News about Automotive Gadgets:
Vieria Concept Car actually cleans the air
I think that we all know that nothing contributes to the growing problem of air pollution than the automobile. However, this Vieria concept car is not planning on being a contributor, but it will clean the air.
Advantech announces TREK-550 in-vehicle fanless computer
Advantech has just announced the brand new TREK-550 in-vehicle fanless computer which will see action in transport trucks, buses, vehicle fleets and taxis, where it will be able to hook up to a range of monitoring systems. We’re talking about onboard diagnostics (OBD-II), a car area network (CAN), and tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) amongst others.
Wind Explorer car is both electric and kite powered, and crossed Australia
This is the Wind Explorer, and it is a car that can drive by kite.
The Wind Explorer can take credit for breaking three world records: the first continental crossing by a wind-powered vehicle, the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle, and the longest distance covered by a wind-powered vehicle in 36 hours.
BrainDriver allows you to drive with your mind
Imagine getting behind the wheel of your car, and no hands were required on the wheel.
This is the technology of BrainDriver which is under development at Freie Universität Berlin by professor Raul Rojas. BrainDriver uses a head cap with 16 sensors that allow the driver to have control over the wheel.
Pagani Huayra car will cost…one million dollars in the United States
Some of you have heard about the Zonda, a huge leader in top speed and power contests for automobiles.
The Zonda is made by Italian supercar manufacturer Pagani Automobili SpA. They have a new model called the Huayra, named after the ancient God of the wind Huayra Tata.
The Most Convenient Bluetooth Headset
If there is one thing that I have noticed about Hammacher’s products, it is the use of adjectives. While some of them might sound out of this world (as our readers have pointed out in the past via comments), surely they haven’t gotten slapped with a lawsuit before for false advertising, which means their claims are legit?
GM’s EN-V Concept Car – Home, James!
I get in a car these days and I’m amazed that I actually get where I’m going without getting killed, or at least seriously maimed. There are simply too many people on the road. Sometimes while stuck in traffic I remember the Jetsons, you know, the cartoon about the space age family, they had cars that drove themselves, well, they could fly too, but thats besides the point.
The DashLink Console – Because Bikers Like Tech Too
I love the feel of the wind in my hair, my leather jacket against my skin and the power of a Harley Davidson motorcycle under my butt… Just me and the open road, bugs in my teeth, listening to the growl of my American made beast, and um, my iPod… Okay, I don’t ride a damn bike, but if I did, I’d want a Dashlink Console.
iCar has discovered the secret of flight: It’s the wheels
I always love to report on flying cars as much as I can.
This one, which is called the iCar, doesn’t need any wings or magic to fly but uses specially designed wheels. Apparently round spinning surfaces can create lift, which is called the Magnus Effect.
Find-My-Car insures that you never forget where you park your car
Did I tell you that I lost my rental car at the Caesar’s Palace parking garage during CES 2011 in Las Vegas? Of course I didn’t. I was way too embarrassed to put it in print.
This is what a car could look like in the 22nd Century
If you look at automobiles eighty or so years ago, you’ll find that they were all box-like and monochromatic. Compare that to the cars of today, which can be very curvaceous and colorful.
RoboCar ZMP gets an upgrade or Knight Rider is now a Smart Car
It has been about six months since we reported on the RoboCar MEV from ZMP. At the time, it was a little robot head on a car frame that came off as cute.
Hot Wheels get some camera action
We have seen some neat developments in Hot Wheels cars recently. For example, there were those miniature R/C cars the size of regular Hot Wheels cars.
New! CarFi – Now your Internet connection has wheels
I can’t tell you how often I wish I had a reliable internet connection in my car. There are so many times I wanted to check something, like movie times, or handle some last minute paperwork or bill paying while I was waiting in line at the car wash, sure with the phones we have these days you might think it redundant, but in my case I use a proprietary computer for my day job and I can’t access my files on any other PC.
