airbag

Will future iPhones hold up better to big drops? They might if they sport special shock absorbers like the one featured in a newly published Apple patent application.

An early 2010 filing picked up by Patently Apple this morning details a shock mount system that sits between the display and the body of the phone. That protective layer can then be inflated to help brace the device in the event it senses a drop, much like the technology in notebook hard drives that locks up the read/write heads, keeping damage at bay. … Read more

Jeff Bezos is worried about phone safety. Not your safety while you're distracted by your phone. No, he's worried about the gadget itself.

The Amazon boss and his colleague, Vice President Gregory M. Hart, filed a patent application to protect their idea of an air bag that inflates around your mobile device if you drop it. Broadly, the duo are seeking to patent the idea of a "system and method for protecting devices from impact damage."

The patent was filed in February 2010 but made public yesterday. It was first reported by GeekWire's Todd Bishop.… Read more

Most cars are more or less one size fits all, even though its occupants are not. While adjustable seats, pedals, and steering wheels address some of the size differences, there's aren't a lot of accommodations when it comes to the safety features, except to recommend that if you're short you might be better off sitting in the back seat where airbags are less likely to break your face.

Today Ford announced that it will be adding adaptive airbags in the 2012 Ford Focus. These next-generation airbags include features that modify the amount of air pressure deployed in … Read more

We drive the Chevy Volt--yep the real one--and the 2011 Kia Sorento (with monkey.) The Nissan Leaf is open to anyone to preorder. Smart airbags may not be so smart. And we'll find out why mobile TV in your car may not be that easy to receive.

• We drive the Chevy Volt

• Smart airbags not so smart if you're wearing your belt

• Nissan Leaf reservations opened up to all

• Mobile TV in cars not exactly a slam dunk (map)… Read more

In an effort to create the world's safest sedan, Mercedes-Benz has equipped its ESF 2009 S400 Hybrid Concept with more airbags than you can shake a stick at.

It starts with the Braking Bag, an auxiliary airbag mounted to the bottom in the vehicle floor that inflates when the ESF's systems conclude that an impact is unavoidable (within 0.6 seconds, or faster than a human reaction time). According to Mercedes, the Braking Bag basically adds additional friction to the road, thereby assisting the brakes and tires in slowing the vehicle quickly. As an added bonus, the Braking … Read more

Toyota has announced that it has developed the world's first rear-seat center airbag.

In the event of a side-on collision, this new airbag will deploy from a fixed rear-seat console to prevent injury from passengers colliding with each other or the console itself. We're assuming that the inclusion of this center airbag system eliminates the rear-center seating position.

We're all for vehicles protecting their passengers in the event of a crash, but between your standard front airbags, side-curtain airbags, knee airbags, rear-curtain airbags, and now rear-center airbags, how long will it be before the vehicle just fills … Read more

Toyota Motor announced Tuesday that it has developed the world's first rear-window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision. The new airbag was designed for and will be implemented in its upcoming Japanese market iQ microcar. Merely looking at the photo, we weren't really sure what this new airbag does that the headrests don't already do. Digging a bit deeper we learned that the airbags work with the headrests to minimize impact to the head from a colliding vehicle or parts of the hit vehicle, helping to reduce the … Read more

As more people insist on having a TV while they drive, the following scenario is inevitable: A motorist is watching a big game or show in the car, pulls up to the driveway at a crucial point and sits inside for fear of missing anything. Sanyo has apparently anticipated that kind of conundrum with a new dashboard GPS device that doubles as a portable TV.

The "Gorilla" series--we have no idea what inspired the name either, other than maybe Godzilla--is touted as the first device of its kind with a terrestrial digital tuner, making it easy to pick … Read more