Productopia

Texting while driving is a hot topic these days. While wired and Bluetooth headsets and speakerphones can help keep your hands on the wheel while chatting, there's no similar solution for handsfree texting. One study, referenced in a New York Times article on distracted driving, found that texting drivers typically take their eyes off the road for as long as five seconds at a time. DriveSafe.ly is a free mobile app that aims to keep text-messaging drivers' eyes on the road. It serves two purposes - it uses text to speech to read incoming text messages and emails out loud, and sends an auto-reply letting your friend know that you're driving and can't respond at the moment. Currently DriveSafe.ly works only with BlackBerry and Android smartphones, but versions for the Apple iPhone as well as Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets are expected soon. No word yet on availability for regular cell phones.

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No one's going to accuse the current Toyota lineup of being exciting. Sure, it's good -- stalwarts like the Corolla, Camry, Sienna, Prius and Highlander all earn kudos from reviewers and and spots in drivers' garages across the country. These top-selling nameplates help make Toyota the market juggernaut it is today. The thing is, not very long ago, Toyota let its buyers have their cake and eat it, too. The economy and family cars that represent the automaker's bread-and-butter were once joined in showrooms by sport coupes like the Celica and performance icons like the Supra. Toyota's present leadership realizes that this ingredient, fun, is sorely lacking, and has moved to correct it by greenlighting an affordable rear-wheel-drive sport coupe -- a modern take on the formula used to great effect with the Toyota AE86 of the 1980s. This month in Tokyo, the Toyota FT-86 concept will make its public debut, and rest assured, it's ultimately showroom-bound.

No one's going to accuse the current Toyota lineup of being exciting. Sure, it's good -- stalwarts like the Corolla, Camry, Sienna, Prius and Highlander all earn kudos from reviewers and and spots in drivers' garages across the country. These top-selling nameplates help make Toyota the market juggernaut it is today. The thing is, not very long ago, Toyota let its buyers have their cake and eat it, too. The economy and family cars that represent the automaker's bread-and-butter were once joined in showrooms by sport coupes like the Celica and performance icons like the Supra. Toyota's present leadership realizes that this ingredient, fun, is sorely lacking, and has moved to correct it by greenlighting an affordable rear-wheel-drive sport coupe -- a modern take on the formula used to great effect with the Toyota AE86 of the 1980s. This month in Tokyo, the Toyota FT-86 concept will make its public debut, and rest assured, it's ultimately showroom-bound. Read more

Unless you frequently work with stiff batters or bread dough, a powerful hand mixer might be enough to meet your needs, saving you money and storage space. Stand mixers, however, work best if you use a mixer more frequently (since you can leave it on the countertop). Stand mixers are also handy for recipes where you need to add ingredients gradually, since you don't need to keep one hand on the mixer. In reviews, KitchenAid mixers rule. Read more

The name Rival is pretty much synonymous with slow cookers. While we did find Rival Crock-Pots recommended in some reviews, we also found a larger-than-average number of complaints about some Rival models, mainly that they run hot even on low, which leads to boiled and burned food. We found better reviews for All-Clad and Hamilton Beach slow cookers. Read more