GPS: Cab Drivers Strike Over GPS

We like GPS technology. But not anybody does...

Philadelphia cab drivers are PROTESTING a requirement by the Parking Authority to force them to install GPS gadgets in their cars. The GPS unit would enable customers to see if the driver is padding the fare by taking an indirect route, and has a panic button telling police the location of the car. Cab drivers say the GPS units cost too much, and would create traffic jams along routes preferred by GPS software.

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Source: The Raw Feed

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Foursprung: The Nokia CK-20W Multimedia Car Kit

Nice car integration - for your mobile and more...

What can this do? More like what can’t this do! The CK-20W puts “communication, music, navigation and push-to-talk” into your hands—the same hands that should be on the steering wheel instead of diddling with this.

No matter. A compatible phone with bluetooth A2DP can stream music to the device instead of playing on the phone’s tinny tiny speakers. iPods or other MP3 players can also be plugged in through the included cable.

If you’ve got the Nokia Navigation Pack LD-2 and the included “Route 66 Mobile 7” software that works on Nokia S60-based phones, you can hook those two up to the car kit also.

Lastly, push-to-talk allows you to hit the button on the CK-20W instead of on your phone to activate your PTT functionality.

Both the car kit and the navigation pack should be out by Q3 2006.

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Source: Gizmodo

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Foursprung: What is Bluetooth?

We often report on Bluetooth-enabled gadgets. Have you ever asked yourself what the heck is this bite? Here is some background.

It seems unlikely that when Danish King Harald Blatant united sworn enemies in the Middle Ages he could have ever predicted the influence of his actions or the postmodern use of his name — translated "Harold Bluetooth" in English. Seen as the electronic equivalent to the king's unifying influence, Bluetooth is a new technology that allows different devices from different manufacturers (and, in the case of cell phones, different providers) to "talk" to each other on a shared wireless platform. Essentially an ultralow power radio signal, Bluetooth allows wireless access to certain devices within about 30 feet. This all sounds complicated and, perhaps rather boring, but the net effect of this technology is added flexibility and convenience for those who frequently rely on handheld electronic devices such as phones, cameras and PDAs. According to Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, "Bluetooth was founded on the principles of low power, low cost, security and ease of use."

The advantage of Bluetooth-enabled devices is that Bluetooth is a standard operating "system" for lack of a better word. Various devices from diverse manufacturers can communicate wirelessly. Foley notes, "In many cases, involved companies may be competitors or have nothing in common except for Bluetooth. For example, Bluetooth makes it possible to use your favorite Microsoft keyboard with an Apple Power Book." Also, with a Bluetooth-enabled camera (or camera/phone) you can wirelessly transfer photos to any Bluetooth printer and get instant prints. You can also compare and synchronize calendars in your PDA and transfer files, music or photos from camera to computer or computer to computer or from phone to phone. With Bluetooth-enabled phones you can wirelessly transfer contact information, meeting requests and e-mail messages to other paired devices.

From an automotive perspective, Bluetooth offers the ability to utilize your personal cell phone through an in-car system. Cars like the Chrysler 300C, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Saab 9-3, Toyota Prius and others offer Bluetooth as a factory-installed feature. Other automakers that currently offer Bluetooth capabilities include Acura, Audi, BMW, Bentley, Cadillac, Dodge, Ferrari, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus Maybach, Mitsubishi, and Nissan. Expect many more models to offer Bluetooth by the 2006 model year. What makes Bluetooth so appealing (in addition to ease of use) is its relatively low cost. For example, Chrysler's system is called UConnect; the option costs about $290 and consists of a Bluetooth receiver (mounted out of sight), a microphone and a small control pad mounted to the dash.

Aftermarket kits are also available if you're not in the market for a new car. A company called Parrot makes several adapter kits as does Motorola and others. The kits are very affordable with prices starting well below $200.

Even if you do opt for an aftermarket system, Bluetooth offers all the safety and convenience of a factory-installed car phone combined with the freedom of a handheld cell phone. The user must have a Bluetooth-enabled cell phone in order to take advantage of the in-car feature, but those phones are becoming more and more common and are not significantly more expensive than phones without Bluetooth (some Bluetooth phones are even less expensive than a phone without the feature). Cell phone makers such as Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony-Ericsson currently sell phones with Bluetooth capabilities.

