Appirion's iDriver app lets iPhone control minivan (video)
[Via Engadget German]
driver posts
The NEC USB 3.0 controller is due to hit the streets this month, and already Sarah Sharp (the, um, "Geekess") has been able to crank out a Linux driver for the device. Sharp states that she is "working with Keve Gabbert (the OSV person in my group at Intel) to make sure that Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Red Hat" pick up the driver, meaning that Linux users will likely be the first to have their Super Speed dreams become a reality. Are you a hardware manufacturer with some hot USB 3.0 controller prototype that wants to out this guy through its paces? Hit that read link to get started.
Not that we haven't seen similar technology from other outfits before, but we'll take as many in-car safety advancements as we can get. It's bruited that Fujitsu is conjuring up a sophisticated sensor system that can actually detect when a driver gets drowsy or begins to sink into a deep, dark wonder-world of sleep. Put simply, the system would detect specific changes in the motorist's heart rate via the steering wheel, and once it determined that you weren't exactly "with it" any longer, the car could then roll its own windows down, blast the stereo or jolt the wheel in order to get your attention. In our minds, the biggest issue here is to not cause an accident by spooking a sleepy driver out of their slumber, and we presume that's exactly what the company is working on in its R&D labs.
While at least one enterprising individual did his best to get Creative's X-Fi sound cards to play nice with Vista, Creative wasn't exactly keen on that idea and apparently decided to have a go at updating its drivers itself instead (go figure). Among other things, the new, long overdue drivers supposedly fix the problematic Dolby Digital and DTS decoding, and they add DVD Audio playback, which previously worked under Windows XP but not in Vista -- you know, the little things. Hit up the link below to find the link to the drivers themselves, which work with all X-Fi cards except the X-Fi Extreme Audio, which is clearly so "Extreme" it doesn't need driver updates.
Oh sure, we've seen alleged criminals wriggle out from under the strong arm of the law, but this one takes things to an entirely different platform. Reportedly, a truck driver in Germany was pulled over for yapping on his cellphone while cruising, but apparently, said trucker actually wasn't talking when the boys in blue saw his handset upside his melon. As the story goes, the 43-year old was actually using the freshly recharged mobile to "warm his ear" in an attempt to alleviate an earache. Astonishingly enough, he was even able to provide "an itemized telephone bill proving he had not been using the phone at the time he was stopped," thus, a court in Hamm accepted the excuse and let him go sans penalty. Something tells us this guy's got friends in low places.
It may not be legal in most civilized nations to ride a Segway on the sidewalk, but for those still risking their lives on a two-wheeled machine, things are about to get a lot safer. SoundofMotion has developed a clever new warning system that turns your phone into what sounds like a roaring motorcycle, and not content with just playing a pre-recorded loop over and over, it's actually designed to rev up and down based on the speed and acceleration of your bicycle. The application will run on "any Bluetooth- and Java-capable phone," and it interacts with a "wireless BT sensor" that gets mounted on one of your wheels. Unsurprisingly, the device responds to the motion sensor and lets the carefree motorists around know you mean business when crossing an intersection. The app is currently sitting in beta, but the creators hope to have a final rendition ready to go before you make too many summer treks, but you better be willing to face total embarrassment (and have one loud speakerphone) to save your skin before picking this up. Click on through for a demonstration.
It sure took 'em long enough but Apple finally got right with the 









