Car Tech
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People complain about Mother's Day, about how hard it is to shop for mom, about how commercialized it's become, about the price of long-stemmed roses. But Mother's Day is a walk in the park compared to Father's Day. You see, Father's Day has always been an afterthought. It was conceived after Mother's Day as a way of saying, basically, "Don't worry, dad -- we haven't forgotten about you!" Only problem is, most dads we know don't enjoy being fussed over, and Father's Day is all about making a fuss. So, what on earth are you supposed to give a man who doesn't want anything in the first place?...
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Renault-Nissan Opens Tech Research Office In Silicon Valley
Renault might not sell any cars in the United States but that won't stop them moving into town. With partner Nissan the international group has opened a research and development office in the heart of Mountain View, Silicon Valley. The Renault-Nissan Alliance was created in 1999 and now sells one...
Antony Ingram -
Store'n'Go With Tiny Verbatim Micro USB Car Audio Drive
It's official: In-car CD players are so last century. If you're not listening to your music via a portable MP3 player or USB drive in your car, then you may as well give up on the luxuries of modern motoring altogether. Okay, we won't be that harsh on you, but flash drives and in-car MP3...
Antony Ingram -
Lincoln Lineup Going High-Tech, Understated Luxury Route
Ford has made no secret of its desire to turn Lincoln into one of the country’s top-selling luxury brands once again and shed the image that its cars are simply gussied-up Fords designed for old people. As we’re sure Ford would hate to admit, there’s a lot of truth to that image...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Security Breach? Nissan Leaf Shares Your Location & Speed
It might seem surprising in today's world of Facebook updates and Foursquare checkins, but people are still concerned about privacy. In fact, privacy concerns have resulted in major headaches (and lawsuits) for both Google and Apple in recent months, and we wouldn't be surprised if Anthony Weiner...
Richard Read -
Aero Aluminum Alloy To Compete With Composites, Due In Cars?
Low weight is the golden goose of automotive technology. Everyone wants it because it brings about improvements in virtually all areas - performance, economy, handling - but engineering a car with lower weight than the one that preceeded it is difficult to do. Customers want safer, quieter and...
Antony Ingram -
Audi Sport has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the La Sarthe circuit in Northern France in one of the closest races in many years, but were it not for the strength and safety of the R18 TDI sports prototype, the weekend could have been very different. Less than an hour into the race, star driver Allan McNish suffered a huge accident early in the lap when he clipped a lapped vehicle. Both cars launched across the gravel trap and the Audi smashed into the armco barrier, the resulting explosion of carbon pieces narrowly missing several spectators and photographers, ending up on its roof. You can...
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Don't Get The Le Mans 24 Hours On TV? Get An Audi Eye View
As we speak the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race at Le Mans in France has been underway for just under an hour. If you're not lucky enough to be enjoying a beer by the side of the circuit or at least don't have access to a television feed for the race, fear not. Front-running team Audi has their own...
Antony Ingram -
Volvo Avoids Animals With New Collision Detection Tech
When you're developing cars on roads that aren't unknown to feature the odd moose around the next corner, preventing drivers colliding with wild animals is understandably quite a priority for Volvo. To this end, Volvo has been developing a system based on its Pedestrian Detection and Full Auto...
Antony Ingram -
Google Buys 30 Leafs, Volts, and 250 Charging Stations: Video
Google built its reputation as a small, simple search engine, but there's nothing small about the company's investment in electric vehicles. Google has just placed an order for 30 Nissan Leafs and Chevrolet Volts, as well as 250 EV charging stations from Coulomb Technologies. Google will add the...
Richard Read -
Hyundai Blue Link Priced: Free Trial, 1-3 Year Contracts Available
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) we brought you the breaking news of Hyundai's Blue Link telematics system. We followed it up with a look at how BlueLink's web-assisted features are similar to cloud-based services. Today, the company has revealed pricing for the service. Buyers of...
Nelson Ireson -
Heard The One About The... 200mph, 600bhp Bonneville Skoda?
Whilst Skodas have never been sold in the United States, gearheads probably know a little about the Czech Republic-based subsiduary of the Volkswagen Audi Group and some of the great cars the company has produced since becoming part of the VAG empire. As such, the brand has shaken off the...
