Author: Serkadis

Michael Schumacher insisted that he did not negotiate his return to Formula One with Mercedes GP during the 2009 season. The 41-year old German told the media that the first time this move was seriously actually brought on to the discussion table was during the season finale at Abu Dhabi, when Ross Brawn asked him if he would consider coming back in the series.

The start was after the last race in Abu Dhabi. It was at the celebration dinner with a good cigar. I said to him ‘Are you sure you w… (read more)

The unprecedented decision by any carmaker in the US to stop sales and production of certain models on account on safety issues made Japanese manufacturer Toyota’s shares drop, for the fourth consecutive day, by 4.3 percent to 3,705 yen.

According to Goldman Sachs analyst Kota Yuzawa, talking for the Wall Street Journal, the fact that Toyota did not announced any time limit for the suspension of both sales and production will have a negative impact on the carmaker, with the exact losses hard… (read more)

Who is trying to face down Apple’s anticipated tablet this spring?

Here’s a partial list covering tablets from larger hardware companies like Dell and HP, along with lesser-known devices and a few e-readers. The pricing details and public launch dates aren’t available on all of these yet, so we’ve provided what we know and linked to deeper reviews.

HP’s Slate computer
This video demo shows the HP tablet that runs on Windows 7. HP is also reportedly building another based on Google’s Android OS. When Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer demoed it on-stage at CES, he was spare with details and used it to read a book using Kindle software. Using the touchscreen, he swiped through the pages, then went onto Amazon, where he purchased and downloaded another e-book.

OpenPeak Tablet powered by Intel Atom chip
Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini showed off a tablet using an upcoming Atom chip dubbed “Moorestown” during his CES keynote speech. It’s a prototype with no firm dates for launch.

HP’s tablet-laptop hybrid, the TouchSmart tm2:
This kinda qualifies. It’s a fourth-generation touchscreen laptop with a swivel 12.1-inch screen that can be turned into a tablet. You can enter things with your finger, full-size keyboard, or a digital pen. It has a capacitive multitouch display that recognizes multi-finger gestures such as pinching or swiping and an aluminum case with a Riptide engraved illustration. (See Dean Takahashi’s full take on HP’s lineup here.) This laptop starts at $949.

Dell
It has a five-inch display and is supposed to complement (not be a substitute) for a conventional PC. The small size may hurt the product in the long-run, since it duplicates the feel of a smartphone instead of an actual tablet computer. The more promising features seem to revolve around connecting multiple tablet users at once — users will be able to swipe and send pictures to other tablets, or connect tablets to play games together.

ICD’s Vega
The Android-based Vega specializes in home scheduling and other basic functions and will come to the U.K market later this year with T-mobile. We covered the first appearance of the Vega back in November. Developed by Seattle-based Innovative Converged Devices (ICD), a mobile computing engineering firm, the Vega includes features that make it a solid in-home device, suited for the average family kitchen, including a 15-inch touchscreen, NVIDIA Tegra 250 mobile web processor, full HD 1080p video playback, 3G, Wi-Fi and a T-Mobile SIM card. The carrier hasn’t released pricing. (We did a longer take on the device here.)

Marvell-based Alex Reader
This dual-screen reader from Spring Design runs on a Marvell processor and has not one, but two different kinds of displays. The smaller screen is an Android tablet while the other is an electronic paper display with an LCD. It comes out next month retailing at $399.

Skiff
This is an e-reader, not a tablet. It’s an 11.5-inch device comes from a company backed by newspaper and magazine publisher Hearst Corp. It’s got a 1,600-by-1,200 pixel resolution, which is enough to view an entire page of The New York Times up-front, according to Engadget.

Asus
Another netbook-tablet hybrid here. It’s two pounds and one-inch thick. It comes with a TV-tuner, GPS and should be out in March.

Cydle M7
This Korean electronics company entered the Tablet fray this month with a $199 Android-powered device. It has a seven-inch resistive touchscreen and should come out in the spring. (See Engadget’s slightly longer take here.)

MSI
MSI has built a 10-inch Android tablet that’s based on one of the new chips Nvidia showed off this week and has a capacitive display, which is very responsive. (Engadget has more here.)

Notion Ink
Here’s another Android-based tablet from Notion Ink. It’s on a 10.1 inch Pixel Qi display (which is what Apple’s version will reportedly run on). It comes with GPS, a digital compass, an accelerometer and even water sensors. There’s a three-megapixel camera that comes with autofocus and can record video. There will be a 16-gigabyte and 32-gigabyte version. (Slashgear has a longer take on it and Engadget tests it hands-on here.)

Compal
This is a seven-inch tablet that runs on Android 2.0. Engadget gave it a pretty horrible review, complaining about the lack of GPS and Bluetooth. It also has a resistive, rather than a capacitive touchscreen, which makes it less responsive to touch.

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91.2 million total customers, 2.2 million of whom joined in Q4, $27.1 billion operating revenue in the quarter, and you still make a loss? Well, in fact Verizon made a tidy profit, which may be considered comparable to Google and Intel’s latest results, but its culling of jobs at the end of last year cost it a whopping $3 billion (presumably in redundancy settlements). Still, the company looks buoyant with that quarterly revenue number growing by 9.9 percent year-on-year, and CEO Ivan Seidenberg noting that significant costs were incurred in setting up for a 4G network deployment in 2010. Our favorite nugget of info? The “cash expense per customer” per month number: $27.62, which presumably includes Droid subsidies and the like. How does that compare to what you’re giving VZW each month?

[Thanks, Josta]

Verizon lost $653 million last quarter in spite of increasing revenues originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kidz Gear recently launched the first Wireless Car Headphones for Kids designed specifically for children, who are known as being the largest user market of in-car DVD and video systems. According to the manufacturer, the new headphones are produced using the highest quality IR wireless technology components.

For years now, US automakers have offered DVD and advanced audio systems for their vehicles, most of these systems using IR wireless technology.

However, standard issued headphones t… (read more)

Shanghai’s Composite Index crashed through 3,000 overnight, hitting a three-month low on further concerns that Chinese liquidity tightening means the end.

The last eight trading sessions have been gruesome, with the index down 8%.

The rest of Asia hasn’t been spared — every market lost ground. Australia, heavily dependent on feeding Chinese growth with commodities, was slammed 1.6%.

Commodities fell overall as well, including gold, yet not by much.

The Euro keeps deteriorating against the dollar and is pretty close to breaking $1.40 just two months after peaking above $1.50.

Still, some see a buying opportunity. In their eyes Chinese tightening should be read as good news since it brings some semblance of restraint and sanity to the country’s banking system.

Says Mark Mobius:

“I don’t see a slowdown in lending as a bad thing… It moderates risk to some degree because people don’t go overboard… The market was due for a correction, I don’t see the start of a huge bear market any time soon. As the Chinese get more into spending rather than saving, the banks will do very well. The consumer market really has just scratched the surface.”

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• China Just Broke Russia’s Monopoly On Central-Asian Natural Gas
• Europe Flat, US Down, And Asia Down On Same Old Fears About China Pricking Its Bubble
• How Asia Makes The U.S. Look Like A Third World Country

G-Power just launched a limited edition version of the BMW X5 Typhoon, called Black Pearl Edition. The project is based on the X5 Typhoon, but has a different black paint, a new bodykit which includes new front and rear spoiler, a revised hood and, in order to complete the aggressive look, wider wheel arches.

The performance is impressive. According to the tuner, the G-POWER SK III RS supercharger system gives the 4.8 litre engine a performance increase of 270 hp / 199 kW to 625 hp / 460 kW a… (read more)

Fair warning, this is probably a fake – we all know that people love to prank the night before an Apple event. Some suspected pictures of the iPad have shown up on the net, but it looks fishy to me.

