially be fined/arrested/receive points on your license. Not only that, but while the intention of the app is to record movements to help you as a driver keep within the law, the majority of users would use this app as a means of purposely avoiding speed cameras, while speeding elsewhere. This is also very bad; as we all know, speed cameras are there to help save lives. Also, the sheer fact that it has a built in "dash cam" would make it restricted even more so. It would be highly recommended to state in the article that use of this app may be illegal in some countries, for legal reasons. It would be very bad if Mobilenations were pulled up for inticing people to break the law in certain territories. In response to a previous comment:
    "There are only two countries where apps like this are illegal - Switzerland and Liechtenstein (in these countries you cannot report and will not get any warnings)." Please read the Road Traffic Act, and the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. Also, read this:
    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1986/1078/regulation/109/made (Mobile phones have the ability to play video, therefore classed as a cinematographic device. In-dash cams are not required as you are expected to look through the windscreen to keep control of the vehicle, not an interactive display (exception being reverse parking aid cameras)).
  • Thanks for the information. We'll look into it. As I wrote before, we've done some research on this topic and as far as I'm concerned, it is not illegal to use this app in the UK. There's even several UK companies that develop apps similar to ours (such as Cyclops). Not to mention, those apps are focused solely on speed cams and police traps. One more thing - I understand that there might be an impression that the purpose of the app is to help unresponsible drivers avoid fines. This is not true. Please, bear in mind that the speed camera notifications are just a small part of the feature set. Our goal is to keep drivers safe and make their journeys comfortable. That's why you have the speed limits and speed alert notifications, informations about incidents on your route, the trip log, and now the dash cam as well. As for the speed cameras / police traps database - we implemented the warnings to continualy remind you of the presence of such devices and make you drive within the speed limit. It is proven that such information helps decrease speeding and accidents in general (that's why you also get this kind of information in the radio as well). Many governments even disclose the position of speed cameras and police traps in advance (Spain, Slovakia, Mauritius, to name a few). Note: I work for Sygic as a product manager responsible for this app.
  • Almost an instant buy for me. But I use my 920 for navigation in my car. Therefore I would definitely use the dashcam option, but not the speedmeter.
    Will the dashcam app keep running while I use Nokia Here on the foreground?
  • Unfortuantely Windows Phone doesn't support video recording for apps running in the background. If I may ask - why do you need Nokie Here running? Because of the map?
  • In Honduras, on my 920, this app would open but would never register a speed. Maybe there was a problem locking on a GPS signal, but this kind of thing happens often enough with WP apps that I now know when to stop wasting time. Deleted.