Wired News reports on BMW working on technology that will allow cars to park themselves in cramped quarters, such as your garage. Unfortunately, you have to setup the area you want it to park by placing a reflective lens against the wall at the front end of the parking space, so it won't turn the steering wheel or parallel park for you. Essentially, the YouTube video shows the car automatically pulling in its side mirrors and then pulling itself straight into the garage. Kinda lame if you ask me, considering there is automobile technology going back to at least 2003 demonstrating cars with computers that can automatically parallel park in public.
Looks like Pontiac is launching the 2007 Pontiac G5 on the Internet. I just saw a Google video ad on my blog stating that Pontiac is launching the G5 exclusively on the Internet. The images you see are snapshots I took of the Pontiac G5 video.
In the commerical they list off popular digital items, trying to market the Pontiac G5 as a "digital car". They list: digital watch, digital abacus, digital camera, digital phone, digital video, digital card, digital haircut (i.e. Photoshop), digital house, digital mouse, digital friends, digital planet, digital life (2nd Life), digital death (Pacman), digital mood, digital pet, and finally "digital car" - the G5. The ad explains the G5 has an mp3 jack for connecting your MP3 player, digital satellite radio, and even diagnostic emails. Not sure what the heck diagnostic emails are. Does that mean Pontiac will email you when it detects your engine is about to fail, or are they going to spam you with oil change reminders every 3,000 miles?
Apparently the Pontiac G5 is going to be nationally launched only on the Internet. I guess no one would pay attention if they launched this at the North America International Auto Show or the New York International Auto Show, when you have to compete with the likes of Porsche and Ferrari or even Vipers and Vettes. It's an interesting idea to launch on the Internet. Obviously this vehicle is targetted at tech-savvy youth who are looking for gadget-enabled digital cars to show off to their friends for the "coolness" factor. Obviously, with a base price of $14995, they are making it affordable for young adults as well.
I'll stick with my Viper and just add-on cool accessories and gadgets, thank you very much. Speaking of which, I still have a Kenwood 7" DVD player in the box I've been meaning to install.