I guess it is possible, maybe a prototype, or something bolted to a table, but I’m not buying it. Engadget also stated that they received a tip that the device will have a 10 inch screen, and a aluminum back like the MacBook. That sounds quite reasonable, but it also could be a good guess, it’s tough to tell. I guess we’re just going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to know the answer of what’s underneath the Apple tree.

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In order to celebrate its 90th anniversary, Mazda launched two new special editions in Japan, both equipped with i-stop, the company’s start-stop technology aimed at cutting emissions and fuel consumption. The special edition Mazda Axela (also known as Mazda3 in overseas markets) and the Mazda Biante are already on sale in Japan through all Mazda Afini and Mazda Autozam dealerships.

Specifically, Mazda Axela 90th Anniversary Special Edition is based on the four Axela grades that come with i-s… (read more)

For those who don’t care one bit about the rollout of the Apple (AAPL) tablet later this morning by CEO and ringmaster Steve Jobs, here is an incredibly funny song parody poking fun at the mysterious ABC television hit “Lost.”

“Lost” is premiering the first show of its final season tonight and the Fine Brothers want some answers about the convoluted plot of the often-vexing show.

Using “Downtown” as the tune, it’s long but spot-on–the part about Jin is especially hysterical. And that’s coming from someone who gave up on “Lost” after the weird second season.

Here it is:

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Contemporary electric automotive history is being shaped step by step. Yesterday, we reported that General Motors will start building electric motors for hybrid and electric vehicles, thus becoming a segment leader in the U.S. After that, GM announced that it will invest $246 million in electric motor and electric drive manufacturing. This includes the construction of a high volume electric drive production facility at the Baltimore Transmission plant which is scheduled to start manufacturing e… (read more)

Hilary Barte will be key to the Cardinal’s success in the upcoming team season in women’s tennis. The junior has been an All-American in singles and doubles in her first two years, and was also last year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year. (Stanford Daily File Photo)

Preparation is the key to success in all sports and the No. 13 Stanford women’s tennis team has been preparing a long time for the start of dual match play next week. The team hosts UC-Davis (0-1) at home before flying to the Lone Star State to take on both Texas Christian University (0-0) and the University of Texas (1-0).

A home opener for a sporting season is always thrilling, but especially so for the women’s tennis players at Stanford. The team comes in riding a home winning streak of 151 matches at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, recognized as the longest active home winning streak of any intercollegiate sport in NCAA Division I history. With their first dual match of the season coming up against UC-Davis, the players will put this streak on the line.

“I’m so excited,” said junior Hilary Barte. “When we went over for the men’s match on Saturday, I realized I missed the feeling of match day and just getting ready for it. Being at home is even more special.”

The success that individual Cardinal players have had up until now matters little once the team play begins. Matches now begin to count towards team rankings and entrance in the NCAA tournament in May, and those who have struggled can start anew. This first weekend on the road at Texas has been in the minds of the women as their first real test of the season, something they can all prepare for.

“We’ve been looking forward to playing at their place for a while,” said senior captain Lindsay Burdette about the Texas teams. “They came to us a couple years ago, and we beat them pretty good here, but they’ve both improved since then.”

“It’ll be a great opportunity to match up against some teams that we don’t normally play, and I expect all the best. It’ll be a boost for our ranking and just our confidence in general.”

Part of the preparation that the team has put in during the fall season came in helping the freshmen become acquainted with Division I competition. With three freshmen players — Stacey Tan, Mallory Burdette and Natalie Dillon — all potentially playing in the lineup, their contributions will need to come early and often. Fortunately for the Cardinal, they’ve all shined during their tournament play.

“I think it’s not an issue at all,” Barte said. “They’ve done a great job learning the ropes, asking us questions where there have been questions.

