SEMA 2006 Observations…

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is the premier automotive trade event in the world. Held each year in Las Vegas, the event provides seminars, product demonstrations, special events and more. As I am involved in the speed counter measurement industry, it is a great opportunity for me, to network with others in the same industry.

This year we met with manufactures and reps from Escort, Beltronics, Cheetah, Blinder, RAM, Whistler, GSG Technologies, KAT (Kick Ass Technologies) and even Rocky Mountain Radar.

Our first stop was at Blinder, where we met with the CEO of Blinder International Torbin Anderson and Leon Gruner of Blinder USA. One pressing question we had involved the recent laser jammers that have been selling overseas that Blinder aledges infringe on their US patent. Torbin explained that they are actively enforcing their patent here in the USA and if they become aware of any retailer within the US that sells and/or promotes these jammers, that they will take the proper legal steps in not only shutting the merchant down, but also seizing the merchandise and filing for restitution. Blinder International was just successful in obtaining the patent for their product design in South Africa and are also active in obtaining other patents in other countries.

Torbin also explained that Blinder is also in the final stages of development of a new parking sensor product, that is expected to be released in the first quarter of 2007.

Blinder also hinted to watch for information on new product releases within the next few weeks regarding their line of laser jammers.

Next stop was with the Whistler Group, where we got to see some new detectors that will be coming to the market soon. Two new cordless models that have spun off their popular 1788 model are the XTR 185 and the XTR 190. The XTR185 has a new feature in that it is the first “solar enhanced” radar detector. The top of the XTR185 has a solar panel,  that will extend the lifetime of a set of batteries several hours, if the detector is left mounted in the windshield.

Although Escort did not have an “official” presence at this years show, company representatives were present at the Beltronics booth. They were all very tight lipped about any new devices coming to market, and would not confirm rumors that we had heard of a new Escort model that would début at the January CES show. However we did learn that their SR7 would be paired with an improved laser jamming device, but that the RX75 would not be sold with any active laser countermeasure device.

I then had lunch with Speed Cheetah and was blown away by the interface devices that they plan on offering the first quarter of 2007. The first was a helmet display module that had six different LED lights and an audio output. There was one LED light for each radar band and laser band, with the other two LED lights that would interface with either laser jammers and/or GPS devices.

They then had a clip on rear view mirror that had a built in GPS based safety camera alert system with the interface for remote mounted radar detectors and laser jammers.

Each of these interface devices will interconnect with any high end detector from Bel, Escort, Valentine or any laser jammer from Blinder, Lidatek or Drive Smart.

GSG Technologies was next on our list, and we learned that they had completely redesigned their VF Photo Jammers. Their product successfully passed the testing at the 2005 Speed Measurement Laboratories test of successfully blocking the photo of safety camera devices. However many of the cameras in the Scottsdale Arizona now use the Redflex Traffic Systems camera. Because this system uses a double flash the VF Photo Jammer could not recycle in time and block their photos. They explained that their new design allows them to block these cameras and we will be arranging a retest with the Scottsdale cameras in the near future.

Perhaps our biggest surprise was seeing CEO and founder of Rocky Mountain Radar Michael Churchman, sitting in front of another display, KAT Inc.

We learned (and later confirmed) that Michael Churchman founded his new company, Kick Ass Technologies, because of all the pressure Rocky Mountain Radar has been under involving the sales of radar scramblers. Mr. Churchman related that by removing the radar scrambler function from the KAT line of detectors he could then get his products into the Auto Zone type of stores more easily.

Although he may had removed the scrambler from his KAT line, he still used outrageous marketing claims to unsuspecting customers. These are just a sample of some of his claims to attendees at his booth: 

1:  That his KAT detector can detect and jam any laser gun up to two miles away.
2:  That he purposely reduced the overall range of his radar detectors to only 2 miles ahead, because if you picked up any further away (like a Bel or Escort will) you may feel that it was a false alert.
3:  He was kicked out of Radio Shack because his products were outselling the Radio Shack detectors, and Radio Shack was not making any money on their product line.
4:  That his radar detectors were immune to the new Spectre IV and that they were now designing a new Spectre in Australia just so they could detect his detectors

On Thursday night during the SEMA show, I spotted Mike at a Las Vegas lounge at the Stratosphere casino and invite him to sit down with me. Our (video taped) conversation about his products and my $5000.00 challenge will follow in a new post..