Hasta La Gadget!

The presenters of Top Gear, among the finer specimens of British television talent (Dr. Gregory House being another), were this past week engaged in designing and building an electric vehicle purportedly intended to compete with the likes of the Chevy Volt. Set a time limit of a mere 18 hours, they produced the marvel of rushed engineering and shoddy workmanship you see above. The Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust (believe us, you’ll have no reason to remember the name) was even put through its paces by Autocar magazine, whose video “review” can be found after the break. We won’t spoil the details for you, but if you want a conclusion, this one’s pretty unequivocal: “there’s a really good chance you could kill yourself” riding in this car.

Continue reading Top Gear team builds EV, shows how complex car production really is

Top Gear team builds EV, shows how complex car production really is originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Using a laptop computer in a car can be uncomfortable, but no more. The Laptop Steering Wheel Desk hooks on to your wheel to give you a convenient place for the computer, your lunch, or whatever else you’re working on.

Clearly there are great uses for this product, but it’s also easy to imagine some dangerous abuses–especially considering all the recent hubbub about problems with people using cell phones and even texting while driving. And we’ve all heard stories of people shaving, putting on makeup, doing crossword puzzles, you name it.

You just know that someone will try to use their computer while they drive now that they have this table. Probably on a highway where the turns aren’t so sharp. It’s this image that inspired some of the hilarious user reviews and submitted pictures on the Amazon.com page for this product (check one out, after the jump).

Amazon.com seems to be the main place to buy the Laptop Steering Wheel, although the manufacturer, Mobile Desk, makes a wide variety of computer mounts and other work tools for cars. And the average police car these days seems to come with a computer designed for the driver to use.

Just as awareness of the dangers of distracted driving are increasing and laws are being developed all over to penalize users who phone or text while driving, the industry pushes the envelope more and more. Please keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.

Get ready to tech up your driving experience, as Garmin has unveiled a new accessory for its nuvi line of GPS devices that lets you add a number of customizable gauges and monitoring utilities. The new ESP module tucks into the OBD-II diagnostics port on your car and communicates (via Bluetooth) all-important data like intake air temperatures and the fuel efficiency of your driving to the nuvi up top. Yea, it’s been done before, but Garmin is (for the time being) a major force in navigation devices and could truly popularize this should there be enough interest. For our money, it’s both a neat and geeky way to expand the functionality of the now threatened satnav species. The full dish on price and availability can be expected at CES 2010 this coming January.

Filed under: Gaming

Garmin EcoRoutes ESP module turns your GPS into car sentinel originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Boy, TomTom sure has chosen the worst possible time to release its Car Kit for iPhone, and to make matters worse, its decision to not include the iPhone app is now set in stone. That’s right, the hardware alone will set you back the cost of a TomTom ONE nowadays, and the $99.95 app works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS without it. So here’s the question: is the car kit worth the extra $119.95? To find out, we got hold of a review unit for a sunny road trip around London. Surprisingly, the car kit uses Bluetooth to connect the GPS receiver to the iPhone, even though there’s a dock connector for charging. Bluetooth connectivity does have its advantages: according to TomTom it can work as a generic Bluetooth GPS receiver for any satellite navigation app on the iPhone, or any smartphones at all for that matter. TomTom even confirmed that the car kit could potentially compensate for the first-generation iPhone’s lack of built-in GPS, but since its app won’t run on anything but a 3G or 3GS we’ll have to wait and see if that’s actually useful. Meanwhile, the company is cooking up a compatible app for the original iPhone and the iPod Touch, which could make the car kit more worthwhile. Read on for our hands-on impression and test videos.

[Thanks for being our driver, Sam]

Continue reading TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review

Filed under: GPS, Transportation

TomTom Car Kit for iPhone review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TomTom has been on a mission to keep itself relevant as smartphones increasingly start to overstep on its territory, and the GO I-90 is another move in its counteroffensive plan. Capable of slotting into the double DIN slot usually reserved for in-car radio / music players, its big selling point is that it integrates into your dashboard yet is still capable of being moved around like a discrete nav unit. You wouldn’t be left decrying the loss of your radio either, with the GO I-90 sporting FM (with RDS support) and AM reception, USB support for MP3 players including iPods, and a promised compatibility with an “extensive” list of phones for handsfree calling — unfortunately, the poorly worded PR makes no mention of Bluetooth so we’re not sure how they’ll pull that off. Throw in a guarantee to receive the latest maps, TomTom’s Map Share for crowdsourced routes, and a Help-Me! emergency menu, and you get a pretty comprehensive product. Shame about that €599 (about $893) sticker then. Available in Europe in December.

Filed under: GPS

TomTom Go I-90 integrates into any dashboard, brings radio ‘infotainment’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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