The IT Nerd

Here’s a sure sign that your product is a hit. You’ve announced it, it isn’t shipping yet, but everybody is putting down their hard earned cash for one. 

That’s the case for Navdy which I talked about little while ago. It was announced today that pre-orders have passed the $1 million mark. They were looking for $60K, but they blew past it in two hours. That’s pretty stunning. 

Navdy is still available at the introductory price of $299, a 40% discount from its projected retail price of $499 for another 21 days.  Early customers will also be rewarded for spreading the word to their friends and family; every time someone buys Navdy from your referral you’ll earn a $30 discount, which means after 10 referrals your Navdy is free!  Early customers will also have the chance to vote on which smartphone apps and features they’d like Navdy to support when it ships in early 2015.

Navdy announced the start of its pre-order campaign their Head-Up Display (HUD) that allows drivers to access their smartphone’s apps while keeping their eyes on the road. Navdy combines a high quality projection display with voice and gesture controls to create a safer, highly intuitive driving experience.

Navdy is the world’s first in-car platform that offers:

• Advanced display technology:  Projects a transparent image directly within your field of view that appears to float six feet in front of your windshield so you can maintain your focus on the road while viewing navigation instructions, incoming calls, speed, etc.  It’s the same technology used by airline pilots to keep their eyes on the runway while landing an airplane.
• Works in any car: The device can be mounted on any car dashboard, and is powered by plugging in to the onboard computer (OBD II port), available in all cars produced since 1996.
• Intuitive touch-less gesture and voice controls: You never need to look away from the road while using Navdy. Glance-able apps are controlled with intuitive touch-less hand gestures, while voice recognition lets you ask for directions. Navdy’s noise cancellation technology and wide angle gesture sensors are specifically designed to create an optimal driving experience.
• All the apps you need:  Navdy works with navigation apps such as Google Maps for turn by turn directions, and music apps such as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes Music and Google Play Music. Navdy can read aloud or display notifications from text messages or social media apps, subject to Parental Control settings.  Navdy is compatible with iPhone (iOS 7+) and Android (4.3+) smartphones.
• Integrated with your car:  Navdy links to your car and is able to display information such as your speed, RPM, miles-to-empty, fuel economy stats, tire-pressure warning or battery-voltage warning from the car’s computer, all presented on your windshield within your field of view.
• Tuned for the driver: Critical information like turn by turn directions and your speed do not disappear when a phone call comes in the way your navigation app disappears to the background on a smartphone when a call comes in.  The information you need, when you need it is always present and clearly within your field of view.

Here’s a video of it in action:

Navdy is running a 30 day pre-order campaign at http://navdy.com/preorder.  Navdy is planning to raise $60,000 through its pre-sales campaign to get backers on board and support initial production efforts. Backers will be able to pre-order Navdy at the introductory price of $299, a 40% discount from its projected retail price of $499. Backers will also be rewarded for spreading the word to their friends and family; every time someone buys Navdy from your referral you’ll earn a $30 discount, which means after 10 referrals your Navdy is free. Backers will also vote on which smartphone apps and features they’d like Navdy to support when it ships in early 2015.