Latest Gear Live Videos
maplin In-Car 12V Microwave
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Transportation,
How often do you spring for a fast food meal on the road and end up with a burger and fries that are room temperature at best? Now you can cook your own with maplin’s in-car Microwave. Plug into your 12V socket and program the LED touchscreen to heat your sandwich or SpaghettiOs in quick time. Built of steel with a heavy duty handle, it will even stand up to the kidlets’ Lunchables. Find it at a price of £79.97 (~$147.00.)
Read More 
| maplin
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Inside, Outside Car Camera
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Cameras, Portable Audio / Video, Transportation,
The cops will have nothing on you when you get your own Car Camera. Designed for capturing AVI video for insurance or legal reasons, it will record both inside and outside occurrences. The cam supports SD cards up to 2GB and features LED indicators for low power and working status. After capture, you can play your incriminating video on PC or TV with included AV cable. Easily adjustable, it runs on 12V DC or 3 AAA batteries (not included.) At a size of 100 x 46 x 23mm and a weight of 55g, it attaches by a sticker on its mount bottom and has a MSRP of $69.00.
Read More | gadget4all
GM Plans Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Science, Transportation,
AM General, the company that makes the Hummer H2 for GM, is hoping to make wheelchair-accessible vehicles by 2010. The car will be made for the U.S. and Canada and will include an automatic ramp that will be able to handle wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobile devices. They say they already have reservations for 3,500 units. Since GM has mentioned that other parties might be interested in its Hummer brand, it will be interesting to see if this will be another carrot or a last ditch effort by the company to keep those gas-hogs on the road.
Read More | Detroit News
Chevy Volt Already has Waiting List
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Corporate News, Transportation,
Lyle Dennis, a big Chevrolet Volt fan, has released details from his website GM-Volt that says over 33,000 drivers intend to buy the electric car when it comes out in 2010. The report said that potential buyers were mostly in California, Texas, Florida, and Michigan, as well as 46 other countries at a price of ~$40,000.00. We saw the Volt at last year’s NAIAS in Detroit, and although the lithium-ion battery pack run vehicle (that goes as far as 40 miles per charge) was not much in terms of eye candy, we just hope that enough Michiganders will keep it in mind as SUVs are currently still the main vehicle here. Visit Dennis’ site for details and a link to the Wait List.
Read More | Reuters
Alpine Electronics PND-K3 GPS
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: GPS, Transportation, Wireless / WiFi,
Alpine Electronics usually creates automobile audio/video gadgets and speakers, and now they are going further into GPS territory with their PND-K3. It features an updated interface from their BlackBird II, text-to-speech ability, integrated Bluetooth, and comes preloaded with Navteq maps of the U.S. and Canada with about 6 million points of interest. It has a 4.3-inch touchscreen, an SD expansion slot, customizable map and menu colors, and carries an MSRP of ~$550.00.
Read More | crave
A2B Light Electric Vehicle
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Transportation,
Ultra Motor will soon be releasing their A2B electric bike. The wide center stem houses the lithium-ion battery. When you get tired of peddling, the bicycle offers a 20 mph speed for up to 20 miles and can be upgraded with a second battery, basket, and/or rear carrier. The good news is that no license is required. The bad news is that it will set you back $2,500.00. Look for a September debut and remind yourself there will be no more high gas prices to pay, just a larger electric bill.
Read More | Ultra Motors via c/net
German Family Takes Tank Shopping
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Transportation,
Tired of people beating you to a parking place? Joachim Schoeneich bought a British built Fox tank in Germany to solve the dilemma. The vehicle has a baby seat for the family’s 2 year-old and the 30mm gun has been disarmed. Schoeneich claims it’s still tough to find a parking spot but that he always gets the right of way. The purchase price for the tank was £24,000 (~$47,000.00) and the 4.2 liter engine gets a whole five miles per gallon.
Read More | DVICE
IFR Aspid Unidrive
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: GPS, Misc. Tech, Transportation, Wireless / WiFi,
IFR (a company created by Spain’s motorsport engineer Ignacio Fernández Rodriquez) has designed the Unidrive. The gadget features a touchscreen to monitor and alter power output, ABS, brake balance, traction, and more. The units for driver and co-driver also have GPS, GPRS/GSM, accelerometers, and WiFi and Ethernet capability. In order to display the technology to the fullest extent, he and his team are installing them in Aspids (Spanish for asp.) Obviously the company is going after high end customers as each Aspid is built to suit the driver and will cost about £75,000 ($148,000.)
Read More | The Register
Martin Jetpack Takes Off, Barely
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation,
Yesterday, inventor Glenn Martin displayed his jetpack at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The machine is five feet high, has rotors in two large ducts, a 200-horsepower engine, and rests on 3 legs. It weighs about 250 lbs. and provides 600 lbs. of thrust. Martin has spent 27 years developing his baby and plans to sell them next year for $100,000.00 each if all goes well.
Martin’s wife was the first guinea pig and dubbed it “The Beast.” Fortunately, it also has a parachute for an emergency landing that we figure won’t be needed as the jetpack only flew about 3 feet off the ground. We give the man props for the attempt anyway. Check out the video if you would like to see the launch.
Read More | N Y Times
One Bicycle is Self-Contained
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Transportation,
Take a look at Thomas Jowen’s One. The bike itself is pretty cool looking and this would definitely help the environment, but it is the ability to fold up that really got our attention. You can carry, stow, or store when it is in itself, with no parts sticking out to trip unwary coworkers. This is a terrific prototype that will please both those who live in cubicles and mini-apartments. Check out Jowen’s website for more details.
Read More | Geekie Gadgets
