This go-to tech gadget is like the Ring camera - but for your cargo bed

When you get a banner new tech gadget − like the latest fancy-pants smartphone − you always get a few accessories to go with it. There’s that snazzy case you grab to protect it, some headphones, and maybe even an extra charger or two. 

But what about your car? Our vehicles are considered the biggest consumer tech gadgets of all. And guess what? Pickup trucks are at the center of the auto universe these days, with women and Millennials (people between the ages of 27 and 42) driving the most new sales. 

Light trucks accounted for 79.2% of all new vehicles sold [last year], reports the National Automobile Dealers Association. Ford’s F-Series, specifically, comes out on top. 

"F-Series is the second most valuable consumer product by revenue behind the iPhone. It is enormous,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told CBS News this time last year. 

Coming full circle here then: it’s no surprise that dashcams and security cameras for truck beds are a rapidly rising new must-have consumer tech accessory. 

What is the best method to prevent cargo theft?

Ford Motor Co. and security company ADT are a little over a year into their joint $105 million investment in the Canopy Pickup Cam. The device has two main parts — a high-definition camera that mounts to your rear window and keeps watch over the truck bed and a hub unit that tucks under the rear seats to power it all. 

I tried the Pickup Cam out for the entire month in two different trucks and was surprised at how easy it was to set up and use right out of the box. The camera uses a combination of AI, radar, accelerometers, and cameras to monitor and record anything sneaky going on, like someone reaching into your truck bed to steal tools. If that happens, it sends you an alert through an app on your smartphone. 

I like that it didn’t bother me with standard stuff outside the truck bed, though, like someone just walking by in a parking lot. That’s the magic of AI in the unit itself. 

The hub unit powers up and keeps itself charged through your pickup’s OBD-II port. Pair it with the app on your smartphone, and it sends alerts and footage to the cloud over cellular LTE. Through the Canopy App, you can view a live stream from the camera, review stored footage, and get alerts when someone’s messing with your stuff. 

I’ve had my car broken into twice in the last five years; both times were in the Oakland, California, area, where it seems like smash-and-grabs are more common than rainfall. 

Dealing with thieves is expensive and time-consuming for people who use their vehicles for work, like construction crews, landscapers, and delivery drivers. One of my friends who owns a construction company swears by the Canopy Pickup Cam and says the best part of using it is that it automatically saves video and stores it in the cloud, which is life-changing when filing police reports and insurance claims. The unit is $299 with a $14.99 monthly subscription. 

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Why are dashcams so popular? 

This is a question I’ve been wondering about for a while now, mainly because of how many dashcam videos go viral and end up in my social feeds. From tornado’s touching down and adorable kitten rescues to some of the most hair-raising, dumb-driver near misses you can imagine, dashcams provide an entire category of trendy content. 

How common is cargo theft?

But that’s not the reason they’ve gotten so popular. Remember about must-have gadget accessories? Between the skyrocketing number of vehicle thefts, smash-and-grabs, insurance premiums, and even parents wanting to keep an eye on teen drivers, sales of new dashcams are skyrocketing in the United States. 

I’ve never used one before, so to try them out, we grabbed the just-launched Nextbase iQ ($499), and after using it in our 2007 Mercedes, I can’t imagine going without it again. 

Like Canopy’s Pickup cam, it’s straightforward to set up and use and basically turns any make, model, or year of the car into a connected car. It uses front and rear cameras and AI to scan the road ahead and behind in high-def and record when it senses something out of the norm. It also keeps an eye on what’s happening inside your car. This is pretty genius. It starts recording when you open the door and can even call emergency responders if you get into a crash and can’t do it yourself. (It senses that you’re unresponsive.) 

Another cool trick is Witness Mode, especially for my daughter and me when we are out driving somewhere by ourselves. All you have to do is say, “Start Witness Mode,” and it starts recording video and sharing live footage with a trusted emergency contact. This particular dashcam also lets parents set speed and location limitations for new drivers and sends you an alert on the mobile app if they break them. 

I especially like being able to pull up video of my car from the app when I can’t remember where I parked it or need to check if my meter’s out of time. While I hope I never have to use it for a crash or theft, it feels good to have it there. 

Expect to see more auto-tech accessories in 2024 as well. After all, this must-have consumer gadget-accessory trend is starting to take off. 

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech columnist and on-air correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. Contact her at[email protected].