One of my high school buddies always locked his keys in his car. Man, we became pros breaking into 1976 Dodge Aspens! But it was a drag, just the same, and I really wished Ray would have had another method of getting into his car…or just stop locking his keys in it. One method he did try was one of those magnet key holders that you put under your car. Great idea until you need it and realize you must have hit a bump pretty good and it knocked off the key holder. Ugh.

Well, transport us twenty years later and SUVs are the new king of the road (even if sales have plummeted in the last two years) and they all have trailer hitches. Well, at least the good ones do. Thing about those hitches is most aren’t using ‘em. Kinda like the 4×4 they also have equipped on that vehicle. But now, you can use that hitch of yours. Yup, yank out the Raiders trailer hitch (and just throw it away, man!) and slip in the HitchSafe!

For $80, HitchSafe will allow you to store small items secured by a combination you create. This rust resistant safe allows for you to store your spare key, cash, credit cards, or even your drivers license as specified on the Hitch Corner. Now I’m not sure why you’d want to put your drivers license there, (”Um, yes officer, I have my license, but I need to get out of my truck and get it out of the hitch.”), but it could lead to interesting stories for you to tell your kids later in life. The spare key is a good one for people like Ray (yes, he has a truck now) and I guess the cash and credit card thing could come in handy if you leave your truck in a bad neighborhood and you’re concerned they’ll bust in the vehicle, too.

So, this may be of interest to some of you out there. Ray.

Commuters often times have trouble finding a parking spot on those busy mornings where everyone else is looking for one, too. British entrepreneur Tom Page may have come up with a solution to this problem. 18 year old Page thought of the idea while he was working for a UK company. Apparently parking is really bad on the other side of the Pond because Tom was having to park about 30 minutes away. This guy came up with the idea for homeowners to rent out their driveways on a 5-7 day time period. The idea is that commuters rent the space they want so they don’t have to spend time looking for one.

www.youcanpark.com is potentially beneficial to both driveway owners and commuters. Owners can earn some extra income (as long as they don’t need their driveway the entire day) and commuters are guaranteed to have a parking place when they come to work in the morning.

The new company who organizes (or organises if you are English) the project is based in Bristol where they have over 7000 daily commuters. The company provides their services to locations all over the UK. The company is also developing www.youcanshare.com so commuters can see other commuters who are going the same direction and can coordinate carpooling.

Techwell was showing off their broad line of high performance TW88xx In-Car LCD display processors at their booth in Las Vegas two weeks ago at CES. The leading manufacturer of semiconductor solutions for the automotive world produced these processors in response to the growing demand for LCD displays in vehicles, primarily for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and DVD players. All of the TW88xx processors featured at CES 2007 can directly support a variety of small size LCD panels from LG.Philips, Sharp, TMD, Hitachi, and others along with integrated timing controllers.

“Techwell has made a determined effort through R&D and collaborations with panel providers to develop the most integrated and feature rich LCD display processors available for in-car display applications.” said Feng Kuo, Ph.D., Chief Technical Officer. He added, “We are very pleased to supply our high-performance, scalable, and low cost products to the growing in-car entertainment market.”

The great thing about these processors is that they have the ability to simultaneously display different content viewable from various user angles in the vehicle. This means that the driver can be getting directions from the GPS while the passenger can be watching a DVD. Or the two kids in the back who can never agree on what movie to watch can watch two different DVDs at the same time, all on the same screen!

According to Telematics Research Group, shipments of navigation, entertainment and driver information systems are expected to grow from a combined 16.5 million units to a combined 47.2 million units in 2009, representing a compound annual growth rate of 23%. Along with automobile manufacturers who incorporate them into their new vehicles, These systems are also increasingly being purchased by consumers in the aftermarket. The newest model, The TW8806 is in mass production and will be available in mid 2007. Visit www.techwellinc.com for more info on this product.

Last week at the 40th annual CES, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin joined Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) president and CEO Gary Shapiro to discuss some of the newest, hottest issues facing the 21st century tech world. Categories included the digital television transition, cable compatibility, net neutrality and other issues critical to the consumer electronics industry. Along with this, Mr. Martin stated that he is very proud of consumer and their the increased use of broadband during his term as head honcho.

“The goal is that everyone has access to broadband,” said Martin. “It impacts the way that we get entertainment, seek healthcare and receive education. Trying to put in place a regulatory environment that allows operators to invest in broadband technology is critical for consumers to be able to take advantage of the technologies we see on the show floor.”

A panel of experts was also founded to discuss the new barriers to integrating consumer electronics with vehicles. This panel was moderated by Chris Cook of AAMP of America. The roadblocks discussed were supply and consumer demand of products, the different standards held in the electronics and automotive industries, and the ups and downs of product cycles within the industries themselves. This panel went into the meeting facing these barriers and came out with some interesting ideas on how to help integrate these two fields. First they talked about better integration of CE into automobiles, and then articulated that they must focus on four key factors: the convergence of car and home, consumer content, ease of use for consumer, and convenience to drivers. The panel obviously thought they had the right thing going on because afterwards, Stephen Witt, vice president, Brand Marketing, Alpine Electronics said that: “Never before have the points of view of these two industries been as similar as they are today.” Read the rest of this entry »

British Columbia cops have a new tool in fighting crime and it’s called the Automatic License Plate Recognition or ALPR for short. With cameras mounted on the dash for forward viewing, the rear deck for rear viewing, and the passengers side for side viewing, BC cops can now snap pictures of every license plate in view and run them immediately against a daily refreshed database. What are the cops looking for? Vehicles used in crimes, un-insured and unlicensed drivers. When a plate that matches that description is found, an alarm is sounded and the 411 slapped up on the screen for the officer to see. This work horse can scan up to three thousand plates in an hour! Police departments in the United States are also testing this new technology out (PDF).

