Mint offers New Yorkers cheap hourly car rentals

by Jeremy Kressmann on

I really don’t encourage anyone to try driving in New York. Aggressive cabbies, near-constant traffic jams and a variety of video game-worthy obstacles conspire to keep drivers in a near-constant state of anger and anxiety.

But for locals and visitors alike, there are times when nothing but a car will suffice. Conveniently enough, this week marked the launch of a new pay-as-you-go rental car service in New York called Mint. Like competitor Zipcar, the upstart company provides members with on-demand vehicles they can rent for periods as short as one hour up to several days. Mint has also upped the ante by offering to waive their $25 application fee for members of other car-sharing clubs and starting hourly rates as low as $2/hour from now through June 2009. Pretty sweet.

So what’s the real difference between Mint and Zipcar? Not all that much as it turns out. As a rule of thumb, Mint plans are generally cheaper than Zipcar plans in terms of hourly/daily rates, though it ultimately depends on which plan you have and the time of day you’ll be driving. It’s best to take a look at the options and see what works best for your particular needs. In any case, the extra car-sharing competition is sure to be welcomed by price conscious rental car drivers everywhere. Check out Mint the next time you’re in NYC and need some temporary wheels.

Product review – Arkon mobile device mounts

by Scott Carmichael on

In this product review, I’m going to give you a quick look at a collection of products that can help mount your portable devices in a car or other vehicle.

In recent years, we’ve seen more and more device convergence – GPS has been added to your phone and phones are being added to GPS units. As we slowly move towards the ultimate single device, there is a growing need to be able to have easy access to that device in the car.

In my case, I often use my mobile phone with a navigation software package, and there is nothing more annoying than having to try and balance it on the dashboard in the hope it doesn’t slide off as I’m trying to find the right highway exit.
This is where Arkon mobile device mounts can help. Arkon have developed a massive collection of mounts specifically designed for your phone, PDA, media player or smartphone, as well as mounts for most existing GPS units.

Each mount consists of 2 parts; one part for the device itself, and one part that mounts to your car.

Arkon offers loads of options for mounting to your car including mounts for in your cupholder, on the sun visor, on the vents, with a windshield mounted suction cup, a dash mounted friction beanbag and even mounts that attach to the power outlet in the car. In addition to these universal mounts, Arkon also offers a lineup of vehicle specific mounts.

If you are like me, you’ll need a mount that can be moved from (rental) car to car. For this purpose, I found the windshield mount to be the best solution as the mount is nice and small, and folds up to be very compact.

Once you have selected the right vehicle mount, you can easily clip the device mount to it. This also means that any investment you make in the vehicle mount is never lost if you upgrade your device and purchase a new mount for it, you simply slide the old mount off and replace it with the new one.

The mounts are very reasonably priced. An iPhone mount is just $19.95 (plus $7.50 shipping). Larger or more complicated mounts like the beanbag mount or the sturdy gooseneck mount retail for $29.95.

My windshield mount has become a standard piece of kit I carry around with me, along with device adapter for my PDA and iPhone. Being able to actually see the screen of my device and keep it from flying through the car is great.

You can find the entire lineup of Arkon mounts on their site, where you’ll also find handy guides on how to pick the best mount for your specific needs.

India: $2500 car, boon or bane?

by Abha Malpani on

For a measly US$2,500, Tata Motors has launched “Nano”– the world’s cheapest car — making the 4-wheel mode of transport less of a luxury and more of an affordable means of transport for millions of Indians. The car is said to meet all safety norms and apparently emits less pollution than a two-wheeler. With India’s huge lower / middle class population that depends on its two-wheelers, a reliable car at this price would encourage the shift and begin a revolution in transport in the country.

Well, that’s what they are saying.

In India, other than the the issue of affordability, the reason why many people opt for a scooter or a motorcycle, is because of the ghastly state of traffic and driving in the country. I strongly believe that if you can drive in India, you can drive anywhere in the world. It probably has the most undisciplined road traffic on the planet (absolutely out-of-control, actually!), and surely ranks high in the list of world’s worst roads; the most convenient way to get anywhere quickly is therefore a two-wheeler.

An Indian’s skill set to maneuver a motorbike around others, bulls, cars, bicycles, people and potholes is truly fascinating and practicality issues make me wonder whether the scooter-driving target audience will want to switch. When I lived in India, if four of us were to go out, we would always opt to go on our automatic scooters rather than AC cars. As for the Nano being a transport solution for young families, it’s not uncommon to see a nuclear family travel on a scooter — something they are so used to, it doesn’t have the word dangerous associated to it anymore. Also, I don’t think Indian roads can handle more cars! I don’t think the Nano can substitute two-wheelers in India and they will remain the fastest and cheapest mode of transport.

