​Escort's New App Warns You About Aircraft Speed Traps

Escort is out with two new radar detectors and an update to its smartphone app. The hardware looks nice, but the updated Escort Live app is what's interesting, including a new feature that tells you when the long arm of the law is patrolling the skies.

While most of us are unabashed devotees to the Valentine 1, Escort got my money a while back because of its app integration. By connecting its detector to a smartphone, not only does it increase functionality and decrease false alerts through GPS information, it allows Escort to add new features and tap into its treasure trove of data.

If you were a fan of Trapster in its heyday, the Escort Live app is like that, but with quantifiable, actionable data.

Say someone is on the same road as you, but 10 miles up ahead, and comes across a cop shooting radar or laser. The app recognizes the threat, sends it to Escort's servers, and then pushes it down to you within seconds. Escort's evolved this feature into what it calls "Intelligent Speed Trap" locations where it can keep enforcement areas constantly updated using both the automatic detection and users manually inputting a cop's location.

The updated app also brings Air Patrol, which includes a database of areas known to be enforced by aircraft speed monitoring. Escort keeps tabs on where theses zones are located (through marks in the road, known landmarks or user reports) and includes them as a warning in the app, giving drivers a heads up when they're approaching an area where aircraft are patrolling the skies, even if that's a thing that rarely happens.

And like the majority of app updates, Escort Live doesn't cost anything and doesn't require you to shell out the cash for a new detector to get the latest features.