Car Gadgets

I have been wondering about a gadget like this for a long long time and I have to tell you honestly I cannot figure out why something like this is not mainstream yet all across the world!

I mean who doesn’t want an in dash computer so that you can easily browse websites while you are waiting in a traffic jam? I sure do and I wish they would make this a standard feature on most new cars.  Think about what it would do for the struggling automobile industry. It just seems like a great selling point to have full internet built in to the dash on your car instead of trying to fidget around with tiny cell phone screens and other wireless internet gadgets.

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The homelink wireless control system is basically a wireless garage door opener on steroids.  You can mount this little device on your motorcycle handlebars and then just with the flick of a switch open your garage door, your home or office gates, or even turn on the lights in your house.  Seems to me like this is the ultimate bachelor type gadget!  A nice way to arrive home in style!

Source: OpenDoorsandMore

Have you ever driven a large moving van or other large vehicle and been really paranoid when making turns or backing up your vehicle?  Well Sanyo’s Aircam helps to ease that paranoia by providing an almost 360 degree viewing angle around your large vehicle.

Through the use of 4 separate cameras you can get a complete 360 degree birds eye view around your large camper, bus or other vehicle. This gadget is really mostly meant for large commercial vehicles and buses, but hey, why not try to implement it on your oversize Hummer or SUV?  It sure would be nice to have a surrounding view of your entire vehicle no matter what the size, especially for us gadget lovers.  It is just one of those gadgets that may not be absolutely necessary, but how many gadgets actually are?  Having one of these in my large truck or SUV would make me feel more like a pilot instead of a driver…know what I mean?

Source: Mitocorp

I remember growing up being carted around in one of those bulky looking Volvo station wagons.  It basically looked like a tank and could probably withstand crashing into one too because it was so bulky.  So it was not the prettiest looking car around, no one could deny that it was a safe car.  Safety is the number one reason why people bought Volvos.

Of course now air bags have gone mainstream and become standard installations on most vehicles.  And on some cars you will find 5 to 10 airbags standard for both front and rear passengers.

But how much do air bags help babies?  Babies are so small as it is.  Dorel Air Protect aims to change that with their specialized car seat that protects babies from front or rear end collisions. It has two pre inflated air bags that match up with each side of your babies head.

Now here is a nifty little pet gadget, the “K9 Door Popper”.

This gadget is really most useful for police forces in crime fighting, but what about the average Joe that has a guard dog and may need some help too?

Basically what this gadget does is release your dog from your car by automatically popping the door open from a remote location.  It has a special ‘door pop stopper’ that disables the device when your car is in gear.  The system comes with a long range digital receiver, external antenna, wiring and hardware.

I know this device is meant for the police. But hey, how about you are at some rest stop with your pet dog in the back seat and next thing you know some crazy guy starts attacking you or starting a fight.  Just push the little button and your door pops open sending your trusted dog running to your defense (hopefully).  Of course it would help if your dog is trained to defend you.. But still some ( or maybe most?) dogs are intelligent enough to protect their owner when they see danger.

By the way, somewhat off topic… but why haven’t most if not all car manufacturers developed a device like this? Or simply one that pops open doors when a car is parked.  I am thinking because of the safety hazard and the possible legal liability… but hey it would eliminate the need for guys to open doors for their dates!

Source: acek9

This is not a gadget necessarily but with all the talk about alternative energy and ‘green’ products that are good for the environment I thought it appropriate to showcase this little electric roadster from Hammacher Schlemmer.

It is not every day that you see a little car like this on the road.  Occasionally I see those new Mini cars (from Mercedes?) on the road but that is a rare event.  Now if I were to see a little one like this on the road I can almost guarantee you that I would be laughing.  I mean you almost have to laugh at a little buggy like this one.

It holds two people and is ideal for local errands or travel in small communities.  Officially classified as a ‘low speed vehicle’ the top speed is no faster than 25 mph.  It operates on an electric AC motor with 4000 watts of power which are provided from 6 lead acid batteries.  I am bit surprised that they chose to use lead acid batteries on this puppy. I would think lithium ion batteries would have been way better. But probably this is a cost issue.

The rear compartment can hold 6 bags of groceries or two sets of golf clubs.  The car plugs into a standard wall outlet for charging and a full charge takes 8 hours.  There is also an AM/FM radio and an MP3 Player. Comes in Red, Blue, Black and Yellow. The price? $13,000.

Gee if I got one of these in yellow someone might mistake it for a bumblebee, hehe.  I wonder if it makes a buzzing noise too?

But seriously this car might be ideal in some localities.  Actually my commute to my day job is about 60 miles.  So I could possibly take this baby to work, plug it in while I work for 8 hours, and then drive back home when the day is done.  A 60 mile range is pretty good I would say.

But can you imagine how this little one looks like right next to a hummer truck, or God forbid how it might look after an accident with a hummer?