The Filter

Some important advancements to the our Seecode Vossor and Seecode Wheel Bluetooth devices. You can now pair 3 phones at once with them and there is even longer talk time and standby time. You can also stream music through them now.

           It's official, the Seecode Vossor is going to be the best Christmas gift in Ireland this year. People are shopping early and the Seecode Vossor hands free car kit is the most popular Christmas present so far, they're already flying off the shelves. The Irish Times blog has a good piece on it and Ciara has clearly tested it well - her word of warning demonstrates that! I've been driving with the Seecode Vossor for several months now and it is by far and away the best gadget i've ever put into the car. And the Seecode Vossor car phone kit means I wont be getting any penalty points for using my mobile phone in the car.

In terms of handfree bluetooth carkits the Seecode Vossor is certainly one of the best we have come across in MicksGarage. We're giving away a free Seecode charger with each one so you can charge them up at home. The Vossor is now at version 3 ( Vossor V3 ), so also comes with multi-pairing. It doesn't require any installation or installers so it is pretty much plug and play. It is suitable for all phones with bluetooth, Nokia, iphone etc.

We've just expanded our car phone accessories range with a new sun visor bluetooth device, a new ladies bluetooth headset, a standard bluetooth headset, and a mobile phone holder. We've now got some great bluetooth car products on the website and we'll be expanding on these in the coming months. We now have one of the cheapest bluetooth headsets on the market, along with a top quality multi-point in-car device and our quality Seecode products.

The Seecode Vossor featured in the Irish Times Motoring section today. This item has been flying out the door since we started selling it. It's a great product, easy to use, no installation required and top quality audio reception.

Here's an interesting concept that a colleague alerted me to. It's a speed bump that stays flat if the motorist hits it at speeds of under 30km/hr.

Designers Jae-yun Kim & Jong-Su Lee have designed a speed bump that’s based on retractors that open if the impact with them is small enough. These speed bumps can be configured so that if a car is going below 30km/h, the speed bump flattens; over 30km/h, the force causes the retractor to stay closed, keeping the speed bump active. Great idea I reckon! Why punish people when driving at about 15km/h.

We're delighted to launch the Seecode Vossor Phonebook  (or as we call it 'the Seecode Mirror Phonebook') onto the website today, a truly brilliant product! I first tested it a few months back and I'm absolutely delighted with it. I've only had to charge it once since I got it (although I'm not a big phone user), and it works brilliantly - easy to use, great audio reception etc. The Seecode Wheel has been a great addition for us and we expect the Seecode Mirror to do every bit as well.

The Irish Times Motoring  profiles our Seecode Wheel  bluetooth steering wheel device today. They have a great Gadget section each week, where they profile gadgets, some car related and some not.

I also like the sound of this gadget which they also profile today -

IOGEAR USB to VGA adaptor kit - tenzy.co.uk

The Wireless USB to VGA Kit is a simple-to-install solution to enable users to wirelessly add a high resolution VGA display to a PC, ideal for displaying content on a remote monitor or screen. Wireless up to 30 feet, the USB to VGA Kit is ideal for taking advantage of increased online programme availability through tools such as the RTÉ Player. It is also perfect for presentations and demonstrations, saving the hassle of gathering around a small computer screen.

The kit also has the function of running a PC desktop with live TV, useful for browsing the internet alongside live television to check programme listings and relevant websites.

We've launched a new product on the website, it's the Seecode Wheel, which is a very good bluetooth hands-free car kit which allows you to make and receive calls without taking your hands from the steering wheel. It attaches safely and discreetly onto your steering wheel and you can work away making calls (legally and safely). It stores up to 600 numbers from your mobile phone's phonebook, and it has caller ID.

It's definitely one of the most innovative products to come out of the the mobile phone car kit sector in a long time. It's getting some seriously good feedback in the carkit market.

Seecode Wheel Bluetooth Car-kit

 here's the science bit...

Have you ever thought that you could design a sustainable motoring vehicle better than the mainstream manufacturers? Well the Dutch are giving you the chance to do so.

C,mm,n (pronounced "common"), an initiative from Stichting Natuur en Milieu (Dutch Society for Nature and Environment) along with the technical universities of Delft, Twente and Eindhoven, provides the open-source blueprint for a sustainable vehicle and invites people to submit their suggestions. The car's blueprints are publicly available under an open source license, so its design can be used and modified by others as long as any derived works are shared with the public as well. More than 800 people are currently involved in c,mm,n.

Besides offering ecological advantages through the application of recyclable thermoplastic surfaces and very good aerodynamic performance the evolving car also offers the means to cooperate on the road. The aerodynamics of the car have been optimized for ”platooning”, drive closely behind each other under control of the car's safety systems. Users in the platoon benefit from sharing air resistance by decreasing fuel consumption while doing other things in your car while it drives itself. The interior of the car is designed to improve communication between people. The system responds to people's orientation, posture and other non-verbal movements by providing information and control suitable to people's mindset. With that it helps people to gain insight in their relation with the community at that time, motivating them to collaborate. The c,mm,n car runs on a fuel cell powered with renewable hydrogen. The energy from the fuel cell is used to power the electric in-wheel motors. These engines can also be used for regenerative braking. The energy that is regained is stored in supercaps to be used again when the car accelerates. An alternative drive train is a mild-hybrid combustion engine on hydrogen that is able to run on two cylinders.

So get contributing! For those of you that might fancy a trip abroad, they even run a series of gatherings or 'garages' where everybody meets to discuss the project. Click here to find out more: