Imagine a car audio system that reads the morning news to you while you drive off for office. It’s not just your ordinary radio news show but updated and personalized news according to your preference or needs, delivered by an automated voice output. This may still sound like its straight out of the Jetsons, but this technology is actually being currently developed by German automaker Audi, a leading innovator in the field of infotainment in automobiles.

Audi has led the industry when it comes to infotainment technologies. In 2004, it introduced Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), a digital radio system offering a wide selection of stations with the audio quality of a music CD. The system is currently available as an option on the Audi A6/S6, A8/S8 and the Audi Q7. DAB is the basis of the personalized newsreader that Audi’s researchers are developing. In this system, the car owner can choose which content he would like to receive, such as world news, weather updates, sports news, stock updates and many more.

The system can be personally configured to avoid redundancy as well as to allow the driver to determine how long he wishes to be informed about certain news. This system is a response to the increasing demand for the latest information that is adapted to their personal preferences.

In a speech made last Saturday, President George W. Bush named hydrogen as the fuel of the future. “I believe that today’s children will one day take their driver’s test in a hydrogen-powered, pollution-free car. It’s a big goal, but it’s an attainable goal,” the President added. So, is Mr. Bush just having a fancy dream or are his goals really achievable?

Using hydrogen to fuel vehicles and other machines is not a new concept, or at least the idea is not something that has not been discussed in the past. But as fuel prices continue to rise and as the nation search for alternative fuel sources, interest in the subject matter has again been revived. And just as with the other alternatives being considered as solutions to the nation’s ever increasing fuel demands, the idea was met with agreements and oppositions.

According to the major proponents of hydrogen technology, using hydrogen as fuel offers a lot of advantages. For one, hydrogen is widely available in the environment and making use of it as fuel can eliminate our dependence on oil producing countries. Hydrogen is also fairly simple to generate and the technology required for such production is already existent. Hydrogen is safe for the environment too because it eliminates the need for fossil fuel and adds no greenhouse gases to the air.

But despite all of these benefits, many critics would still find hydrogen technology as an impractical solution to our nation’s current problems. Among other things, critics are concerned about the commercial viability of hydrogen and the technology. “The technology works, but it’s far too expensive,” says MacMurray Whale, an analyst at Sprott Securities. “And even if they manage to make a cost-effective fuel cell, the biggest problem is finding a way to make hydrogen available and cheap. It’s all about product and not about technology,” Whale added.

So is President Bush dreaming deep when he called hydrogen the fuel of the future? Let’s just make our major automakers and other hydrogen fuel-cell technology proponents decide. So far, General Motors have promised to reveal a fuel-cell vehicle by the end of the decade. Major hydrogen fuel-cell manufacturer Ballard Power Systems Inc. also promised to demonstrate a commercially viable hydrogen fuel cell by 2010. Among other hydrogen technology proponents, the future of hydrogen fuel cell technology may depend on these companies.

First, we were introduced to a bunch of castaways thrown off into a remote island. Then, we’ve watched troops of people auditioning on specific venues hoping to be America’s next singing sensation (or America’s next William Hung). After that, a lot of other “reality” shows began to sprout, with themes ranging from modeling to acting and to a lot of other things. So what can we expect next in the Reality TV scene? Ford suggests… concept vehicle designing?

A major sponsor of Fox’s “American Idol” reality show for many years, Ford has finally decided to stage a reality show of its own. And what would the theme of the program be? Concept vehicle design! In the planned reality show, contestants would work together with Ford designers to create the next Ford concept car. Details about judging, prizes and other aspects of the show, however, are still vague and yet to be announced.

So, will the Ford reality show be able to capture the interest of TV audiences? Well, we’ll see as soon as the show starts airing. Currently, all that Ford has released is a promotional video about the show and Ford officials are yet on the stage of shopping around for a major TV network who would host it.