With a Bluetooth phone, you can make and receive calls from your car using your existing cell phone number. You use minutes in the normal way and the charges show up on your regular cell phone bill. But perhaps the best feature is that to make and receive calls on your Bluetooth phone, you don't need a docking station or hard-wired connections. OnStar has a similar feature, but it requires that you have an OnStar-equipped car (usually a General Motors product) and you must use Verizon as your cell phone carrier. Even then, your car will have a separate phone number and you will have to forward your cell phone calls to your car phone. With Bluetooth, if your phone is on and somewhere in the car, you will be able to make and receive phone calls. No call forwarding is necessary as the phone "sees" your car like any other external accessory — similar to a wireless headset. If the car's interface or your phone allows the use of voice commands, you can make and receive phone calls while in the car without having to touch any buttons.

The application gets even more interesting for motorcycle owners, as the availability of a Bluetooth-enabled helmet makes it possible to talk on the phone while piloting a bike — not that we're endorsing that kind of thing. In cooperation with Motorola, Italian helmet maker Momo has developed a Bluetooth helmet that not only looks cool, but has an integrated speaker and microphone. This is not unlike preexisting technology that allows bikers in close proximity to talk to each other via two-way radio technology, but clearly the ability to make and receive phone calls pushes the technology forward by leaps and bounds. The BMW System V helmet uses similar technology but is a full-face helmet which makes talking on the phone a more realistic endeavor.

While the potential for Bluetooth technology seems almost limitless, its introduction into the automobile could prove to be more than just convenient. Both the federal and local governments have been increasingly scrutinizing the wisdom of letting motorists talk on the phone while driving. Bluetooth could be a technology that offers a safe compromise between those who want to exercise their inalienable right to yak on the phone and those whose job it is to protect us from those who yak on the phone while piloting a two-ton chunk of steel and glass.

Ease of use combined with increasing availability leads us to believe that Bluetooth will soon become as common as big hair at a Bon Jovi concert. If you're shopping for a new phone, PDA or camera, find one with Bluetooth capability. In the end it will make your life that much easier.

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Source: Edmunds.com

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Foursprung: Crazy Spinner Exhaust Tip

What more to say on this? Do we really need this?

At first we thought the Spinner Exhaust Tip would suck the exhaust out of the engine faster, resulting in more horsepower, but no. It’s just another one of those pimp-my-ride thingamajigs that attracts attention to the driver, nonverbally saying things like, “arrest me,” or, “I’m an asshole.”

The Spinner Exhaust Tip is available in two styles, Flare and Turbine, and it spins just like a pinwheel, propelled by the exhaust stream. If you really floor it, the thing bulges out of the exhaust pipe, telling everyone that you’re going fast and making a lot of noise, in case they didn’t notice. It’s all yours for $44.95.

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Source: Gizmodo

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Foursprung: BMW to bring stop-start system

It is intelligent to learn from your mistakes. It is quite more intelligent to learn from the mistakes of others.
But some don't. BMW brings what Audi had long ago in A2 TDI and dropped it.

Autocar reports that BMW plans to launch its Automatic Engine Start/Stop System next year - one of the fuel economy and emissions reduction components of its "Efficient Dynamics" technology package, as the company aims to meet its commitment to the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers 2008 CO2 emissions reduction targets.

Officially called "Auto Start/Stop," the system automatically switches off the engine when the car comes to a standstill. As soon as the driver puts in the clutch or depresses the gas pedal, the engine restarts automatically. BMW's "Intelligent Software" links together the various sensors required with the starter motor and the alternator control to make the process work.

Auto Start/Stop, along with BMW's High Precision Injection (lean-burn direct injection) and Brake Energy Regeneration technologies, will appear across a broad model range, with the Start/Stop technology to be introduced in four- and six-cylinder 1-, 3- and 5-Series models.

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Source: Autoblog

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Cadillac: Now on XBox 360

What do you do if you don't sell cars but want more drivers for your car? For GM one way to achieve this seems to be engaged in video gaming. It's a perfect match: cars that do not sell on a console that does not sell...

