In 2004, it was all about iPodding your BMW, but in 2009, it's all about Palming it. No, not "palming" as in concealing your car in the palm of your hand -- "Palming," you know, as in the act of hardwiring a Touchstone into your center console so that you can charge a Pre on the road with the greatest of ease. Ironically, this modern marvel of technology is mounted right where the iDrive controller would normally go, which means you're stuck making the nearly impossible choice between this hack and BMW's.

[Thanks, Mike]

Shopping for a new BMW in Korea? If you happen to own a Samsung T*Omnia (SCH-M490), you may want to divert your checkbook to this new 7-series, which houses a wireless charger for the phone in the middle console. This isn't the first time Samsung and BMW have assimilated with one another, and those previous features -- Bluetooth hands-free and iDrive controllers -- are still present. Right now the charger only works with that specific handset, but we'd bet 5 won there's gonna be more options in the future. Hit up the read link for pics of the symbiotic duo.

[Thanks, Tizian]

Qualcomm's MediaFLO tech was originally intended for screens so small that resolution, artifacting, and wholesale crappiness don't really matter, but when you're building out a whole new wireless network for this thing, monetization is a high priority wherever you can find it. To that end, Audiovox is lending a helping hand with a new receiver launching later this year that'll plug into most in-car video systems and deliver MediaFLO programming straight to your back seat, your front seat, or whatever bizarre place (engine compartment, maybe?) you've mounted a display. We weren't terribly impressed with the video quality; generally speaking, DVD is probably the better entertainment option here, but if live shows are a must-have for you, this is just about the only cheap, easy way to roll. We're told 10 to 15 channels will be available at launch -- but unfortunately, Audiovox says that neither AT&T's nor Verizon's exclusive channels will be part of the lineup. Pricing hasn't been announced; if we had to guess, we'd figure on something like $20 per month, so you'd better really desperately need blurry TV when the drive gets boring.

Face it, kids. You missed the best time to be a teenager by around five or so years. As it stands now, technology is cutting into that adolescent fun, with device like Ford's MyKey and this one here ensuring that you're actually safe behind the wheel. In all seriousness, the terribly named Key2SafeDriving is a fine concept (at least in the parent's eye), as it fuses a cellphone jammer (of sorts) into a key fob in order to put the kibosh on freeway conversations. Essentially, the signal blocking kicks into action anytime the "key" portion is flicked out, connecting to a handset via Bluetooth or RFID and forcing it into "driving mode." No actual jamming, per se, is going on; it's more like a manual override of the ringer. Anyone who phones / texts you while you're safely driving will receive an automated response informing them of such, though we are told that handsfree devices can be utilized. Researchers at the University of Utah are hoping to see it on the market within six months via a private company "at a cost of less than $50 per key plus a yet-undetermined monthly service fee."

[Via Gadgets-Weblog]

Talking while driving just got a little more expensive on the west coast. Legislation went into effect last month in California and Washington requiring the use a headset of some sort. California's law was passed way back in 2006, yet most would-be good citizens waited until the absolute last minute to comply, with sales of Bluetooth headsets surging to four-times the national average in the months prior according to the NPD Group. Still, 7,182 citations were handed to naughty Californians in July. Up north only 100 were nabbed, as Washingtonian drivers can't be pulled over unless they commit some other violation as well, making headset use there a little more ... optional, so long as you lay off the throttle, Speed Racer.

Using little more than book knowledge, experience from previous projects, and a healthy shot of elbow grease, a Kenyan kid has constructed a nifty (and perhaps just a little scary) box that attaches to your car to provide a number of unique remote-control features that you're not going to find on your average OnStar setup. The flagship function seems to be the real-time lockout, which can call you as the car is being started; only if you confirm that it's not some baddie trying to jack your ride will the ignition request be granted. That's not all, though -- it'll also let you dial into the car and listen in on any conversations going on within. The young man says he's seeking additional funding to take his project to the next level, but in the meantime, don't even think about making off with a white Mitsubishi the next time you're in Mombasa. Follow the break for a video of the system in action.

[Via AfriGadget]

We're really not so sure we can envision mounting one of these in our own slab, but we'll admit, Motorola's Smart Rider is just about the most fully-featured car kit we've ever seen. The thing's pretty freaking massive and the screen's plenty clear, which we figure is perfect for drivers who want to minimize the amount of time they spend fiddling with controls and maximize the time they spend... oh, you know, driving. In general, the device could stand to be just a little less angular -- we figure a few folks are going to balk at mounting this giant hunk of plastic in their beloved rides -- but then again, the device seems targeted squarely at fleets where aesthetic beauty is far from priority one. Click on to the gallery to get a sense of what we mean.