CNN/Money and Edmunds.com recently teamed up to pick the best cars that are not only smart buys but are easy on fuel consumption as well. The list is composed of the best vehicles in five categories with very good fuel mileage and outstanding automotive values. It is interesting to note that although hybrid vehicles were mentioned in some categories, none of the top choices for the categories were hybrids. This is due to the added cost of hybrids, from a purely economic standpoint hybrids are not good value. In three out of five categories, Toyota went all the way to the top. This is another underscore to the fact that Toyota is a renowned builder of fuel-efficient cars with excellent overall quality:

Here are the top cars in the five categories:

Luxury Vehicle: Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI, Mileage: 27 city/37 highway

Family Sedan: Toyota Camry, Mileage: 24 city/34 highway

Sports Car: Chevrolet Corvette, Mileage: 18 city/28 highway

Crossover/Wagon: Toyota Rav4, Mileage: 24 city/30 highway

Compact Car: Toyota Corolla, Mileage: 32 city/41 highway

Longing to drive your Maserati the way it should really be driven? Well, stop your longing and fulfill your desires by enrolling at the Master Maserati Driving School. Developed and honed in Italy over the last five years, the course offers aspiring and existing Maserati owners the chance to drive Maserati cars in their full potential. But North American Maserati owners won’t have to fly all the way to Italy just to learn how to drive. Instead, it would be Maserati who would bring the school here in North America.

Starting this May, the Master Maserati Driving School would start offering one-day and two-day driving courses at the Road Atlanta race track—a state-of-the-art race track in Braselton, Georgia made famous by the Petit Le Mans, the crown jewel of the American Le Mans Series. One-day courses are priced at $1,800 while two-day programs are priced at $3,400, with the airfare and transportation not included. In either course, participants would be able to drive the Maserati GranSport, the Maserati Coupe and, for specific exercises, the Maserati Quattroporte. All of these vehicles are equipped with a 400 hp, 4.2-liter V8 engine engineered by Ferrari.

Each session in the Master Maserati Driving School is limited to eighteen participants, with the eighteen further divided into smaller groups to ensure optimized learning. Among other things, the participants would learn a lot about the basics of performance driving through lessons and exercises like controlled braking, high-performance lane changing, slalom, timed autocross, and road course sessions.

So if you are a Maserati owner, or even just a “would be” Maserati owner, and you’ve got the money to enroll for a one-day or two-day driving session, why not join the Master Maserati Driving School next month? For more information about the program, visit the Master Maserati North America Driving School website at http://www1.maseratiamerica.com/DrivingSchool.aspx .

Every year, thousands of people are either killed or injured in alcohol-related road accidents. In 2004 alone, 16,694 people were killed due to drunk driving alone. Drunk-driving fatalities constitute almost 40 percent of all traffic fatalities recorded. Of course, there are laws that penalize drunk driving and measures such as field sobriety tests and chemical tests to determine if a driver is indeed intoxicated. However, fatal accidents can and will happen even before law enforcers can flag down potentially drunk drivers.

However, new technologies that will help prevent drunk driving are currently being developed and tested by a number of manufacturers. One of the most promising devices is an ignition interlock device which stops a car from starting if its driver has had too much alcohol. The device works by detecting alcohol on the driver’s skin surface which thus eliminates the need for blow-into-a-tube breathalyzers. These devices are currently generating considerable interest and catching momentum.

In fact, New York legislators are mulling over whether to oblige cars and trucks to use these devices as soon as 2009. Meanwhile, Volvo and Saab are already using such devices in their cars, according to a report from USA Today. Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO, Chuck Hurley, explains that “…it is literally possible that the epidemic of drunk driving could be solved where cars simply could not be operated by drunk drivers”.

A new Jeep Grand Cherokee running on Flex-fuel will make its debut in 2007. This was announced by DaimlerChrysler chairman and CEO, Thomas LaSorda at the Renewable Fuels confab in Washington. This will be the first vehicle under the Jeep brand to run on ethanol or E85 fuel. The new Flex-fuel Jeep Grand Cherokee will follow at the heels of other E85 SUV’s from Ford and GMC.

E85 is a fuel blend that is only about 15% gasoline and 85% ethyl alcohol made from corn and other crops. U.S. President George W. Bush has ardently encouraged the use and development of E85 and other alternative fuels to minimize dependence on foreign oil imports. However, there are still impediments to the development of Flex-fuel vehicles like the new 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee. One of these problems is the limited number of gas stations that offer E85 fuel.

It’s a car… It’s a motorcycle… No, it’s the CLEVER!!! OK, it really doesn’t sound as good as the all-too-familiar Superman line. But the CLEVER being the next superhero in a looming fuel crisis is not an impossibility. Well, that is if any major auto manufacturer would be interested in making a production version of the prototype car.

