By Kaustubh Shinde
The entire motor industry has got it into their mind that humans aren’t fit to drive and that cars should be more safer. With auto majors loading their cars to the brim with sci-fi safety technologies like automatic Braking, Infrared night vision, Emergency brake assist, we are only years away from not driving at all!
A new technology developed by John Morrell, an Associate Professor at Yale School of Engineering, warns the driver of a vehicle approaching his car by vibrating the seats. It is done by attaching a lot of cell phone vibrator motors to the seat which receive information from the sensors that are attached to the body of the car.
For example : If a vehicle approaches from the left, the sensors relay this information to the vibrator motors and the left side of your seat starts vibrating. The vibes get stronger as the car gets closer.
Now look, this technology is fine on the expressways and highways where cars are wide apart from each other and an occasional vibration will not disturb the driver. But in cities, where most of the time we drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic this could get a bit irritating.
Although, coming to think about it, who wouldn’t mind a full body massage after a stressful day at work. Bring it on we say!
Here’s a gadget which has been specifically designed to aid front seat passengers. Its a flexible reading lamp which allows passengers to read a book or search for something which has accidentally fallen on to the car’s floor, without switching on the overhead interior lamp and disturbing the driver.
The flexible reading lamp has a 30-centimetre long stem which can bent in all possible directions. The lamp can be powered by plugging it into any 12v-port or the car’s cigarette lighter socket. The price of the lamp is $ 14.95 (Rs. 700).
One feature we loved in the Audi A4 we drove a while back, has to be the air circulation feature which fires cold air into your back, through the seat pores, and keeps it sweat free.
You would love such a feature on your daily commuter, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, not many of us have the cash to buy an Audi A4 to enjoy this feature. For us, there’s a new kid on the block which can make your Alto drive closer to the Audi! In terms of features, at least.
This Cooling Car Summer Seat orders its built-in fan to blow cold air and keep your rear-end cool always. Powered via your vehicle’s cigarette lighter outlet, this device is a plug-and-play type and costs $60 a pop.
A clock shaped like the front of a car is the first thing a petrol head wants to see when he wakes up, if not a real car.
Based on a Hot Wheels car called the “Nitro Doorslammer,” the ‘Snore Slammer’ is sure to slam the brakes on your early morning dreams with its noise.
It has a LED display and integrated FM. You turn the wheels to control the volume and you either wake up to the radio or to “custom sounds.”
What’s next? A car shaped clock with a V6 engine that accelerates if you ignore its warning?
Hit the jump to know where you can buy this $26 hottie!
Takara has added one more toy to their Alternity toyline which consists of transforming cars. The first two models were the Nissan GT-R Convoy and the Nissan Fairlady (350Z) Megatron, which frankly would not suit our blog. The newest addition will – Introducing the Suzuki Swift Bumblebee
Over the years a tremendous amount of Transformer toys have come about, and the Bumblebee model is anything but new. You’ll have to observe the attention to detail Takara has given to this toy.
The Bumblebee Swift comes in two colours, the Champion Yellow Bumblebee colour and the Pearl Red Cliffjumper colour.
Our pal Dean explains the Transformers sequel in the shortest possible manner -
For those of you that have not seen Transformers, Bumblebee is originally an Autobot that disguises him self as a fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro. Bumblebee was the star-bot of the first movie where he had to voice his opinions with short radio, or song clips due to his voice failing.
In Transformers 2, Bumblebee took stand next to the new Chevrolet Volt named Jolt, as well as the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Concept named Sideswipe. Anyway, if you haven’t seen the movie we’d rather not spoil it for you – so check it out when you can.
If you’re not featuring as a superhero in a Hollywood movie, you won’t be wearing this. But c’mon, this is totally wacky and deserves a place on our front page.
Someone loved the Dark Knight movie so much that he went out, brought some materials home and stitched up his own merchandise!
A suit like this is worn by Christian Bale in the movie. But in the real world, only if you were affected by skin disease, would you wear such protective clothing.
Update – we just learned this is an official replica piece. But sorry, we’re not editing our original thoughts.
The iPhone 3G might be the hottest thing in the mobile phone industry, but it is setting things on fire once it reaches its end user.
An unsuspecting dutch iPhone 3G owner made a big mistake by leaving his new iPhone inside his car. He laid it on the passenger seat and when he returned, he found his windshield tinted. His nightmare was confirmed as he opened the door to find his iPhone 3G charred, and taking a portion of the seat along with it into the atmosphere.
The phone was not connected to the charger. It was left alone in the seat. The amount of time he had left the phone inside the car is not known. Regardless of that, you don’t expect to come back to your car to see your phone in ashes.
Whether sunlight was instrumental in triggering the fire is not known. But as a safety and also security measure, remember to leave your iPhone away from direct sun light.
The good thing about this gadget is it takes up little space, and for people who travel long distances particularly during the night, this is an essential gadget you need to have in your boot.
Introducing the Collapsible Solar-powered traffic cone. It costs $55 and it works with solar energy to lights the LED’s inside the cone. If you are stuck on the road when the light is poor, place this cone a few feet behind your car. The LEDs flash and provide you and your car with a safe territory.
Otherwise, it can be tucked in somewhere in your car’s boot.