So, although I’m proud that India beat China in this endeavor, I wonder if it was really worth it.

Big in Japan: The Honda PUYO is man’s best friend

by Matthew Firestone on

This week (and last), Big in Japan will be bringing you scenes from the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show (???????????????????????) at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City.

For an overview of this biennial event, be sure to read Scenes from the Tokyo Motor Show. For all of you road warriors out there, don’t miss A look at the future of motorcycles. For anyone who loves crazy concept cars, check out The Nissan Pivo2 can pivot on a dime. For an intriguing look at the future personal transportation, see The Suzuki Pixy will help us survive the apocalypse. For a peek at the customizable interiors to come, see The future of Japanese automotive design.

What is man’s best friend? If you answered the Honda PUYO, than you’re correct.

Honda’s newest concept car is dubbed the PUYO, which is a Japanese onomatopoeia (??????) that is meant to convey a warm, friendly impression.

Seriously, there is a word for that Japanese – what an awesome language!

According to the Honda press release, the PUYO is a ‘fuel cell vehicle which was created to have a personable design with the feel of an adorable pet.’

Intrigued? Keep reading.

Here’s where things start to get cool.

The ‘Seamless Soft Box’ exterior of the PUYO is completely cornerless, which allows for the maximum possible spaciousness.

Believe it or not, the Honda PUYO can actually accommodate four Japanese people within its tiny frame, though I’m not sure if the designers took into consideration the size of your average American!

The PUYO is also constructed of a soft gel body, which has been made luminescent to guide people into the proper operating position, and to notify them of the vehicle’s overall condition.

This so called ‘silky feel’ is intended to provide a refreshing, people-friendly space imbued with a feeling of transparency, and to allow for intuitive operation of the vehicle.

In fact, the first thing drivers of the PUYO will notice is the lack of a steering wheel, which which has been replaced by a joystick that is used for operation and maneuvering.

Accompanying features include an instrument panel monitor, luminous fluid level displays, and elastic-like controls made from cloth that rise up when the vehicle starts.

Of course, the main appeal of the PUYO is that you can drive this adorable little contraption without harming the environment.

According to the Honda press release, the PUYO “represents a new idea in mobility that brings together the principals of clean, safe and fun all into one environmentally-responsible, people-friendly, yet minimalist design. The concept has a small frame, is ultra-efficient and is powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology. “

So, it’s unlikely that you can teach the PUYO to sit, roll over and fetch the morning paper. But, with enough of a cute factor to inspire affection amongst even the most hardened of car owners, it’s not hard to see why the PUYO could easily be man’s best friend.

And, you can help save the planet by driving one!

Well, that’s it for our coverage of the biennial Tokyo Motor Show…

See ya’ll again in 2009!

Driver Shot For Honking at Green Light

by Justin Glow on

This story came up in my RSS feeds this morning, and I couldn’t help but think of my recent trip to India. What’s getting shot in the abdomen for honking at someone at a green light got to do with India?

Well, if you’ve been to the subcontinent — or most other places in Asia for that matter — you’ve no doubt noticed the differences between the way we, Americans, use our car horns, and Asians use theirs. In India, the car horn is a tool, a way to alert the (millions of) other drivers (on the same road as you at one time) that — hey! — I’m creeping up on you, or I’m about to pull out in front of you, or I’m carrying a rather large load of chickens. A trip through any major Asian city accompanied by a consistent hum of car horns; as you finally lay down to rest in your hostel or hotel bed for the night, you can still hear the faint buzz of a million horns going off at once.

So what’s different with America (and much of the Western world?)

Sure, shooting someone for honking at a green light is an isolated case…. but even so, a horn is not a tool in America. More often than not it’s an audible flip of the middle finger, a beep to let someone know they’ve just done something really stupid while driving. Or maybe it’s a way to keep from having to get out of the car when picking up a friend. On the rare occasion it’s used to actually avoid an accident.

After spending a month in India, I returned to the States, and was thrown off balance by the absence of horn noise. What a strange feeling — seeing cars but not hearing horns.

Unfortunately sometimes that beep of the horn isn’t an audible middle finger, but an actual warning, or a friendly reminder that the light has turned green. Sadly, the moral of the story for America: be careful who you honk at. [via]