Some aspects of the invention relate to a mobile apparatus including an image sensor configured to convert an optical image into an electrical signal. The optical image includes an image of a vehicle license plate. The mobile apparatus includes a license plate detector configured to process the electrical signal to recover information from the vehicle license plate image. The mobile apparatus includes an interface configured to transmit the vehicle license plate information to a remote apparatus and receive an estimated value for a vehicle corresponding to the vehicle license plate in response to the transmission.