Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Concept Cars, India

If you’re not already familiar with DC Designs, let’s refresh your memory. Founded by Dilip Chhabria, the Indian designer has been responsible for such autotrocities as the Amrierod and Cayenne Coupe, along with tuned versions of the Rolls-Royce Phantom and Tata Nano. Pleased with what he’s done for other people’s vehicles, Chhabria has turned his efforts towards developing two new vehicles, both of which debuted this week at the Auto Expo in New Delhi.

Without any hard details on what’s underneath each concept, there’s not much to say aside from analyzing the designs. Despite it’s name, the Ying Yang struck us as a stylish amalgamation of the en vogue box aesthetic and a traditional minivan, while the Imperator is far too similar to the Lexus 2054 shown in the movie adaption of Philip K. Dick’s Minority Report — right down to the plummeting windows and red hue. Decidedly less swoopy than it’s silver screen inspiration, the four-seat Imperator is festooned with all the show car baubles you’d expect, including 24-inch wheels and gullwing doors, the latter of which are held up by massive hydraulic tubes that prove opening the concept’s doors was an afterthought. You can check out both concepts in the gallery below thanks to Indianautosblog.com.

Auto Expo 2010: DC Designs Imperator and Ying Yang shock and amuse originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Recalls

By this point, we are all familiar (if not overly familiar) with Toyota’s troubles with floor mats, unintended acceleration, biggest-ever recall, etc. And if you’re not familiar with Toyota’s woes from reading this site, perhaps you’ve heard about Consumer Reports’ investigation into ToMoCo’s troubles. Well, guess what? The gang over at Car and Driver decided to launch their own inquisition into FloorMatGate.

Here’s how they set up the tests. C/D took a V6 Camry, a Infiniti G37 Convertible and a supercharged, 540-horsepower Roush Ford Mustang. The Camry is identical very similar to the Lexus ES350 that crashed in San Diego and set off the current brouhaha. Similar in that it has an electronic throttle and push button start. Same brakes, too. The Infiniti also has electronic throttle and push button start, though it’s more powerful and has bigger brakes. Also, the Infiniti has a throttle interrupt that cuts fuel when the brake is applied. The Camry – and as far as C/D knows, all Toyota models – does not. As for the Roush, why the hell not? No, actually the reason is to see if a mega-power engine can overwhelm a car’s brakes at high speeds.

Here’s the methodology: First they recorded each car’s 70-0 mph braking distances with a closed throttle (i.e. foot off the gas). Then they recorded 70-0 mph braking distances with an open throttle (foot on the gas). Next, they upped the ante to 100 mph for both closed and open throttle tests. The results are actually quite interesting, and we will share with you that a Toyota Camry under wide open throttle can stop from 70 mph one foot shorter than a 2010 Ford Taurus under normal braking. Also, it’s best to take your foot off the gas in a 540-hp Roush when you’re going 100 mph and want to stop. Unless you have 903 feet to spare. Just sayin.’

[Source: Car and Driver]

C/D does its own Toyota unintended acceleration tests, compares Camry with Infiniti, Roush?! originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Convertible, Coupe, Performance, Europe, Mercedes-Benz, Rumormill

Out here in the eastern part of Los Angeles, there exists an infamous Mercedes-Benz 190SL. Why infamous? Because its rotting corpse is chained to a rock in a semi-sketchy part of town. No really. It’s been there for at least a decade, and if you try and take pictures of it (guilty!) a large angry woman comes hauling out of her front door screaming and cursing at you. This might be a little too James Ellroy-ish to some of you (as if there is such a thing!), but we mention the mostly dead 190SL because in the owners mind, it’s every bit as awesome a full bore, hardcore 300SL. Even though it’s clearly not. For one thing, the 190SL lacks gullwings.

Speaking of gullwings, who here doesn’t love the new SLS AMG? On second thought, keep it to yourself if you’re a hater. But if the new AMG-built SLS has one flaw, it’s the price. €177,310 to be exact, which would be $265,500 is U.S. dollars. Only the Euro price has little to nothing to do with the U.S. price. Still, even if it’s only around $200,000 in the States, that’s still a lot of scratch. Well, looks like the folks at Daimler might possibly have a solution.

Australia’s Drive is reporting that the previously rumored baby SLS will likely be called SSK AMG, and it is said to be coming in 2014. Should it see the light of day, Drive says that the SSK AMG will roll on a shortened version of the SLS’s chassis. It will come as both a coupe and a convertible, but will lose the SLS’ trick gullwing doors. Power should come from some sort of forced-induction V8 that should be good for about 500 horsepower. The engine will not be – and will be smaller than – the 6.2-liter, 563-horsepower slugger found in the SLS. Figure the little SSK car should cost close to half what the larger car does. All the better to do battle with the Porsche 911 – even without the gullwings.

Photos by Chris Paukert / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Drive.com.au]

Rumored Mercedes-Benz “Baby SLS” to be called SSK AMG, get its gullwings clipped? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Research in Motion has announced that it is launching a mobile PowerPoint presenter, a device that completely does away with the need to carry around a laptop when you need to give a presentation with slides — consultants rejoice!

Able to store up to 100 presentations, the presenter only requires you to own a compatible Blackberry and have access to a projector. It’s like a Mac Mini dedicated just to the dreaded task of PowerPoint, only even more mini.

Blackberry phones have always been the popular choice for professional use. Users who need to stay up to date with emails and frequently access documents find it preferable because its physical keyboard is better for high-volume typing. It seems like adding PowerPoint capabilities would make the phone even more celebrated among this crowd.

But the iPhone and now Android phones are giving RIM a run for its money in the enterprise smartphone space, and Blackberry’s dominance is shakier than ever. While the other two prominent smartphones have gained more traction for personal use, both platforms are making inroads into the enterprise audience with slick user interfaces and more professional-friendly features.

This could be bad news for RIM, which needs to stay on top of this market, despite strong earnings in the last quarter of 2009. The launch of the Blackberry Presenter is clearly meant to solidify its leadership position, making it even more helpful and versatile for large companies that issue hundreds or even thousands of smartphones for their employees to stay connected.

As useful as it could be, the device costs about $200, and you still need a projector. The iPhone has the upper hand when it comes to an ecosystem of third-party developers and OEMs in this area — evidenced by several third-party devices such as this video projector made by MiLi, a small devices that eliminates the need for not just a laptop, but also for a separate projector. The only thing bogging it down is its hefty $399 price tag.

All in all, while the Blackberry Presenter will be a welcome addition for enterprise users who already use and love Blackberry, it probably won’t be enough to make someone switch from the iPhone. If, however, RIM can turn out a device that is small and affordable enough that also operates without a projector, then it could start chipping away at some real market share.

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Even before the first Chevy Volt — General Motor’s hyped plug-in vehicle — has rolled into the showroom, the green car already has a smartphone application to go along with it. Using the Consumer Electronic Show as its springboard, the automaker has unveiled apps for the iPhone, Droid and Blackberry Storm, allowing drivers to tap into sources of information and even a vehicle remote control via the OnStar System.

Let’s say you are the average Chevy Volt driver, having gotten the car sometime this year after its launch. When you download the app, you will instantly have the ability to see how charged your car’s battery pack is at any given time; to tell the car only to charge during certain off-peak times of day to save money on electric bills; to receive text messages or emails if your car isn’t plugged in or has reached a full charge; to program the car’s interior temperature using its heating and air conditioning systems; and to view historical data about your Volt’s mileage and distance traveled. This is pretty swanky stuff.

The application, officially released by OnStar, is all part of a fairly genius marketing campaign devised by GM. The car’s success depends largely on the automaker’s ability to not only ramp up the publicity, but to make the car seem like the futuristic, holistic, thoroughly green masterpiece its most avid followers expect it to be. Launching a smartphone component accomplishes both these goals — demonstrating that the car and the company are web 2.0 savvy and serious about demonstrating its mileage and electric engine specs.

A few other cool features: Taking a page from car-sharing service Zipcar’s playbook, the app will also be able to lock and unlock car doors remotely, as well as flash the headlights and blow the Volt’s horn. This should make it much easier for people to locate their cars in dark parking garages, not to mention check whether their doors are locked or not after they’re already far away from the car (always a frustration).

