cars

Mercedes-Benz is getting into the crowded portable navigation market, and we have just taken receipt of its latest device, the SL550. On first impressions, we have to admit that we're not overly impressed. The SL550 portable GPS receiver has a very plain, black-plastic design with hard buttons down either side of its 6.5-inch color LCD display. Unlike the Garmin StreetPilot c580 or the Delphi Nav200, the SL550 is not a touch screen, so destinations have to be input using a four-way cluster of buttons on the bottom right of the unit. Programming the system is intuitive, but it … Read more

I love the Geneva auto show for its blend of fashion and engineering; concept cars to showroom rides. The 2007 event did not disappoint. As with every major car show I cover, the first thing people ask me is "what did you like?" So here's my personal Top 5 from Geneva (excluding the Hotel des Bergues, which is always my favorite thing about Geneva.)

5. New Ford Mondeo - Because I dream of Ford bringing its cool Euro cars here one day.

4. New Mercedes C Class - Because it's a C Class you won't … Read more

Sure, so your car can communicate with your iPod, your cell phone, your USB thumbdrive, even your hand-held engine-monitoring device. But where to put all these gadgets to prevent them from flying around the cabin as you attack corners or launch forward from the stop lights?

Fortunately, French automaker Renault has come up with a solution in the form of the Grass Mat in-car gadget holder. Unveiled at this week's Geneva auto show, the Grass Mat is essentially a Koosh-ified dashboard that can hold all of those in-car gadgets while still leaving them accessible. It will also give front … Read more

It's the dilemma of the modern car owner. You go on vacation and your GPS-equipped, fully automated car goes dead in the meantime because all the gadgets have drained the battery.

To this end, Canada's ICP Solar is hawking the Sunsei, a dashboard solar panel that plugs into the car lighter or can clamp onto the battery. Plug it in and it will deliver 135 milliamps to the battery, enough to keep it going. The company sells thousands of these to Volkswagen, which puts them in Beetles shipped from Mexico. (Sometimes the dealer gives them to buyers; sometimes, … Read more

Among the parade of green cars at the 77th International Motor-Show in Geneva, specialty sports car manufacturer Morgan announced that it's building a fuel-cell sports car with zero emissions and a wooden chassis. Fans can expect to see the car make its debut at next year's show.

The LifeCar, as Pocket-lint noticed, will run on oxygen taken from the air and hydrogen. Water vapor will be the only byproduct of the car's fuel cell, which is being designed by QinetiQ.

The car is "a wholly British partnership," according to Morgan, with funding from the U.… Read more

Google has announced on their blog a new partnership with BMW's Assist driving service--but only in Germany, so far. BMW drivers using Google Maps Deutschland can now "send" selected geographic data from their PCs directly to their in-car navigators. Consequently, there's no need to look it up at home and then look it up again in the car. (Above: Check out Google's promotional video. Don't worry, it's in English.)

It's not available stateside yet, or with non-BMW navigators, but Google has stressed that this is only the first step in the introduction … Read more

We're not really sure what the leopard print has to do with an electric car, except maybe to suggest that the Greeny is not only eco-conscious, but stylish as well. The Greeny, seen here at the 2007 Geneva auto show, is a 2+2 seater and uses a pack of lead-acid batteries mounted under the front seats to give it a range of 50 to 80 kilometers (30 to 50 miles). Although that may seem a short distance, it's plenty for most urban environments where typical driving distances are under 20 miles. The batteries fully recharge in six … Read more

There are a number of technologies on the market aimed at keeping us from falling asleep, especially while behind the wheel, but they usually involve some kind of device affixed to the noggin. Researchers in Japan, however, are working on a protype car seat that senses when you're about to nod off by monitoring pulse, respiration and other physical changes that typically occur 10 minutes before someone falls asleep, according to Pink Tentacle.

Sensors are embedded throughout the seat to detect those changes and, eventually, some kind of alarm system will be included to kick in when Mr. Sandman … Read more

Drivers of the new BMW 5 series will have the option of an extra tech safety device to ensure that they make it to the boardroom meeting in one piece. The 2008 5 series, which will make its official debut at this week's Geneva auto show, will come with the intelligent Lane Departure Warning system (LDW), which will warn drivers if they are about to cross over a lane-dividing line without using their turn signal.

Rather than sounding a chime or flashing a light on the dashboard (a la the system in the 2007 Infiniti M35 Sport), the BMW … Read more