Cadillac announced today it would offer a free, promotional content pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 on Xbox 360. The package includes all the accoutrements needed to race Caddy’s three high-performance V-Series models: the 400hp CTS-V, 469hp STS-V and 443hp XLR-V. What’s more, gamers who can finish in the top 100 in any of the models on the virtual Nürburgring Full F1 Circuit can gain “Cadillac Elite” status, which will probably entitle them to certain privelages (prizes, downloads and some such) at some undetermined point in the future. No word on the existance of any hidden vid-game easter eggs or, say, cheat codes for a 1964 Coupe deVille or 1979 8/6/4-powered Seville. Well?

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Source: Jalopnik

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Foursprung: The Road to Relaxation

Look forward to sitting in your car in the future. There will be one more reason to spent more time in your gagdet collector.

Automotive seat producers are in constant pursuit of clever new ways to pamper the posterior.

Seats currently are available that are heated, cooled, ventilated and covered with innovative new fabrics to improve comfort. Lumbar adjustments are increasingly common, and some luxury cars offer seats with gentle massaging mechanisms.

At the recent Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress in Detroit, Leggett & Platt Automotive Group displayed a concept seat that takes the massage feature to a new level.

The “full body massage” seat offers a Japanese-style shiatsu massage with a series of four balls that rotate just behind the seat foam. The balls move up and down and rotate in a circular motion with varying degrees of intensity, depending on how deep a massage the driver wants.

Similar seats are available now for home use at various specialty retailers.

Leggett & Platt's seat was set up at the Congress directly in front of a computer screen, allowing the occupant to customize the massage. How these features would be integrated into a production application remains unclear, as there are no contracts to date.

But Peter Hoehne, vice president-sales and marketing worldwide for Leggett & Platt Automotive, says the full massage seat will be ready for production in '08 or '09 model vehicles.

Leggett & Platt produces massage seats with rollers that gently move up and down for several vehicles currently in production, including the Audi A8, Volkswagen Phaeton and Ssangyong Chairman.

The first application for the massage seat was the Cadillac DeVille, in 1998, Hoehne says.

At that time, the seats came from the Schukra Automotive plant in Windsor, Ont., Canada. Leggett & Platt purchased Schukra in 2000, and the plant remains the world's largest producer of automotive lumbar support devices, Hoehne says.

Based in Carthage, MO, Leggett & Platt has 19 facilities worldwide and 3,800 employees. Its specialty is coil springs.

The therapeutic value of a massage seat should not be overlooked, Hoehne says. For those with back problems, sitting behind the wheel for long commutes can be extremely painful. A massage seat improves blood circulation around the discs of the spine.

“The pain comes when you're sitting still, and there's no blood flow,” Hoehne says, adding that reduced fatigue makes drivers more attentive.

“Our mission is to make people better drivers,” he says.

The seat generated plenty of interest at the Congress, albeit some from conference attendees looking for a soothing break after a full day on their feet.

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Source: WARD'S AutoWorld

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Foursprung: CLEVER concept car

Another one showing us the features of tomorrow.

Europe has shown us three-wheel vehicles in the past. Many have been Fiats and Triumphs with one wheel fallen off. But the CLEVER concept car is intentionally three-wheeled: It's a prototype two-passenger urban vehicle that's fuel-efficient, low-pollution, and relatively safe. The CLEVER, or Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport, is the creation of nine European research and industrial partners.
So what is the CLEVER? For starters, think "three-wheel motorcycle in a rain-proof bubble, plus safety, fuel efficiency, and low emissions." The technology behind the CLEVER is a tubular frame (aluminum, with plastic bodywork) that protects the driver and the passenger, who is seated (not straddled) immediately behind the driver. It uses a 218cc compressed natural gas (CNG) engine from Rotax, an enlarged version of the gasoline powerplant in the BMW C1—a fascinating two-wheel motorcycle-in-a-bubble that protects the driver in spills and rollovers.
The engine has a reported fuel economy of 108 mpg (2.6 liters per 100 kilometers) with a range of 125 miles or 200 km from its twin six-liter carbon fiber tanks. These are cousins to SCUBA tanks, removable in the prototype, so the tanks could go to the fuel if need be. Carbon dioxide emissions are a third less than those of traditional passenger cars, in part because the CLEVER burns less fuel. Acceleration for the CLEVER is 7 seconds from 0 to 40 mph, with a top speed of around 60 mph, or 100 kph.
Although it has three wheels, the CLEVER tilts like a motorcycle going through turns. On a motorcycle, the rider learns through trial and error how much to tilt the bike in turns, to maintain stability. The CLEVER automatically controls tilt with a microprocessor-based controller and hydraulic actuators.
The CLEVER is just 1 one meter wide, which is 20 inches narrower than the smallest ultracompact car (such as the Smart car) and 3 feet narrower than most passenger cars. That means the CLEVER is more maneuverable, and you could fit several of them into a single parking space. In a burst of optimism, a press release from the University of Bath talks about "the possibility of narrower lanes for such vehicles." Remember when Segway zealots thought they'd get special lanes?
The effort was funded by the European Union and began in 2002, with the concept car being completed this spring. Some of the partners include the University of Bath, England; the Technische Universitaet in Berlin; the Institut Francais Du Petrole in Vernaison, near Lyon, France; Institut Francais du Petrole (IFP); the Institut Fuer Verkehrswesen – Universitaet Fuer Bodenkultur, in Vienna; and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, A.K.A. BMW.

