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Eton is very good at making emergency products that are crank-powered, and the Road Torq is specifically designed for automobiles.
Have you ever had to change a tire at night? Not much fun, is it? The Road Torq won’t make the task any more fun, but it will make it easier, and safer. The Road Torq is a light with three retractable legs for easy storage that also give it the power to stand up on its built-in tripod.
The Road Torq has a 1.7 W LED flashlight with 90 lumens, and it is on a hinge so you can shine the light at some good angles. On the opposite site of the flashlight are 3 red LED flashing beacon lights, which will alert other drivers that you are at work.
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MIT Media Lab City Car could be our automobile future
MIT Media Lab showed off this particular CityCar at a conference lately, and it is very good. Just to let you know, it is still a concept, but it should be full-sized and in production in about 2013.
You can watch a video of it after the jump, and you can see that it has a very unusual folding ability. The folding is perfect for city parking places, where space is an issue. Just think how much less room these cars would take up in comparison to full size cars of today!
The folding also serves a secondary purpose as it allows the driver to get into the car standing instead of that acute or obtuse angle that one does when getting in the driver’s seat of ordinary vehicles.
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Fast concept car is very flaky
This is the Flake project, a concept car that even the designer does not expect to work, but solely designed for inspirational purposes.
The “flakes” on the car are carbon fiber microspoilers, and they are programmed to shift around during the drive to enhance speed and performance. As you might have guessed, the flakes go flat when it is time for a burst of speed. Turning causes the flakes on one side of the car to stand up, which “locks” the car to the road.
There is a video of it after the jump, and I can assure you, that although it may look real, it is CG. You may also notice that unusual lack of tires, which the designer calls D-Wheels. These extendable legs allow for an adjustable contact surface.
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MicroVision PicoP head-up display technology arrives in test vehicles
Technology in vehicles have surely come a long way from its early days until now, and we even have some sort of Heads Up Display in BMWs operating for some time already to help the driver keep his or her eyes on the road all the time, while gaining access to vital information at all times without missing a beat. Well, MicroVision might just be in on the next big thing with their PicoP head-up display technology known as PicoHUD, being implemented in test vehicles already.
This move, if it gains traction, might just end up with the commercialization of its PicoHUD technology within a mass production car model - perhaps targeted for introduction three years from now? MicroVision’s contract will see the automotive manufacturer and its Tier 1 supplier work together with MicroVision to roll out advanced HUD prototypes which will feature next-generation PicoP display engine that are based on direct green lasers.
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Jabra Cruiser2 Bluetooth in-car speakerphone
Jabra recently unveiled both the EASYCALL and CRUISER2, and I got a chance to try out the latter. The CRUISER2 is your basic Bluetooth speaker, and is very similar to the FREEWAY that I reported about a few weeks ago.
It even has that clip that allows it to live on your car’s visor. This one comes with a mini USB to USB charging cable, and a car adapter.
The CRUISER2 is able to connect 2 Bluetooth devices simultaneously, and has dual microphone technology for excellent sound. I will have to say that the sound is good, but I felt the FREEWAY does it better.
It does have something that the FREEWAY doesn’t have with an FM transmitter to wirelessly sync with the car stereo via A2DP. As for the the Talk time specs, they are 14 hours, with 20 days available on standby.
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New Batmobile design is earth-friendly, designed by a legend
We have seen a lot of Batmobiles driven by the caped crusader in the movies, television, and comic books. Most of them have interesting gadgets, and many are not grounded in reality. Think about the Batmobile that drove up the wall in Batman Forever.
Some people don’t like the Humvee look in the latest Batman films, and Gordon Murray, legendary Formula One car designer, created this one. As far as I know, it won’t be used in the new Batman film coming next summer, but designed for a Batman Live World Arena Tour in the United Kingdom. You can see a video of it after the jump.
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Team Hot Wheels Life-sized track breaks world record
When I was my children’s age, I had some neighbors that had those orange flexible tracks for Hot Wheels cars. Try as I might, I never could get one of those cars to go through a loop.
Clearly, I am not the person who planned this jump from Team Hot Wheels. You can watch a video of it after the jump, and see the longest jump by a four-wheeled vehicle on May 29th, 2011 at the Indianapolis 500.
I’m not certain, but it sounds as if this life-sized Hot Wheels vehicle has no engine. I guess they must have just got some giant hand to push it up the ramp before they pushed it down.
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Vieria Concept Car actually cleans the air
I think that we all know that nothing contributes to the growing problem of air pollution than the automobile. However, this Vieria concept car is not planning on being a contributor, but it will clean the air.
The Vieria is described by my Source as a water purifier that “takes in dirty and dusty air, runs it through a filter beneath its passenger capsule and returns clean, fresh, breathable air”. Just think of it as the maid to the other vehicles on the road.
That alone would be enough to sell the Vieria in a hopefully eco-friendly future, but it also has another green feature. It has a shiftable scissor-like wheel and axle system, so it can be thinner on the road. Apparently, this can make it easier for the Vieria to go through rush hour bottlenecks.
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