Hot Wheels is finding new ways to make their toys relevant and fun again, this time around launching a new product line called the iNitro Speeders which allows the user to control their little car through an iPhone app.

Similar to what you’d find with a standard remote controlled car, the iPhone app features your standard dual-stick controller but also takes advantage of the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer to control the car. Even cooler, you can use the app to choose a predefined driving route or draw your own pattern and watch it come to life with the miniature car.

And even though you can control the car with a standard remote control that’s included, taking advantage of the iPhone app really makes it different and fun. It comes with an infrared module that plugs into the iPhone’s headphone port and after you calibrate it you’ll be good to go. Lastly, the app has a built-in racing game that you can play without the remote controlled car, giving kids and young adults (like us) a little bit of everything to enjoy.

[Source: CNet]

If your significant other is a Maserati fan, we’re making it easy to pick out a Valentine’s Day gift for them.

Maserati has teamed up with Italian jeweler Damiani to offer three collections that combine style and technology. Each collection includes a key ring, a pair of cufflinks and a necklace that are adorned with the Maserati Trident.

The first collection is called ICON, and its oval pieces are made with silver and blue enamel that boast chic, minimalistic design. The second collection, ELEGANCE, features oval pieces made of silver that combine a neat design with attention to detail. Finally, the third collection, PURE, is also made of silver and features sleek design that’s combined with a round shape.

Prices range from £170.15 to £294.65 (US$270 to $468). If you’re interested in buying something for your Valentine, visit the Maserati Store.

Gemballa is known for some of the world’s most exquisite Porsche creations, and despite turmoil over the last couple of years, they’re looking ahead to the future and celebrating their 30th anniversary in style.

For those that aren’t fortunate enough to afford Gemballa’s real creations, they have had a model car collection of some of their most famous models available for purchase. But now a limited edition series has been released, starring their infamous Mirage GT Blue and MIG-U1 in white. Each model car will only have a limited quantity of 300, each numbered in an individual display. Best of all, the price is only around $76 based on today’s conversion rates and includes VAT and shipping. No idea if they’ll ship all the way to North America, but for two model cars with Gemballa’s prestige and a limited edition behind it, it’s a respectable price tag. If you’re interested, shoot collection@gemballa.com an email.

Vehicles in Gemballa’s other model car collections include their Mirage GT in various colors, their Avalanche GT2, Avalanche GTR, and their Cayenne variants.

GALLERY: Gemballa 30th Anniversary Model Cars Collection

PC gaming peripherals have created a niche market for themselves over the past several years, with companies like Razer specializing in keyboards and mice for the hardcore PC gamer. For the everyday computer user however, these peripherals may look strange and the excess buttons may be… well, excessive. But to the gamer that needs everything at their fingertips, it’s a bare necessity.

BMW’s DesignWorksUSA and Thermaltake teamed up in the past to create a Level 10 modular PC case, which was pretty exquisite in its own right. But now it appears that they want a piece of the PC gaming peripheral pie, revealing their Level 10 M gaming mouse concept.

Unfortunately the press release didn’t contain a whole lot of details on the M gaming mouse, but it’s set to arrive sometime this spring and is wired, clearly targeting pro PC gamers. There are a couple A/B buttons clearly seen on the side of the mouse, and its open design is definitely something we’d expect from BMW DesignWorksUSA.

You’ve spent a lot of time and money customizing your car, so you want to protect every inch of it. No worries – Coverking has got you covered.

Coverking has just launched its Bespoke program which is ideal for rare or customized vehicles that don’t necessarily fit underneath a standard cover. You can order a perfect fitting custom-made cover for your pride and joy. To get that perfect fit, Coverking uses specialized scanners to take 3D measurements of your car. Once the measurements have been taken, you can get your cover within a week of ordering it. And the price is pretty reasonable too, boasting a base price of $900. There are options when it comes to fabrics and colors, and there are different custom piping, embroidery, and logos to choose from.

If you’re interested in Coverking’s Bespoke program, visit the website for more information. And be sure to check out the video of Coverking in action after the jump.