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Source: TechnoRide

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Car Audio: New mobile receiver from Dual

There is supposed to be more and more Microsoft in your car. Be careful. This one supports MP3 players but no Apple iPod. How can this be successful?

Microsoft takes another step into your car's dashboard with the first car radio that works with PlaysForSure players, the Dual XDMR7710, shipping in July. This $250 (street) unit and two siblings from Dual will be the first car radios that connect to most portable music players (except, of course, Apple's) and stream content from the player, including subscription-music-service downloads.

The XDMR7710, the flagship of the line, has a motorized faceplate that drops down to reveal a large LCD. It tunes in AM/FM, plays MP3 and WMA CDs, hooks up to XM Satellite Radio (via an optional external device), and has a line-in jack.
Most important, though, by adding a $100 external USB adapter to the EAUSB20, users can plug in any current or recent music player using a standard USB 2.0 cable. The connector recharges the player, and transfers track and artist information along with the music.
In our brief demo, Dual showed us MP3 downloads and subscription-service music streaming to the head unit from an iRiver and a Philips player; both players were controllable by the head unit. The XDMR7710 and its siblings can sort and select music by artist, album, genre, or playlist.
The PlaysForSure certification is a Microsoft guarantee that any two PlaysForSure devices can communicate with each other and play music, including monthly-subscription-service downloads and protected-content song downloads. Nearly every music player currently made is PFS-compatible, with the exception of Apple iPods. A short-term solution, included in the Dual radios, is a separate line-in jack that accepts music from iPods but doesn't let the radio head unit control the iPod. Dual's product manager, Rob Sutton, said Dual hopes to have an iPod solution in the future, but he wasn't able to provide details.
Two cheaper models, the XDMP680 and the XDMR6850 (prices not yet set), will have the same functionality, but the faceplates aren't motorized; they are removable for theft protection. These may be better for cars in which the drop-down faceplate would obscure some of the console controls.
All three radios use the standard single-DIN cutout, about 2 by 7 inches, that works on virtually every removable car radio. Each has small (not tiny) buttons, as is the annoying norm for virtually every replacement car radio currently offered.

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Source: TechnoRide

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In-Car entertainment: New DVD player from Kenwood

The is a new multi media device from Kenwood featuring everything you need for multi media in your car.

If you haven’t jumped on the incredibly safe DVD-player-in-the-car bandwagon just yet, Kenwood may have something in the woodworks to change your mind. Their VDR-55 plays standard DVDs and DVD-Rs, as well as CDs loaded with your quality collection of MP3 and WMA files. They’re even hawking a special cable to connect your iPod directly to the unit, totally making the use of CDs obsolete. Kenwood’s also releasing the LZ-702IR 7-inch screen in conjunction with the VDR-55. With a resolution of 480x234, the VDR-55’s $522 partner in crime will actually be available first, sometime later this month (in Japan, of course) while the $427 VDR-55 won’t hits stores until late June. Better check to see if your insurance premiums are affected by having an entertainment center installed in that sweet ride of yours.

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Source: Gizmodo

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Foursprung: Michelin Tweel in motion (video)

Remember Michelin's development in wheel technology?

It's been well over a year since Michelin unveiled its take on the future of the tire, the airless Tweel. The odd-looking invention pairs a replaceable outer rubber layer with a central alloy hub joined by polyurethane ribs. Judging by this video, it would appear that the tire manufacturer is continuing to develop its concept, testing it on a variety of vehicles in a number of different environments.

