Automatic

Trucks of the future could be equipped with an on-board digital co-driver to help the human behind the wheel, or even take over if the driver loses control. The HAVEit project (short for Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport) has 28 million euros (USD$40 million) at its disposal and is aiming to develop an intelligent driver assist system that responds to both traffic conditions and drivers' needs. Read More

Nissan and its transmission supplier Jatco have developed a next generation CVT (continuously variable transmission) that promises better fuel economy and performance in a compact and lightweight package. The new CVT combines conventional CVT belt operation with an auxiliary gearbox and has a significantly increased gear ratio range – roughly 20 percent higher than other CVTs and among the world's highest for production vehicles according to Nissan. Read More

Amateur astronomers around the world have cause to celebrate as the first completely hands-off self-aligning telescope becomes available. First shown as CES in January, the Meade ETX-LS telescope uses a range of technologies, including GPS, magnetic sensors and a built-in CCD camera, to automatically determine its own location and then find any of more than 100,000 celestial objects. Read More

As the name suggests, automatic or self-winding watches wind themselves using a moving weight mechanism inside the watch. All well and good if you are wearing your watch everyday, but if you happen to have a collection, you'll often find yourself faced with the fiddly task of manual winding and resetting features like perpetual calendars - a difficult job for large unwieldy fingers (men) and delicate fingernails (women) - which is where watchwinders come in. This one, the Sparta Mini from Orbita, is for the ladies. Read More