Silverlit revs up the concept of remote control vehicles with the introduction of the Mercedes SLS, an interactive Bluetooth-controlled car that can blast streaming iTunes music in between racing around your living room floor. Designed to work with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, the car revs its engine when you press the virtual gas pedal.
Steering is easy via the free app: Tilt your device forward to speed ahead, tilt it left to turn left and lean it back to reverse. Just don't be surprised if your heavy foot (or hand) leads to a few crashes. No worries, however. You can adjust the settings to slow (or speed) the action.
For those who care about such details, the virtual dashboard mimics the look of a Mercedes dashboard with familiar controls that let you turn on the headlights, flash the hazard lights or toot the horn. While you're driving the vehicle, you can pick tunes to play through your iDevice and even program the car to react to different tunes. You also can stop the car, open its butterfly-like doors and listen to music streaming through the car's speakers. While the price — $130 — may seem steep for a high-tech toy, it is at least considerably less than the cost of the real thing.
Device blocks texting in car
Want to make sure the family's newest driver doesn't text and drive? TextBuster can be set up to prevent texting, e-mailing and surfing the web while the car is in motion. Once the device is installed in the car and the password-protected app is installed on the targeted phone, it automatically disables most data functions, allowing users to only make and receive calls and request GPS mapping. The device also can be set to alert parents when a teen driver breaks a speed limit or drives past a set time or distance. Priced at $180, the device can be set to work with multiple phones.
Screen provides glassy cover
You want to protect your phone's screen but don't like the feel of filmy covers. Why not protect your glass screen with more glass? The trick, of course, is to make sure the glass cover is super tough. Take BodyGuardz' ScreenGuardz Pure protective cover as an example: Made to feel like glass but be harder than steel, the glass cover has a special coating to reduce annoying smudges and fingerprints. Designed to work with the iPhone 4/4S or the iPhone 5, the slim cover fits neatly on top of the device's screen. It costs about $40.
Gadget works wireless magic
It's tempting to assume that every place you go, be it a winter lodge or a beach hideaway, provides wireless Internet. But as you probably have discovered — often too late — that's not always the case. One handy solution to pack along for such "emergencies" is a travel router. One pocket-sized model, the ZyXEL MWR102, lets you turn a wired Internet connection into a wireless one. Designed to function as a mini router and a wireless access point, it's especially handy for accessing the Internet with tablets, game consoles and other devices that no longer accept a wired connection. Powered by a USB connection or an electrical outlet, the portable router can be purchased for less than $30.
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