Crave

Televisions weren't the only product late Steve Jobs wanted to revamp. According to one of Apple's current board members, Jobs was eyeing automobiles too.

That tidbit came during an interview with J. Crew CEO and Apple board member Mickey Drexler at Fast Company's Innovation Uncensored conference in New York last month. The outlet released a video of the interview late yesterday.

"Look at the car industry; it's a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars?" Drexler said. "Steve's dream before he died was to design an iCar."

Drexler suggested that automobile "would've been more

Discovered by Patently Apple in a group of 21 patents issued to Apple by the Patent and Trademark Office, the in-vehicle remote-control patent describes a product designed for drivers wishing to control their iOS devices more easily.

Currently, drivers must fumble around with their iPhone, iPod, or iPad to change songs, get directions, or make calls if their car's in-dash system doesn't support iOS devices. This lack of integration can cause serious distractions for drivers.

Apple's solution is a small device that would attach to any steering wheel, allowing users to connect to their iOS devices and control basic functions.more

Bravo! You've bested Goldfinger, and your plot to secretly empty Fort Knox was a roaring success. (Good idea about the gold-painted Legos -- a far less messy solution than nerve agents and Atom bombs.) So now you're looking to officially join the pantheon of Bondian supervillains by acquiring all the appropriate status items.

Toyota showed off its RAV4 EV, the electric version of the RAV4 compact SUV, as a concept about a year and half ago at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. The wraps came off the production version of this new electric car this week, showing some speedy automobile development indeed.

More impressive is that the deal between Toyota and Tesla to develop the electric RAV4, on the heels of Toyota's decision to sell Tesla its NUMMI auto manufacturing plant, came less than two years ago. This is a car with a completely different drivetrain than that of the car on which it is based. Most model updates take longer to put into production.more

RYNO Motors' single-wheeled electric scooter is self-balancing, has a turning radius of zero when stopped, and only takes up about as much space as a folding bicycle -- so it's conceivable that commuters could bring one onto a train. Plus, it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime.

However, it only has a maximum range of 20 miles between charges, a top speed that is limited to 12.5 mph (the actual top speed of 25 mph is limited to keep the RYNO scooter within the more relaxed legal boundaries of "personal mobility scooters"), and it looks like it fell out of a Japanese anime -- yes, for some people, that last point is as much a con as it is a pro.

Last year a Nissan department based in Europe came up with the strange idea of putting the GT-R's engine in the new Juke small SUV. The car was introduced as a concept, and Nissan probably thought that was the end of the matter. Like most concept cars, the Juke-R would be consigned to a lonely corner of a garage, and eventually disassembled.

A strong positive reaction from the car-loving public, which must have taken Nissan by surprise, dictated a different fate for the car. After the Juke-R's first public appearance, in Dubai of all places, Nissan capitalized on its popularity by releasing videos of it racing a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a GT-R.

All along, Nissan insisted the oddball Juke-R was nothing more than a concept.more

As new city cars come out with less than 100 horsepower, you might have thought the horsepower wars were over. But there's still a corner of the great American garage where gearhead engineers build and tune engines to dump massive amounts of power out through driveshafts to wheels.

The team bearing Ford's blue oval on their coveralls get to wear the garage king crown for their efforts with the new Shelby GT500, which was certified to produce 662 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque. That makes the 2013 GT500 more powerful than the Ferrari 458 Italia -- lot more powerful.

Scion's new iQ model bolsters its claim on the youth market with its tiny size, cartoonish looks, and low price. To push that appeal further, Scion announced that each car will include a PlayStation Vita portable gaming system.

This promotion starts today and runs through July 31, or while supplies last, according to Scion's press release. Scion expects to sell about 800 iQs per month, if it tracks close to xB and xD sales. If it does that well at launch, Scion could be forking over a couple thousand Vitas -- again, if supplies last.

Whether the inclusion more

It seems like the Prius C model should come after the Prius B, and before the Prius D. But Toyota shows no interest in alphabetical naming when it comes to its Prius lineup. Toyota recently expanded the cars it calls Prius, adding to the standard model the Prius V, a plug-in version, and now the C.

The C means City, which explains the smaller dimensions of the car. The Prius C is a nice, modern little hatchback a foot and half shorter than the standard Prius. Its size makes it easy to park and maneuver through narrow lanes.

But its real virtue is fuel economy.more