Google Earth Comes to Audi A8 [Maps]

Yes, plenty of cars have built-in GPS navigation. But up until now, no car had Google Earth integrated, but now Audi has remedied that with their new luxury car, the Audi A8.

Snugged right into the LCD screen in the car, the Google Earth application will let lucky owners look at 3D satellite imagery, terrain information, and even additional info layers such as Wikipedia articles or Panoramio images related to a certain location.

A8’s system will also feature Google Maps and Local Search, plus the ability to link it all with your desktop computer. To save time, you can simply search for an address on your computer and send it to the car; when you start driving, the car will know where to go.




However, if you’re not familiar with German manufacturer’s luxury cars, lets just say that only those with the deepest pockets will be buying one. The rest of us will have to make do with an iPhone stand and the Google Earth mobile app.

[Mashable]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

The 2011 Audi A8 bests K.I.T.T. in the gadget department

Cars are increasingly becoming more circuits than gears and the 2011 Audi A8 is a prime example of this transformation. There is likely more tech packed in the full-size Audi sedan than the International Space Station. In fact, if you think the laptop steering wheel table is the ultimate driver distraction, click the read link below to see what the flagship Audi packs.
First, let’s start with the creature comforts.

• Heated, cooled, and massaging seats
• Standard 12-way adjustable seats or optional 22-way adjustable optional seats
• Vibration-canceling motor in the steering wheel
• Interior LED ambient lighting system
• Four climate zones

Entertainment system

• Standard 14 speaker Bose system or optional 1,400 Watt, 19 speaker Bang & Olufsen system
• Google maps-enabled GPS system with handwriting input mode
• 8-inch LCD info screen
• 20GB hard drive
• WiFi, USB, and AUX-inputs
• Dual 10.2-inch rear seat displays with its own DVD player, 20GB hard drive, and controls
• WLAN via UMTS that turns the car into a mobile HotSpot

Safety equipment

• Night vision
• R8-style LED headlights
• Adaptive cruise control
• Radar that detect collisions that automatically tight seat belts and adjusts seats
• Speed limit camera that actually reads roadside signs and displays them as graphics on the dash

Of course the A8 has the powertrain to back up this massive saloon with an 8-speed tiptronic system and quattro permanent all-wheel drive, along with a direct fuel injection 372 HP V8 engine. Too bad Audi hasn’t announced the price yet, but chances are it doesn’t matter. The only people that can probably afford all this luxurious Audi technology are those that will likely be overwhelmed by it. Or douchebag bankers.

[CrunchGear]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Snaefell hybrid car-motorcycle: why? why not? [MotorCarCycle]

What’s red, shiny, goes fast, and looks like a vehicular accident? The Pontiac Aztek, that’s what. I’d rather have the Snaefell, François Knorreck’s lovingly handcrafted car-motorcycle hybrid. It’s easier to think of it as a motorcycle with a car-like sidecar, because I don’t think that you can drive – or steer – with the car half.

Knorreck reportedly spent 10,000 hours and €15,000 (approx. $22,300 (USD)) to build this one of a kind vehicle. The Snafell is a combination of a Laverda motorcycle which Knorreck bought in 1976 and had already modified to be a sport bike, and the custom-built carbon fiber and polyester sidecar. The sidecar’s parts were culled from various automobiles, including a Volkswagen Golf GTI, a Citroen Xantia and an Audi 80.

The Snaefell – which incidentally is also the name of three volcanoes in Iceland – is powered by the Laverda’s 1000cc engine. I barely know anything about vehicles, so I don’t know if the triple exhaust is necessary, but damn if it doesn’t add to the quirkiness of this ride.

The sidecar has a gull-wing door and has a car seat, complete with seat belts. Say what you will about the Snaefell, but it’s sidecar might just be the most comfortable and safest one on the planet.

There should be more pics at Knorreck’s website, I just don’t know for sure because Internet fame has brought down the site. I really want to see it in action! Man this thing is weird.

[Technabob via designboom via kneeslider]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

You Won't Need Chairlifts with the Fastest Snow Car In the World [Cars]

This Ken Block's new Subaru-based Trax STI and it's the fastest snow vehicle in the world.
I guess I won't be driving the Trax—with its 400hp engine, cat tracks, and four-snowboarder sleigh.
[via Gizmodo via Autoblog via Techeblog]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Self-Parking Car Works Perfectly, Except For That Whole Running People Over Thing [Automotive]

Volkswagen is onto something great with this concept demo. You just step out of this car and it parks itself. Great, now they just need to iron out those details about detecting obstacles like lil' ol' grannies crossing parking lots.
Self-parking cars aren't really a new idea, but with the design the Volkswagen Automotive Innovation Laboratory is working on, only minimal modifications are required a vehicle's stock options. The main sensor systems consist of a camera mounted on the rear view mirror, a front radar, and 'couple little off the shelf LIDAR units mounted on the sides.' They'll need to make a few more modification to take care of the system's inability to detect obstacles (be it people or terrain), but other than that tiny detail, this is the best autonomous parking prototype I've seen so far. [Gizmodo via BotJunkie]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

The Coolest Car Cockpit I Have Ever Seen Will Make You Go All Pew-Pew [Design]

If Nissan has its way, your next car's cockpit will look like an star fighter, straight out of a Macross remake.
This is the Nissan Land Glider, an electric car with two seats. it has a narrow body, which Nissan says will help reduce traffic congestion by allowing more cars in the same city space, as well as making parking easier. It has a balancing system to make it stable as it takes curves, compensating for inertia with the car's body movement.

