Fujitsu is developing a sophisticated sensor system that actually detects when a driver gets drowsy or begins to fall asleep. It tracks the driver’s heart rate via the steering wheel and once it notices you are falling into a slumber it starts doing annoying things in order to wake you up. The system will roll it’s windows down, blast the stereo or even jolt the wheel. That’ll end that highway nap quick. The tech is currently unavailable in any cars as it’s still in the R&D stages.

Coby’s just issued a recall of 12,000 TF-DVD170 and TF-DVD176 DVD boomboxes sold between May 2006 and October 2007.

According to the US Consumer Product and Safety Commission, the portable DVD/CD/MP3 players can overheat and cause a fire.

And yes, they were manufactured in China.

For additional information, contact Coby Electronics Corp. toll-free at (877) 231-9240 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or go to www.cobyusa.com

Nissan’s added a few new safety features to the one featured in this NerdGrind post. Now on this list are anti-drunk driving technology, lane departure warning system, and a gas pedal that automatically lifts up when a collision is impending. Some of these already exist on other vehicles, but hey, you can’t fault Nissan for keeping up.

Nissan’s not the first to design a car to be kinder to pedestrians when the 2-ton hunks of metal ram into them, but I think they might be one of the first to design in active protection. When the Nissan Skyline Coupe hits something, its hood moves up to make the landing zone a little softer. I know this car, and at the speeds it’s typically driven, I don’t think this’ll matter all that much. But maybe every little bit does count..