July 16, 2007
Two of the most alarming words a car owner can face are "check engine." That warning light on the dashboard could mean the car needs expensive engine work or simply that the gas cap is loose
For most drivers, there’s no way to find out without taking the car to a mechanic. The primary reason is that vehicles are largely controlled by onboard computers, which are generally inaccessible without the proper equipment and software.
But there are a growing number of products and services that are helping to take that helplessness out of car repair by doing the translation for you, according to the New York Times.
Posted by 
at 10:45 AM | Permalink
June 28, 2007
The auto industry is naming paint colors after foods, according to a report in the New York Times. Brown is now about coffee and chocolate, said Chris Webb, exterior color trend designer at General Motors, which has the colors Dark Mocha and Cocoa. Other G.M. colors are Black Licorice, Cappuccino Frost and Salsa Red.
Other companies are also using the palate to name their palettes: Chrysler offers Cool Vanilla, Honda has Root Beer and Volvo once offered Saffron (a coppery yellow). Volkswagen has the unsubtle Lemon Yellow and Candy White. (Is that the white of the candy after you have licked off the red stripes from the candy cane?) Hyundai borrows a French menu word for the purple eggplant and calls it aubergine.
Posted by at 2:04 PM | Permalink
May 21, 2007
In “American Graffiti,” the character played by Richard Dreyfuss spends much of the movie pursuing a mysterious woman played by Suzanne Somers, who drives a white Ford Thunderbird. If only they'd had SameLane, a service that allows drivers to call strangers on the road by dialing their license plate numbers into cellphones, The New York Times reports.
A CB radio for this century, SameLane is aimed at commuters stuck in traffic, long-haul drivers fighting fatigue and good Samaritans trying to help people with broken taillights and such.
To use the service, which goes live on Monday, drivers register their cellphone and license plate numbers with SameLane, which sends them bumper stickers identifying the drivers as part of the SameLane network. After spotting a member, drivers dial a company number, punch in the license plate number of the car they want to reach and wait for SameLane’s computers to connect the call.
Posted by at 10:16 AM | Permalink
May 7, 2007
Audio expert Bang & Olufsen is claiming to have raised the bar on the quality of hands-free Bluetooth cellphone car kits for drivers, accroding to thecarconnection.com.
This is the Earset 2, which its maker claims can banish background noise from the conversation. Supported by air vents and a bass port, it's claimed to reproduce the human voice with the highest degree of accuracy. It fits to the ear via the standard B&O three-way adjustable surround.
Earset 2 has a range of up to ten meters, 100 hours of standby and four hours of talk time. It's priced at $349.
Posted by at 10:30 AM | Permalink