Continue Reading…

Cell phones behind the wheel— they’re a deadly plague on traffic safety that cause frequent and preventable crashes. Even worse is the fact that scores of mature drivers are just as guilty as any number of 16-year-old sidewalk terrors more concerned with texting back than taking the wheel.

One company is offering a solution that could help cut down on the number of cellular offenders endangering themselves and others. Scosche is offering a device that blocks cell usage in a car while the vehicle is in motion called CellCONTROL.

As with any new technology, compatibility is always a concern. All the same, Scosche insists that the CellCONTROL is broadly compatible and easy to use. Any car sold in the U.S. in 1996 or later was made with an OBD-II interface, which is all their system needs to work within the car. They also claim that it works with more than 1,200 different phones such as BlackBerry 4.5 and higher, Android 2.1 and above, yet the iPhone is unmistakably missing from their list.

Once installed, drivers will find that their phone is only accessible via bluetooth headset. Email, SMS and really everything that would take your eyes off the road is out of reach until the wheels stop spinning.

While this is certainly a step in the right direction, we wonder how many people will really use this device. It costs $129.95 on the company site, so after shipping and all costs, you’re likely to drop at least $150 when you can just as easily put the phone out of reach, say in a briefcase behind your seat.

The bluetooth headset should still reach at that range and you won’t be tempted to send snarky tweets while steering. Another obvious question: what about your passengers? Unless you’re the antisocial type or always drive alone, it would be a real nuisance for the co-pilot to be locked up as well.

That said, there are some great applications which are surefire selling points. Parents looking for a way to enforce safe driving habits probably wont bat an eyelash at a one-time expense to keep the kiddies safe. To sweeten the deal, the CellCONTROL gets a designated administrator, say mom or dad, and notifies them if someone tampers with the device.

It’s a good idea that parents will probably buy into, but unless insurance companies start offering discounts to drivers who install these things, it seems like a hard sell to the adult crowd.

Porsche Design is setting up shop in New York’s trendy Soho district. This is the second Porsche Design store location in New York, and it will outfit affluent shoppers with its luxe line of products.

The new flagship store will not only feature swanky Porsche swag, it will also showcase a designed wall showcasing the brand’s history and a VIP shopping area. Located on West Broadway in Manhattan, the Porsche Design store covers 250 square meters of retail space filled with the brand’s entire range of products. This includes luggage, eyewear, smoking accessories, mobile phones, and the Porsche Design Fashion Collection for women and men.

“With the store in SoHo we are taking the Porsche Design luxury brand to the next level – not only in New York City and the United States of America but globally”, said Dr. Juergen Gessler, CEO of Porsche Design Group. “Porsche Design SoHo is the world’s largest store and brings our philosophy of ‘Iconic Style’ alive. The boutique will not only set its footprint within Lower Manhattan but also become a landmark for shopping enthusiasts around the world. The idea behind that new store and our whole lifestyle matches perfectly with the Manhattanites’ lifestyle.”

With the craze for new smart phone apps continuing unabated, Chevrolet has jumped in with both feet releasing one that ties in with this year’s Superbowl.

Dubbed the Game Time App, it allows users of smart phones and tablets to play trivia related to the game, Tweet each other and participate in polls or contests while watching the Superbowl; with the chance to win prizes from Chevrolet and other game sponsors such as Bridgestone, Motorola, the NFL, Papa John’s Pizza and Sirius XM satellite radio. Among the prizes up for grabs are no fewer than 20 Chevrolet vehicles.

According to GM’s marketing chief Joel Ewanick, the Chevy Game Tim app, “is the first time any company has attempted such a large-scale app, which will enhance the game watching experience and help them engage in the online conversation about the Super Bowl.”

Chances to win a prize, begin the moment a viewer downloads the app to their smart phone or tablet. Upon doing so, each player receives a unique license plate number. If their particular plate appears on a Chevy commercial during the game, or online, they win a new vehicle.

