parking

Grant McCracken has a great post about the Audi A4 commercial that pokes fun at Lexus' new car that parks itself. You may have seen the ad on TV - the camera is holding still on an empty parking spot on a quiet leafy street with lawn sprinklers puffing in the background. An Audi A4 comes zooming up and does a 180 to land perfectly in the spot (between two Lexuses by the look of it!).

Grant comments that Audi has turned its perceived disadvantage (lack of a tech whizzy feature) into an advantage:

You're a dedicated digital professional of some kind, shackled to your desk all week. But you're a fearless explorer of the natural world on your days off. When you get ready for your next overland adventure, you can plan your route down the Shenandoah River or up Mount Everest with pens, highlighters and a large collection of topographical maps unfolded over every available surface--or you can use one little CD-ROM from National Geographic. No, you cannot plan it all out on a GPS. You need some old-fashioned know-how to go with your newfangled technology.

Assuming you have a … Read more

A survey released today says the 2008 model year will yield the highest percentage of gadget-filled cars in history.

The study, conducted by Telematics Research Group (TRG) and based on 100 cars announced for the 2008 model year, says almost 70 percent of cars for sale in North America will offer voice-activated, hands-free Bluetooth phone support. Navigation systems will come standard in 80 percent of announced MY08 models.

Portable music player support will also be at an all-time high. According to TRG's Technology Availability Index, 50 percent of cars will have direct iPod connectivity, and 90 percent will have … Read more

ZION NATIONAL PARK, Utah--I've been on Road Trip 2007 long enough now that I've reached 4,000 miles of driving. And while the actual spots where I hit 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 were nothing to speak about, that was certainly not the case when the odometer rolled over from 3,999.9 to 4,000.0.

That's because I was in the middle of this incredible national park when all those zeroes appeared, with gorgeous sandstone and shale cliff faces surrounding me.

Now, to be perfectly honest, when I hit 4,000 miles on … Read more

Ever been stuck in a can't-leave meeting knowing that the minutes on your parking meter are about to ding you? The PhotoViolationMeter will call to warn you that your meter is running low and let you buy more time over the phone.

The device, created by Photo Violation Technologies of Canada, also gives customers a variety of payment options, including credit and debit cards for the coin-challenged (the meter's wireless network capability allows for instant, real-time authorization of the cards--and free Internet hotspots for anyone who wants to do some on-street surfing).

The first wave of machines are … Read more

MySpace will soon launch more than a dozen branded video channels, featuring content from big names like the National Geographic group, The New York Times, and Reuters. Users will be able to access the video content on branded content microsites similar to YouTube's partner channels with the BBC, NBC, and CBS. MySpace is allowing content providers to customize their content interface, with special backgrounds and color schemes. Expect something similar to Trailer Park, which MySpace launched last month.

The new service will tie in to MySpace's current videos platform, although there's no word yet on whether or … Read more

What's more fun than a little competitive rivalry? Spoofs of competitive rivalry, that's what!

Apple's "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads (watch them at Apple) have stirred up the international cultural imagination, spawning spoofs of the newly classic campaign.

Here are two new favorites to add to your collection. Wired points us to this South Park-style gem. True to the cartoon's saucy style, neither OS avoids taking heat.

Then CNET UK holds a joust--literally--with Mac OS X and Windows Vista. CNET is a big fan of staging prizefights, but CNET … Read more

MySpace quietly launched Trailer Park this morning, a new area showcasing trailers for upcoming movies. All videos are played on the in-house MySpace player and can be embedded on member pages. Trailer Park is launching with five trailers from Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Independent, and Buena Vista Pictures.

The page is designed to feel like a member's profile, with forums, a friends list, and a comment board. The dearth of actual content about a movie (actors, ratings, and so on) can be found at the movie's marketing site, which gets its own link alongside the trailer.

Unfortunately, from the … Read more