Unmanned Car Uses iPhone, Cameras, and Lasers to Travel, Kill Grannies

Sometimes in this magic land of the intarwerbs, fantasy becomes reality. Apparently, this is one of them: A team at the Freie University in Berlin have actually rigged a car so it can be fully controlled with an iPhone. More »

Your iPhone Is Now Your Car Keys

Five months ago, someone cobbled together a spoof video about an iPhone app that could remotely unlock and start a car. Oh, how we laughed. Now, take one guess at what Viper SmartStart, an iPhone app announced today, actually does.
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Drunk Driver Caught Using Cellphone While Speeding, Fishtailing, and Running Red Lights

Hookay. So we knew that texting while driving is stupid. But what about using your cellphone to take photos of yourself while driving. Drunk. Speeding. Fishtailing. Running red lights. Crashing against a police car. And with no driver's license. More »

Steam Car Gallery

How to Drive a Ford Model T

Henry Ford Estate volunteer Ed Hebb, who may or may not have worked with Henry Ford himself, shows us how to start and drive a Model T. It's pretty damn informative seeing as you'll never get to drive one. [Neatorama]

Car Controlling App Is Fake, But Fun Anyway

I'm glad this dumb—and fake—car controlling iPhone applications are not real, but this one is particularly well done and it's fun to watch. [Thanks Michael]

3D Gauge Car Cluster Fills the Eyeballs With Information Overload

This concept, a joint effort by NVIDIA and icon icar, packs a ton of data into one screen. In addition to a standard speedometer and fuel gauge, it houses radio and navigation information. [KickingTires]

Enough With the Flying Cars Already

Look, the future didn't happen in 1956, it's not going to happen this year, and it's never going to happen, ok? No matter how cool these flying cars may look like. More »

Panasonic CY-BB1000D Is the First Blu-ray Player for Cars

You haven't seen a traffic accident until you've seen Blu-ray in your car. More »

Google Street View Car Captures Google Street View Car, Has Officially Seen Everything

But we wonder: Does South Illinois Avenue in Carbondale, IL really need such thorough documentation? [Google, thanks eerickson!]

The Breakdancing Car Is Inferior to Precisely No Other Dancing Car

The incredible breakdancing car is just one reason I'm posting this video. The clip's hypnotically humorous soundtrack is the second reason. Get your own car for $10 at Chinavasion. [Chinavasion]

Car Crock Pot for Slow Cook, Long Haul

What exactly do you make in a crock pot? My grandma made stew in one, and it took a really long time. So this car crock pot is just for road trips. [RoadTrucker via NA]

Toyota Planning to Build a Car out of Seaweed; Tofu Cushions Not Included

As if the Prius weren't green enough, Toyota plans to go even greener for the future by creating a car—the 1/X plug-in hybrid—using a bioplastic body made out of seaweed. More »

Formula 1 Cars Getting Electric Hyperspeed Jumps

Apart from being one of the most amazing 3D animations I've seen in a while, this Formula 1 2009 video shows how the new KERS works, a kinetic-to-electric-energy system that allows for speed jumps. More »

New Prius Hybrid Dashboard Photos

The dashboard looks primitive, especially next to the Ford hybrid dash that grows leaves when you hypermill. But it's rated at 50mpg under mixed driving, and is supposed to be faster than the old. More »

Fire-Breathing Robo Dog Is Mad Max's AT-AT

While nothing matches the spooktastic BigDog for infusing terror-or hilarity-into the population, this fire-breathing RoboDog-half Mad-Max bike, half AT-AT-probably comes in second place. But as the video shows, Larry is a good guy. More »

Eco-Friendly BamGoo Car Is Meal on Wheels For Pandas

Researchers at Kyoto University recently displayed an eco-friendly electric car made almost entirely out of bamboo, one of the fastest growing materials available. The single-seat “BamGoo” weighs about 130 pounds, can only run about 30 miles on a charge, and probably won't pass any safety tests, but it sure is cute! Let's just hope that there aren't any wandering pandas about. [Daylife]

Guy Builds F-35 Fighter Jet On His Own

Arthur van Poppel took our Guide to Build Your Own F-35 Lightning II Fighter Jet too seriously and actually built the damn thing. Sure, it is a scaled version and it doesn't come with a demonic helmet, but you can actually drive the thing like a car and the level of detail is absolutely amazing. More »

$5,000 Chinese Electric Car Is 100% Power Grid Independent

While I admit that this Zhejiang 001's mini car looks rather wacky and utilitarian thanks to its solar top, I wouldn't mind looking like a dork if that can save me gas or electric power—if I had to have a car, that is. This one can charge using the sun electricity in 30 hours, giving it a 93-mile range. According to the engineer, it can only transform 14 to 17 percent of the sun light, which is the usual. But in the middle of a recession, for $5,560 and no gas or electricity expenses, we can live with "usual" and "fugly" just fine. [Gasgoo via OhGizmo]

