Driving down Kensington high street in a car emitting the sound of a retro scifi spaceship is a rather odd experience.

The remote control in my hand lets me adjust the volume and even the sound of my car, a modified Toyota Prius.

With a button press I can change from an around town family car to an American Muscle car, or even a howling F1 machine.

While at first it seems little more of a gimmick (and a great way to confuse pedestrians and cyclists), its makers say the Halosonic system could actually help save lives in the capital.

Developed by car firm Lotus and speaker firm Harman Kardon, it is designed to protect pedestrians and cyclists by letting them know an electric car is nearby.

“Safety is a real problem with electric cars,” said Tony Harberman of Harman International, the speaker firm's parent company. “Pedestrians and other road users simply can’t hear them coming, especially at slow speeds.”

The solution is to put hidden speakers at the front and rear of the car. A remote control then allows the driver to adjust the sound, and even the volume the car is making. It also unleashes the potential for downloading new sounds to your car.

“We can effectively let manufacturers and customers customise the vehicles as much as they want,” said Mr Harberman.

It is hoped the kit will be made available to electric car owners early next year for around £500, and will begin appearing in production vehicles late next year.

The noises are created using a computer, and exactly mimic the sound of a real car. “The sounds change depending on the pressure you apply, and even appear to be changing gear - effectively just like a real car would sound. However, this is synthesis rather that simply playing a file, so you couldn’t just have an an MP3 file, for instance.”

Despite this, the firm expects manufacturers to allow unusual sounds. Our demonstration car has two spaceship sounds, and they get a real reaction from people as you drive by.

The system also has speakers inside the car, which give drivers feedback on the car. “It can be quite off putting when you are driving not to hear anything, or to hear the engine cutting out at lights to save power. "With speakers in the cabin, we can easily mask that,” said Mr Harberman.

TWO Londoners who rose to fame with a youtube video are set to headline the O2 next week.
Jonathan Stevens and Roger Evans, who star in the brilliant Youtube music show Svengali, will present the UK Festival Awards at the Greenwich venue.
The pair, who are currently working on a TV show based on the series, will present the awards as their characters Dixie and Horsey.
The show, shot at the capital’s trendiest music venues and bars, features Welshman and band manager Dixie as he tries to get his band signed.
It has included cameos from Carl Barat of the Libertines, Bonehead from Oasis and music mogul Alan McGee.
The awards take place next thursday at Indigo, which is part of the O2 complex, and categories include best green festival, and best festival toilet.

Thanks to Google, we are all now used to be being able to zoom around the capital, and even virtually drive its streets.

However, a fascinating new site gives Londoner's a whole new view of the capital - a birds eye view, in fact.

The London Ariel tour contains most of the capitals landmarks, including Trafalgar Square, The O2, Regents Park and even Kings Cross. You can fly through it, zoom in on areas and even listen to audio tours.It's also well worth looking at the picture gallery for some fascinating images created by the 3D imaging system used in the project.

you can see the site here

Gadget site Firebox has responded quickly to the postal crisis, setting up a network of couriers to deliver parcels.

However, they've also been busy developing a game showing the problems they face, and the highly addictive Royal Fail game has been going down a storm online.

It asks players to throw mail over the picket lines and into courier vans, and thanks to facebook and twitter has been hugely popular within hours of its launch.

You can play the game at: http://www.theroyalfail.com/

As Windows 7 goes on sale today, Microsoft is claims it ushers in a new era of reliability and productivity for computer. I've been using it for a couple of months in various forms (Microsoft ran a unique open test programme, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to trial early versions), and the news is good - very good in fact.

The first emotion virtually everyone who regularly uses a PC will feel when loading Windows 7 is, without doubt, one of relief. Finally, it seems Microsoft has managed to make a good looking, easy to use operating system that is, unlike its predecessor, fast and responsive.

Microsoft’s Windows, despite being the most widely used piece of computer software ever made, has become a byword for crashing and slowing to a halt at every opportunity. While Windows 7 isn’t perfect, it’s a massive step in the right direction. It’s very fast and responsive, even on the cheapest laptop, and the on screen effects are incredibly well thought out.

As a user of both Mac and PCs, there are obvious comparisons to be drawn - Microsoft really does seem to have done its best to take the best bits from the brilliant Mac OS. And it works - Windows 7 is such a massive improvement over its predecessor it’s hard to find fault.

The biggest question is why on earth it has taken Microsoft so long to produce what is a good looking, easy to use and most of all reliable operating system.

Amazon’s electronic book was launched internationally last week amid huge fanfare, and the first units have finally arrived in the UK.