The winner, however, is that stunning cockpit equipped with flat color screens and joysticks with touch surfaces. I really hope it has lasers and anti-matter cannons built-in too.
Head to Pink Tentacle to see the rest of the prototypes at the Tokyo Motor Show.
[Gizmodo via Pink Tentacle]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Eco-Macho: Germany debuts e2 electric car of the future

The Tesla electric car is officially passé now that we have the e2 electric sports car from e-Wolf coming in 2011. The vehicle features a 544 horsepower electric engine, a battery that will last for 186 miles, and a top speed of 155 miles per hour.

What makes the e2 even more attractive is that it will take just 30 minutes to power up to a full electric charge. According to the company the car will be able to hit 60 miles per hour in just 4 seconds. The era of eco-macho is upon us, now it's all just a waiting game.

[DVICE via AutoBlog]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Tiny $9,000 Car Gets an Astounding 74mpg [Cars]

Leave it to a Formula One race car engineer to create a car that's so cleverly designed it delivers 74 miles per gallon in a package that costs a mere $9,000. Barely big enough for one person, the T.25 is manufactured with a highly efficient process called iStream, lowering costs and simplifying repairs.

[DVICE]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Audi Car Concept Sees 62 Speakers Added For 360 Surround Sound [Cars]

Considering my car is bombed out in a shed somewhere, I'd be happy with any car—but given half the chance I'd love to see this Audi Q7, complete with all 62 speakers, in my garage.

It's the Audi Sound Concept, which sees the car manufacturer's engineers cramming in 52 mid-range speakers, five woofers and five tweeters into one of their small Q7 cars, with speakers hidden in the dashboard, ceiling and doors. Sound like overkill? It probably is—but Audi's used "wave field synthesis," an audio rendering technique which doesn't have many compatible audio tracks that are playable with the audio system, so this is very much a prototype showing The Future, if nothing else.

If the car ever does turn up on a showroom floor, good luck driving it away on holiday—there's no boot to stow your luggage, with most of it being used to hold the amplifier and cables.

What a shame only 32 tracks can be played on the system so far. If I was driving that baby, I'd crank up some Queen extra-loud.

[Gizmodo via Gizmag]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Future Car's Body is a Carbon Fiber Battery [Future Cars]

What if you could use carbon fiber as a battery? That's the idea scientists at the Imperial College of London are working on, aiming to build a car out of carbon fiber material that would not only function as a battery, but will be a strong and light substitute for the sheet metal on cars today.

Not only will it save weight and volume in a car, it would eliminate the need for wiring, letting engineers route electricity through the car's carbon fiber structure. The technology could be taken way beyond cars, also built into airplanes, cellphones, or anything that uses batteries. Just imagine a cellphone as thin as a credit card. Brilliant.

[DVICE]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

Mystery European Car Manufacturer Will Use OLED Lighting In Next Two Years [OLED]

OLED manufacturer Novaled has announced it's teamed up with a 'European car maker' to create OLED interior and backlight lighting for their new motor. Intriguing, eh?

Apparently it's passed the concept stage and is being put into production as we speak, with the car likely to go on sale in the next two years. OLED, as you know, is flexible, low-energy and with costs being decreased almost every day, it's now an affordable alternative to other lighting systems.

OLED lighting in the next Citroën, anyone?
[Gizmodo via Plastic Electronics via OLED-Info]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »

GM’s Awesome Augmented Reality Windshield [Driving]

We love technology that makes us feel like we’re living in the future. Case in point: General Motors has been working with several universities to develop a working next-generation heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard.
Such a system can improve safety and advance knowledge behind the wheel, visually identifying important objects in physical space like road signs and the edges of the road you’re on in conditions of poor visibility. It can even bring GPS functions right into the dashboard by outlining the exact building you’re going to. Check out a demo of the system in action below.
The HUD windshield uses night vision, navigation and camera-based sensors to gather data relevant to your surroundings as you drive, and ultraviolet lasers project corresponding images onto the windshield surface. GM says to look for this system being incorporated into its vehicles in the near future.
Would you be excited to have an AR windshield in your next car?





Tags: AR, Augmented Reality, cars, GM, gps, technology, transportation
[Mashable]

Read more from this post in Gadgets online »