The students at Virginia Tech are a pretty intelligent bunch. They’ve come up with a new system for automobile braking lights that will indicate whether you are stopping, or just slowing down, based on how quickly you put your foot down on the brake. The solution for a better brake, as it turns out is really pretty simple.

The concept uses an array of horizontal LED lights. When you start to slow down, the center lights will glow orange and after a pre-programmed time, the side lights will turn red. If you slam on the emergency brake, then all the lights turn red instantly. If we could just get it to flash the finger for those people who stay way too close behind you, I’d be happy. They think these will be easier to add as additional indicators on commercial vehicles at first, but who knows, one day soon all cars may sport these.

Sony Europe is setting its sights on a new in-car CD tuner which offers multiple ways to listen to digital music. It is known as the Sony MEX-BT3600U - no pricing has been announced as of yet.

The Sony MEX-BT3600U in-car CD tuner can let you listen to digital music through it via USB or wireless. For USB one can connect a USB flash drive to its front panel USB port and browse music files via a LCD interface. The wireless option comes via Bluetooth and support for the A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile) standard.

Let’s say you drive around in an old heap and your battery dies. You need a jump, but you don’t have jumper cables and no one wants to help. With the Porta Jump, you won’t need any help at all. It doesn’t require jumper cables or helpful strangers.

Just plug it in your cigarette lighter and wait for the green light to turn on. It’s that easy. Done. You are back in the business of driving around in a heap. As an added bonus, it will recharge while you are driving. This is a good $20 spent. Ideal for damsels in distress as it’s much safer then asking a stranger for help and possibly running into a nutjob.

One rule I always follow is that I never ever buy any object that has a suction cup on it. Even if it is going to get me the phone numbers of hot girls who drive by me in my car. That is exactly what the Callme Prism is made for. You know, it’s for those times when you’re at a red light, and you see an attractive girl pull up beside you.

Do they really think that girls are that into strangers with a suction cup mounted screen on their window? This device is not going to help you get laid. It’s not like said hot babe is going to drop everything, call you, and have sex five minutes after seeing your girl-bait in the window. C’mon this device isn’t Myspace. If you are still not convinced, it retails for about $26.

Looking eerily like something out of old low budget Sci-Fi movies, this pyramid electric car weighs 8,000-pounds and is powered by 80-batteries, with four engines. It can supposedly reach speeds of up to 45mph. I love how the canopy pops open like a Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica. It was built by a Father and his two sons. Check out a video after the jump.

The “Dream Car” is solar powered, on four wheels. The vehicle can run for 80 miles on a single charge, taking about four hours to charge the battery. It’s got some extras too. An in-car heating system for one, electric brakes, gel-filled tires and cool neon lights. This was obviously a labor of love as it cost the Zanises $60,000 in supplies, and a ton of hours to build. They’re now looking for financial backers, because they need $40,000 to build a Mark 2 prototype. They would like to get the range up to 500 miles.

The Ferrari Limo is probably better suited for speed to get you to the club on time, but this H2 Hummer limousine with its triple axle setup gives you your own club on wheels.

This super-duty stretched version of the already-huge Hummer rolls on eight 22’s and hauls around 2 VIP lounges, disco floors and ceilings, some custom gull-wing doors in back and a level-5 sounds system. Take a look at a photo of the interior after the jump, which appears to be as roomy as they get. No details are given about how many people it can hold, but we’re guessing it’s enough.

Many people hate to be away from their computer, even while in the car. Despite the fact that driving requires all of your attention, you still crave that screen, that contact, you don’t want to miss out on anything damnit! There’s no need to suffer withdrawal symptoms while in your vehicle any longer thanks to the Navisurfer II.

It’s a complete PC that can be installed in your car and it only takes up a single DIN slot in your car’s dashboard, which is the same size as a typical car stereo. It even features a flip-out touchscreen 7-inch color display, with 800 x 480 resolution. It will run either Windows XP or Linux as the OS. The Navisurfer II also has all of the software applications that you would want in your car, like media player, GPS navigator, rear view camera, plus an application for displaying vehicle diagnostic information.

Who hasn’t thought about cooking with the harmful pollutants that come from your car exhaust. Some brilliant Iranians have made the dream a reality, so you can now make the greasiest and nastiest car char broiled burgers anywhere.

Actually, they seem to have figured out a safe way to do this, so your meat doesn’t look like a black lung when it comes out. It uses a clamshell design to direct the gases around the burger, without polluting the meat. The only downside is that you’d have to stop every so often to either change out patties or flip the burger as it looks like it only cooks one side at a time. And because of the design, you might have to be careful about hitting a big bump and having the entire thing come away.

