Okay, just reading the name of this car should make everyone wonder just how much it is going to cost, and don’t worry, we’ll get to that. First let’s introduce the car. The Abarth 500C is typically no more than about $25,000 and features lots of little goodies, like that four cylinder inline engine that delivers a weak 140hp. Now add a tuning package from Fenice-Milano that consists of a little bling bling, and now this expensive ride starts to sparkle.
Just how expensive is this little car? Well, take the base Abarth 500C, add 24k gold inserts and an Apple iPad Supreme Edition made out of 24k gold and diamonds, and now you got yourself a $660,000 vehicle. That’s right, that is what a Chinese customer ordered and paid for this bedazzled 500. Ridiculous? Absolutely. Intriguing? Hell yeah!
Hit the jump to read more about the Fenice-Milano La Dolce Vita Gold and Diamonds 500C.
Brabus has gone to the extremes. First they tuned Mercedes’ most powerful sports car: the SLS AMG, and now they have turned to one of the most luxurious models in the line-up: the SL600. The new Brabus "iBusiness" SV12 R model is not only about high performance, but also about innovative multimedia technology.
We won’t talk too much about the engine, as it is one that you should be familiar with by now: an SV12 R Biturbo 750 12-cylinder engine with an output of 750 hp. This provides the luxury sedan with a top speed of 211 mph.
What we will focus on is the car’s technology. Apple seems to have given away the cow as this luxury sedan is completely outfitted with Apple components. The brains of the operation is a 15.2-inch TFT display with 16:9 aspect ratio and internet connection via UMTS and HSDPA. To that, an ultra-small Mac minicomputer is added under the rear shelf. This minicomputer is hidden by an electronic door that looks like the computer itself. Controlling these computers is made easy with the use of two iPads located in the front passenger seat as well as in the backseat. These iPads not only control the computers, put can also navigate through the entire multimedia center including the radio, navigation system, and telephone. And, of course, there is Alcantara and leather all over the interior.
Check out all of the exact specifications in the press release after the jump.
Today, Tesla announced that it was going to hire former Apple and Gap employee George Blankenship, in the hopes that his expertise would change the car buying experience.
Blankenship has a total of thirty years of experience in retail and real estate and is known for being the creator of Apple’s brand building retail strategy. He is often credited with creating one of the best retail strategies in history during his time with Apple.
He will work closely with Elon Musk, Tesla’s founder and CEO, in the hopes of creating the ultimate buyer experience. They hope to one day make their dealerships more stylish than anything we have ever seen.
“I’m excited to create a retail experience that is as thrilling as my first drive of the Tesla Roadster,” said Blankenship.
Part of the new strategy is to build new stores in Tokyo, Japan, Toronto, Canada, and Washington DC. Get ready for the next generation of the car showroom.
iPhone users beware! Apparently, Apple did not fix all of the bugs in the iOS4 update before releasing the jacked up modification to iPhone users. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the iOS4 is causing users to lose their iPhone-To-Car stereo connection causing one user to listen to "only 3 songs all day because they keep starting over when i (sic) get calls!!!!"
Complaints are simply flooding Apple support forums with iPhone users pleading and demanding for this problem to be fixed as soon as possible.
"Upgraded to iOS4 a few hours ago. Went to my car and plugged it into the USB port of my pioneer stereo and it says ’Not compatible.’ My stereo has always worked with my iphone. PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP, APPLE."
"Hi Had the same problem this morning on my way to work. I have a JVC KD-R601 and as most of you are saying it has worked flawlessly with OS3. Tried a hard reset and nothing is curing it. Will there be a further OS update to fix this?"
Apparently, the update isn’t the only thing that has caused a fumble. The new iPhone 4 is said to lose signal when held at certain angles or by its sides and the screen is susceptible to a yellow discoloration.
Did Apple jump the gun in releasing the iPhone4 and the iOS4 update? Should they have delayed sales until all of the bugs were worked out? We know how sensitive iPhone users can be when it comes to their phones (we have a slight obsession with our own iPhones) so we would have to agree that this problem is one that should be dealt with immediately. Drop a comment to let us know what you think.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally revealed the new iPhone 4 today and while the rest of the world is already fawning over the new Apple gizmo, we in the auto industry had our curiousities picqued when in the middle of his presentation, Jobs also revealed a new ad for the 2011 Nissan Leaf.
Regrettably, the ad can only be viewed using the new iPhone 4, which, of course, we still don’t have. In the event that you’re picking one up in the near future - and by near future, we mean, like, next week - it might be in your best interest to watch the ad and enter the contest to win a 2011 Nissan Leaf. Seeing as the field would probably be thin at best, the chances of you going home with Nissan’s electric car increases. And oh, you’re going to be going up against Jobs himself, who saw fit to enter the contest. As if he needs to win one.
Ever since Apple released the iPad, it was pretty much common knowledge that it would only be a matter of time before some genius car tuner would begin installing the iPad on some pimped-out ride. That car tuner, it turns out, is Scosche, which recently released something they’re calling, the "iKit", which, of course, is nothing more than an iPad installed on a car.
