Antony Ingram, Contributing Writer
Articles
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It's 7am, and your alarm is blaring to raise you bleary-eyed from your slumber. You grab breakfast, chuck some clothes on and get ready to head to work.
As you step into your car, a message appears... -
Video: Smart Glass, Pick Your Tint Whatever The WeatherGlass roof panels are becoming a popular option in modern cars. Taking the old sunroof and moonroof a step further, you can enjoy all the view you'd get in a convertible with none of the gusts of wind. The glass roof isn't without its problems though. If you live in a hot and sunny climate you'll...
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Flower Power: Ford To Use Dandelion Roots In Rubber PartsDandelion flowers may look pretty to some but to many, they're a weed that needs uprooting throughout the warmer months to prevent them from taking over the garden. What better to provide the basis of a renewable source for rubber than a plant that grows abundantly and quickly? Ford and the Ohio...
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The Vroominator: At Least Your Slow Car Will Sound Fast...Want a sports car or muscle car but don't want the expense of higher fuel bills and insurance costs? Want to enjoy the rumble of a big V8 but don't want to wake the neighbors every morning when you leave for work? Your wishes have just been answered, and for only $40. What you need is the...
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Greater Interaction With "Sticky" Touchscreen Display TechTouchscreen displays have revolutionized our gadgets, both in and away from our automotive lives. Now, they're set to get even better to use. From iPhones to satellite navigation systems, many of our electronic gadgets use the technology, and that's only going to increase as makers strive for ever...
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Green GPS Picks Fuel-Saving, Lowest Emissions RoutesGPS navigation systems and internet-based route planners allow you to pick the quickest or shortest route to your destination. However, until now there hasn't been the option to pick the greenest route, allowing you to use the least fuel and reducing your journey's emissions. Researchers at the...
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The unthinkable can happen all too easily. In the large vehicles that many of us drive, a significant blind spot to the rear below the window line can hide children playing behind your vehicle, and... -
LED Lights For This Year's Audi R18 TDI Le Mans RacerAudi is at the forefront of LED lighting on road cars, and the German maker is now ready to reap the benefits in racing too. The company has announced that it intends to use LED lighting technology on its 2011 Le Mans contender, the R18 TDI. The new closed-cockpit racer, designed with the intention...
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Jaguar Land Rover, BlackBerry Join In Smartphone IntegrationIntegrating smartphones with in-car vehicle technology is nothing new. Bluetooth connection for making calls, and playing music and plugging in via USB has been around for years. Full integration of smartphones into a car's systems hasn't really been seen yet beyond the concept stage. One of the...
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Extra Media Storage Turns VWs Into Rolling Movie TheatresKids these days don't know how good they have it. The most entertainment many of us could muster on a long journey was playing I-spy, or maybe kicking our siblings and getting away with it when they complained. In-car DVD has made long trips a much quieter experience for parents, and now a deal...
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Plug-n-Play LED Lighting On The Way, Gets Brighter, CheaperIf you spend a lot of time driving you won't have failed to notice the distinctive shape of high intensity LED daytime running lights on some modern vehicles. As for LED tail-lights, those are even more common. Only a small selection of vehicles features entirely LED-based headlights though...
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Tired Of eBay, Craigslist? Sell Your Car With Copart AppOnline car sales sites have transformed the way we buy and sell cars. Whether you're selling to the highest bidder on an online auction site or setting your price and waiting for the calls on sites like Autotrader, you can not only add far more photos and details than ever before but reach a...
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"You can't start a fire without a spark" sang Bruce Springsteen in his 1984 hit Dancing In The Dark.
Great line, but unfortunately for old Bruce he wasn't quite technically accurate, as a research... -
Planning A Road Trip? Make It 'Appen With These Mobile AppsIn the good old days all you needed for a road trip was a car, some buddies, and a sense of adventure. Even a map was optional. These days you can have it so much easier with the latest downloadable apps at your fingertips telling you everything from where to sleep to providing your tunes. Here is...
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MINI Connected 'Enhances Driving Fun' With Social NetworkingCheeky styling and endless personalization options already mark out the MINI as a fun and sociable vehicle, but now a new App from MINI called MINI Connected will give drivers, in MINI's words, "an even more intense experience of limitless driving fun". Normally for this sort of experience you'd be...
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Don't Like Your Fellow Bus Passengers? Crawl Into A Cocoon!If you regularly use public transport, you should start writing to your local transit authority, because the Japanese have an idea that could make things a lot more pleasant! Passengers travelling on the Willer Express between the sprawling cities of Osaka and Tokyo in Japan get to enjoy a first...
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McCAR With Free Happy Wheels: Geely Car And Scooter ComboIf your idea of a vehicle with another attatched to the back is a Winnebago with a Smart ForTwo strapped behind it, you need to start thinking about downsizing. Chinese automaker Geely (owners of Volvo) has just the combo for you. It's known as the McCAR, and although its appearance might make you...
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In-Car Screens Could Soon Use 3D Image TechnologyNintendo's 3DS has caused something of a stir in the world of 3D imaging. Rather than using unfashionable and unwieldy 3D glasses to view a stereoscopic image, the 3DS and some other recent gadgets use autostereoscopy, utilizing two layered screens to display an image that appears 3D to the user...
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You might think that of all groups most likely to barrage a Facebook post with "Likes" in the shortest possible time, pop star Justin Bieber's army of wildly fanatical teen fans would top the list.
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Washington Business Owner Challenges Speeding Tickets, WinsIt's an awful feeling: That moment you open a letter to find an image of your car inside and a citation for speeding. Many would grit their teeth and pay up - do the crime, pay the time, as they say. Not for Will Foreman. The Washington businessman has beaten the charges on five occasions so far...
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Graphene Paper 10 Times Stronger, 6 Times Lighter Than SteelNanotechnology, the study of materials and engineering on a molecular scale, has the potential to completely change the vehicles we drive. We've looked at self-healing polymers that can eliminate scratches in paintwork, plastics injected with millions of tiny air bubbles to reduce their weight...
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Video: Self-Healing Polymers, The Future Of Car Paint Tech?The moment when you buy a new car is always something to be savored. Only a handful of digits on the odometer, that 'new car smell', and of course a smooth, glassy finish to the paintwork. Sadly it rarely lasts, and all but the most fastidiously-maintained vehicles will soon pick up scratches and...
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Powerdecal: The Sticker That Turns On And Off With Your CarFed up with bumper stickers and window stickers that nobody else can see at night? Want to show off your allegiance to a particular sports team or college even in the darkest of nights? What you need is the Powerdecal. This 4" sticker can be affixed on the inside of any window and uses three AA...
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Canadian Engineer Develops Cheaper Collision Detection TechNobody, save for perhaps stunt drivers, likes to crash. Even if you're lucky enough to escape injury, accidents invariably mean months of insurance nightmare, dozens of phone calls to people you dislike conversing with, considerable expense and almost certainly time off the road. General consensus...
Antony Ingram