How Cute: Smart Fortwo Says Hello Kitty to U.S. Buyers with Special Wraps

Hopefully, most of our readers will agree that a Smart Fortwo is a far more suitable candidate for a 'Hello Kitty' makeover than a Ferrari 360 Modena [weep here]. Furthermore, unlike the custom Modena, the Fortwo Hello Kitty is an officially licensed product as Smart's US distributor, Penske Automotive and Sanrio, the owner of the 'Hello Kitty' brand, signed an agreement to add a series of car wrap designs featuring the popular feline to the carmaker's vehicle customization program.

"This is the first time that Sanrio will offer a Hello Kitty car in the United States," said Janet Hsu, president of Sanrio Inc. "The modern, environmentally-friendly features of the smart fortwo combined with supercute Hello Kitty designs deliver an exciting offering that responds to the demands of our fans for special edition lifestyle products."

The Smart Expressions program will offer buyers in the States a choice of three different full-body Hello Kitty designs, each with a selection of color schemes. In total, the company offers 22 full and partial wrap design and color combinations from which to choose.

According to Smart, the Hello Kitty wrapped Fortwo cars will make an appearance at many Sanrio events this fall for the brand's 50th Anniversary.

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Disney's Magic Highway USA is a Future that Never was

Ah, highway motoring in the 21st century: the epitome of fast, safe and comfortable transportation for the masses. Where there are rarely more than half a dozen cars on the road and the family relaxes with a board game while their car automatically whisks them to work or to the shops.

The 21st century: where traffic accidents are dealt with by airborne units that are police, fire and ambulance all rolled into one and road works cause only minimal delays thanks to prefabricated components and enormous road laying machines.

And what would 21st century motoring be without our cantilevered sky ways, non-stop freight ways and undersea transcontinental highways, all of which are as commonplace today as trains were seventy years ago?

Don't worry; I haven't gone off my rocker. This is the 21st century motoring gospel according to "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color", a television program produced from 1954 to 1990 and hosted by Old Man Disney himself up until 1967. This particular segment is called, "Magic-Highway USA" and aired in 1958.

If you hadn't already guessed, this segment is looking at the future of personal motoring. Let's start with the things they got right:

Automated traffic announcements are becoming more and more prevalent. Satellite navigation and rear view cameras, once the realm of pure fantasy, are standard or optional on almost all cars these days. And there are BMWs that can read speed limits off of signs.

Bus rapid transit - increasingly common in major cities - emulates Disney's proposed freight ways, while undersea tunnels such as the one underneath Tokyo Bay have been around for decades. And the modern RV / motorhome has all the comforts of home.

Of course, there are some things the filmmakers got tragically wrong:

The tubular, air conditioned highways and the "sun powered electro suspension car" are two things we are likely to never see. It is here we move away from plausibility and into Ford Nucleon territory. Speaking of which, whatever happened to the atomic car?

By Tristan Hankins

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Sony Upsets Fans by Delaying Gran Turismo 5 Yet Again

There's an old saying that I think is appropriate here: when it rains, it pours. Sony has announced further delays to its much anticipated Gran Turismo 5 (GT5) arcade racing title. The game, which was scheduled for an early November release, has been once again pushed back, this time to the "holiday season".

In a statement on the official Playstation blog, GT5's North American Producer Taku Imasaki said:

"We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital. I want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches."

The release of GT5 Prologue at the 2007 E3 Convention appeared to indicate a release in June of 2008. Further previews of the game followed, but no release date was given. Finally, just last year Sony indicated that GT5 would go on sale in March of 2010. Just three months later, at E3 2010, that date was pushed back to November.

The final specifications and release date were confirmed as recently as last month's Tokyo Game Show. A media event last week seemed to confirm that everyone was set for a November release. This latest delay has come as a shock to everyone, including Sony's North American arm.

Mr. Imasaki told the New York Times in a phone interview:

"We're really close, but this was an executive decision that was made yesterday. Realistically, we thought we had a good date. We're not happy over here."

He went on to suggest the game could be delayed even further, something no fan of the series wants to hear. Carscoop will keep abreast of the issue, and provide updates as they come in.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Sony & NY Times

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Google’s Latest Killer App is one Step Closer to the Driverless Car [with Video]

It came from San Francisco Bay. A hybrid killing driving machine with a singular purpose: to destroy mankind to further the cause of safe motoring. A Toyota Prius infused with advanced technology that allows it to kill without remorse drive itself and created by the Devil himself Google! Pardoning that brief flight of fancy, here's the real scoop:

Google is working on an automated / driverless car with the help of DARPA Challenge luminaries Chris Urmson and Anthony Levandowski. Mr. Urmson was the technical team leader on CMU's 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge winning entry, whilst Mr. Levandowski built the world's first autonomous motorcycle for the DARPA Grand Challenge as well as an automated pizza delivery vehicle.

Though still in the experimental stages of development, Google's test vehicles have covered 140,000 miles (225,300 km). Their unpiloted yet still manned Priora (that's the plural of Prius, dontchaknow) have travelled from their Mountain View campus to their Santa Monica office and onto Hollywood Boulevard, down Lombard Street, across the Golden Gate Bridge, along the Pacific Coast Highway and all the way around Lake Tahoe (albeit, not in a single journey).

Here's how it works:

First a human operator takes a conventional car out and maps the route and road conditions, including lane markers and traffic signs. The local police are then briefed on the expected route just in case.

Then the automated car (always a Toyota Prius in the pictures we've seen) hits the road, piloted by a trained safety driver and software operator who monitor the car's progress and can take over at a moment's notice. The automated vehicles are fitted with video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder, all of which helps the car to "see" the road ahead, other vehicles and any obstacles in its path. All in all, a very clever bit of engineering.

Google hopes that the technology can be used in the future to reduce road traffic accidents. The automated vehicles are part of what the company calls their "highway trains of tomorrow"; automated vehicles that obey the road rules, can never drive intoxicated and will always keep a safe distance behind the vehicle in front. All in all, a very bright future for A to B motoring.

By Tristan Hankins

Link: Google Blog

MINI Shows Off Lifestyle Collection for Very, Very Early Christmas Buyers

When not in the business of car-making, MINI promotes its online shop. And with Christmas only [...] two-and-a-half-months away, the company thought it would be a good idea to put together a selection of gifts for early birds. We guess it could be worse as we've seen companies advertising their Christmas goodies (or ideas) from the end of summer.

In any case, MINI's latest Lifestyle Collection includes numerous items ranging from the Sonoro Internet Radio that can receive over 18,000 web radio stations via WiFi or LAN and the Cuckoo Clock, to the Snow Rocker toboggan and Baby Racer push-car. If you're interested, scroll down for the gallery.

Link: MINI Shop

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