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]

Following up on a prior threat, Washington has put its legislative rubber to the road to become the first state to turn texting drivers into criminals. While the safety of handsfree voice calling continues to be a source of controversy, texting behind the wheel is a pretty boneheaded move any way you slice it -- seeing how it robs you of your eyes, your hands, and your attention -- so we applaud Washington's stance here. For the time being, though, it's more of a symbolic move since the state's politicians gave the law virtually no bite to back up its bark; besides the relatively light $101 fine, DWT is a secondary offense, meaning that a driver already needs to be nailed for something else (say, speeding) to get thrown the book. Maybe a little time in the pokey would get violators on the straight and narrow?

Although Nissan's anti-drunk driving technology should keep the worst of the unaware from actually cruising down the freeway, certain distractions that we just wouldn't do without could indeed lead to a pedestrian-related crash. Thankfully for us, Nissan is on the lookout, as its Intelligent Transportation System is now getting an additional feature before it's even released. Aside from helping you avoid congestion and emit less fumes, the ITS will now be able to communicate with handsets via 3G networks and GPS in order to alert drivers of upcoming individuals. Of course, we have to assume that only humans within a reasonable line of danger will appear on screen, but Nissan claims that this technology will decrease the amount of car vs. pedestrian mishaps and "reduce road accidents particularly in a blind-spot situation." The automaker is currently collaborating with NTT DoCoMo and researching "what types of pedestrian data are most relevant to help prevent accidents," but unfortunately, the launch date for all of this in-car madness is still a good ways out.

You should already know that the Grand Canyon State isn't exactly kosher with rampant tailgating, so actually ramming someone's vehicle due to a personal conflict you have with them isn't likely to get you a whole lot of mercy. Subsequently, a 58-year old male is facing jail time due to his inability to turn the other cheek when he drove up on another motorist who was casually yapping on their cellphone. Rather than simply signing to hang up or doing nothing at all, Mr. Asselin felt it was in both of their best interests if they had a verbal exchange whilst cruising down the avenue, and to make matters worse, the curiously enraged driver reportedly ran the talker into oncoming traffic where the cellphone-using victim narrowly escaped death. Notably, several witnessed deemed the whole event akin to something we'd see "in a movie," but unless you've got Transporter-like skills, we wouldn't recommend trying to reenact this in your home state, no matter your feelings on driving while connected.

[Via Fark]

For those of you with Bluetooth head units that play nice with your mobile, viewing your contacts, incoming calls, signal strength, and other pertinent data right on the in-car display might be a luxury you take for granted, but for those without such niceties, Nokia is hoping its CK-15W will fit the bill. The dash-mountable 2.2-inch touchscreen display resembles a small navigation system in form, but its functionality is limited to bringing your mobile's display from the pits of your lap (or floorboard) to a safer, more convenient location. Aside from allowing users to scroll through contacts and make / receive calls, it also boasts customizable backgrounds and themes, and while the press release insinuates it'll only operate with BT-enabled Nokia handsets, we'd wager other brands might hook up too. Still, Nokia apparently feels this somewhat stifled functionality is worth a premium, as it'll demand €180 ($236) when it lands later this quarter.

[Via Slashgear]

We're not exactly sure what's up with Asia's infatuation with toy cars and shoving completely irrelevant (but entirely useful) features inside of them, but now Marsilli is offering up its own admittedly peculiar flash drive in the shape of a vehicle. Presumably in direct competition with Gold Kiwi's Bluetooth GPS receiver ride, this Mobile Remote Control Car is a diminutive four-wheeled ride with impressive aerodynamics, a 512MB flash drive built-in, USB connector in place of a central-mounted exhaust, and it even allows users to drive it around a cardboard course with "any cellphone." Of course, we're not entirely sure if all that controlling action is done over Bluetooth or some other propriety channel, but we have strong suspicions "every mobile" might not be equipped to handle this road burner. Nevertheless, you can probably pick one of these up in the near future at your favorite street corner vendor in Asia, but for now, click on through for a more closeups.

If you're interested in one of the bazillion new handsets getting some showtime here in Vegas, you just might be scouting out a new headset as well. foneGEAR is busting on the scene by releasing a Mini Blu II headset and MK20 in-car handsfree kit, both of which are Bluetooth enabled. The Mini Blu II weighs just nine grams, supports Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, and offers up a reported four hours of talk time and 75 hours while in standby. For talking it up in your whip, the MK20 features a car charger / AC adaptor, built-in speaker and microphone, LCD display, phone book, "hotline" button to call your boss, SO, or any other programmed number, and offers eight hours of talk time and 200 hours in standby. Although pricing wasn't available for either, both Bluetooth gizmos will hit stores in the first quarter of this year.

[Via Slashphone]

We've already seen an influx of hybrid vehicles take their places in the mammoth fleet of New York City taxis, and now that the Taxi 2.0 will reportedly sport GPS tracking an built-in televisions, what else is really left to implement? Stockholm-based Ericsson has apparently seized the opportunity in using the random, perpetual motion of NYC's yellow mainstays to better itself (read: make some coin), and has recently received permission from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to install small devices "about the size of a computer modem" into cabs in order to "feed information about signal strength and clarity to engineers." The research, which has already been completed in other areas of the world, is being conducted in the Big Apple on behalf of a yet-to-be-named carrier, and it purportedly hopes to more accurately map out dead zones in mobile phone networks. Currently, "at least one fleet" has signed up to participate, and others could join in considering the royalties that will be paid out for tagging along on those zany routes through the city. Of course, this whole system should be relatively invisible to cab riders, but a continual voice recording of furious (and disconnected) passengers could probably work equally well in pinpointing those dead spots.

[Via Textually]