Autoblog

We're still a few months away from the official unveiling of the new California, but that didn't stop Ferrari from finding something to debut for the crowds at the British International Motor Show.

Drawing on its collaboration with Italian watchmaker Officine Panerai, Ferrari revealed its latest collection of automotive-inspired timepieces, ready to compete for the coveted wrists of the uber-wealthy with the likes of Breitling for Bentley, Aston Martin by Jaeger LeCoultre and Mercedes SLR by TAG Heuer. The new 2008 collection includes no less than 16 watches divided between the Scuderia and Granturismo series. The only thing more Ferrari-like than the design is the pricing, which ranges from £8,900 to a whopping £28,300. Heck, for that kind of scrap, you could buy yourself a nice vintage Ferrari road car, and still have enough change left over for a new wardrobe of Prancing Horse apparel to live out your Schumacher Raikkonen fantasies.

[Source: Panerai]

The team at Njection have updated their Speedtrap site with new features and more detailed speed trap information. After introducing the ability to upload speed trap information to Garmin GPS units in March, Njection has now added color-coded maps on its website. Locations of user-reported police radar, or other speed enforcement devices, are displayed as colored dots based on the threat level. Low level threats are yellow, while medium threats are orange. The highest level threats are displayed in red. In addition to the map upgrades, a new "speed trap heat map" visually charts the day and time of the week when the threats are the highest. As before, all database information for the free service is provided by registered users on the site who report on their local enforcement tactics. Check out the press release after the jump for a special incentive for new registered users that may or may not be of any value to you.

[Source: Njection]

This is the JATY DR7200 GPS, and it does a lot more than just tell you where you are and how to get where you're going on that 7-inch screen. You see, it's got an integrated breathalyzer, too, so it'll also tell you whether you should even be trying to get where you're going. Blow "over" and you get a standard BAC readout, a red "OVER" warning, and if that's not enough, a yellow skull and crossbones to drive home the point that, well, you really shouldn't be driving at all. In addition to all that, it supports just about every techno-acronym you can imagine (USB, MP3, DiVX, JPEG, MPEG, etc.), so if you're in no shape to drive, you can at least watch a movie on the thing while you wait it out. Want one? Just run on down to the local electronics store...in Korea.

[Source: Engadget]

Yes, we were among the suckers who endured the idiotic lines, activation woes and intermittent service that you've undoubtedly read about after the iPhone 3G's launch this past Friday. But our reason for suffering through myriad hassles to get our hands on Apple's newest hotness wasn't purely selfish. We wanted to see whether the iPhone 3G's new GPS functionality was worth the cost of admission or if we'd be better off buying one of the many stand-alone navigation units currently on the market. Make the jump to find out if it's worth your hard-earned cash and a place on your dash.

We've known for a while that the new iPhone 3G would have the magic of GPS, but we didn't fully realize how that power might benefit car owners. While we've seen a few semi-cool, car-centric applications available for the device -- from mpg calculators to maintenance reminders -- this program could prove the most useful for the forgetful among us.

After parking your car at a crowded shopping mall, users of G-Park tell their iPhone where their car is. When they wrap up their shopping, the application will provide directions back to the car.

PosiMotion says their application will even work on the first-generation iPhone, though without the accuracy of GPS.

There's no word on when the application will be available or what it will cost, but avoiding the shame of wandering parking lots for hours looking for a tan Camry is worth any price.

[Source: Gizmodo via Gizmag]

One of the easiest ways to customize a car is to yank out that factory radio and stick in something with more snazzy looks and more jazzy sound. Unfortunately, thieves know how easily your new stereo can be yanked out.

There have been many variations on the concealment method of stereo protection through the years. One of the most popular being to hide the newer unit behind a nest of wires to fool would-be crooks into thinking someone had beaten them to the prize. But over at Instructables, there's a new twist to the trick.