Sony HCB-108 Bluetooth Car Speaker Has Longest Standby, Talk Times

Yeah, I know: Bluetooth car speaker/microphone systems blah blah... but this one's got a such a battery lifespan it's a bit different. Clipped to your car's sun visor (or on your desk as a speakerphone) it'll sit on standby for a full month, and if you choose to chat using it, you can do so for a chunky 25 hours, which is apparently the longest time for both options that you can buy. It's also got "superior true duplex audio quality" with echo reduction and noise canceling, to try and stop you from sounding like you're speaking using the local cabbie's dodgy CB radio. Due at the end of the year, price still to be announced. [Pocket-lint]

Solar Car Mistaken for UFO, Gets Pulled over by Alaskan Police

Marcelo da Luz was driving his solar-powered Xof1 car when he was pulled over by Alaskan police. They chased him for a while, trying to figure what the heck his vehicle was, then decided to stop him. The reason: 911 received an UFO sighting alert. And no, there's no Sarah Palin connection here, because this wasn't the first time it happened to him. More »

Batman's Tumbler Replica Won't Fly On Rooftops, Ram Through Barricades or Take a Direct RPG Round

This $499 Tumbler from The Dark Knight is confusing. On the one hand, it's $499, but on the other hand, it's a 1:6 replica of what Batman's been driving in the last two movies, PLUS it's even big enough for you to fit your 12-inch action figures in. The thing doesn't seem to be remote controlled—you'd be afraid to lose your $499 from ramming this under a car tire anyway—but does have light-up headlights, a sliding roof panel and movable flaps. If this were only a few hundred bucks cheaper we'd be all over it, but we suppose the price is worth it just to see Brock Samson sitting in Batman's ride. [Entertainment Earth via Random Good Stuff]

Fusion CA-1P500 Is the First Head Unit That Hides, Docks Your iPod

We can't believe it, but Fusion CA-1P500 is apparently the first head unit that allows you to dock and hide your iPod directly inside the face. The thing costs £149.99 ($278), which isn't too bad for a head unit that has an OLED menu, a knob that corresponds to the iPod's scroll wheel, and SRS Wow. It fits the classic, touch and nano, but supposedly not the iPhone. Weird, aren't the touch and iPhone about the same? In any case, what we'd love is for it to take in the iPhone and give us full handsfree calling capabilities through a mic in the head and output through the speakers. [Fusion via T3]

Top Gear Races Nissan GT-R Vs. Bullet Train In Japan

The Top Gear crew is in Japan for this week's episode and they've got another heated race for us: A Nissan GT-R R35, a gadget car by dynamic handling and Playstation inspired dashboard vs. a bullet train, running both from Japan's northern Hakui-Shi coast to Tokyo. With no surprise ol' Clarkson is driving the fiery beast while Hammond and May are left traveling Japanese public transportation. I'm not gonna spoil the race for ya though, but Jalopnik has the results for you. [Jalopnik]

Infrared Tracking R/C Car is Remote Control Toy for the Truly Lazy

This remote-control car has an infrared follower system built in, so you steer it simply by pointing the IR beam from the controller somewhere ahead of the car, and it works out where you want it to go. So yes, it's a simple remote control for those who can't be bothered to learn how to steer their toys with a joystick or wheel and throttle remote. Or kids. Ah... now I understand. The "magic dot" can be up to five feet ahead of the 9-inch car and it'll still work, and you get about 20 minutes of racing, cat-bothering action from one charge of its batteries. Available now for $49.95. [RedFerret]

Rocket Car Mod is Like Steampunked Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Forget boring hydrogen-hybrid supercars and the like: a one-off vehicle mod like this recently-spotted Rocket Car is how to really impress passers-by. Built by Baron Margo, its shiny bullet-shape is all pipes, rocket exhaust (with what look like real jet engine parts), dials and a whirling propeller that apparently spins as you drive, keeping time with a ring of flashing lights. Basically it's like the car that Chitty Chitty would dream of being when it grows up, and I can almost forgive its steampunk-esque nature as it's just so astonishing. [LAMetblogs]

Hamster Wheel Powered Toy Car

Here's a old but good idea in honor of Fuzzywuzzymodo: power a toy car by hamster. The Flintstones would approve. I personally think its a better use of hamster power to rig a traditional gerbil wheel with a generator capable of charging a battery which in turn can charge a USB device. I mean, how else are the vermin going to pay their rent? Vid after the jump. [PetGadgets] More »