In a press statement issued on January 31, General Motors announced that its OnStar call centers receive more than 150,000 calls a day. That equates to almost two calls per second.

Yet for the past few days, some of the more than 6 million users of the telematics service have been unable to use it.

Some OnStar users reported very long waiting times while others that they received automated messages to call back later. The problem, as told by OnStar spokeswoman Cheryl McCaren on FoxNews, was caused by an upgrade to the operating system on Sunday, February 12, which affected non-emergency “Blue Button” services.

Earlier this month, we showed you the initial building phase of a homemade racing game cockpit designed by YouTube user "Nbjag".

The project has since been completed and we now have the first video of Nbjag's realistic gaming rig that was built around the internals of a first generation, 1990s Opel Astra.

The simulator is based on a wooden frame, to which the builder attached the dashboard, center console, door panels and a section of the roof from an Astra, along with a pair of leather seats sourced from a Jaguar XJ8, to create an ultra realistic environment while playing racing games like the GT5.

One of the most annoying things about displaying your scale car models out of their cases is the amount of dust they collect over time. And while an old-fashioned feather duster may or may not do the trick, a German company named "Momira" has come up with a more snazzy solution.

Momira's proposal is called the Model Car Cleaning System. However, we should note that the name is slightly misleading as the product does not actually clean scale models but rather removes dust particles both inside and out.

We don't know what's more astounding; the fact that for the past seven years, someone had the patience and the know-how to dig his basement using only radio controlled scale models, or that his feat went by unnoticed by the viewing masses for such a long time.

Whatever the case, we were surely amazed by Joe, who prefers to be known by his first name only, and his devotion to his favorite hobby.

After we published the story last week, Joe, who is from Saskatchewan, Canada, came into contact with Carscoop to give us an insight on his incredible hobby and how it became to be.

Here's hoping that after reading his story that follows below, some readers will rethink their assumptions about Joe and his work.

Thermaltake isn't the only company in the broader computer industry that has tapped the styling expertise of the BMW Group subsidiary DesignworksUSA for its products.

Síragon, which is a Venezuelan manufacturer and assembler of personal computing products and consumer electronics such as cameras and LCD television sets, has also enlisted the help of DesignworksUSA for the creation of its flagship AIO 9000 Series all-in-one computer.

There was a time when ABS and a couple of airbags was all a car needed to be considered safe. Today, however, things have changed radically: not only have Euro NCAP and NHTSA crash tests forced manufacturers to create much safer vehicles, but they’ve also resulted in the addition of not just passive, but active safety systems as well.

Mazda for example, had developed a new system that helps distracted drivers avoid frontal collisions at slow speeds. It's called called the Smart City Brake Support (SCBS) and it will be available in the new CX-5 compact crossover.

This is what a Vauxhall Ampera patrol car would look like if the UK police were to use the Chevrolet Volt's European cousin for its daily services.

Vauxhall displayed the Ampera in Police livery featuring the latest policing equipment on the Home Office’s Centre of Applied Science & Technology (CAST) stand at the Police & Security Conference after it won a competition run by the Association of Chief Police Officers Intelligent Transport Systems (ACPO ITS).

More and more automakers are looking to promote their vehicles to a younger and typically affluent crowd through popular racing games.

Today we learn that GM's Team Cadillac Racing has collaborated with iRacing.com, which is one of the most popular online motorsports games, offering players the chance to drive a virtual version of the CTS-V Coupe racer.

If you're into cars, then it's very likely that you're also into racing games like the PS3's Gran Turismo, the Xbox 360's Forza or online sims like iRacing.

Since most auto enthusiasts / gamers want to play in an environment as close to reality as possible, they usually end up swapping the regular controller for a steering wheel, pedal and gearbox set and the couch for a racing seat - chassis combo.

However, some gamers take the idea to far more extremes, like YouTube user "NBJAG" who is currently in the process of creating a real life simulator using the interior and parts of the exterior of a first generation Opel Astra from the 1990s with the Thrusmaster T500 RS steering, pedal and TH8 gearbox bundle.

Volkswagen is no stranger to the art of designing snow sleds as the German carmaker has marketed some nifty pieces modeled after its automobiles over the past few years.

For 2012, the Wolfsburg-based company has released two new sleds that are currently available for order exclusively from its official German website.

The maker of the so-called "Ultimate Driving Machine" is testing a new technology that allows the car to replace the driver under certain conditions such as highway driving or in traffic jams.

