Hot Gadgets For Your Car

**Car Wrap

What's wrong with having crystals or sponge dice hanging from your rearview mirror? What's wrong with having smoochdolls bobbing on the rear window ledge or a collection of teddybear, dinosaur or monkeys (as long as they're not the real deal) arranged so you can recall your more youthful days.

I hope that you will enjoy my collection of useful and not-so-useful car gadgets. I've spent many days seeking, for something you may not have seen and if you are a gadget person, just have to have.

There is an anti-hunting sentiment growing in urban United States, Canada and other countries, which wildlife management fears will be counterproductive.

Why is hunting coming under attack? "Very simply," answered the editor of Montana Outdoors magazine, "many people today grow up without direct ties to the land and the wild creatures it sustains. Understandably, they derive most of their knowledge of wildlife from television and movies, which all too often present a distorted view of wildlife . . . and ignoring natural processes such as predation, disease and starvation."

One wildlife service director referred to this view as the "Disney syndrome." "After watching Disney movies of animals and birds in the forest," he said, "some people, particularly children, get the idea that animals can talk." They think they are just like people.

I do not condemn those who kill animals for food. If, however, someone kills beyond the allotted number specified by the laws of their land, or if he kills for the thrill of it and uses the meat as an excuse, then it is to God that he is answerable. He is overstepping the stewardship that has been entrusted to mankind. And even though man is permitted to use animal skins for clothing, to hunt these creatures to extinction for unnecessary luxuries is an even worse abuse.

Many of the problems related to the wild kingdom seem to be unsolvable. As human populations grow, and wildlife is squeezed into smaller and smaller areas, the managing and preserving of that wildlife will become more and more difficult. And it is hard to see how governments with limited means will stop the poaching of disappearing species in this greedy, commercial system of things.

There is one way that we can help the deer population. See the handy gadget: The Electronic Deer Alert, below.

Unintended acceleration has a simple solution: A "smart" gas pedal that recognizes the brake takes precedence over acceleration. This means if they're both depressed simultaneously the software forces the engine to respond to only to the brake and decelerate.

A few European automakers already have such a system in their vehicles. BMW made the feature standard in all of its vehicles beginning with the 2005 model year. It uses a drive-by-wire accelerator and BMW's own software, but the feature only works when the vehicle is in motion in case tough guys want to rev the engine while holding down the brake.

For Toyota's 3.8 million recalled vehicles, a smart gas pedal system is a potential fix. Toyota has said it won't redesign the floor mats, and new software is an option.

Other automakers that use a smart pedal system include Audi, which had its own rash of unintended acceleration cases in the '80s, and Volkswagen. Nissan will have a similar system for the 2010 Infiniti M, and Chrysler says most of its vehicles include the technology, as well.

For those who have said this is an unnecessary invention:
What's the problem with designing a safety feature into a car? When I was a kid I worked on my car all the time, Now, I open the hood and can't find the dip stick, but hey, my car practically drives itself, lasts for 150,000 miles and requires no tune-ups. So, where's the problem???? Moral of the story? Get with the 20th Century, and don't be mired in the 19th century of wagon trains. Stop longing for the days when your 442 belched oil smoke past the rings, got 10 miles per gallon and required two quarts of oil between 3,000 mile changes.

When it first debuted I thought Infiniti's Around View Monitor was a good idea. However, for the typical suburbanite with a garage I figured it would be a bit useless as the suburbs usually host two-car garages and everything - and now I have a really narrow driveway. The Around View Monitor has its place in the burbs, too.

The mix of overhead and front camera angles with the proximity alert will be very helpful in tight squeezes.

On the 2010 model, the monitor is part of the $2,150 option package, which is not a small amount of money. But at least it's part of a more popular package than the $2,250 Technology Package which includes a lane departure warning, forward collision warning systems and other safety features many drivers may not want.

Mercedes-Benz is working on a Smart Stop system that would automatically halt a car at a red light if the driver fails to see it. The wireless safety system would coordinate with intersections and other vehicles using wireless receivers.

The vehicle's "conversation" would include a network that shares real-time local traffic data; it also would give a warning if a driver is accelerating when coming to a red light.

Don't count on seeing this technology any time soon, though. It will require the installation of smart intersections that can communicate with the vehicle. This will mean a fundamental reinvention of German or U.S. intersections, which would require action on the federal, state and local levels as well as a ton of dough.

Even with the storm of iPhone navigation apps that have hit the iTunes App Store recently, there's yet to be an app that's both fully functional and affordable. Those woes end today with the latest update to ALK Technologies' CoPilot Live North America. While it's more expensive than the usual sub-$10 game or news app, the $34.99 price tag is far below that of its navigation competitors such as Navigon and TomTom, which charge $90 and $100, respectively, for their apps.

The latest CoPilot Live update has detailed text-to-speech capability, which allows street names to be read by the application; improved contact integration for directions to any contact in your phonebook; and monthly updated maps. Additional features from previous versions include 3-D and 2-D maps, portrait and landscape views, weather information, access to LiveLink (CoPilot's own location sharing social network), gas prices and access to a point-of-interest database.

CoPilot Live's $34.99 price makes it easier to purchase a navigation app than ever before.

More and more people have upgraded their cars with the aftermarket LED turn signal light bulbs.

A frequent problem is the LED bulbs will flash much quicker. To bypass the LED bulbs "hyper flash" or "rapid flash" problem, add external load resistors to raise up the total wattage.

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