BMW: Emergency Stop Assistant – because you can’t drive unconscious
Sometimes when I am walking down the stairs I wonder, what would happen if I fainted right now? Of course I spend a goodly percentage of my life wondering about weird stuff like that. I won’t tell you anymore about it. It’s probably not a good thing.
NEOs Concept Vehicle
This is the NEOS concept vehicle, which is some sort of motorbike combined with a car. It can take two people at once, and runs on electricity.
Robotic road train could change commuting as we know it
I think we all know that most of us waste a lot of quality work time driving to and fro to work each day. To make matters worse, some of us decide to “use the time better” by talking on the cell phone or doing other mobile applications that lead to distracted driving accidents.
DARPA creates flying Humvee with the TX
Every once in a while, you see DARPA flexing its military and scientific muscles, and you’ll see some sort of cool device that looks like it has leaped out of a science-fiction story.
PhotoFast – A new wireless audio solution for your car
I love my iPod, and I especially love my music collection, what I don’t love is trying to listen to my iPod in the car. I hate driving with earbuds and my stupid little portable speaker just doesn’t cut it. But since the introduction of Airplay, Apple’s new streaming technology that allows audio (photos and video) to be streamed from any iOS device to another iOS device, I knew good things were about to happen.
Metropolis II: Art, Toy, or Both?
Now that Thanksgiving is over, a lot of households are setting up a toy electric train track around a Christmas tree. Imagine if you had to set up something like this!
These things on the road charge your car as you drive over them
I think we all know that electric cars are probably the way of the future, but they really do need charging all the time. This would make trips longer, with more stops having to be made along the way.
Formula Rossa Roller Coaster at Ferrari World
I report on roller coasters about as much as I ride them, which is hardly ever. The Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit might be most high-tech one, but this Formula Rossa roller coaster in Abu Dhabi is most certainly the world’s fastest.
ASSET camera can bust you for five moving violations in five seconds
It seems like technology always finds a way to police us, and this camera system known as ASSET (Advanced Safety and Driver Support for Essential Road Transport) will more than likely increase the number of moving violations more than red-light cameras.
Urbee, the 3D printed car
This is Urbee, not to be confused with Herbie, a sentient Volkswagen from Walt Disney.
Urbee could easily be as unique as the Love Bug, as it is the only car ever to have its frame, including the glass, made from a 3D printer. I don’t know about the engine or the other inner workings.
Null Concept Car has “Apps” option
This is the Null, and it is a concept electric vehicle designed by Jeongche Yoon to be the super-compact car of the future.
Solar Power Auto Cooler
Although you can’t exactly switch your entire world of gadgets into solar-powered ones, you can certainly take care of the smaller gadgets. Having some sort of a fan to keep you cool when you’re not in the mood for air conditioning requires you to use more power from your car. However, if you picked up this Solar Power Auto Cooler you could easily handle taking some edge off of that heat.
Biometric Vehicle Starter
It used to be the only way to start up a car was with that shiny key, but now there are other options. The most common alternative is pushing a button. Well if you’re not a fan of that route, now you can make sure you’re the only one that can start your car. Instead of pushing buttons or turning a key, you just have to put your pointer finger right up to that tiny scanner. If you’d like to allow a couple of other people to drive your car, you can have their fingerprints stored in the database.
Halo Intersceptor is a car, copter, plane, and boat
I’m sure you are probably thinking that this is a pretty cool car. It sort of reminds me of the futuristic Audi that Will Smith drove around in I, Robot.
What Ford was doing at CTIA Fall 2010
As an attendant of CTIA Fall 2010, I couldn’t figure out what Ford Motor company was doing there. As it turns out, they were promoting the MyFord Touch. I got to get behind a tricked-out dashboard, and saw why they wanted to show off.
NYC gets snazzy new taxi toppers
That triangle on the top of a taxi hasn’t changed much in recent years. They’re handy for broadcasting whether or not the Taxi is on duty, but not for much more than that. Instead of having a taxi with the ugly plastic box on top they could have this far more attractive metal box that is packed full of LED lights. It’ll allow for companies to advertise on Taxi cabs, plus this little box makes your iPhone run a whole lot better while you’re in the cab.