BMW first told us about its experimental Highly Automated Driving system last summer but now we have the opportunity to see it work in action through a video report released by the German automaker.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that law enforcement agencies cannot attach a global positioning system device to a vehicle without obtaining a warrant first.

The court's ruling dismissed the Justice Department’s claim that it did not need to have permission to tack on a GPS to a Jeep Grand Cherokee owned by the wife of Antoine Jones, a Washington, D.C., nightclub owner and suspected drug dealer who has been sentenced to life.

Government agents had indeed obtained a warrant, but installed the device after the 10-day deadline had expired. During the four-week period that they tracked the vehicle, they collected over 2,000 pages of data – and even had to secretly replace the GPS battery when it was parked in Maryland.

We don't know how it will perform or if it will be ergonomic, but the new Level 10 Mouse penned by the BMW Group's DesignworksUSA will surely grab some attention with its stripped out looks, which for some reason, kind of remind us of a robotic part that fell from the Terminator.

The BMW design consultancy created the computer mouse for Thermaltake and its Level 10 series.

This is not the first time we've shown you footwear inspired by the world of automobiles, but unlike the rendered Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera heels and the one-off, promotional Opel Agila pumps, the tail finned high-heels from Prada seen here will soon go on sale. And that's not all.

In fact, Prada's entire haute couture line for spring and summer 2012 is a tribute to the fabulous 1950s and especially the American automobile industry with Cadillacs and hot rods taking a center role.

Among the more impressive offerings from an automobile perspective are the high heels, wedges and pumps with flame designs, chrome trims, tailfins and cone-shaped tail lamps!

However, don't go promising your other half a pair of Cadillac Coupe de Ville heels unless you're willing to put your hands deep into your pockets as these babies are expected to cost as much as $1,450 a pair. More photos after the break.

The marketing buffs over at Volkswagen have gone to work to promote the newly launched in the U.S. Golf R with the release of a dedicated iPad application called the “Golf R Drivers Forever”.

The app covers the history of both the regular Golf and Golf R models in the States and includes a variety of photos and videos, a brochure with tech specs, a 360-degree view of the car and even an interview with designer Chip Foose on the VW brand and the Golf.

It's a bit too early for anyone to get behind the wheel of Hyundai’s 2013 Veloster Turbo as the U.S. version was only just revealed last week at the Detroit Motor Show and isn’t scheduled to go on sale until next summer.

However, there is a way to experience the Veloster Turbo, not in the flesh but in the virtual world of the XBox 360 Forza Motorsport 4 racing game. If you own Microsoft’s gaming console, all you have to do is download the free Hyundai Veloster Bonus Pack on XBox Live.

Polyphony Digital has released an updated version of its Gran Turismo racing simulation game for PlayStation consoles named the XL Edition.

Along with all the content from the original GT5, the XL Edition disc packs the new features from the free downloadable game updates up through Spec 2., which is said to save you about 2GB of space.

What you don't get are the two DLC updates that were also released today. The first one is the Car Pack 3 for $5.99 that includes six new cars: Lamborghini Aventador, Jaguar XJR-9 LM racecar, Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the 1966 VW 1200, Mini Cooper S Countryman, and the…mother of all sports cars…the Nissan Leaf.

Technology transfer from one sector to the other is nothing new but it's not often that we hear about an automaker using one of its innovations on a cell phone accessory.

We're talking about Nissan and its Scratch Shield paint technology that can heal scratches and which the Japanese company will soon premiere on a new series of mobile phone cases compatible with Apple's iPhone 4 and iPhone 4 S.

The unique Scratch Shield paint finish promises to heal small scratches in as little as an hour, with more severe cases taking up to a week's time, according to the company.

Now that was pretty fast. The creators of Sony's wildly successful Gran Turismo racing game series have released a new video that brings to life both the brand-new Acura NSX Concept that was revealed just the other day at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show and the original model, which was marketed under the Honda brand name outside North America. Read more »

In a similar way that General Motors used the presentation of its new CUE infotainment system to reveal the dashboard of its Cadillac XTS back in October, Audi brought a cutaway of its upcoming 2013 A3's interior to the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to display its current technologies and future projects.

We'll get to the technological features later on, but for now, let's concentrate on the design of the dashboard that will find its way on all body styles of the next A3 including the three door hatchback, five door Sportback, four-door sedan and two-door convertible models.

The styling is typical Audi and closely resembles that of the smaller A2 series albeit polished up with decorative trims plus a more upscale instrument panel and center dash. The latter is also angled more towards the driver.

In addition, the lower console is positioned much higher than were used to in mainstream models like the A3.