In this video, you’ll witness a Chevy Lumina that was used just 24 hours prior in a bank heist.

While this technology is very interesting and very impressive, it’s also quiet scary. Ripe for abuse and ready to blossom for other not so good uses, I really hope this stays in the public eye for some heavy scrutiny.

Moon Valley Software has introduced FixDat, a new wireless communication device at the International Consumer Electronics Tradeshow (CES) on January 8th. FixDat is a wireless diagnostic tool that can be used to send and even reset the diagnostic codes of your vehicle. Connect using a wide range of devices, including your cell phone, PDA, laptop, or even Personal Computer. The product is set to hit the shelves by storm this spring with a price tag of around $150. Compare that to other cabled diagnostic devices that are much more expensive, and work with a narrower range of vehicles. This unit is compatible with 1996 and beyond passenger vehicles and light trucks, semi’s not included (sorry guys.) Whether you have a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or Toyota, you’ll be able to use FixDat with any of them.

The CEO of Moon Valley Software, Mr. Peter Ryan, is enthusiastic about the new product. He said: “We’re very excited…Linking wirelessly to an onboard computer system with my cell phone is hot. The possibilities are endless.”

Hot huh? Well, it’ll get even hotter this summer because there are more products that will be added to the Dat family later this year. TripDat will wirelessly provide bookkeeping software, data logging and porting. Not only this, it serves as a hub for linking stereos, Global Positioning Systems, cellular phones, and other Bluetooth devices. Rental car companies, CheckDis out. FleetDat is a commercial product that will allow for communication over long distances, such as fleet management and other car rental applications. All wirelessly. Dat’s cool!

Parent company of Mercedes-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, announced along with WiMedia Alliance that it will be featuring the worlds first car with video streaming to next weeks CES. Showing of the ultra-wideband (UWB) enabled vehicle, Mercedes and WiMedia Alliance will display its work in the new R500 right on the floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center. In it, passengers will be able to enjoy high-defenation video anywhere on the road after downloading content from a UWB connection such as a gas station, home garage, or shopping center. With built-in monitors of the front seat head-rests and a fold down monitor for third row passengers, Mercedes-Benz hopes to bring in-car video to a new level.

“We appreciate Intel’s work to enable UWB in automobiles as we strive to enhance the comfort and convenience features for all our passengers,” said Dr. Wieland Holfelder, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of DaimlerChrysler Research, Engineering and Design North America Inc. “As more and more wireless devices and wireless options will find their way into future DaimlerChrysler vehicles, standardization is essential and we look forward to collaborating with the WiMedia Alliance and their members to open up new innovations for drivers and passengers.”

The wonderful key fob. Yes, fob. So many in my family crack up when I tell them the correct name of that black thing attached to their key that locks and unlocks there door as well as create the all ignored “panic” alert.

Reports are, GM will be bringing even a better fob in April to rappers and gang bangers around our great nation with the next model of the Cadillac Escalade. The new fob will notify G-Kill-C3P-Oh when his tires need some air and his tank some fuel. Homie will be able to start his car from inside the crib as well as lock it from six times the distance he can today on his bunk ‘07 Caddy. If he’s interested in how many miles his ride has, he’ll be able to get the 411 on dat as well as change XM to RAW all from the new fob. Now homie ain’t trippin’ that this will cost him $150 more since that’s only a few more dime bags and not a whole rock to sale. GM is also saying that if our beloved capitalist losses his fob, it’ll cost less than $100 to replace.

For all us real world folk and law abiding citizens, you’ll be able to pick this up in one of the other great GM SUV offerings as well as other models soon after the release in April, 2008. Until then, keep cool.

[Via Autoblog]

Okay, we can finally go to sleep now. We just finished writing, proof reading, formatting, proof reading, and posting our 11 page review of the Navman iCN 750 super-uber GPS unit. It does more than just getting you to point B, it lets you take a picture of point B! We also love, love, LOVED the POI database. Man, the best in the business. Dude, there’s a nail store by my house and I didn’t even know! (Now I need to keep this important information from my wife. ).

Hey, what can we say? We loved the iCN 750 and we thing you will too. Give it a read and grab a BIG cup of coffee, ’cause you’ll be sittin’ for a while as you read our kick butt review!

For thirty years, BMW had the greatest car slogan plastered on glossy paper or a shinny TV screen. Heck, it was probably one of the best slogans period. But you know, times are changin’ and the those really bad Chris Bangle 7 series designs weren’t enough to offend the automotive enthusiast community as a whole. Nope, BMW had to go and get a new new slogan and when one reads it, one wonders if Bangle himself came up with it.

A company of ideas. Wow, really? Is that what you came up with my beloved Beamer? Does this mean you’ll be making PostIt notes? Those are a great idea. How ’bout the next generation in velcro? I mean that’s probably one of the greatest ideas since, well, the PostIt note.

I think there’s some bad beer flowing down their in Bavaria. Wow, what a foobar!

[Via Autoblog]