The Cheeky girls were there, and so was ShinyShiny. We managed to push celebs aside and get a look at Peugeot's new electric car the BB1: branded as half scooter, half car, it fits four people, has handlebars instead of a steering wheel, and the cutest squished windscreen you ever saw.
http://www.bb1-peugeot.com

Having cornered the market in car navigation, TomTom have made their new GO I-90 device more multi-purpose by moving into in-car entertainment or infotainment as they like to call it.

The word 'infotainment' makes me think of the dreary educational computer games my parents used to foist upon me, but, TomTom's infotainment features are altogether more useful. Including a voice-activated radio, it also links up to your mobile to allow you to use your phone hands-free.

These features are combined with the classic TomTom features: a pre-installed map of Western Europe; TomTom Map Share technology - so drivers get daily map changes from the TomTom community; TomTom Safety Alerts, including safety cameras; and an Help-Me! emergency menu - local information to get help quickly.

It is compatible with most phones and also has a USB connection for MP3-players and iPods.

TomTom GO I-90 costs Є599 (excluding installation cost) from www.tomtom.com

Related:
TomTom goes Live with the GO x40 series and the SatNav iPhone applications that beat TomTom to it

I don't know about you, but I'm terrible asking for directions and prefer to get lost than embarrass myself. So I'm really pleased that TomTom has launched some more sat navs.

The TomTom GO 950 LIVE, TomTom GO 750 LIVE and TomTom GO 550 LIVE all have the company's IQ Routes technology, which calculates routes based on the real average speeds measured on roads every day compared to speed limits.

Using this data it can then give you routes based on avoiding areas that build up traffic at certain parts of the day.

The sat navs are also said to give drivers all the information they need about their journey before they set off, through the new LIVE snapshot feature. This includes road safety alerts and petrol prices of the stations you will be passing on your journey.

Once on the road, drivers automatically receive real-time updates on what's ahead, so they remain informed throughout their journey.

Those of us concerned about the environment will love the new Eco Routes option, which lets choose the most fuel-efficient route.

The TomTom GO 950 LIVE comes with pre-installed maps for America, Canada and 45 European countries. The TomTom GO 750 LIVE has maps for 45 countries in Europe including Malta, Greece and Turkey, and the TomTom GO 550 LIVE has maps of the UK/Republic of Ireland.

We haven't got any prices yet but as soon as we hear we'll let you know.

Cars and eco friendly don't really tend to fall into the same category as each other- unless you're talking about electric cars that is. Even so, style normally seems to be lacking from these economical numbers (for example) but the latest model from Smart has managed to tick all the right boxes.

Not only does its lush green and white leather interior look eminently desirable, they've also given it some features that would make the most hardened eco warrior feel all warm and cuddly inside.

Mio and Navman have teamed up to offer you three affordable, functional and stylish models in their newly launched sat-nav range. Unimaginatively titled Navman Mio, there are some seriously great models on offer. You can choose between a 3.5 inch screen (on the Spirit 300) a 4.7inch screen (Spirit 500) and 4.7 incher (Spirit Flat). Unsurprisingly each device comes with built in GPS, but they're also synced up the ATIS traffic service, so you'll be warned of the latest jams and accident areas in plenty of time to avoid them.

If you're a car owner who's eco-conscious the Econav is a great way of assuaging your guilt. The idea behind it is that you're purchasing a premium looking satnav, equipped with the usual features such as GPS, gear change indicators, speed indicators and traffic alerts, but you're also getting their customised Econav technology built in.

And what does that mean exactly? Well the idea is that it will help save you money on fuel and cut your carbon emissions, and it does this by analyzing various route options and giving you an eco-related readout of the potential cost to yourself and the environment.

Despite what the 'Want Respect Use a Condom' campaign dupes you into thinking, you can't erase your poor judgement by rewinding time. And despite what people who like to 'have it' say, drinking and driving is not cool - no matter how many times you drunkenly slur the words "I'm ok to drive, it's fine". So before you do something reckless, whilst in denial about how inebriated you really are, might I suggest investing in the Keychain Breathalyzer Flashlight? It could save you *a lot* of tears.

For some, being blindly intoxicated isn't enough of an indication that they shouldn't get behind the wheel. But one blow into this device will give you a clear sign whether or not you should take the wheel, based on the traffic light code. So, green means you're good to go, amber, means take caution and red means STOP do not get behind that wheel unless you want to suffer the harsh consequences, or simply, get a cab.

Are you the kind of person who knows the little known automobile fact that deflated tyres increase fuel consumption? Or are you one of those people who know the exact fuel prices of surrounding petrol stations in your area? Or maybe you're that particular breed of driver who charges mates a few quid just for a half a hour journey? Does that sound like you? Are you bit tight fisted of a miser when it comes to fuel and driving in general? Sounds like you could do with the free software from Garmin called ecoRoute, designed to help drivers (with a Garmin nüvi device) avoid squandering fuel money away on the long routes, when there are short cuts, back roads "less fuel" route options to take.