And here is the video:



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Source: Autoblog, Metacafé

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Foursprung: new telematics service providing real-time traffic information

There is a new telematics service providing real-time traffic information.

While you're finishing up that second cup of coffee at home and browsing the news online, delivery trucks already on the freeway are sending automated traffic reports that could help speed you to work when you're ready to go.
It's all part of the Dust Network unveiled on Tuesday by Inrix Traffic Services, a Microsoft spin-off, at the annual Telematics Detroit forum.

Inrix says it can predict traffic up to a year in an advance using Bayesian statistical analysis, which uses historical evidence and observation help you infer the odds of something being true. In plain English, the level of traffic flow on I-70 west out of Denver in a light drizzle the day before Thanksgiving in 2004 is probably a good predictor of what traffic will be like on Wednesday, November 22, 2006, if it's raining.
The company explained how the Dust Network, so named for how much information you'd collect if every speck of dust had sensors and communication, will connect data. Since dust is too small for affixing logos and antennas, Inrix instead chose 500,000 commercial fleet, delivery, and taxi vehicles already equipped with two-way communications. (In exchange for the data, Inrix will give the fleets a cut rate on traffic-information reports.) The speed and position reports can generate map overlays that show traffic flow in real time, and will be stored for use in the Bayesian engine for future rush-hour reports.
The traffic reports will be available to automotive OEMs, Web portals, in-car navigation suppliers and portable-navigation-device manufacturers. Inrix announced its initial partners: TeleAtlas, Cingular, MSN, Garmin, Magellan, and TomTom, as well as a coming generation of Microsoft SPOT watches.
Inrix told us it has the majority of the markers of portable GPS devices signed on, although you'll likely need to purchase a new GPS device; the DUST Network won't be available as a firmware update. At least one major automaker will announce the service by summer's end. The NavTraffic service sponsored by NavTeq and XM and available on several car models (Acura and Cadillac) and Pioneer AVIC radio/nav systems won't have it; it's not an Inrix partner. (NavTeq competes with TeleAtlas.)

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Source: TechnoRide

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Car Audio: Retro radio with ultra modern features

This one is really cool. I love this retro style, especially combined with modern features.

Love that old interior in your restoration project but can't live without satellite navigation, MP3 and Bluetooth? Becker's Mexico "Classic" radio looks old on the outside but packs the latest techno wizardy behind its piano black lacquer faceplate. This $1,895 head unit can read your cell phone's SIM card or a Compact Flash or SD card filled with music. It also features its own 2GB flash card that stores nav data for over 34 countries. Built-in Bluetooth gives you handsfree calling, as well. Thanks to Becker you can now combine that classic look you love with your modern high-tech toys you can't live without.

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Source: Autoblog

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Foursprung: Microsoft Promotes Its Mobile SmartParking Solution

Here are some ore visions of our gadget future.

You have a meeting downtown. You're late. Traffic is terrible. You try an alternate route, and it's worse. Your nerves fray.

You get to the address of the meeting and start looking for parking. There's nothing on the street. You try to find a parking garage, but they all have signs that say "full." You pound the steering wheel and growl like a dog.
You go around a few more blocks, burning gas, spitting CO into the atmosphere, helping ensure that Atlanta will be a coastal city by 2020.

Desperate, you park illegally and run to the scheduled conference room — finding no one there and no note saying the meeting room had been changed.

All of that is an information problem, and it could be solved by a new set of emerging data.

In fact, this new data — gleaned from location-based cellphone systems and big Wi-Fi networks — could change urban planning, alter the way residents interact and make cities more efficient.

In most major cities, cellphone companies have begun turning on technology that uses signals from cell towers and sometimes global-positioning satellites to pinpoint the location of cellphones. At the same time, metropolises such as San Francisco, Houston and Philadelphia are plowing ahead with plans to build citywide Wi-Fi networks. Each node in a Wi-Fi network would know how many computers were connected to it.
There's an unintended consequence to both those developments: mountains of data about where people are at any given time. The cell system can know where cellphones are — and most adults these days have cellphones. A Wi-Fi system knows where people are working on their laptops, give or take the percentage that are just perusing MySpace.

