Automotive

Leaf is the latest concept car designed by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) that features an odd leaf as its roof, giving an impression of being eco-friendly. This innovative roof is crafted from foliage and able to produce oxygen just like a real leaf. Moreover, the leafy roof features a solar panel to generate and store electricity, and more surprisingly, it directs the car to move into a position where it can get the most suitable sunlight coverage. The wheels also contain spinning wheels that can generate electricity too when the car moves forward. This energy-efficient vehicle not only will reduce the fuel cost of operating a car, but also will help developing an emission free environment.

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Angel Eye? What is that? ‘Angel Eye’ is a cool headlight feature found on the new (2001+) BMW 5 Series. The projector headlamp unit on the BMW 5 series has a pair of circular-shape rings that when light up, they produce a pair of halos. BMW calls them ‘Angel Eyes’. They are also referred to as ‘Demon Eyes’. They look very nice on the BMW 5 Series. They don’t serve any purpose other than for the nice and aggressive look, and to distinguish the newer BMW 5 Series from other BMW models at night. Great design for an already-great looking car. Would definitely look awesome if BMW put them on the 3 Series.

My install is a little different from the BMW. Only three quarter of the rings are lit up, like a crescent moon. They are not exactly like the full circle of the BMW’s Angel Eyes. Only BMW deserves the full circle; my humble CRX is not worthy enough for the full circle, but it still looks great! continue reading…

GPS car tracking or vehicle tracking is often used for covert tracking of the driver in the car. We will not look to this kind of applications, but rather the business variant for which GPS asset tracking would be a better name. Cars, trucks, trailers, railcars, containers and boats can be tracked, using GPS car tracking.

The market for GPS vehicle tracking systems is considered as one of the fasted growing markets for GPS applications. There are many levels of sophistication, but what all systems have in common is a GPS receiver and software to put the tracking results on a map. The differences in mapping programs are huge and it is very difficult to judge in advance how well these software solutions will perform.

Two main categories of GPS car tracking solutions are the ‘passive’ systems and the ‘real time’ systems. Passive systems store the gathered data in their internal memory and the owner has only access to the data when the unit returns to the base. Real time systems send the data at regular intervals to the manufacturer’s database and the user can read these through a website. Other systems can deliver data directly to the user’s cell phone on demand.

We have distinguished five categories of GPS vehicle tracking systems and will look in further detail to different brands and models. continue reading…