In this video, Scosche shows us exactly how they were able to install an iPad into the dash of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. We’re not quite certain how smart it is to be using an iPad when you’re behind the wheel of a 305-horsepower sports car, but that’s not really the foremost concern of the boys from Scosche, whose only objective, we believe, is to get people so interested in having an iPad installed in their cars that they’re going to call these guys to do it for them.
Either way, the whole idea of having an iPad inside a car bothers us for the same safety reasons concerning Oprah and her "No Phone Zone" campaign. Now that America is trying its hardest to send the message regarding the dangers of texting while driving, here comes the genius idea of installing an iPad inside a car, which if you ask us, could poise a bigger problem for inattentive drivers out there on the road. Putting the safety issue aside, temporarily, Scosche does provide a clean install for the iPad with an attractive car mount eliminating the need for the driver’s radio. If only drivers would be concerned enough for their safety as well as the safety of others to only use this contraption while the vehicle is not in motion. Something tells us that is not going to happen so we will have to stick to our guns in saying that installing an iPad in a car is just plain dumb.
For its part, Ford tried to make good use of their Sync technology to determine whether the iPad would work on a Sync-enabled Ford vehicle. It turns out that, technically speaking, you can use an iPad with Sync technology, but it comes with a number of pretty glaring restrictions. The most definitive setback Ford discovered is that you can’t connect the iPad to Sync by using a USB. This will pretty much render the iPad useless, unless of course, you’re car is hooked up to an on-board WiFi hotspot.
Despite this supposed setback, we’re confident that Ford and other car brands can find a way to get the iPad working on their vehicles the same way Soundman was able to accomplish with his Toyota Corolla.
Check out the video and watch how the boys from the Blue Oval tried - with minimal success - to get the iPad Sync’d in to their vehicles.
Yes, perception isn’t always reality. And when nobody’s the wiser, you can get away with just about anything. Ignorance is bliss, so they say.
Clichés aside, a lot of us don’t have the wherewithal – or deep pockets – to buy our own supercar. But even if the best we can afford are the Corollas and Civics of the world, it doesn’t mean that these cars can’t sound like V8 monsters.
Thanks to a dandy new iPod app called Instant Supercar, which you can purchase for a measly $2.99, your nice little joyride of a vehicle can sound like a Nissan GT-R or even a Bugatti Veyron without even having to spend more than the price of a Burger King Whopper. The Instant Supercar uses an accelerometer that channels in the sound of those high-priced powerhouses, making them sound exactly like them.
At the very least, it should be good to fool a couple of people who don’t know any better. But even if you do get caught with your pants down, you won’t need to sweat the three bucks you spent to make your ride sound a lot more powerful than it should be.
As is the case with just about everything Apple makes these days, people are going to line up and scoop them up as soon as it hits stores. That’s the massive leverage that comes with being a market leader and a symbol of status all over the world.
So if you’re a company that’s hoping to capitalize on the popularity of Apple, it would be a pretty easy decision to jump on the ever-growing iPad table that’s scheduled to drop in stores in the near future.
One car brand that has taken the lead in using the iPad table as its own vehicular marketing tool is Infiniti. The Nissan-owned car brand is working on releasing a special version of its ‘adeyaka’ customer magazine that will be specifically produced for the iPad.
Don’t ask us what ‘adeyaka’ means because we don’t have the foggiest idea. In any case, Lutz Suendermann, Infiniti’s creative director and the tasked to head the project, said that “the iPad version of adeyaka will leverage many iPad functionalities to offer a completely unique reading experience, while maintaining the ’look and feel’ that already made adeyaka one of the most highly-acclaimed customer magazines."
According to Infiniti, the iPad version of the ‘adeyaka’ will largely complement the magazines print and web editions of the magazine. Be sure to drop by the Apple iTunes Store beginning in May of 2010 to download the first of what Infiniti hopes to be many issues of their new iPad-exclusive ‘adeyaka’ magazine.
If you are up to date on the latest on goings in wireless technology, then you should be familiar with Steve Job’s latest offering, the iPad. Like a plus sized iPhone the new 21st century tablet will offer the world a simple, sleek and lightweight PDA that is capable of doing everything from surfing the web to playing videogames and even reading virtual magazines in a way that the much more compact iPhone never could, even if it is 3Gs equipped. This is all well and good for the techies out there, but what does this mean for us automotive enthusiasts.
Measuring in at just over half an inch thick and tipping the scales at just over a 1.5 pounds, the iPad will bring a whole new level of wireless connectivity to in car passengers. And while the iPhone has apps that can measure your car’s 0 to 60 MPH time or check error codes, an iPad could be used to tune it on the fly just like Paul Walker in the original Fast and Furious film. If you thought texting and driving was a problem, the iPad could stir up a whole other round of driver distractions, but because of the electronic tablet’s inherent popularity automakers will almost certainly be forced to offer docking stations as well as iPod cables in their future models, but until then the sky is the limit as far as what the new portable computers will be doing on the regular highway as well as the information kind.
What would you do with an in car iPad?
Let us know what you think before checking out the video after the jump.