The CLEVER, or the Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport, is a concept vehicle unveiled last Tuesday at the University of Bath in western England. It is the product of a three-year, $3 million project funded by the European Union and carried out by a bunch of universities with the aid of various German, French and Austrian organizations, one of which is BMW. The four European universities involved in the project are the University of Bath, the Technische Universitaet Berlin, the Institut Francais Du Petrole, and the Institut Fuer Verkehrswesen Universitaet Fuer Bodenkultur.

The CLEVER is a 3-wheel, 2-seater concept car that has the compactness of a motorcycle but the safety and driving characteristics of a car. The vehicle is powered by a 218 cc engine that runs on compressed natural gas, the same gas used to run many household appliances. The said engine enables the CLEVER to accelerate from 0 to 40 mph in 7 seconds, with a maximum speed rated at 80 mph. The said engine also enables the vehicle to run at an equivalent of 108 mpg.

But how does the CLEVER differ from the microcars and other three-wheeled concept cars in the past that was met by failure? Aside from the impressive fuel economy it delivers, the CLEVER also boasts of driving characteristics (especially in terms of handling and cornering) that closely resembles that of cars, thanks to the electronically controlled hydraulic system it is equipped with. With its reinforced frame, safety airbags and other safety features, the vehicle also proves itself safer than the three-wheeled concept vehicles developed before it.

Practically unchanged from the concept introduced at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, the new Jeep Patriot made its global debut as a production vehicle, the newest entry-level SUV in Jeep’s lineup, at the 2006 New York International Automobile Show. The new Patriot arrives just three months after the debut at the 2006 NAIAS of another entry-level SUV from Jeep, the Compass. Both the Compass and the Patriot share a platform with the Dodge Caliber.

While the Compass looks more like a conventional SUV with a Jeep grille, the Patriot is more akin to the traditional Jeep design with elements of the original Jeep Cherokee evident. These include the square-ish lines, short overhangs and the trademark seven-slot Jeep grille. Also, the Patriot has already earned is ‘Trail Rated’ badge, unlike the Compass, because of its higher ground clearance and 4WD system.

The new Patriot will come with three available configurations: the standard front-wheel drive and two four-wheel drive systems (Freedom Drive I and Freedom Drive II). These drive systems make the Patriot a true off-road vehicle with its features such as added traction, continuously variable transmission with a low range capability, higher ground clearance, 17-inch all terrain tires and aluminum wheels, skid plates, tow hooks, fog lights, body sealing, etc.

Freedom II makes the Patriot at par with Jeep’s off-road capability prerequisites for water fording, traction, articulation, ground clearance and maneuverability. The Jeep Patriot will be powered by a 2.4 liter World Engine with variable valve timing and with an output of 172hp, and 165 lb.-ft. of torque. The Patriot will be arriving at dealerships later this year with an entry-level sticker price at under $16,000.

In a speech to be made before the Renewable Fuels Association today, Chrysler President and CEO Thomas LaSorda is expected to detail the company’s plan of broadening their development and production of E85 flexible-fuel vehicles and other alternative fuel-powered vehicles. The plan is in line with the growing consensus among politicians and automakers that ethanol can be the solution to the fuel crisis being faced by the nation.

DaimlerChrysler is the latest automaker to join the E85 bandwagon after Toyota announced its plan of producing E85-powered vehicles by 2008. Unlike Toyota, however, DaimlerChrysler has already been producing flex-fuel vehicles. In fact, the company has already produced some 1.5 million flexible-fuel vehicles, although majority of these vehicles are sold to fleet customers. In the announcement to be made today, LaSorda is expected to detail their plans of producing E85-fueled vehicles to be sold to direct consumers.

Among Chrysler’s plans that will be announced today is the addition of three new E85 flexible fuel vehicles in September. These vehicles are flex-fuel versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander and the Dodge Dakota pickup. Chrysler also expects to sell 250,000 E85-fueled vehicles in 2007 and 500,000 units in 2008.

But despite DaimlerChrysler’s and other automakers’ commitment to the development of ethanol-fueled vehicles, there is still a problem that may hinder the nation’s success with ethanol. Many automakers point to ethanol availability as the problem. Foreseen ethanol production this year amounts to less than 1% of the nation’s annual gasoline consumption. Aside from that, only 681 fueling station offers ethanol. As LaSorda wisely said it in a statement addressed to the Detroit Economic Club, “Unfortunately, virtually all of those vehicles – some of you may even be driving them – are running on pure gasoline, due to lack of a fuel infrastructure.”