We're talking about anonymized, high-level, aggregated data — so it's not about invading your privacy and tracking individuals.
That data can then be put on a map to show how a city's population moves and changes through the day. Technologists think it's a way to put a city on the Internet so people can interact with it.

"We're trying to create a human-computer interface with cities," says Assaf Biderman, a scruffy graduate student in the Senseable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The lab, led by MIT professor Carlo Ratti, is a good place to see what might be coming. The researchers started with Graz, Austria — because the Austrian cellphone company cooperated.

At regular time intervals, the MIT researchers collect the pings from Graz cellphones. Biderman and his partner, Andres Sevtsuk, show me how this looks when mapped. You can see Graz wake as people turn on their phones, each represented by a tiny dot. You can see how the dots cluster in suburbs and neighborhoods in the morning. As rush hour nears, the dots begin flowing to business districts. As the clock ticks, the clusters shift and move.

The researchers pull up a similar map of the Wi-Fi network that blankets MIT. As they speed up the time, you see where students and faculty move their laptops. "Activity in the academic buildings shifts to dorms only after 11 p.m.," Sevtsuk says. "That's typical for MIT, but not for other parts of the city."

So what's this good for?
Some possibilities are straightforward. City planners, real estate developers, retailers and so on can see where people go at what times, helping them make better decisions about roads, buildings and services.
Drivers could see traffic patterns and detour around jams. During a disaster, officials might be able to see in real time that people are jamming one way out of town, and send them a different way.

The real fun would come once cities and companies layer other data and services on top.

A simple one: Manhattan taxis. Each might have a wireless gadget that constantly pings the city's system with its location. Hailing a cab would mean flipping open your cellphone, seeing on a map if a taxi is close, and shooting that driver a wireless request to get picked up.

Then there's parking, which has to be one of the great human and natural resource sinkholes in modern life. In April, Houston approved a contract to install 1,500 parking meters that will connect to the Net via Wi-Fi, for now, so users can pay by cellphone or credit card.

But let's say Houston upgrades each meter with an infrared sensor that can tell if a car is parked in its space. Then the meters could use their Wi-Fi connections to tell the city which spaces are open. At the same time, a driver could use her cellphone to tell the city she's looking for a space. Since the system would know where she is, it could show her the nearest free spaces.

In fact, as Sevtsuk notes with a grin, the system could let a driver know the location of other nearby cars that are also looking for parking spaces. "Then you could see your competitors and decide which one you could get to first," he says.

Now, that could get interesting.

Finally, there's the problem of arriving late to a meeting and finding the room has been changed. Once a city is online, it can flip text messaging on its head. Now, text messages break down location, going to the recipient no matter where he or she is. MIT is experimenting with a system that leaves messages in a particular room or place. Anyone who arrives there gets that message on his or her cellphone or computer.

In MIT's version of the future, you'd head to that meeting downtown and the city would route you around traffic. You'd get into town and the city would guide you to a parking space. And if the meeting had moved, you'd get to the room and your phone would buzz with a note telling you where to go.

Of course, something like this can be abused. Hackers will find a way to track an individual's movements. Companies will leave spam messages for Cialis in conference rooms. But all in all, it looks like new information might help solve some veryold problems.

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Source: USA Today

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Foursprung: Ferrari speaker towers

Wow!

Art.Engine is a limited edition speaker system from Ferrari. This mammoth of a speaker tower includes Wi-Fi and digital amplification. It stands 47 inches high and 16 inches wide. It is available in a wide variety of colors that would perfectly match that Ferrari you happen to own. The frequency range is 40Hz…

…Wait, it doesn’t matter what the frequency range is because this speaker costs a blistering $20,000. Hell, this is more of an ass-reaming than the Apple Hi-Fi boombox that was released a while ago. I’m sure this speaker sounds nice, but will you honestly be able to live with yourself if you drop $22k on a single speaker-tower?

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Source: Gizmodo

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Foursprung: Pioneer's DEH-P810 Bluetooth-equipped car stereo

Not a senstation, but a really nice car stereo with Bluetooth connectivity for several purposes.

