Filed under: Gadgets , Tech , Audi Audi’s MMI in-car command system is one of the most intuitive offered by an OEM, but that isn’t stopping Audi from piling on the improvements. The screen is now a seven-inch, 800×400 TFT display, being fed info from a high-capacity hard disk, a DVD drive, and an NVIDIA graphics chip. It also gets an eight-way joystick on the central knob, which means you can make mouse-like movements on the screen for point-and-click ease. In addition to all that, there are simpler vocal inputs, 3-D maps, a 10,000-number phone book, and two processors so that everything can run at the same time. It will arrive in the U.S. with the Q5 later this year, but in the mean time, you can get all the details in the lengthy press release after the jump. Continue reading Audi details new MMI Audi details new MMI originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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Audi details new MMI

Filed under: Gadgets , Government/Legal , Tech Click above for a walk-through of how the SQUID works The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate has been working with a research firm in Arizona that has come up with the Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID). The SQUID is designed to safely, non-lethally stop drivers trying to elude the police. Here’s how it works. The SQUID disc is placed in the middle of the road, and a remote operator triggers a two-stage explosion when the getaway car gets close to it. The first explosion sends barbed straps flying out away from the disc, which get hooked on the wheels and undercarriage when the car drives over them. The second explosion occurs when the SQUID detects engine heat directly overhead and sends a burst of “sticky tendrils” that cling the straps to the axles and driveshaft. Within 500 feet, the axles can’t turn any more and the car skids to a halt. The key now is to make it lighter, stronger and cheaper. Last year the SQUID stopped a Dodge Ram pickup traveling at 35 mph, but authorities want to be sure it will stop an F-150 at 120 mph before they’ll seriously consider using it. We aren’t sure that an F-150 doing a four-wheel skid at 120 mph is the safest way to bring someone in, but it is probably better than bullets. The scientists are working on that this year, and if they get it done it could give the word “dragnet” a whole new meaning. Check out a walk-through of how the SQUID works by clicking through the gallery below. Gallery: Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device (SQUID) [Source: DHS via Physorg ] New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Read ?|? Permalink ?|? Email this ?|? Comments

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New police pursuit-ending device inspired by Spiderman, squid