This week I found some really interesting tech related news stories for investigators.  As a reminder, I will be sharing technology that relates to investigators to help investigators and future investigators with being up to date on technology trends.

Here we go.

What is Relay Crime? Can it be Stopped?

There is technology floating around for crooks that enables them to steal the signal from your key fob and transmit that signal to your vehicle to unlock the door and start your vehicle.  The system that is used by the crooks makes your vehicle believe the keys are present.  

The technology is called has been named “Relay Crime” because one crook with get the key fob signal from your keys (if it is in your home ) and will relay that signal to another device that another crook is holding next to your vehicle.  

Though this type of crime has likely been going on for some time it was recently caught on camera.

The video released by the Midlands Police shows the crime in action and it takes less than a minute for thieves to steal a vehicle.

The police state that there is a way to keep your vehicle safe despite thieves being able to enter your vehicle with this device. They suggest purchasing a steering wheel disk which is Thatcham approved or a Thatcham approved vehicle tracking device for your vehicle.

AR100 Covert Audio Recorder (Key Fob)

This week I posted my review of the AR100 Covert Audio Recorder by Lawmate.  This is a handy audio recorder that is very easy to operate and the recording quality is pretty good considering how small the device is.  

The device is in the shape of a key fob and could be very useful to someone wanting or needing to record a conversation covertly.  

As always be sure to follow the recording laws in your state.

Here is the review of the AR100 Covert Audio Recorder by Lawmate.

Autonomous Police Vehicle in the Future?

Several sources reported seeing a new filing from Ford for a patent on an autonomous police vehicle.  The patented was filed on July 12, 2016, and published on January 18, 2018.

Though I am sure this is far from a reality just yet, this was very forward thinking from Ford in pursuing different ways autonomous vehicles can be used.

This was no surprise considering the race from several car manufacturers in creating a functional safe autonomous vehicle.  

The technology in creating vehicles that can drive on their own is making leaps and bounds every day.   I am really excited for what the future holds. 

How The Autonomous Police Vehicle By Ford  Might Be Use

The first page of the patent includes a diagram that reflects a camera system or speed detection system identifying a speeding vehicle.  That system would then alert the autonomous police vehicle that may pursue the speeding vehicle.  A traditional police officer in a vehicle would then also pursue the speeding vehicle as well.

Once the vehicle is pulled over by the autonomous police vehicle both vehicles would communicate via transmitted/received signals.  If the offending vehicle was in the autonomous driving mode it would transmit that to the autonomous police vehicle.  If it was in manual mode it would transmit a drivers license photo of the driver to the autonomous police.  The  autonomous police vehicle would then send the offending vehicle the disposition of the violation (ticket, warning, etc..)

There are many other things mentioned in the patent that makes for an interesting read which can be found here- FORD Autonomous vehicle patent.

Quick Thoughts

What do you think this means for the private investigation industry relating to surveillance?  Are we going to be able to do surveillance from our home?  Are we just going to remotely drive our surveillance vehicles around town?  Maybe not because we still need that covert video footage :).

512 GB Micro SD Card Now Available

It has been almost 4 years since the 128GB SD Card first came about which I discussed it in a Tech Tuesday Episode.  Would you believe that there is a 512 GB SD card available now?  I mean really?  I remember when entire computers had that much memory storage.  Yeah, and entire computer use to have that much memory and now we can stick that much memory on a card the size of a thumbnail.

In an article from Mashable, they discuss how a company named Integral sells a 512 GB Micro SD card which essentially makes you feel power mad after sticking this memory card in a phone or tablet.  

They said in the article that the memory card wouldn’t be available until February.

What I did find is a 512GB standard SD card which I didn’t even know was a thing.  The memory card made by Lexar (a well-known company) and is being sold on Amazon for $220. It has class 10 performance and has read transfer speeds up to 95MB.

I did find a 512GB Micro SD card on Amazon but it was not made/sold by a company I was familiar with so I will not be sharing that link.

Could you imagine all the surveillance video that can be stored on this memory card? For those investigators that like to keep surveillance video on the original memory card, this might be the card for you.

Here is the 512 standard card below. (I am an Amazon affiliate and will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you should you purchase this through my link)

HQ Trivia ( Trivia for Money at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m.)

I had to share this app with you because it can be quite a bit of entertainment for you two times a day.  This app is called HQ Trivia.  Basically two times a day a live trivia game is played and you can win money if you get all the answers right.  

I just wanted to share this fun game in case your interested.

For Apple-

For Android-

If you know of some technology that might be related to investigators message me through the contact page and I will be sure to check it out and share it with the community.

Andrew