Just sharing my thoughts:
1. Easy and secure top of car camera
Not a chance, sorry.
2. 360º panoramic view
Even at 4k resolution, would still end up lacking too much detail. Also, ever tried watching back a 360º video on a regular monitor? Ever tried editing one? I would not enjoy that experience. I'd like to see multiple cameras covering 360º of the vehicle, but, not in one lens.
3. 4K res
Nice, but, at what cost vs say, 1080p, 1296p, 1440p, etc?
4. H2O-phobic
Don't care 'cos it ain't goin' on my roof. The windscreen exists for a reason.
5. License plate and distance sensors
ANPR capabilities would be nice, especially on a wide angle lens as you lose detail. Not sure if distance sensors would be useful or not. I guess you could set it to auto-lock a file if someone tailgates you within a certain distance. This distance would have to be a time based distance though so that it scales with speed. What is too close a distance at 70mph would be perfectly fine at say 20mph. The software would need to use speed + distance sensor to work out what is a safe gap. "Only a fool breaks the two second rule".
6. Powered by solar, wind, kinetic and maybe wireless transmission - Always on
Added expense for something that is not needed. If I want solar I'll buy one for the whole vehicle battery charging system, not just for one accessory.
7. Connected to internal powered control unit
Is this like a remote DVR unit tucked away in the boot (trunk), glovebox or under the seat? In which case, YES. Could we, if we wanted, put a nice 6TB HDD in it please? (as an optional upgrade that the owner could do themself, as 6TB is not cheap).
8. Control unit connected to 4G LTE (and already started testing on 5G test rig)
Probably way too too expensive for a long time yet, for most people. I don't want ongoing charges to use a dashcam.
9. Large encrypted video buffer that smart cloud purges
Encryption would be nice.
10. Smart object sensing
Not sure what the purpose of this would be.
11. Partial or all 360º streaming with variable bit rates
No 360º lens please, no streaming please. Variable bit rates is a pretty standard thing, isn't it?
12. Chain of evidence digitally preserved and provable in court
So it needs to be built with high standards of workmanship, using high quality components, to ensure the product is reliable, and not a liability.
13. Police can not get video off the unit or from the cloud. This is personal security video that YOU control.
Even the very best encryption would only slow down a determined Police force from decrypting something. No cloud storage please, too expensive.
14. Smart Alerts to your phone | Saves connected events - like initial casing by thief AND the act itself
With a very low cost data plan, this could work somewhat. For instance, if the G-sensor detects an event in parking mode, it could send you a text or email to alert you. Some SatNavs already have SIM cards in with unlimited for life data plans in them, but they are limited in what they can be used for. A similar deal could be struck for a smart connected dashcam to send alerts only (but not footage, unless it was re-encoded to very, very low quality and highly compressed before being uploaded).
I'd like to know:
1. Would you buy one?
Perhaps. If I could afford it, if it were reliable, if it had no gimmicks and did what a dashcam is supposed to do, then maybe.
2. What price would you pay for the unit?
Well, something like this, even with all the changes I suggested, is still going to be in the £300-£800 region I would have thought. Which is more than I can afford.
3. What price would you pay for monthly data service plan?
Nil.
4. Why you wouldn't buy one?
If it had a single 360º lens, if it mounted to the roof, if it required an expensive data plan, if it had too many gimmicks.
5. Would you buy a unit through Kickstarter-like offering?
I'm afraid not, no.