Automotive

Gadget Gifts – Ideas, Recommendations, Suggestions

We’ve put together a list of gadget gifts for the gizmo-lover in your life. These aren’t just great for the Christmas holiday season but any time of year. For the most part, we’ve tried to stay away from the usual and obvious electronic gadgets like MP3 players, phones and cameras, but instead bring you a variety of neat electronic gift ideas and in most cases useful items that are still worth their salt as far as gadgets go.

Perplexus

Let’s start with some toys/puzzles/games. Perplexus is a spherical 3-D maze with a ball bearing that you to need to navigate around a maze. Simply to learn, hard to solve and master!
Buy now!

Wagan Heated Magnetic Massage Seat Cushion for your Car or Home

The mercury has already started to drop across most of the North American continent and you may be dreading another winter of getting into your cold car every morning to go to work.

If you opted to save $10,000 or more for a cheaper car that doesn’t have heated seats, then you might consider just $50 for this gem – a heated seat cushion that by itself might be worth the price alone. But this product from Wagan is also a massaging cushion with 5 motors and a remote control too.

It works via either AC or DC adapters and can of course be used in the home as well. This magnetic seat cushion may be the answers to your prayers if you drive a fair amount.

Buy now!
Price: $49.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

Toyota working on anti-drunk driving technology

In much the same way that certain diseases have been eradicated and we as a society have shed them from our collective consciousness, so one day we may forget that drunk driving was ever the scourge it is today. More than a few companies are working on solutions that will aid in this quest. Toyota is one of these companies.

They are developing anti-drunk driving equipment that would lock the ignition of a vehicle if high levels of alcohol are detected in the driver. The technology uses both a breathalyzer and photo recognition software. In the case of vehicles that are company/fleet cars, it will also alert the home office. Nissan is also working on similar tech. Kudos Toyota & Nissan.

via ChannelNewsAsia

Lexus HS 250h – hybrid eco-vehicle

This is one of our pricey gadgets, but boy is it a nice one. Lexus has just launched a brand new hybrid model, the HS 250h. You’ll probably have seen TV ads already, and will notice ads showing up in print and on billboards soon. The ad campaign’s slogan is “Hello Someday” as in someday your car can have all of these various advanced technologies and someday is today. Well at least in the HS, and sure enough, the HS is really chock full of gee-whiz features.

Here are just some of those features:

  • Lane Keep Assist – helps keep your car in its lane by monitoring the lane markings via radar and micro video cameras.
  • Lane Departure Warning – beep if your car wanders and gently steers it back if it does.
  • Heads up Display – windscreen in front of the driver shows turn by turn directions as well as the buttons that the driver is touching on the steering wheel
  • Dynamic Radar Cruise Control – help you stay a pre-set distance from the car in front of you, and automatically applies the brakes and/or accelerator to keep that distance.
  • Pre-Collision System – uses radar to sense imminent collisions and applies brakes and pulls in seatbelts.
  • Voice Command – voice-recognition system allows users to say commands. For example, control the temperature and call someone.
  • Driver Attention Monitor – uses infrared sensors to monitor the driver’s face to ensure they’re paying attention

In addition to the features, the HS touts eco-friendly feature such as recycled materials, ecological plastics and reduced emissions. That is just a sampling of features. Lexus has put together a nice website that shows off these features nicely with videos and more.

The HS 250h starts at approx $35k.

RC MINI Cooper S Convertible

RC MINI Cooper S Convertible

Don’t you wish you had a convertible as summer is here, perhaps a Mini Cooper Convertible? If you don’t have that kind of cash, then how about a remote control Mini Cooper?!

Our recent round up of spy cameras inspired us to go find some new RC autos. This is the RC MINI Cooper Convertible – costing only $25 and an exact 1:43 replica (body work only – don’t expect to find a tiny BMW engine in there powering it!) of a real one it is almost as good fun as driving around in the real thing!

It has a top speed of 150mph 0.1m/s? plus special turbo boost on the remote and has fully functioning headlines – just like a real one!

Buy now!

Price: $25.00
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

GfG’s Article Recap for Week Ending May , 2009

Another week – another recap; this week we looked at Cablevision’s new 100Mbps internet access plans for seriously fast downloads. Another technological breakthrough was General Electric’s 500Gb optical disc and China has developed a new competitor to Blu-Ray, although it will probably be primarily used within China.

Information Architects have released 2008’s Web Trend Map – pre-orders available now! We displayed the quite amazingly small wireless-N adapter.

The much awaited Tata Nano car surpassed a massive 200,000 pre-orders! And lastly, Vopium has released their free iPhone app.

Tata Motors’ Nano

It’s not really surprising that a super-cheap car with great gas mileage (approx 50 mpg) would be snapped up, is it? Well certainly not today. And that’s the story with Indian car maker, Tata Motor’s Nano. They have already taken pre-paid orders on over 200,000 units.

This greatly exceeds their capacity, and some buyers will be waiting until next year for their Nano. Delivery of the $2000 Nano does not start until July.

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