“Mallory, having been the third Burdette sister to come through here, has done a great job of leading her class,” she continued. “This year is probably my favorite dynamic on the team since I’ve been at Stanford.”

“We’re all just super excited for the season to start,” Burdette said. “The fact that we have this trip coming up is focusing everyone in practice on a daily basis. It’s definitely a big part of our schedule this quarter, and that’s only helping everyone over this next week and a half.”

The UC-Davis match will take place February 2 at 2:30 p.m. at Taube.

Another partnership in the electric vehicle field is taking shape, this time involving Norwegian electric car manufacturer Think and American infrastructure and charging solutions provider AeroVironment (AV).

The two will work together to showcase how the Think City Car and AV’s Level III charging solution get along. According to the initial findings, the Think City can be recharged to 80 percent of capacity in only 15 minutes.

"THINK and AeroVironment are setting a new standard for… (read more)

When Petronas terminated their deal with BMW Sauber F1 Team and switched to Mercedes GP for the upcoming 5 years of Formula One, the move attracted immense criticism from both the Malaysian media and the management team at Lotus F1 Team. And that’s because the Malaysian oil company decided to back another team, when they could have supported their own countrymen in their return to the series.

However, talking to The Star newspaper during Mercedes’ livery launch in Stuttgart on Monday, Vice pr… (read more)

The Mercedes Benz fashion week presents the SLS AMG and supermodel Julia Stegner, together for a photo shoot with a futuristic touch. A tad like Star Trek’s gone beserk for me, this is described as “cutting edge” work from the photographer Nick Knight. The SLS AMG is certainly of perfect enigmatic style to be used in this avant garde piece, and whether you like it or not, you’ve got to admit the final effect is dramatic. Julia Stegner discusses the work in a video after the jump.

The US racing debut of South Korean manufacturer Kia will take place on January 29, at the Daytona Speedway, during the Fresh From Florida 200 events. The cars which will have to introduce Kia to the US motorsports fans are two Forte Koups, fielded by racing partner Kinetic Group.

The two cars – No. 10 and No. 12 – are sponsored by Infinity Audio Systems and will race in the Street Tuner (ST) class of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 2010 season. The two cars will be driven… (read more)

After months of negotiations, General Motors finally confirmed that it will sell Saab to Spyker but refused to disclose any terms of the deal. The two companies signed a binding agreement which will lead to the creation of a new entity called Saab Spyker Automobiles, "which will carry the Saab brand forward," as the US-based carmaker said in a statement.

"Today’s announcement is great news for Saab employees, dealers and suppliers, great news for millions of Saab customers and … (read more)

You know, January is all but expired now. Gone are the heady (or is that headless?) days of CES 2010, and we’re nearly past the rumor euphoria of the decade, so what do we have to look forward to? According to CNET’s sources, WinMo 7. This year. Sure, we heard as much from DigiTimes, but it’s always good to put a more legitimate source to what is quite the juicy forecast. Confirmation that Microsoft is planning to finalize all code by this summer also meshes with an earlier leak of an LG Windows Mobile 7 handset set for a September release, while the latest Pink phone rumors are also reiterated. At any rate, it all kicks off in Barcelona come February 15, with Microsoft also circling its MIX 2010 web development conference a month later as the time it’ll start dishing the dirt on how to code for the new OS. So there we have it, new consumer phones and a long overdue WinMo overhaul all coming to you within the next few months.

Windows Mobile 7 roadmap elucidated, starts with MWC 2010 demo originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Carol Shelby Foundation decided to auction a one-off Jordin Sparks Edition 750 horsepower 2010 Shelby GT500 Super Snake. The event will take place next week, at the annual Jordin Sparks Experience at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. The auction will be live and the starting price is of $75,000.

Partnering with Jordin Sparks and Sparks Charities will give us an amazing opportunity to raise funds for our children’s health and education initiatives, said Jenni Shreeves, director of the Carroll Shel… (read more)