Clarion unveiled at CES this week a new mobile Internet device based upon the Intel Menlow platform, which is comprised of the Silverthorne processor and the Poulbo chipset. It is called MiND (Mobile Internet Navigation Device) and its currently in development.

The Clairon MiND is best described as an extremely portable device. The feature list is quite long - its maker describes it best by stating the MiND will “provide users access to navigation, high-speed Internet connection, digital music and videos, hands-free phone connection (via Bluetooth), built-in camera and many other innovative entertainment features.” It is an in-car device designed to make you crash easier…er, we mean keep you entertained either in-auto or out.

Goodyear is a name you recognize when it comes to tires, but now they’ve entered a license agreement with The NCC, who will be launching its first line of Goodyear branded, driver-friendly GPS navigation systems at CES 2008 in Las Vegas, January 7-10. They are calling it a “rugged GPS system,” and all eight models will have features never before seen on mobile navigation systems, like remote control to access hands-free communication, via a single quick-touch button to answer and hang up calls. It’s clear they are betting on safety and convenience.

The remote control can be fastened to the driver’s side visor, or next to the gear shift, or anywhere convenient for that matter. Certain models will also feature MSN(R) Direct, which will provide useful info like live traffic updates, local gas prices, weather reports, as well as local movie times. In addition, other features are 4.3″ LCD touch screens, speaker-quality sound, High Sensitivity receivers, text-to-speech navigation for spoken street names, millions of points of interest (POI’s), MP3 and video playback, A/V inputs for MP3 players, TV tuners, or DVD players. Comes with 2GB of internal memory and removable SD storage.

If playing with your Star Trek putter on the golf course isn’t enough for you, or if you’re tired of waiting for the sweet geek release of death to enjoy your Star Trek coffin, then geek out your vehicle with the Wolo 485 Star Trek Air Horn.

You’ll have 5 air trumpets playing the most recognizable notes of the Star Trek theme at the touch of a button, and with 118 decibels of power. It wires directly to your battery to replace your existing car horn. The set includes a 12 volt compressor and impact-resistant plastic trumpets, tubing, relay, mounting hardware and instructions. It’s powered through your vehicle’s 12 volt cigarette lighter. Your inner geek will be happy, but don’t expect to win over the ladies with this one. You know, unless they are the sort that dress up like Klingons and attend all the conventions. In that case…Score!

The LongRanger electric bike is basically a mountain bike with a motor assist. Yes, it’s street legal and not as dorky looking as some attempts at an eco friendly bike. You can build it to get up to 62 miles with a single charge and you can customize it to suit your needs by altering the top speed, acceleration, weight or range. Short or long distance travelling is not a problem.

You can even add a solar charger to the system so you don’t have to worry about maintenance. You are basically paying $14.99 USD for instructions on how to build the thing. It’s a great environmental alternative to loud noisy bikes while getting around at decent speeds.

Black boxes have proven to be useful after accidents in planes and have been becoming more popular for use in personal automobiles as well. Not only can they help determine the cause of an accident but insurance companies can potentially use them to determine the driving habits of its customers, which isn’t always a popular prospect for consumers.

Apparently having a data recorder in your car that keeps track of movement and speed just isn’t enough these days. According to Yahoo Korea HK e-Car, Korean maker of black boxes for vehicle in Korea, they have new product in their MOA line of black boxes called the MOA-VBOX which will incorporate video into the mix of data recorded from an accident.

HD Radio is looking more and more like it’s here to stay as consumer companies slowly develop products which pick up the radio industry’s answer to satellite radio. The latest of these, and apparently also the first auto manufacturer putting out cars in the United States with this technology, is Volvo.

Volvo said today it will begin offering HD Radio on almost all of its models in fall of 2008. Volvo Cars of North America will specifically be offering factory installed HD Radio receivers as standard and optional equipment in a variety of models, including the S40 T5, V50 T5, C30, C70, S80, V70, XC70 and XC90.

Volkswagen has developed its latest vehicle concept for an electric car of the future. Designed in collaboration with German design student Marc Kirsch for his diploma project, the Volkswagen Viseo is a three-seater that produces zero carbon emissions. Created to show that being environmentally friendly doesn’t mean that you don’t look sexy, the Viseo has that streamlined look that screams sports car sex appeal. Unfortunately we don’t know what kind of miles per charge the electric cars in the future will get so while the Viseo looks great it’s still an unknown performer.

One novel new feature about the Viseo is that the back-end of the car can detach and becomes a suitcase that you can wheel around. Something like this sounds great if you need to fly a lot and park your car longterm at the airport but as an everyday idea, it’s not so hot.