Hasta La Gadget!

Chevrolet and engineers from Disney World have been working together for 18 months to create a new ride at Epcot Center. The attraction is called the Test Track Presented by Chevrolet and it opened this week. The goal of the ride is to allow visitors to get an idea of what goes into designing a Chevrolet vehicle, and replaces the old GM Test Track ride that opened back in 1999.

The ride has three different major components with guests first having the opportunity to design their own vehicle. The vehicle can be a car, truck, or crossover. The next step is getting visitors a chance to test drive the vehicle design through a roller-coaster-like ride on track surfaces that simulate actual vehicle validation processes that Chevrolet uses.

The last step is giving the guests an opportunity to race their vehicle over changing terrain and in extreme conditions on a digital driving simulation to compare them to others. Visitors also get a chance to produce and share a TV commercial starring the custom vehicle and pose for action shots in front of their car. Check out the complete ride in the video below (spoilers).

Everyday objects are slowly being infused with modern technology.  There are fridges that can monitor their contents and automatically order online to restock themselves, socks that know how many times they’ve been washed and now, with the help of a tiny device, your car can be made so smart, it knows when it’s being towed and will tell you so.

This device is called the moj.io. I know, I wish they had come up with a better name. But the folks behind it probably spent all their brain power on the device itself, because it sounds very promising. The moj.io connects to the Internet via cellular networks and to your car via the On-Board Diagnostics OBD-II port (found in all major automotive lines since 1995). Once connected and paired to your mobile device, the moj.io can tell you where your car is located, if it’s being towed, the car’s overall condition and more. moj.io apps can also be more proactive. They can hold calls and text alerts while you’re driving to keep you safer or send text message alerts based on the speed and location of the car. Parents and obsessed lovers will find that one useful.

Pledge at least $89 (USD) on Indiegogo to reserve a moj.io unit. But because it needs to be online – as of now, it’s partnered with T-Mobile in the USA and Rogers in Canada – expect to pay extra for an Internet subscription. U.S. pricing is $7.99/month or $79/year, and canadian pricing is $12.99/month or $119/year. Though if you buy on Indiegogo, you get your first 3 months of service for free.

I’m sure some people have a few privacy concerns with having a device like this available to everyone, but I think that overall the benefits outweigh the risks. Besides, tracking technology has been available for a long time now, it’s just that now it’s in the hands of common folk.

Remember the toy car that transforms into a robot? The inventor Kenji Ishida is playing Santa to those of you who wished you could buy one. He’s selling 10 units of the latest version of his robot, which has a couple of new tricks up its robot sleeves.

In addition to being remote controlled and transformable, the 1:12 scale robot can now fire plastic projectiles from its arms and has a camera that can send live footage over a Wi-Fi connection.

You can order the robot from Ishida’s company Brave Robotics (his site is currently experiencing heavy traffic). The price isn’t listed, but you can bet it’ll be expensive. The robot will come fully assembled and programmed along with a wireless controller, four rechargeable batteries, a battery charger, a “motion edit software” and a serial cable. If you think you won’t be able to afford this model, keep saving: Ishida plans to release a life-sized robot car by 2030.

[via Jalopnik]

Some of the new live-action short films that have been surfacing for video game such as Halo 4 and made more than a few gamers ache for high-quality Hollywood content based on our favorite video games. I know the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn series made me very sad that Hollywood cancel the live-action Halo movie that was in the works.

A short film has surfaced based on the Grand Theft Auto series that uses live-action mixed with some slick computer-generated graphics. The short film was directed by Gevorg Karensky and looks exactly how you’d expect a real-world version of the video game to look.

The short shows GTA IV main character Niko Bellic on a thrilling mission to recover a smartphone. I’m really digging this live-action short, which you can check out above.

[via TopSpeed]

While the TARDIS seems like a pretty decent way to travel through space and time, it’s not exactly the best vehicle for getting through rush hour traffic on the expressway. This ride seems like it might be a better mode of urban transportation, especially along with today’s best GPS navigation systems.

This mashup between a TARDIS and a Scion xB was created by DeviantArtist ~Ificial-Art, and it looks awesome. I’ve been told that it’s so big inside that it seats 100. That could make for the ultimate clown car.

Unfortunately, it’s just a Photoshop job and not a real car. Though I think if a car manufacturer were to make these for real, they’d sell millions thousands hundreds dozens at least a few to some diehard Whovians out there.