Archive for the ‘GPS’ Category

The intersection between technology and daily life became slightly more seamless yesterday with the launch of Mercedes-Benz's new "mbrace" telematics system. It features a lot of the bells and whistles we've come to expect from such gadgetry, like roadside assistance, real-time traffic, and the ability to sync smartphones with in-dash entertainment systems. As you might expect from Mercedes, however, mbrace also includes luxury amenities like a concierge service that can make dinner reservations and book hotel rooms. The system comes standard on most new vehicles and as an option on others; subscriptions run $280 per year, with an...

Navigation systems using GPS seem to be behind a whole host of bad behavior. They lead BMW drivers to the brink of cliffs, and now they're causing truck drivers in New York State to drive into bridges.

The engineering magazine IEEE Spectrum reports that GPS devices are directing truckers, especially out-of-state drivers unfamiliar with the region, onto limited-access parkways that ban commercial traffic and have bridges too low for modern tractor-trailer rigs.

The New York State Department of Transportation cites more than 1,400 truck-into-bridge accidents over the past 15 years, with the vast majority of them on the Hutchinson River Parkway...

We have some good news. Even last year's start of the recession wasn't enough to reverse the downward trend in auto theft. The number of registered vehicles in the U.S. has doubled over the past 20 years, yet the overall vehicle theft rate has fallen—12.7 percent just from 2007 to 2008.

According to the FBI, there were 956,846 motor-vehicle thefts in 2008, down significantly from 1,095,769 thefts in 2007 and 1,237,851 thefts in 2004. Thefts reached a peak in 1991, when a total of about 1.66 million vehicles were stolen.

Overall, the rate of vehicle thefts per 100,000 people has gone from 659 in 1991 to 315 today, and adjusted for the...