Pump it up: Titan Air Jack blows itself up with exhaust

If you've ever had the need to raise one side of your car, truck, RV or trailer a couple feet off the ground, the Titan Exhaust Air Jack is there to give you a lift. Quite simply, the jack is nothing more than a heavy-duty balloon inflated by the exhaust gas of your own vehicle. Once the deflated bag is placed under the vehicle, the Air Jack's inflation hose is connected to the vehicle's exhaust pipe. The engine is started and hot gasses are forced into the bag until the woven PVC-coated polyester bag lifts a vehicle a full 30 inches off the ground, which is plenty of height to get the wheels off the ground for most vehicles. With prices starting around $120, the device offers several advantages over traditional jacks. First, it can be used on soft surfaces (mud, sand, or snow) where other jacks just don't work. Second, it easily lifts one whole side of the vehicle at once, saving tons of time. Best of all, the low pressure bag doesn't require placement on normal jacking points so you more freedom to lift where you want and then place jack stands exactly where you need them. The military and emergency services have apparently been using jacks of this type for years, so the idea isn't just full of hot air.

The Dark Knight's shoulder-driven Batpod

Over the last 70 years, Batman has driven all sorts of vehicles, with a wide array of Batmobiles, planes, bikes and boats appearing in the various comic books, television series and movies. Arguably none have been as wickedly exciting, however, as the Tumbler which the superhero drove in the most recent Batman Begins. But with the sequel swooping into theaters this week, we're in store for a new piece of kit.

Called the Batpod, we've been bringing you details of the new motorcycle as they've become available. The Batpod is driven by a pair of motors hidden within the giant 20-inch wheels and steered by the shoulder, allowing the Caped Crusader to operate an arsenal of machine guns and grappling hooks. We'll have to hold on just a little bit longer to see it in action on the big screen, but in the meantime you can check out the images from the Batmobile's and Batpod's demonstration at Silverstone with the Toyota F1 crew in the high-resolution image bat-gallery

Next generation of in-car tech may be sponsored by advertisers

Not surprisingly, young car buyers want their new cars filled with as much technology as possible. Specifically, navigation systems and in-car telematics like Ford's SYNC and General Motors' OnStar are highly desirable among 16-24 year-old car buyers. As it turns out, though, it is that same demographic that is least willing to pay for these features. So, what's the solution? Advertising. As we've noted before, the chances seem good that at some point in the not-too-distant future, our navigation screens will show us local spots with preference given to those establishments that have paid for placement.

Not everyone is likely to be happy about this trend. Besides the irritation of a constant barrage of advertisements, there is also a danger in letting your car know too much about you. If your vehicle were to track your movements, or even purchases made from inside your vehicle, that information could be made available to other organizations. Those concerned that "Big Brother" is watching them may not want features like this keeping their eyes on our driving habits. On the flip side, this knowledge could make for advertisements in which we're truly interested. And, would it be so bad if your car alerted you to an upcoming speed trap? Just so long as it's not installed in a certain Plymouth Fury from '58...

Scooter-geek's dream ride: Yamaha Vino scooter, fully farkled

Though it's usually the adventure touring crowd that excels at turning their motorcycles into rolling technology test-beds, we've recently run across a Yamaha Vino scooter that has been fully farkled. Featuring an on-board computer based around a VIA mini ITX form factor motherboard that's cleverly been hidden under the stock Vino's seat, this rolling geek-mobile packs in WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, GPS, FM radio, a TV tuner and a front-mounted camera in its diminutive frame. With the full-spec computer, pretty much anything should be possible right from the road using this scooter. While this is certainly a cool project, we have a few questions regarding its durability. How long will the acrylic plate that makes the structure for the computer hold up? Perhaps most importantly, how long will the scooter's battery be able to power all this technology? In the name of science, of course, we graciously offer our services for a road trip on the machine to find the answer to these all-important questions. Thanks for the tip, jared!

Dodge Challenger SRT8 sports G-meter, built-in 0-60 timer

We wade through an unhealthy amount of press releases each day, so even when something big hits – like the release of the Challenger SRT8 – we sometimes miss the occasional detail. Such is the case with Dodge's new pony car, which apparently comes equipped with an "SRT-exclusive Reconfigurable Display" (RCD). What does that mean? Well, you can customize the readout at the bottom of the SRT8's 180 mph speedo to display 0-60 acceleration times, 60-0 braking times, 1/4-mile times and g-forces to see if your numbers and Dodge's agree. According to the video after the jump, you can also log your best runs and see how you faired at a later (read: safer) time.