Lanesafe reminds you what side of the road to drive on
I have to admit that I have never driven in a car in a foreign country where the rules of the road are reversed.
If I did, I want want to get the Lanesafe. It is a device made to suction-cup to the windshield, and then project a green arrow or red X to remind the driver of what side of the road he or she should be driving on.
Movie Theater Bus
In the late 1960’s, the UK’s Ministry of Technology was commissioned to make seven vans that could be a movie theater.
School uses optical illusion to slow drivers
No one actually likes speed bumps, but they do have their benefits. They at least keep people from driving too quickly in areas that they shouldn’t, but even when you’re at crawling speeds, to drive over one is quite jarring. One Canadian school is trying out a different method to get cars to slow down. Instead of using bumps they’re painting a 3D optical illusion of a girl crossing the street.
Prius Gets Louder To Protect Pedestrians
It’s hard not to be shocked by how quiet a Prius is once it’s switched over to running on electric at low speeds. There is virtually no sound coming from the car, which should make it no surprise that the US auto safety agency has found that hybrids are twice as likely to be involved in a pedestrian accident at low speeds. When you’re crossing the road or walking along it, you rely just as much on your ears as you do your sight. Having a car on the road that makes no sound can make roads more dangerous, which is why Toyota is offering a speaker system that makes a whirring sound.
Asus Eee PC 900A connected to this Volvo
This device on this car is probably the future of auto security as we know it.
Someone has gone to the trouble of installing an Eee PC 900A into the dash of this Volvo, and has gone to even more trouble to make the computer part of the automobile’s systems.
Venturi Buckeye Bullet breaks 300mph Hydrogen speed record
I always like seeing this cars that look more like rockets, designed to do nothing more than just go really, really, really fast.
This is one of the latest of these super-fast vehicles, known as the Venturi Buckeye Bullet. It was built by student engineers, at Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research.
To the blogmobile!
I must confess, if I were single, had no kids, and wanted to travel the nation and blog, then this would be my vehicle of choice.
This is the Bufalino, and it is based on the Piaggio APE 50 three-wheeled vehicle. Designer Cornelius Comanns apparently went out of his way to put all sorts of drawers and even a place to sleep. There is even a terrific place to sit with your laptop. It does look a little cramped, though.
T-Shirt shop has life-sized Lego Car
I have made a lot of Lego cars in my day, but this is the first Lego car that one could drive.
Some guy decided that he wanted to drive one of his Lego cars, so he went and built one using gigantic Lego bricks.
Deer Whistle keeps deer from denting your bumper
There were several years that I would swear that my car was emitting some sort of deer mating call that brought every deer in the county to stand directly in front of my car. I’ve had to swerve through a full herd of deer more than once. If I had one of these Deer Whistles attached to my car I might have stood a chance against the numerous deer that have crossed my path, particularly since this is supposed to ward them off.
HumanCar can go 60 mph with just human power
This is the HumanCar, and it is a vehicle that does not require gas. Oh yes, I am not making this up.
It is designed by Charles Greenwood, and it made by the user “rowing” to go forward, and it also has a back-up electric battery. Somehow, this allows the driver to reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
Geneco’s VW Beetle runs on human waste, insert scatalogical joke here
Sure, there is a trend in cars toward electrical and hydrogen fuels, but this one from Geneco runs on human waste.
Yes, Geneco, a sustainable-energy company owned by Wessex Water, has presented us with a modified Volkswagen Beetle that runs on the compressed methane gas from human waste.
Vibrating Seats Alert You Of Nearby Cars
A researcher from Yale University has created car seats that will keep the driver alert and aware of their surroundings. Instead of giving visual alerts it gives ones by touch. It’s an interesting concept that may make you feel like you’re playing a video game, but if it helps then it’s worth a try. Anything is worth cutting down on accidents in an area that is jam packed full of traffic.
Head mounted camera so you can see how your mechanic is doing
We have all had our car in the shop, and received a bill that we knew was not equivalent to service rendered. Usually it is a very high price.