Antony Ingram -
The only thing more annoying than putting your car in the shop is waiting to catch the bus the next day. It's such a common frustration, it made up Everywoman Sandra Bullock's entire backstory in Speed. The worst part is that while some transit systems offer updates to commuters, indicating when the next train or trolley is due to arrive, bus systems haven't been so kind. Now, for a lucky few, Google Maps is coming to the rescue with something called "Live Transit Updates". Live Transit Updates does two nifty things: 1. It updates you on the status of buses along your route. 2. It provides...
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Unloaded: Apple Bans DUI Sobriety Checkpoint Apps
Drunk drivers who think they can evade the law by looking to certain smartphone apps might suddenly find a roadblock after all. Apple has followed up its big iCloud news earlier this week with some revised guidelines for its App Store—and one of the most noteworthy changes is a crackdown on...
Bengt Halvorson -
Get Wood In The City With Veneered 'Tribute' Vespa
Typical: You've bought a gorgeous Riva Aquarama speedboat, moored up in your local marina. You've bought an aristocratic Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe with its wooden decking tonneau, wafting you from city to city. But when you get there, where is your next veneered vehicle? How inconvenient...
Antony Ingram -
Jeans Staining Your Car Seats? Lexus, Chrysler Fight Stains
You might not think your jeans have the capacity for causing much damage unless you're one of the unlucky souls to have once caught part of their anatomy in the zipper, but they can actually be responsible for undue wear to your car seats. A light-colored leather interior can look absolutely...
Antony Ingram -
E3 2011: New Forza 4, Mario Kart 3DS and Need For Speed
We're all big automotive enthusiasts here, but for those of us who don't have a Zondar R or Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in the garage, there's always video games. All three platforms and most of the gaming publishers have wrapped up their press conferences at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)...
Kevin Lee -
Mercedes-Benz Unimog Concept: 60 Years, Inspired By Frogs
If you were to set out to design a vehicle, you might not choose a frog as your source of inspiration. Sure, we've heard of the old Austin-Healey "Frogeye" Sprite from the 1960s, but that was more of an affectionate nickname due to a coincidental likeness than through any design inspiration. Tell...
Antony Ingram -
Anyone into racing video games should own a steering wheel controller. The extra dimension it adds to any racer over a traditional joypad hugely improves the gaming experience. As with any peripheral device though, gaming wheels usually require several wires to be trailed across your living room carpet. They're a nuisance to deal with and there's always a slight risk you'll catch your toe on them at some point and bring several hundred dollars of electrical equipment crashing to the floor. Microsoft XBox 360 racing fans should worry no more, as a new wireless wheel is due in October that...
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Pinch, Trace And Touch... The Steering Wheel Of The Future
If you love a steering wheel festooned with handy buttons, and even if you don't, this might be the steering wheel for you. Engineers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany have been hard at work on a new prototype steering wheel that takes interaction with your car to a new level. You may think...
Antony Ingram -
Volvo Launches Beefed-Up 'Volvo On Call' App For iPhone, Android In Europe
Volvo was one of several auto brands cast off from its parent company during the recent recession. The majority of those marques were shuttered (e.g. HUMMER, Pontiac, Saturn), and one -- Saab -- is struggling to keep the doors open. Volvo, however, has managed to stay the course, and a new app...
Richard Read -
Chrysler Working On Diesel Injection System For Gasoline Engines
Over the past couple of years we’ve been reporting about a new engine concept where a small amount of ethanol is injected directly into a cylinder chamber before combustion along with a blast of gasoline. The burning of ethanol has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chamber...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 BMW 1-Series: Larger, More EfficientDynamics Technology
You can make your own mind up about the styling of the upcoming 2012 BMW 1-Series hatchback, but one thing is for certain: with larger dimensions and more efficiency, the appeal of BMW's smallest model will be broader than ever. Most exciting for tech fans will be the EfficientDynamics and...
Antony Ingram -
Video: BMW Guggenheim Lab, Improve City Living And Travel
If you could make living, working and travelling around your city a better experience for yourself and others, you'd take the opportunity without hesitation, wouldn't you? Now is your chance. BMW Guggenheim Lab is an initiative launched by German carmaker BMW and art and culture organisation, the...
Antony Ingram