Vehicle Gadgets

You know those cheap damsel-in-distress movies? Where some fair maiden always manages to get the fringe of her dress stuck on a train track, or manages to get tied down to the rails by an evil gangster? But never fear! The hero of the story is always there to provide rescue at just the last second, scoring kudos from the town, not to mention getting the chick.

In real life, the “hero” would almost always be too late to the scene of the crime to do any sort of saving that couldn’t be done with a spatula. If the hero just happens to still live with their parents and not own a car, how are they supposed to get to the tracks on time (especially if their friends are busy). The Rail Rider provides an excellent self-powered method for railroad transportation.

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I guess most states have long outlawed the use of cell phone use while driving, and one risks a hefty fine from the authorities if they decide to throw caution to the wind by not picking up some sort of handsfree solution. Why toy with the chance of losing money to the traffic authorities through fines when you can put that money to better use elsewhere? The Bluetooth 2.0 Portable Handsfree Car Kit would be a pretty good investment at $99.90 as it features a Caller ID display as well so that you know whether to take up that call or not, in addition to a phonebook functionality that makes it a snap to scroll through who you want to talk to next on a long road trip. Other features include an integrated DSP circuit for echo and background noise cancellation, offering you the clearest conversations possible.

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Solar power looks like it is here to stay, and we have so far seen solar powered cars being the Holy Grail in the fight to be independent of black gold, or rather, oil. Hybrid cars aren’t exactly catching on as fast as environmentalists prefer, and solar powered cars have not made the impact they were supposed to mainly because the technology is not yet there for a powerful, conventionally shaped vehicle that runs entirely off the sun’s rays. Never mind modes of transportation on land - here we have a solar powered speedboat that will slice through water pretty much in the same way an ordinary speedboat does, save for the fact that this one relies on the sun to power its electric engine instead.

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The Spotlight Torch is definitely nifty to have in an emergency, and being of such a diminutive size, it makes perfect sense to carry one in the car at all times just in case of an emergency. While it is waterproof, make sure it doesn’t stay underwater for over half an hour.

Best of all for outdoor types, the Spotlight is fully submersible in water too. From changing a tyre during a monsoon to executing elaborate James Bond-style aquatic stunts, it won’t let you down when the going gets wet - which is more than we can say for your car insurance when they hear about your 007 underwater antics. It’s about the same size as the old lighter from your car’s socket, but potentially far more useful. After all, who wants to go through life wheezing through a coffin-nail courtesy of their car’s 12V power supply? Exactly. Far better to let your engine give the Spotlight the breath of life by slotting its compact anodised aluminium body into the socket instead.

It will come in a choice of black, red, titanium, blue and orange colors, retailing for £12.95 a pop.

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I recently bought myself a GPS, however, I don’t always keep it on me. Which from time to time I have regretted, but I tend to have enough gadgets on me that I don’t want to be carrying one more. Yet, my PSP never leaves my side. For those who feel the same way, or just prefer gadgets that take care of several functions, GPS technology coming to the PSP is extremely good news. Unfortunately, this would mean that while riding shotgun if you need to use the PSP for GPS navigation you won’t be able to kill time by playing games.

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Forget those super exotics that you see spoilt rich brats drive up in front of the club with two birds in tow, while you and your group of friends curse your down and out luck at not having a bottomless bank account and having to rely on public transport to get around town. Enter the Talon Performance - this is a street legal quad that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, and yet is sleek enough to draw more stares from folks compared to a Ferrari. I suppose the number of stares received is for a very good reason - this is hardly seen around, and they’ll probably wonder what kind of eclectic character would drive a vehicle such as this, especially on a Saturday night. Check out the specifications after the jump.

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Seems the getting a bicycle these days is the trendy thing to do. The SwissBike Folding System adds another choice for folks who want to get around places without burning up additional fossil fuel. Most bicycles that claim to be extremely portable, i.e. folding bikes, tend to look really ugly as though a maniac took a hacksaw and had a field day with the bike’s frame, cutting it in half while adding a hinge to allow them to fold. With the SwissBike Folding System, this is very different as it does not lose the bike’s torsional rigidity, thanks to its patented F.I.T. system developed by Montague engineers. This system does not involve any bike cutting, but instead relies on its very own patented Concentrus system that uses a tube within a tube design that actually strengthens the frame by incorporating technology found on some high performance, dual suspension mountain bikes.

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How many of you still listen to your old cassette tapes? I’m going to guess that very few of you do. Now, how many of you still have a tape deck in your car? While many people have upgraded to a CD player, not everyone has managed to do so. That’s why you might want to look into this Bluetooth Cassette Tape Adapter.

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