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Nissan’s door alert honks at you to check the backseat
The last thing you want is to forget items in the back of a car during these relentless summer days. But even with all the technical wizardry found inside modern vehicles, there's really nothing stopping you from just being plain absent-minded. And, before you know it, your car ends up reeking of leftover food or your gym clothes. However, Nissan's new warning system is aimed directly at your backseat.
Viper SmartStart app goes to 2.0, gets potentially cheaper and throws roadside assistance into the mix
About a year ago Viper got into the app game, releasing SmartStart the iPhone and allowing control of the locks, trunk, and ignition on their car. Since then Android and BlackBerry versions have trickled out, but now it's time for 2.0. What wondrous new functionality does this new major release offer? Not much, really, but it does come with one major improvement: cost. Before you were out at least $299 while the new version is said to cost as little as $199 according to the PR below, though the wording is awfully vague. PR states you can find "dealers advertising Viper SmartStart as low as $199," but under Viper's 2.0 site the MSRP is stated to be $299 -- the same as before. So, YMMV on the price cut, apparently depending on what your local dealer feels like charging, but know that whatever you pay you'll now get "Viper Motor Club" roadside assistance included. That should offer a little extra peace of mind as we enter dead battery season.
FlashFog foils auto theft attempts with rave supplies
While it'd be tempting to use FlashFog's dance party-style rig of billowing fog and strobe lights to throw an instant rave, you may want to save it for when someone tries to jack your ride. The anti-theft device is triggered just like traditional car alarms, but substitutes repetitive sirens with a combination strobe and dense fog effect, sending burglars running (to the nearest club?) "in less than 20 seconds." If the perp's already inside when he sets off the system, he'll be greeted with a "terrifyingly bright" strobe flashing twelve times each second, "forcing his eyes into constant shock." Just make sure you don't accidentally set off the alarm yourself, especially if you have be somewhere on time. The fog takes 45 minutes to clear out, but on the bright side it won't kill you or ruin your clothes since FlashFog is nontoxic and leaves no residue.[Via, Wired]