Since looking around your car to read a small display while you're driving seems like a somewhat poor plan, Sony Ericsson has introduced the HCB-150 that clips to a visor and reads out the caller's name with a (hopefully non-creepy) text-to-speech engine in addition to a more traditional OLED readout if you simply must take your eyes off the road. It supports up to five pairings, uses Bluetooth 2.0, is battery powered for double duty as a portable speakerphone, and should be available next quarter.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

We've seen more efficient ways of piping tunes from phones to stereos, but admittedly, they usually involve a wire or two. The Venturi Mini, now being offered by Verizon Wireless, performs the wondrous feat of receiving music streamed to it via stereo Bluetooth and relaying it on to your car's head unit by way of FM transmitter, making the whole process completely wire-free. "But wait," as they say in the industry, "that's not all." The cigarette lighter socket-powered device doubles as a handsfree that cleverly pauses your music when the time comes to take a call. Grab the multitalented wonder now for $129.99 -- and if you live in Washington or Oregon, the sooner, the better.

[Via MobileBurn]

Add Oregon and Washington to the list of states that now officially frown on yapping while driving. Oregon's sporting the less restrictive legislation of the two Pacific Northwestern states, preventing teens from using cellphones in the car as of January 1. Washington already banned the idiotic practice of texting while driving last year, and will ban handsets altogether (except for handsfree devices) this July. Of course, with lawyers eternally in the mix, let's just hope the fine lawmakers out there have dotted their I's and crossed their T's lest these new laws spend more time in court than they do on the road.

Well, would you take a peek at this? Not even a month after we pored over Volkswagen photos that certainly had a hint of Apple about them, images of the Land Rover LRX are surfacing and giving us the same kind of vibe. In a press release issued by the automaker, it notes that the concept vehicle will boast a couple of touchscreens, one of which is used to "control the LRX's iPhone facility." Additionally, you can catch an iPod docking station and a set of removable speakers on the tailgate, though we can't say that's the most convenient location we've ever heard of for such a device. Nevertheless, we should find out a whole lot more when it hits the Detroit Auto Show floor next month, and oh yeah, we hear Jobs has a wee gig of his own to handle around the same time.

[Thanks, ssco]
Read - Land Rover LRX press release
Read - Land Rover LRX images

If you're ready for a healthy dose of unconventional wisdom, you've come to the right place, as a couple of confident graduate student economists at UC-Berkeley are purporting that there is "no match in the evening cellphone use spike and crash data." Basically, the duo is suggesting that although we've been on the mobile horn a lot more these days, the number of fatal vehicular accidents over the past 18 years have not experienced the same leap. Weird logic, we know, so take it for whatever it is (or isn't) worth.

[Via Wired]

Every once in a while, a device comes along whose stupidity is exceeded only by the individuals advocating its use; a device so confusing and controversial, it creates twice as many problems as it solves. Enter Highway Safety & Technology's "Cellular Detection System" (or as we like to call it, the "Automatic Civil Unrest Creation System"). The idea is this: through some magical, thoroughly unexplained array of "electronic sensing equipment," the system can somehow detect drivers talking on their phones and set the subsequent legal process in motion without any law enforcement involvement whatsoever. Never mind that other people in the car might be using their phones and the fact that headsets are almost always legal when handsets are not, we guess. The product is actually so ridiculous that we're leaning toward it being an elaborate hoax -- or we're hoping as much, anyway -- otherwise it'll allegedly be available to overzealous municipalities this fall.

[Via Techdirt]

We know that there's another grueling week to survive between now and the Coca-Cola 600, but here's a NASCAR tidbit that will hopefully satisfy your Sunday desire for a little roundtrack action. AT&T has been given the green flag to rebrand Jeff Burton's (very orange) #31 race car after Judge Marvin H. Shoob of the US District Court, Northern District of Georgia, "granted AT&T's motion for preliminary injunction in its suit against NASCAR." It was noted that the decision gives AT&T "the immediate right to put its logos and brand marks" on the vehicle, and while we're not certain if we'll see a slightly new look come May 27th, we're sure it won't be long before the blue sphere makes its official debut.

[Via RCRNews]