When a New Jersey woman fitted a GPS tracking device to her husband’s car last year, she got a lot more than she bargained for. The device, a LandAirSea GPS Tracking Key, is half the size of a cigarette pack, waterproof and comes with a strong, magnetic mount. For as long as its batteries last, it will record driving speed on a second-by-second basis, as well as the location, time and date of every stop the vehicle makes. A set of batteries can easily last two weeks. Suspecting her husband of infidelity, she did not mention the device and by any definition was clearly engaging in an invasion of his privacy.

Days later, the husband was involved in what appeared to be a tragic accident. While taking family babysitter home, they stopped to look at some horses from a countryt road. George Ford, Jr. of Piscataway, NJ, told police that he accidentally ran over the 12-year old girl as he turned his truck around to leave. However, once investigators for the Chenango County Sheriff’s Department found the GPS device, a different story emerged. Continue reading…

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There’s a lot of faux-vintage car audio equipment on the market, but what’s cool about this Becker unit is that it boasts iPod compatibility, internet connectivity, turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and voice recognition capacity—all in a package that’ll blend seamlessly with the interior styling of your vintage gullwing 300SL. Becker is the erstwhile supplier of factory stereos for Mercedes (they mostly use Alpine now, Sean tells me) and was known for some pretty high-end stuff back in the day—this piece is actually modeled upon the pinstripe-design radios they started producing in the 60′s. At around 2300 bucks, it’s more than a little pricey, and so far it’s only available in Europe. A US version is being developed for later in the summer.

Source: Dvice via AutoMotto

What?! It’s the last day of the January? Where did the month go?? Oh yeah, I remember… CES 2008 and the relaunch of the new SoundDomain.com! We had quite a busy month and over the next few it’s going to get better and better. But to hold you over until then, you should check out the hot news over at SoundDomain. Here’s what you missed yesterday:

• America, F&#K Yeah! InPhase Audio had these patriotic sub boxes on display at CES. Not quite what I’d rock in my trunk, but I can appreciate the pride!
• The mad scientists over at JML Audio just wrapped up an install on a hopped-up IS300. This bad boy pumps out 540HP to the wheels and is loaded with an audiophile-quality install of the highest caliber.
• Navigon’s 7100 portable navigation device is quite possibly the new king of the streets! It’s sexy and loaded with features to make your life a much better place. Find out how!
• Cadillacs 2009 CTS-V is going to come equipped with an Alpine radio the features a pop-up nav screen, 40GB hard drive, DVD capability, USB 2.0 and more, all wrapped into one of the sexiest dashboards I’ve ever seen.

In case you missed it, here’s the wrap up of yesterday’s news. We were hot for demo cars on Wednesday, but yesterday’s was focus marine audio:

• MB Quart announced some new marine gear, and it’s pretty impressive stuff! From CD to DVD to satellite radio and marine remotes with LCDs, they’re doing it all!
• USB has become a pretty popular input option for today’s new radios. Since it’s so durable, I bet we’ll start seeing it more and more. Check out the cool way Delphi is locking the plug down.
• Juan and I stumbled across this killer ski boat at CES. It was kitted-out in all kinds of marine audio gear and sporting a pimptastic paint scheme.
• We announced Escorts new GPS-equipped radar detector a few days ago, but now those crazy cats at Cobra have designed a portable GPS navigation device which interfaces with radar detectors!

When I first got my license, I did a ton of really stupid stuff behind the wheel. Eventually, my exploits reached the point where some of my friend’s parents wouldn’t allow me to drive their kids around.

Today, if you’re worried about what your kids do behind the wheel, the guys at Zoombak have an answer. Once attached to a car, their small GPS tuner allows prying padres to track its location via the web, phone, or SMS text message. This little gadget can even set up an area the car can’t leave—it’ll send a text if the vehicle moves out of a prescribed zone—and stores a history of vehicle locations online.

Thanks to devices like the Zoombak, the days of taking a joy ride in mom’s car—or even speeding around in your own—might be coming to an end. They might even make dad reconsider that extra-curricular lunch meeting with the secretary. Hey, nothing lasts forever!

For more coverage from the Consumer Electronics Show, head over to the new and improved SoundDomain blog!

Here’s the latest in robotics from Japan: a GPS-enabled vehicle on tractor treads that scarfs up snow and churns it out the other end in neatly-compressed bricks, ready for use in ice sculpture or your favorite cocktail.  Depending on your perspective, the Yuki-taro is either the grown-up version of the Snoopy sno-cone maker, or further evidence for John’s theory that the Japanese are insane. More at Tech-Ex.