Richard Read, Reporter
Articles
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In March, we told you that four U.S. Senators had pushed Apple, Google, and Research In Motion (creators of the Blackberry) to remove apps that revealed the location of DUI checkpoints. At the time,...
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RelayRides, Like Communism, Works Great On Paper: VideoOver the past couple of decades, cities across Europe and North America have launched bike-sharing programs. Some have been free and open to anyone, some have required membership, and nearly all have failed miserably. But Shelby Clark thinks he can make sharing work for cars, and his company...
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Google Bets On Nevada To Become Home For Autonomous CarsGoogle has been hitting the headlines pretty hard the past couple of days. Its Android operating system is still hammering the smartphone market, its new music service is causing a commotion, and the company is prepping to settle a hush-hush Justice Department investigation into its advertising...
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Find Duff Goldman's 1962 Corvette & Your Birthday Cake Problem Is OverDuff Goldman is a pastry chef, reality show star, and auto enthusiast. Now, he can add one more descriptor to his resume: car theft victim. Goldman parked his prized 1962 Chevrolet Corvette at his brother's house in Sherman Oaks, California before zipping out of town to judge a cake competition in...
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Audi Envisions The Big Apple In 2030, E-trons Curiously AbsentThere are two things in this world that architects can't resist: funky eyewear and a good symposium. As proof of the former, we have Daniel Libeskind and Gordon Kipping. For the latter, we present the Festival of Ideas for the New City and one of its main attractions, a scale model of New York City...
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Star Of Honda Ad Gets Lousy Deal From A Honda DealerWe tend to think that company spokespeople get a better deal in showrooms than the rest of us. For example, GM gave Tiger Woods a free ride -- many of them, in fact -- when he was Buick's shill. And although we can't say for sure, we have to believe that Mike Rowe gets more than a firm handshake...
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It's Friday, the sun is shining (well, mostly), and yet, there you sit, stuck in your cubicle, slaving away for The Man. Of course, we'd never encourage you to play hooky, but we can suggest a...
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This Saturday, Chevrolet Celebrates Corvettes & AstronautsMost of the past week's headlines have been dominated by news about disastrous storms in the Deep South, flooding in the Midwest, and of course, the death of Osama bin Laden. But in the middle of all that, there's another important story that's been overlooked by many media outlets: yesterday...
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Homer Simpson Squeezes Into TomTom's App For iPhone, iPad, iPod TouchGiven the vast number of free navigation apps available for Apple, Android, Blackberry, and Windows handsets, we've been more than a little skeptical about the future of satnav makers like Garmin and TomTom. After all, why should consumers shell out for a fairly limited piece of hardware when they...
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This Week In DUIs: Rick Springfield Isn't So Hard To Hold (In Jail)First, they called him Bruce, now they call him jailbird: the former pop star and soap star known as Rick Springfield was pulled over in Malibu, California Monday night and hauled in for driving under the influence. Law enforcement agents saw Springfield speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway...
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Uh-Oh: State Farm Is Watching (And Rating) Your Driving, TooRemember Progressive's Snapshot program? Sign up, and the agency sends you a device that plugs into your car's onboard diagnostic port and lets Progressive know how safely you're driving. Score well, and your auto insurance rate could plummet. Score poorly, and your rate might go up. Now State Farm...
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Goes Bye-Bye At May 15 AuctionThe movie may have been before your time -- way before your time -- but chances are pretty good that you can hum a few bars from the theme song of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The popular 1968 musical featured Dick Van Dyke, Benny Hill, and an Edwardian-styled car that also served as a boat and an...
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Despite the best efforts of some in the auto industry to keep electric cars off the roads, they're back. Given the current state of technology, the EV's revenge will likely be slow and steady, but...
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Video: New Ad For Thor Parodies Volkswagen (But Leaves Acura Out In The Cold)Andy Warhol famously said that in the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. Thanks to the heady combination of reality TV and the internet, he's been proven right. The culture of instant celebrity is both a blessing and a curse. On the curse side: Rebecca Black and Speidi (who may have...
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Toyota Announces 'Ideas For Good' Finalists: You Can Help Pick The WinnersLast fall, we told you about Toyota's "Ideas for Good" competition. If you read about it or saw the TV commercials (including the controversial one that was censored by the NFL), you know that the contest encouraged folks to envision new applications for five Toyota technologies, like the company's...
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Stephen Colbert Sets Out For The Bermuda Triangle -- In An AudiStephen Colbert is finally being put out to sea. The comedian, actor, and co-planner of 2010's Rally to Restore Sanity will sail toward the northernmost tip of the mysterious Bermuda Triangle in next month's Charleston Bermuda Race. For several weeks, we'd heard that Colbert would serve as Honorary...
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OnStar Is China's First Automotive AppGeneral Motors has made huge inroads in China, and now, those inroads have grown a bit wider: yesterday at the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show, GM launched its smartphone app for China's OnStar subscribers. The OnStar app for Chinese drivers is nearly identical to the one that subscribers in North America...
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New 'EVolve' App From BMW Decides Whether You're Ready For An EVElectric vehicles and other alt-fuel rides are big news these days. Tech fans and green enthusiasts can't wait to get their hands on 'em, while others think that hybrids and their eco-friendly kin are part of a vast communist conspiracy. No matter where you fall on that spectrum, there are many...
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Just two days before the 2011 New York Auto Show opens to the press, Audi has launched an eye-popping marketing campaign for its sleek, sophisticated 2012 A7. Today, the five-door coupe will roll...
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New Study From OnStar Says Voice-Based Navigation Systems Are SaferEveryone knows that distracted driving is a big problem on the roads these days. U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood focuses most of his energy on combating the dangers of texting and driving -- presumably because it's more common with younger, less-experienced drivers -- but in fact, there...
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Bing Brings Streetside To Britain: Is Google Losing Ground?We've talked a lot about the chilly reception Google Street View has gotten overseas. And yesterday, tech reporters were all a-flutter with reports that Google is losing ground to Microsoft's Bing in the search wars. Now comes news that Bing is bringing its Street View competitor, Streetside, to...
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Yes, People Will Take The Bus -- But Only With Help From AppsHere's a question that we've heard a lot at High Gear Media: what does it take to get people to ditch their cars and take alternate transportation? Soaring gas prices make people travel less but don't really change their travel methods. Having an abundance of mass transit options doesn't have much...
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This Week's Challenge: Stop Cars In Their Tracks, Win $25,000Last week, we told you about the Connected Vehicle Challenge, a contest sponsored by the Department of Transportation that aims to find creative, useful applications of short range communications technology. The DOT isn't ponying up any money for the six finalists of that challenge, but they're...
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Search For Vintage Rides (And Get Insurance Quotes, Too) On 'Classic Car Guide' AppWe've seen a handful of apps for classic car aficionados, and we've seen apps for insurance quotes and claims, but until now, we haven't seen those two services combined in one handy format. Enter the Classic Car Guide for iPhone and iPad. The Classic Car Guide lets fans of vintage rides search for...
Richard Read