Hasta La Gadget!

Everyone knows you can use Mentos and Diet Coke to make fizzy fountains that shoot soda as much as 30 feet in the air. Now, two guys have harnessed that power for human transportation, with a rocket car powered by Mentos and Coke.

Fritz Grobe and Stephen Voltz are the guys behind the famous video of a Mentos-and-Diet Coke, Bellagio-style fountain, which they estimate has been seen by more than 120 million people. Four years later, they’re back with a rocket car powered by nothing but Mentos and Coke Zero. The video, which debuted this week, shows the duo’s efforts to set a land-speed and distance record for a vehicle powered by nothing but erupting, minty, fizzy soda.

The video was directed by Rob Cohen (director of The Fast and the Furious). Two dimensions not enough? There’s even a 3-D rocket car video you can watch on YouTube, if you have a pair of red-and-cyan 3-D glasses.

Wired sat down with Grobe and Voltz shortly after a recent performance at Maker Faire to find out how they built their 900-pound vehicle. It contains 108 2-liter bottles of Coke Zero, 648 Mentos, an elaborate-looking system of PVC pipes and pistons, and a complicated rig for dropping all those mint candies into all those bottles at the same time. In this exclusive Wired.com video, the duo explain how they made the magic happen.

As for the switch from Diet Coke to Coke Zero? The two explained that Coke, which is one of their sponsors, wanted to tout the newer diet soda instead of the old one. In fact, almost any kind of soda works, though they say diet sodas work a bit better. The one thing to keep in mind: You want warm soda for the maximum effect; a Coke right out of the fridge won’t fizz nearly enough.

These guys should know: Since their 2006 video launched, Grobe and Voltz have managed to make a living staging Mentos-and-Coke performances and other events.

For more Mentos-and-Coke videos, including outtakes from the filming of the latest video, check out the pair’s website, Eepybird.com.

Video: Wired.com. Produced by Annaliza Savage, camera by Michael Lennon, edited by Fernando Cardoso.

In a move that could shape the mobile landscape — or simply suck down cash, of course — General Motors just revealed that Google was its mysterious infotainment partner. In the final hours before Google I/O, we sat down with GM VP Nick Pudar to tell us what the future thus holds for OnStar. As we saw in January, GM’s already developing smartphone apps for the Chevy Volt on iPhone, Blackberry and Android that will let you remotely lock doors, honk the horn, check tire pressure and more…. But sometime after the Volt launches, Google Maps Navigation will be integrated into the smartphone app, and we got a hands-on tour. Check out the new interface and hear about GM’s strategy after the break.

Continue reading Google partnership has GM OnStar exploring Maps, open APIs and more

Google partnership has GM OnStar exploring Maps, open APIs and more originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 12:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s rush hour, and you’re headed due West on your evening commute — the sun burning holes in your eyes. You could flip down a window visor, trading your field of view for visibility. Or, with a prototype shown off at Intel’s 2010 International Science and Engineering Fair, you could simply let the windshield darken on its own. Two San Diego students (both accustomed to copious amounts of sunshine) rigged a Toyota Prius to do just that by stringing up electrochromic panels, which dim when voltage is applied. The trick is figuring out when and where to apply it, because when the sun is shining the panels themselves all receive the same amount of light. So instead of gauging it at the glass, Aaron Schild and Rafael Cosman found that an ultrasonic range finder could track the driver’s position while a VGA webcam measured the light coming through, and darken the sections liable to cause the most eyestrain. We saw a prototype in person, and it most certainly works… albeit slowly. If you’re rearing to roll your own, it seems raw materials are reasonably affordable — Schild told us electrochromic segments cost $0.25 per square inch — but you may not need to DIY. Having won $4,000 in prize money at the Fair, the teens say they intend to commercialize the technology, and envision it natively embedded in window glass in the not-too-distant future. Here’s hoping GM gives them a call. See pics of the Prius below, or check out a video demo of their prototype right after the break.

Continue reading Auto-dimming electrochromic panels reduce glare when driving (video)

Auto-dimming electrochromic panels reduce glare when driving (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 15 May 2010 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Thought the Chevy Volt’s OnStar apps were impressive? You may not have to buy a Volt to get them. General Motors says it would like to extend such infotainment beyond its flagship plug-in hybrid, and has partnered with a undisclosed tech firm to help make it happen. Speaking to CNN Money, OnStar president Chris Pruess teases that we could see some of Volt’s features — remote locking, charging and perhaps air conditioning options — on other OnStar automobiles, or even other ventures (the exec says they’re looking “beyond automotive”) the auto manufacturer might decide on. The big question, of course, is whether this mysterious partner might restrict smartphone functionality to a particular handset or carrier — after all, when we think of cell phone manufacturers who’ve both worked with GM and recently acquired automotive assets, one in particular comes to mind.

[Thanks, Jub]

General Motors partners with mystery organization to bolster OnStar technology originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 May 2010 10:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a small car-audio shop down in Santa Clarita, California this week, something happened that has never happened before. Doug Bernards, son of “The SoundMan” Bruce Bernards, took his Dremel to the dash of a Toyota Tacoma pickup and began to cut. The project: The World’s first in-car iPad.

The picture shows the result of placing the iPad at the heart of the car’s entertainment system. Doug, of SoundMan Car Audio, has already cut an iPad-shaped hole, but is waiting on the Apple dock in order to hook it up to the rest of the system. And what a system. The dock connector will run direct to an Onkyo ND-S1 digital media transport, designed to get sound out of an iPod or iPhone with better quality than you get from the jack. This runs to an Audison Bit One processor which turns the digital signal into an analog signal and pipes it into a six-channel McIntosh amp.

What does all that mean? A kick-ass sound system is what it means, but we’re more interested in the possibilities of a dash-mounted iPad. Clearly it will make an amazing GPS, and a dangerously distracting movie display, but there’s something we’re missing here. A big screen mounted up front in a car: Any ideas?

First iPad in a Car [SoundMan Car Audio via Autoblog]