The key to the hack is to conceal your upgraded stereo behind what looks like your car's OEM unit. There are step-by-step instructions showing you how its done, from mounting the old radio's faceplate on a removable fascia, to making the fakery look even more unappealing by halving a cassette tape for added realism. They used "Christmas With the Brady Bunch," which might work in a Geo Metro in December, but would be probably guarantee your G35 getting busted open in July.

[Source: Instructables via Gizmag]

Any casual Autoblog reader will know about our love for automotive-inspired watches, like the ones that made our Top 10 list back in December '06. But while our coverage of motorcycles remains occasional, when it comes to timepieces, what works for four wheels works just as well on two. Take the latest Ducati watch collection from Breil, for example. It incorporates the same sort of octane-infused design as the automotive-inspired models from other companies.

Above on the left is an enticing example from the Ducati One Collection, encasing an ETA 2824 automatic movement in 42mm of black titanium with a face displaying the movement like the brake disc on a Ducati bike. A motorcycle-style tread pattern features prominently on the rubber strap, and the watch will run you $1,175. On the right is its compatriot from the Desmo collection, with a Ronda 5030 quartz chronograph movement in a stainless-steel 44mm case held down by screws and a adjusted via an anodized red crown. That one's $1,095. While the watches themselves won't have us popping wheelies and dragging our knees through sweeping bends just yet, they certainly capture the notion beautifully.

[Source: Luxist]

Over the last 70 years, Batman has driven all sorts of vehicles, with a wide array of Batmobiles, planes, bikes and boats appearing in the various comic books, television series and movies. Arguably none have been as wickedly exciting, however, as the Tumbler which the superhero drove in the most recent Batman Begins. But with the sequel swooping into theaters this week, we're in store for a new piece of kit.

Called the Batpod, we've been bringing you details of the new motorcycle as they've become available. The Batpod is driven by a pair of motors hidden within the giant 20-inch wheels and steered by the shoulder, allowing the Caped Crusader to operate an arsenal of machine guns and grappling hooks. We'll have to hold on just a little bit longer to see it in action on the big screen, but in the meantime you can check out the images from the Batmobile's and Batpod's demonstration at Silverstone with the Toyota F1 crew in the high-resolution image bat-gallery by clicking the thumbnails below.

[Source: gizmag]

Click above to view the video posted after the jump.

Okay, Mio's Knight Rider GPS unit is now officially "hella" cool. Engadget snagged some video of the startup sequence, and we're overcome by nostalgia for 1984. We're not excited to the point where we've gone digging for vintage Le Tigre polos or pulled that zombie leather jacket (the Thriller replica, natch) out of deep closet storage, but seeing that sweeping light bar and watching the flanking LEDs twinkle to the dulcet tones of William Daniels brings back sunny memories for those of us that lived it the first time around. Even cooler is that there's a bank of 300 names to choose from, so odds are good that KITT will greet you personally – that closes the sale right there, we officially want one.

[Source: Engadget]

Though we've known Chrysler has been planning to offer in-car internet connectivity on its 2009 models as an option through Mopar for a few months now, the Auburn Hills-based automaker has now given it an official name and bundled the technology with a suite of in-car tech solutions. Called uconnect web, the in-car wi-fi capability will be offered alongside other technologies called uconnect phone, uconnect tunes, uconnect gps and uconnect studios. uconnect phone is basically bluetooth compatibility that enables hands-free calling, stores your cell phone's address book and also records memos. uconnect tunes includes a 30GB hard drive for storing songs and viewing photos, and also allows playback of movies on the dashboard screen while in Park (no word on whether video can be stored on the in-dash hard drive and played back, though). uconnect gps is a touchscreen navigation system with voice recognition, and uconnect studios is Chrysler's offering of SIRIUS Backseat TV. The latter technologies are all well known and familiar, so it's understandable that everyone's going ga ga over Chrysler's promise of in-car wi-fi. We're currently checking with the automaker to find out what type of hardware the system will use, whether or not a cell phone carrier will be involved and what type of coverage area will be available. Stay tuned.

[Source: Chrysler]