As well as economising fuel money, it'll provide you with details of mileage expenses, CO2 emissions, economical routing with the cost of journeys before it begins, and tips on how to improve driving to be a more environmentally friendly driver. You'll be a walking driving advertisement for what has been dubbed 'green driving'.

Honda is putting in the Ecological Drive Assist System into their 2009 hybrid Insight cars, which works as a kind of colour coded eco fairy. Whilst environmentally friendly driving will keep the speedometer green, over use of the gears and naughty engine revving will result in it turning blue.

It'd clearly be more useful as a colour alerting speedometer, which could then be put in all cars, not just the hybrid models. Still, coloured lights are pretty, saving the environment is good, combining them does no harm to anyone. Go Honda.

[via DVICE]

A sat nav with a 5-inch screen is a long sighted person's dream. However, when it comes to its price tag (£175) the enthusiasm for the Medion GoPal P5430 may turn down a notch. But it is an impressive sat nav, so perhaps there's still time to sway and convince you it's a good piece of kit.

So what are you getting for all that cash? Firstly, it's all eyes on that 5-inch screen, wiping the floor with other models which offer measly screen sizes in comparison. I don't need to tell you how practical a 5-inch screen would be to your travels, so lets move on to its other features.

What I like about the Mini Coyote dashboard device from Novus is that it allows drivers to unite together and alert each other of impending speed cameras that have been spotted, giving you time to slow down, feign innocence and act as if you'd never dream about going above the speed limit. A nifty little button can be found on the device and a simple press of said button transmits the location of the money grabbing speed trap to a processing centre. Better still, the information is relayed back in a matter of seconds, giving the driver travelling at least 300 yards behind ample time to slow down. It'll even tell you how long it'll take before you hit the camera too.

There's no room for error, which essentially means the end of speeding fines pouring through your letterbox.

Now I trust my boyfriend, honest I do. He may occasionally run late/forget where we're meeting/ smell suspiciously fragrant, but hey, he just likes to borrow my products right? But imagine if all this occurred and we didn't have a mutual bond of trust and respect. I might be tempted to use the Zoombak to secretly keep tags on his whereabouts and check up on him... a LOT.

Say hello to the Zoombak, the credit card sized personal GPS, which, as it says in the marketing, 'keeps track 'real-time and on-demand' of what matters to you most.'

TomTom have been busy this year. They've already given us updated versions of their IQ route system (an intelligent service that uses recorded data to help you avoid traffic hot spots) and you've even had the option of Wogan delicately telling you to 'turn right here'. They previously filled us in with details of their new sat navs at IFA, but as they're going to be available in the next couple of weeks we thought we'd give you a refresher course in them.

-The LIVE functionality (the important part)

The devices are equipped with a Vodafone sim, and if you're hooked up to the Live service (free for 3 months, £7.99 pcm after) you can access all the below features- HD Definition, Fuel Price Search,Weather, Google Search and Buddies.

The modern plight of blindly following your sat nav only to find yourself stuck down a country path half the width of your car could be solved, if TomTom and Navteq have anything to do with it. They're developing the Advanced Driver Assistance Programme, which as well as route planning, will offer information such as any obstacles on the road, the gradient and advise on when to change gear to maximise fuel efficiency.

The standalone system is expected to hit the shelves in the next three years, but Audi and BMW are already rumoured to have plans to install it in all their future models. I'm pretty sure that makes it no more than four years til we can just programme in our destination and sit back whilst the car drives itself, KITT-style. And then I'll never need to take a driving test.

[via The Telegraph]

Like that? More car gadgets here

Now this is an electric car I can work with. It looks like a proper car, not one you'd be ashamed to be seen in, like one of those geriatric mobiles we've been seeing driving past or sitting stationary while charging up at power stations. This car is actually cool. The Mini's come a long way from being a 60s icon to the super BMW Mini it is today. And now it can add an all electric version to its list of achievements too.

The Mini E is a zero emission, two seater version of the famous 3 door hatchback, swapping a gas guzzling internal combustion engine for a lithium-ion battery powered motor.

Sat Navs don't really generate the most enthusiasm and excitement, but it's not their fault, they do try. That may all be about to change with Navman's rather stylish S100 - the latest addition to the S-series. First of all, let's talk style. The S100 is rather nice on the eye with its slim (the thinnest in the market apparently) brushed aluminium shell with as much robustness as you'd need (we should know we watched one drop on a wooden floor) for something you're going to be using on a regular basis whether you're driving or walking to your destination. Its flat screen gives it a bit of a TV feel and at 4.3-inches it's a decent size to navigate on.