In what’s perhaps more marketing ploy than real product, ETA’s QTvan is a 2 metre by 0.75 metre (6.6 feet by 2.5 feet) caravan incorporating a full-size single bed, an onboard battery supply, a 19-inch (48 cm) television, radio / alarm clock, kettle and drinks cabinet. It costs £5,500 (US$9,077 / €6,234) and is offered with such extras as roof-mounted solar panels, air horn, satellite dish, central heating and bespoke paint.
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At the recent 2011 AutoRAI Trade Show in Amsterdam, visitors to Renault’s stand could use Smart Cards encoded with their username and password to “Like” particular cars, read what other people were saying about them on Facebook and take and upload photos. It’s a neat little setup, and practically the definition of, “free publicity”.
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Now, it appears, we've found a new use / time waster: towing stuff. In the video below you can see a larger-than-normal R/C hauler actually hauling a Nissan SUV along someone's driveway.
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To be precise, Maserati joined forces with Sicilian bicycle maker Montante Cicli for the development and production of the 8CTF that borrows its name from the Italian automaker’s famous racing car that won 500 miles of Indianapolis in both 1939 and 1940. The Montante for Maserati 8CTF will be produced in a limited run of just 200 individually numbered units, with all bicycles to be custom made to fit the rider.
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Google's test cars have so far covered over 140,000 miles (225,300 km) in all types of driving conditions without a single fault. “People didn't even notice” Google's cars were not driven by humans, said Thrun, who lost his best friend to a car accident when he was 18. The Stanford professor of computer science said that moment made him decide dedicating his life to saving one million people every year.
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Oh, if only all those futurists from the 1930s could have predicted a device as wondrous as the Smart Phone. It’s the communicator from Star Trek, a world atlas, the world’s largest department store and a personal assistant / concierge all rolled into one. You could organise a wedding or run a global empire from one of these things, and many people do.
Unfortunately, like seemingly everything humanity invents, it has its downsides as well. For some of us it can be addictive and overuse of these distracting devices can result in devastating consequences for one’s self and others, especially when use in conjunction with another wonder of the last century: the automobile.
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If you're looking to add some style to your winter-time outdoor activities, you may want to take a look at these cool skis from Audi. Initially designed and developed as a concept study at the Audi Concept Design Munich, the Carbon Ski is now heading for production with the Ingolstadt-based automaker estimating that it could be available for sale as early as this year. As its name implies, the Audi Carbon Ski is made out of carbon fiber for reduced weight as well as optimal stiffness. More precisely, a cab of high-strength carbon fiber encloses layers of aluminum and titanium, as well as a wood core. The result is 170cm-long ski that tips the scales at 1,550 grams. According to Audi, the ski weighs 200 grams less than comparable models.
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This brings up an interesting conundrum: what to do when the sat nav or Bluetooth devices in your car age more quickly than the car itself? Few people this side of Dhiaa Al-Essa can afford to replace their car every six months, so the answer - to automakers at least - is to do the same as software companies: roll out upgrades.
It could be something as simple as the dealership checking your oil and tire pressure remotely to recalibrating the transmission or updating the car's sat nav system. San Francisco based Cisco Systems has even constructed an experimental dashboard out of LCD panels that acts as a giant touch screen: driver's can drag and drop instruments, personalize the look and feel of said instruments and add new functions such as g-force meters.
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That’s not all, though. Jiaxuan’s next big project is equipping and controlling a full-sized car via remote control. What’s the timeframe for this endeavour? Just twenty days.
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At the upcoming Network and Distributed System Security Symposium in San Diego, researchers from ETH Zurich’s system security group will present evidence on how they successfully hacked ten cars from eight manufacturers, using the sort of equipment you can buy at your local electronics’ store.
The small team of computer science researchers РAssistant Professor Srdjan Capkun, Aur̩lien Fancillon and Boris Danev Рwere able to gain access and drive away in all ten vehicles simply by exploiting the way keyless entry systems work.
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