Let's see: no weird angles, no distortion, no phones sliding around the dash, no having to run shoddily made apps with backwards displays...there are plenty of reasons for the $799 price.

Chinese knockoffs are already in full speed at a much lower price. One of my friends saw an exact Navdy knockoff called Carrobot in China selling for only $400. Supposedly it worked pretty well and was already shipping back in February.

The price is high, but it's still non mainstream tech and also, IMO - I'm no expert, a life changing advantage compared to anything else. Even a large phone nicely placed will be more distracting than a semi transparent overlay right in your field of view. It allows to keep binocular focus on the road. Any time I have to aim anywhere I lose track of what happens on the road, I also lose sense of depth, peripheral vision isn't build for that.

I want to find a way to have a HUD asap. Actually I dreamt about making one in a different way last week and I'm a bit jealous right now.

People are weird when it comes to buying car addons :) . Look at how much these 5-series upgrades cost: http://www.bmwusa.com/standard/content/byo/byohome.aspx?namo... .

I drive an '04 Civic, so it's all moot for me... but I'd guess that people are willing to pay ~$800 for the aesthetics of a HUD vs. the kind of phone mount you see in an UberX. Although who knows!