Ferrari gadgets – are they the pits?
IT’S been a good weekend for FERRARI – a one/two in the French Grand Prix saw the team keep Brit favourite Lewis Hamilton at bay.
And recently the legendary car marque has been making in-roads into the gadget world, doing deals to get its logo and classic red colour on everything from laptops to speakers.
But does that make the technology any hotter than Michael Schumacher’s tyres or is such spurious branding really the pits?
Take a look at our top five Ferrari gizmos and decide for yourself.
Art.Engine speakers
They cost 18 grand but shoving the Ferrari logo on is sure to make them more attractive.
Which is useful, as they’re not that nice-looking.
Only 1000 of the tower systems have been made – sold in the UK through Sound Directions – and at 47inch tall, they are available in all the official Ferrari colours including Rosso Corsa and Nero.
It’d be more fun to give them an engine noise setting to annoy the neighbours!
Acer sat-nav
You don’t really need directions in Formula One – you can’t go too far off track. But that hasn’t stopped Ferrari teaming up with Acer to offer this GPS device. Using CoPilot v6.0 software, it’s got a 2.8inch screen and an external speaker.
Let’s hope it doesn’t feature each pit lane and chicane as a Point of Interest!
Vertu mobile phone
Only the likes of Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa could afford a mobile like this.
The Ascent Ferrari 1947 Limited Edition is being released to mark 60 years of Ferrari and cleverly, only 1947 of them have been made.
And for a team used to cutting-edge technology, it’s a shame the same can’t be said about the handset which only has a small memory, Bluetooth and four hours of talktime.
Still, coming from Vertu – the kings of bling phones – it has got a sapphire-crystal display, stainless steel keys with jewelled bearings, red and black leather, the Ferrari Prancing Horse logo and a scaled-down, high-grade aluminium Ferrari brake pedal on the back.
Out this month, the price is still a secret – I guess they’re working on an “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” basis.
Becker sat-nav
Another navigation system, this time from Becker – like Schumacher, they’re big in Germany!
The Traffic Assist Pro Ferrari comes in red or black and has a decently-sized 4inch touch screen and maps for 37 European countries.
It’d be a winner on the F1 circuit as there’s 18 languages built-in as well as automatic redirection around bad traffic areas.
Now that would be useful in a pile-up at the first corner.
It also displays pictures and plays music via SD card.
Madness’s Driving In My Car anyone?
Meridian home entertainment system
I actually like this one – it’s the Meridian F80, with just a smidgen of Ferrari branding.
It’s got a DAB/FM/AM tuner and CD player and if hooked up to the telly, will play DVDs.
With three power amps, it’ll pump out more than 80 watts to the two front speakers and rear subwoofer.
Hand-built, you can get it in five official Ferrari colours for around £1500.
To make it even more authentic, they charge more for a few scratches down the side.
Related posts
Get an £18k Ferrari Art.Engine speaker system
Acer launches Ferrari GPS satnav device
Vertu offers limited edition Ferrari mobile handset
Becker launches Ferrari-branded Assist Pro sat nav system
Meridian’s Ferrari-branded F80 home entertainment system