The Game Time App is just one of several Superbowl initiatives being put together by GM’s Bowtie brand; others include game day live stream coverage with advertiser exclusivity on NBCSports.com, teaming up with the NFL and Twitter on the former’s NFL Huddle Site and Twitter’ s “Road to the #Superbowl,” plus automotive exclusivity for the branded USA Today Facebook Superbowl Ad Meter and additional interactivity via Chevy’s own social media channels.

“With these initiatives, the traditional ads on the Super Bowl broadcast and additional initiatives we will announce soon, we expect more than 1.5 billion impressions of our message on game day and beyond,” declared Ewanick.

To download the app, visit the Chevy Game Time site here

Journalists understand the severity of consequences if an article somehow breaches public accountability. Former CBC and current Al Jazeera editor Tony Burman once said, “Every news organization has only its credibility and reputation to rely on.”

However, Autoblog has encountered criticism lately after publishing an article where a writer received third party payment for their literary work. During September 2011, writer for Autoblog Jeff Glucker published an article promoting Nissan’s new marketing campaign for its Versa compact. However, it was later revealed that Glucker was also working for the agency running the campaign. Because Glucker did not notify Autoblog of his cash compensations from the PR firm before he wrote the article, Glucker was promptly fired.

More recently (last Thursday, January 12th, to be exact), Autoblog published an article on the Bonhams’ auction of cars and memorabilia that belonged to the late David E. Davis Jr. However, the finishing sentence of the article drew particular attention– “Go to the Bonhams site and start your bidding for a piece of history from the lifetime of a larger than life car connoisseur and story teller.”

Autoblog’s story caught the attention of the self-proclaimed integrity commission of automotive journalism, The Truth About Cars (TTAC). TTAC’s investigation revealed that the author of the article, Matt Davis, happens to be the son of David E. Davis. The assumption (yes, an assumption, but hardly unwarranted) is that the as the son (Matt Davis) would logically benefit from the proceeds of the auction of items belonging to the estate of his father.

TTAC investigated further, calling Bonhams to confirm whether Matt Davis was the owner of the auction items. Bonhams refused to comment as they were responsible of protecting the privacy and the identity of the seller.

TTAC then reached AOL Autos Editor-In-Chief David Kiley, who assured TTAC that Davis did not act or write with the intent of personal gain and did not bring the story to the editorial team, a key difference between Jeff Glucker’s incident. In fact, Autoblog requested and assigned Matt Davis for the piece due to the relationship. Kiley added, “We should have put the disclaimer on it when it was first published, but as soon as I saw it, I corrected that, and we are confident that Matt is not profiting from the auction.”

There are no indications that Matt Davis will be fired from Autoblog because of the Bonhams article.

[Source: The Truth About Cars]

You want your iPhone to stay new-looking and shiny so it looks like you just took it out of the box. But in no time at all, your prized possession is scratched up. How do you keep it looking newer longer? Nissan is working on it – the automaker has been experimenting with a self-healing iPhone case.

Called the Nissan Scratch Shield iPhone case, this protective covering features Nissan’s self-healing Scratch Shield paint finish, which was developed in 2005 and used on a variety of Nissan and Infiniti models. Integrating the same type of technology as the paint, the Scratch Shield case has been designed to offer a more durable and long-lasting paint coat, and a closely fitting, tight case.

The Nissan Scratch Shield can mend itself after being finely scratched, thanks to the flexible and elastic properties of the paint technology. As well, since the case is gel-like rather than glossy, it is more scratch-resistant and offers a better grip. Plus, the case is made from ABS plastic, which is rigid and robust (and is used widely in the automotive industry). Wrapping it all up, the Nissan Scratch Shield case features an outer ‘paint’ made from polyrotaxane , so if you scratch the coating, the chemical structure bounces back to its original shape and fills in the gap, or in other words, it heals itself.

The Nissan Scratch Shield is currently being tested in Europe, and if all goes well, it will go on sale to the mass market later this year. There’s no word yet on when it will make its way over to North America.