It’s surprisingly small, and not quite as ugly as the pictures would have you believe - and definitely thinner than you’d expect at 0.36inches.

However, what the Kindle lacks in bulk it makes up for with buttons.  As well as a keyboard under the screen, there are six navigation buttons, as well as a mini joystick. This can be rather confusing at times, although most of the menus are clear and thankfully small. The six inch screen is very clear, and text is simple to read.

In reality, it seems Amazon has rather rushed the release, so what you are actually buying is a US Kindle - it doesn’t even come with a UK plug, and you have to pay import duties, bringing the overall price to around £200. You are also only able to buy US books, although there are a few UK newspapers and magazines available.

The killer feature of the Kindle is its 3G connection, which lets you download books directly to the device. It’s superb, and navigating around Amazon’s store is easy.

However, as this is a US device, Amazon has disabled one of the Kindle’s most interesting features, the ability to browse the web. It’s a huge shame (although oddly, on our device we were able to access wikipedia, but no other site), and a big reason to wait for the dedicated UK Kindle Amazon has promised.

Overall, its an interesting device, and if you read a lot, it is worth a look. However, for most of us, this just isn’t quite the future of reading we were promised. That said, it is a big step in the right direction for the embryonic electronic book market - its just a shame Amazon couldn't release a 'real' UK Kindle with all of its features enabled.

Google has unveiled the first designer web browser.

It has signed up Dolce & Gabbana, Vivienne Westwood and Matthew Williamson to design themes for its Chrome web browser.

The free downloads give the browser a new look and feel. For instance, Dolce & Gabbana’s version has a lepoard print background, while Matthew Williamson has opted for peacock feathers.

Over 100 designs are available, with artists such as Jeff Koons and even film director Wes Craven have created their own themes.

“A bit like painting your nails to match your outfit, or changing your make-up to reflect the occasion, we’ve found that people like to customise their technology too,” said Kate Hammond, Product Marketing Manager at Google. “With people spending ever more time on the web, these designer themes bring a little more style to your internet experience”

Google launched its web browser, Chrome, in September 2009. The firm hopes the browser will take on Microsoft, and is also expected to form the basis of Google’s rival to the Windows computer software, which is expected to launch next year.

You can download the free designer themes here.

The Beatles may have opted for a more realistic approach for their first foray into the digital world, but David Bowie has decided to reinvent himself once more - this time in Lego.

Bowie is one of the icons set to feature in the Lego Rock Band game, which is released in November on all the major consoles.

Players will be able to play, drum or sing along to ‘Let’s Dance’. Other stars set to be reinvented in the game include Iggy Pop.

Showing England's world cup qualifier against Ukraine exclusively online is a bold move, but one big question remains - just how good will it look?

While the people behind the broadcast claim it will look great even when viewed on a TV, anyone who has ever watched online video will beg to differ.

In an age where high definition is quickly becoming the norm, most broadband connections just simply aren't fast or reliable enough. For comedy youtube videos it is great, and for most dramas and comedy shows it is fine (Although the BBC must be applauded here for its HD streams on iPlayer, which are simply stunning - if you have a fast enough connection).

But as an advert for online video, the England game could fail horribly, and seriously dent the future of internet TV. For users on anything but the fastest net connections, it is almost inevitable it will turn into 90 minutes of spot the ball, for which you will be forced to pay upto £12. Given most people won't have superfast connections, they are likely to see choppy video, where it is virtually impossible to see the ball - is this really the brave new world for football fans?

It might be a great advert for broadband providers desperate to flog their fastest and most expensive packages, but for the average fan it seems likely to end in disappointment.

Science Minister Lord Drayson has been at the forefront of twitter usage within government, and on sunday proved just how powerful the medium can be.

The internet was awash with talk that the UK was planning to pull out of CERN, the scientific body behind the invention of the web and the Large Hadron Collider. The story, which appeared in The Sunday Times, sparked outrage among twitter users, with an instant campaign being set up to lobby Lord Drayson, Minister For Science and Innovation, on the matter.

However, little did the protesters expect what happened next - an amazing display of openness from the government.

First, Lord Drayson pointed out that the sheer number of tweets he'd received on the subject were effectively cutting him off from twitter, but pledged to investigate. "I'd appreciate a break from the twitter blizzard I'm getting re CERN rumour. Message recv'd I assure you all," he told the microblogging service.

Just hours later, he issued an outright denial of the story.

"I have got 2 the bottom of CERN rumour. It is complete rubbish. STFC have no plans 2 exit CERN. Period." he told followers.

While much has been written about twitter coming of age, this is one of the most impressive displays I've seen of twitter being used to engage with the public - let's hope @lorddrayson can convince some of his colleagues to do the same in future.