If we had a car, we'd be all over Pioneer's new DEH-P810 Bluetooth-enabled head unit, which allows you to stream audio from your BT-enabled musicphone or the odd BT-sporting MP3 player directly to your sound system. This will be an especially attractive model to Windows Mobile 5.0 device owners, who have recently been able to cut the headphone cord thanks to the folks over at xda-developers, but still need a cassette adapter or FM transmitter dongle for listening in their cars. Little else is known about the specs on this unit, but the "phone" button would indicate that it can also route calls through your speakers, so it may include an embedded mic as well. We saw the DEH-P810 online for about $660, but the price was in yen, so we're pretty sure you're gonna need to import for now.

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Source: Engadget

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Mitsubishi: The iMitsubishi

Mitsubishi Japan has announced the play edition of the "i" eye car it looks similar to DaimlerChrysler's compact Smart car. The Play edition comes with a slot for inserting the iPod Nano once connected you can control the Nano from the navigation screen's touch panel. The "i" comes with a navigation system which has a 7" touch screen and a 30 GB hard drive. However you cannot play audio and video files via the hard drive. It also has a CD player which can play CD-R/RW discs but does not support MP3 discs. This is really interesting you have a choice of two colors Pearl White and Black which you can choose depending on your iPod's color. The car comes with total six speakers, 4 speakers in the back / front and 2 front tweeters.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, Mitsubishi , Apple, iPod

Source: Newlaunches.com

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Foursprung: EPIA Wheel Case Mod

Well, I prefer Apple Macintosh design, but this is also nice - for a PC...

Case mods are the geek’s neverending fodder, like mana from heaven. Sometimes it’s bland, but now and then you get a nugget of juice, like this awesome wheel mod, from PC modder Micke “GoTaLL” Gustafsson. The “EPIA Alloy Mod” comes with a brake disc, red caliper, EPIA SP13000 LVDS motherboard/processor, 512MB of Crucial Ballistix memory, and a picoPSU.
Hell, if you’re a racer that moonlights as a computer nerd, this one’s for you.

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Source: OhGizmo!

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Foursprung: The Mother of all head units

Are you tired of integrating one gadget after another? Here is the all-in-one-solution.

If you're looking to play almost every audio/video format known to man in your car, even MiniDiscs, then Pioneer has just introduced a whopper of an in-dash system that may be perfect for you (well, if you live in Japan, that is). The AVIC-VH009MD in-car multimedia system, which takes over the high end of Pioneer's Carrozzeria lineup, features a 5.1 channel amp, dedicated TV tuner, GPS receiver with birds-eye view, and a head unit that contains a 7-inch screen and plays back DVDs, CDs, MDs, and MP3/WMA files as well as DivX-encoded videos. Also new to the Carrozzeria line is the AVH-P90DVA, which also has a TV tuner and 7-inch screen, but *only* supports DVDs, CDs, VCDs, and the aforementioned codecs plus AAC, but not MiniDiscs or navigation. The all-in-one system will go for a cool $3,200, while the AVH-P90DVA costs $2,300, although if you want to listen to tracks from your cellphone, you'll have to forgo a lot of these niceties and stick with the Bluetooth-equipped AVIC-S1 that we brought you the other day.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, MP3, DivX, USB, multi media

Source: Engadget

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Foursprung: The Sesol HiPAD

The idea is nice. But to call Microsoft Office a "productivity" application sounds strange to me. Why should I use this if I can integrate a Mac into my car?

The networkable wireless HiPAD will be launched by Sesol sometime this month. It runs on Windows XP and features GPS navigation and T-DMB functionality. Great for those on the go, since the OS runs productivity applications like the Microsoft Office suite. When in the car, it can be used to navigate around - just attach it to the right hand side or install it on a window pane. A small screen at the bottom offers some relief from nasty traffic jams with shows via T-DMB. The HiPAD weighs just 1.2kg and comes with a 10.4” TFT LCD screen.

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR, GPS, T-DMB

Source: Ubergizmo

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Foursprung: Driver Fatigue Bracelet

Let your car decide if you are able to drive.

We were pretty frakin’ tired waking up at 5:30 in the morning to hack through LA traffic to get to E3 last week. This alert driver fatigue wrist device could have saved us from all those near-misses.

"The device comunicates with an RFID tag positioned in your car and only starts to detect whether you are tired when you are in your car. The device can be bent to fit your wrist, and has memory to stay in position, to ensure it will not fall off."

Related news: Foursprung, P4MR

Source: Gizmodo

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