redlight
Latest
Audi helps you avoid red lights by suggesting speeds
Audi's cars already tell you how long a red light will last, but now they'll help you avoid those red lights in the first place. It's launching the first implementation of the Green Light Optimization Speed Advisory (GLOSA), a system that provides speed recommendations to reduce the amount of time you spend at red lights. The extension of Traffic Light Information technology combines your car's position and traffic light data to calculate an ideal speed that shows up on your vehicle's instrument cluster or heads-up display. In theory, you could save time by driving slightly slower and catching an uninterrupted string of green lights.
Escort's SmartCord Live brings radar detection, KRS-One to your smartphone (video)
Evading the long arm of the law, as we all know, is infinitely easier with a radar detector onboard -- and even easier if said detector is hooked up to a cloud. That's the idea behind the SmartCord Live, a new power cord from the eagle-eyed folks at Escort. Once connected to your car's radar detector and lighter socket, this Bluetooth-enabled bundle will communicate with your iPhone or Android handset through a specialized app. Once that's taken care of, you'll be hooked up to Escort Live -- a so-called "social network for the road." There, you'll find access to Escort's Defender database, full of real-time geographic information on verified speed traps, red light cameras and other roadway surveillance systems. Once your detector picks up a threat, you can press a "report" button on the cord or app to instantly send out a big "five-oh" to all other Escort users in the area, while boosting your Karma quotient, in the process. Find out more about the cord and its corollary system, after the break.
Laughably large Red Light Camera Detector proves that you should just drive safely
Just a hunch here, but we get the feeling that you've gone one step too far when you decide to install a red light camera detector in your vehicle that's larger than a) your GPS unit and b) the bag phone you used between the years 1991 and 1994. For those bold enough to disagree, there's the wild and wacky device pictured above, delivered to you by none other than Hammacher Schlemmer. Packing an internal database of 6,000 red light and speed cameras across the US and Canada, the GPS-enabled device also boasts a 1.6-inch OLED screen to show your position in relation to upcoming cameras, and of course it'll belt out all sorts of warnings to help you avoid the inevitable. Of course, you could just follow the rules of the road, but then you'd have no excuse to burn $199.95 up front and $19.95 annually on this heap. Tough call, no?[Via NaviGadget]
GPS Angel promises to keep watch on red light and speed cameras
There's certainly no shortage of devices out there that promise to alert you when you're approaching a red light or speed camera, but if you're looking to keep things as simple as possible, you may want to consider this new so-called GPS Angel device, which pares things down to a couple of buttons and blinking lights. As with similar devices, you're also able to sync it up to your PC to ensure you have all the latest camera locations (Mac users are on their own, unfortunately), and you don't have to worry about a monthly or yearly subscription fee for the service. Head on past the break to check it out in action, and get ready to fork over $129 if you think it'll do the job for you.
Cobra debuts the US's first GPS-equipped radar detector
Cobra, never a company to let you down when you need that special kind of radar that they provide (the ticket avoiding kind), has introduced the US's first GPS-locator equipped radar detector, the XRS R9G -- just like they said they would. What does a radar detector need GPS for? Well, this one holds a database of speed and red-light cameras, warning you when you're approaching so you can ease off the gas pedal, save a few lives, and not get yourself a nasty, nasty ticket. "Across the country, the number of speed and red light cameras is growing exponentially," says Tony Mirabelli, senior vice president of marketing and sales at Cobra, adding, "Now drivers can stay alert no matter where they travel." The company plans to further augment the detector's capabilities with alerts for "black spots" (high accident zones), as well as school and construction alerts. The XRS R9G is available now, retailing for $449.95.
"Towel trick" provides temporary fix to Xbox 360's red ring of doom?
If you think we took that indubitably unscientific "decibel test" with a grain of salt, then we're throwing down a few barrels with this one, but the sheer weirdness of this should encourage all bricked Xbox 360 owners to give it a whirl. Although we're fully aware of how wrapping a soft cotton towel around your red ring-displaying console should not effect its status, well, it just might. According to numerous 360 owners who haven't taken advantage of Microsoft's newly-extended repair / replacement offer, they were able to bring a few previously dead Xbox 360s back to life, if only for a few hours at a time. Sure, this is far from an actual solution, and if anything, this should reaffirm that voice in your head telling you to call up Microsoft and get an RMA number, but nonetheless, it seems that blanketing your 360 with a towel, firing it up for 10 minutes or so, turning it off, and then removing the towel will mysteriously allow your machine to function for a couple hours. Granted, we don't know how many of these folks are fibbing, but we're putting it to you all to give this a go and report back, and if it does indeed work out, who knows what else those innocent looking towels can revive? [Warning: Read link requires subscription][Via TheXboxDomain]
