CHICKASHA, Oklahoma (Agencies). Chickasha-resident James McFarlan, a 45-year-old computer analyst and part-time fabric designer, drove this morning into Annie Svenson’s home roof after what he referred to as an incident with his car GPS. “I told him [Sheriff Furillo]that my GPS made me do it. I was just driving when the nice sexy voice inside the box told me to turn left while I was driving through the bridge on Frisco and 62nd,” said McFarlan after being released by the police. “She was like, come on, do it. Do it! Dooooo iiiit!!!” The next thing McFarlan recalls is 78-year-old retiree Mrs. Svenson in her nightgown, knocking on his windshield.
The Bottom line: Remember that urban tale of the drug running lambo doing 200mph runs using merely nightvision? FLIR, used to making commercial nightvision systems for law enforcement, marine, and airborne vehicle has trickled the tech into civilian hands. The PathfindIR is their first infrared nightvision adaptable for any car, although they’ll be demo’ing at CES in a BMW. The camera (below) gets mounted in a grill, and the AV output hooks into any LCD and even some dashboard nav systems. The video looks to be a relatively low res 320 x 240, with a wide 36º H x 27º V field of view. The best news: the IR system lets cars see 5x further than high beams. The catch: Staring at a LCD on your dash sound dangerous. Demo video after the jump.
CES is upon us and we’ve got a load of events this weekend (not to mention news dropping) showing off all the new gadgets of 2008. On Saturday, there’s the CES Unveiled event at 4PM PST (7PM EST) which we’ll be reporting live at. Then, on Sunday, there’s loads, loads and loads of press conferences. LG, Toshiba, Sharp, Philips, Samsung and Sony (not to mention others) will be dumping news on you starting from 8AM PST (11AM EST), followed by further events Sunday night at 7PM PST (10PM EST) where many other companies will be showing off their wares. We’ll be reporting live and liveblogging all this stuff, so don’t miss it.
3M has thrown its hat (albeit a little late) into the mobile projector ring with the likes of Texas Instruments and Microvision with a new ultra-compact, LED-illuminated projection engine that can project a 40-inch or larger image at VGA resolution. The device is intended to be integrated into a wide array mobile technologies —and cellphones are undoubtedly at the top of that list. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait to long for the technology to arrive. The device is already available and 3M is planning on partnering with various electronics manufacturers to release products in early 2008. [Press Release]
The Skinny: Polk Audio SurroundBar 360 DVD Theater rocks the 5.1-channel sound with one slim bar-shaped bank of speakers. Pop a DVD into the separate console and you’ve got an instant home theatre that can toss sounds every which way. The Catch: We’re wondering how gutsy that “PowerPort” bass is going to sound, but fear that our socks will remain completely on throughout. Jump for another pic and the press release.
The Skinny: Another Bluetooth-enabled dock from iLuv, this one boosts the wireless range to 300 feet w/ BluePin II. Sound is supposedly better than previous models courtesy of iAura, plus it has speaker phone capabilities. The Drag: Their past model X99 model only had 6 watts per speaker, which is not a lot of output juice—this one might be similarly impotent.
The Skinny: The i720 is a line-in iPod/iPhone and hands-free Bluetooth remote, with FM transmission and a caller ID display, plus call reject, transfer and other basic phone commands. It’s small, black and fairly attractive and seems pretty useful for ardent multi-taskers. The Catch: It’s something else taking up valuable pocket space.
The Skinny: Another FM transmitter/hands-free Bluetooth mutant, this kit is for your car, and plugs directly into the iPod’s dock port to charge it as well. Call reject, transfer and the usual hands-free Bluetooth commands. It’s definitely more useful than standard iPod car kits. The Catch: Kind of ugly. And I’m tired of lower case i’s.
The Skinny: The iLuv i1255 is a basically a DVD player with an iPod dock slapped on top. It plays DVDs, VCDs, and CDs plus puts media from the iPod on your TV, a common trick nowadays. Basically if you’re in the market for both a bare-bones DVD player and iPod dock and wanna save shelf space. The Catch iLuv’s i1155 is much sleeker, portable and works all the same angles.
What could be more secure (not to mention masculine) than a rainbow coloured fan that clips onto the side of a Laptop? Besides looking awesome, these screens can be customised with a company logo making them powerful promotional tools. Plus, Lapstix are versatile—you could use them to shade your laptop display from the sun, or possibly as an actual fan that can bring relief from scorching temperatures. Prices range from $US2—$3 per unit when purchased in bulk, and they are available in a variety of less ridiculous colors—fortunately. [Lapstix via Coolest Gadgets]
This Takata airbag design is… interesting. Essentially, if you get in a car accident your face will be thrust quickly between two giant, inflatable ass cheeks. Or are they giant breasts? Depending on what you’re in to, you could see it either way. In any case, I can certainly see how it would be more comfortable to mash your face into than a normal airbag, but is it worth the embarrassment when the paramedics arrive? Also, how do they compare to the feeling of having your face smashed into a real butt at high speeds? Commenters, I assume a few of you know, so fill us in. And hit the jump for the full ad.
