In-car entertainment

Today, Toshiba announced an 80GB hard drive for automotive applications, doubling the capacity of current automotive hard drive offerings. Over the last year, we've seen an increasing number of cars with hard drive-based navigation and music servers, but the capacity topped out at 40GB, in the 2008 Cadillac CTS. An 80GB internal drive would likely reserve 10GB for map storage, leaving 70GB for music, video, and photos. The new 80GB automotive drive is 2.5 inches, similar in size to a laptop hard drive. Laptops have had drives well in excess of 100GB for some time now, but automotive … Read more

Microsoft and Ford bought a lot of advertisements on NFL football broadcasts over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. The companies are pushing Sync, which is the latest outgrowth of Microsoft's decade-long effort to provide software for use in automobiles.

In this case, Microsoft might actually succeed. Simplicity is the key: unlike past scenarios floated for the Windows Automotive platform, Sync isn't intended to help control your car (leading to the inevitable blue screen jokes) or connect to the Internet or serve as the back-end for an in-car control panel. Instead, it gives you voice command over Bluetooth-enabled phones and … Read more

If you're one of those people who can't stand the constant "beep-beep" of horn-happy motorists, you might not want to read any further. A start-up called Horntones is giving drivers the opportunity to customize their own car horn's output by using any MP3 file as their honk of choice.

Using a combination of Horntones' Web site and the company's flagship FX550 device, drivers can download any audio file they like (copyright issues notwithstanding) to use as their car's horn sound. The FX550 comes with 256MB of memory and nine preset buttons, giving horn-pimpers … Read more

There is a lots of talk these days about computers in cars, but it mostly refers to the technology in the vehicle's drivetrain, GPS navigation device, or active safety systems. When are we going to see a real computer in the car, you ask: one that can browse the Web, edit Word docs, and perform all the functions of a desktop. Jensen has an answer to that question with the NVX3000PC, on show at SEMA 2007. The portable device has a 7-inch touch-screen display and comes with a Windows Vista operating system, a 30GB internal hard drive, an integrated … Read more

Imagine that you're strapped down in a full-scale Toyota Trueno, Subaru Impreza WRX or Mazda RX7, sweaty palms glued to the steering wheel. Your eyes are fixated on what's beyond the windshield, desperately trying to "drift" your way through the narrow Japanese countryside roads. Yes, we are referring to the Japanese cult anime Initial D. Now Sega is redefining the arcade gaming experience with its life-sized Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Limited system.

This giant motion simulator has all three of the aforementioned vehicles lined up in front of a movie projection screen and installed with … Read more

One of the newcomers to this year's SEMA show is Raytel, a subsidiary of German company Funkwerk, which is using the event to launch five new products: The Ego Drive, Ego Talk, Ego Flash Ego Look, and Ego Cup.

Ego Drive, the flagship product in the lineup, is a combined portable and dockable GPS navigation and multimedia device with a wireless rotary remote control. The device features a 4.3-inch color touch screen with 3D map view, and it comes with text-to-speech functionality to read out road names during turn-by-turn route guidance. For multimedia, the Ego Drive supports MP3 … Read more

Whether it's binoculars or Segways, Ferrari is a company that knows marketing. So to generate more interest in the Meridian F80 portable media system debuted earlier this year, it is relying on a standard branding practice: introducing new colors.

In addition to the lacquer finishes shown before--we were particularly fond of the yellow--Ferrari is introducing two special editions: The "Rubino Micallizzato" (red) and the "Grigio Silverstone" (graphite). They'll have the same features, according to Newlaunches, including a CD/DVD player, digital radio and 80-watt speakers. And don't worry, the price hasn't changed … Read more

Built-in storage is all the rage among carmakers and stereo manufacturers these days, and Kenwood is no exception. The vendor is using SEMA 2007 to show off its KDC-X991, which, in addition to its support for a range of digital-age audio formats (MP3, WMA, USB), comes with 512MB of internal flash memory--roughly enough for 30 albums' worth of music.

Drivers can rip CDs to the memory as they listen or import digital audio files via the stereo's USB port. A color fluorescent display and a novel jog dial controller let users navigate folders and files using an intuitive rotary … Read more

As more people insist on having a TV while they drive, the following scenario is inevitable: A motorist is watching a big game or show in the car, pulls up to the driveway at a crucial point and sits inside for fear of missing anything. Sanyo has apparently anticipated that kind of conundrum with a new dashboard GPS device that doubles as a portable TV.

The "Gorilla" series--we have no idea what inspired the name either, other than maybe Godzilla--is touted as the first device of its kind with a terrestrial digital tuner, making it easy to pick … Read more