It’s unclear whether the app will work on the Nexus One, the iPod Touch, other Blackberries or the Palm Pre. We’re guessing not, since the announcement was very specific about the iPhone, Droid and Blackberry Storm. But these iterations are probably forthcoming.

This is the second big Volt-related announcement this week, and it’s only Tuesday. Yesterday, General Motors announced that its Michigan plant dedicated to manufacturing Volt battery packs has officially come online — making GM the first major automaker to jump into the advanced battery business so far.

You can download a trial iPhone version of the OnStar app here starting today, and view demos of all the different handsets here. Apparently, the real deal will be launched by OnStar at the same time that the Volt finally goes to market late this year. In the meantime, here’s a walkthrough of the application on the Motorola Droid:

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Casio is kicking off the new year with a Digital Art Frame that can take an ordinary photo and transform it into a work of art. It resembles a digital picture frame that you can use to display photos. But this one has a new twist: you can use it to create photo images or original art works.

The Japanese camera maker says the frame is part of its quest to transform cameras from mere photo-taking instruments into creative digital imaging devices. You can display snapshots on the device and transform one photo into eight different artistic images using a “snapshot-to-painting” automatic conversion function.

The device, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, also has face recognition technology that allows you to delicately alter human faces and expressions in a photo. That means they aren’t just photos anymore, but creative works that look realistic. Users can upload these masterpieces to a blog or social network via a built-in wireless network in the frame. You can also create your own images to adorn a digital clock or calendar.

The art styles include: Water Color Painting, Color Pencil Sketch, Pastel Painting, Pointillism, Air Brush, Oil Painting, Gothic Oil Painting, and Fauvist Oil Painting. The frame uses Adobe’s Flash Lite playback technology, which lets users display preset Flash content, such as clocks and calendars.

The product will be available in the spring. It has a 10.1-inch screen, two gigabytes of memory, an SD memory card slot, stereo speakers, and a power-saving display that turns on when someone approaches the screen.

Casio is also introducing a new line of high-power zoom digital cameras. The point-and-shoot, compact digital cameras have 10X optical zoom lenses to shoot distant subjects. The EX-H15, EX-Z550, and the EX-Z2000 all feature the ability to combine different moving images into a single video or image, right on the camera. The company calls this Dynamic Photo, where one photo can be like a cut-out image that can be pasted into another photo that forms the background. The cameras can easily upload videos to YouTube and have faster engines that increase image processing speed by 30 percent.

Casio also has a high-speed model, the EX-FH100 (pictured above), capable of taking 40 shots per second. The 10X zoom camera can also record a video at a rate of 1,000 frames per second. The latter is capturing images at a rate that is faster than the human eye can see. One of the models has a dynamic photo function that can combine one set of moving images with another set, creating a composite image.

The company is also introducing a new mercury-free high-brightness data projector family. The projectors are thus more environmentally friendly and energy efficient. The Green Slim projectors (pictured) can produce images with 2,000 lumens brightness, which means they can compete with other kinds of projectors on image brightness and quality. The projector is about the size of a standard 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, is 1.7 inches high, and weighs five pounds. It can connect wirelessly with a PC.

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Remember Formspring.me, the service we covered two days ago that makes it easy to conduct your own online Q&A with the web at large? Popular microblogging service Tumblr has just launched a new feature called “Ask Me” that does the exact same thing.

The new feature is simple: if you have a Tumblr blog, you can now add a form that lets your readers ask you whatever they want. They can leave their questions anonymously or submit them alongside their account name. Then, you can pick and choose which questions you want to answer and post your responses to your blog.

Of course, that’s exactly what Formspring.me does. Tumblr users have actually been building their own Q&As for a while using generic HTML form builders, which is what drove Formspring (a form builder itself) to build a dedicated service for Q&As called Formspring.me. Formspring.me has since gained quite a large following on Tumblr, so it isn’t all that surprising that the blog platform decided to bake it in. CEO David Karp says that the feature was “inspired by the Q&A posts that our community had been hacking together with Tumblr Submissions, Wufoo, and Formspring.”

All is not lost for Formspring.me, though. CEO Ade Olonoh says that while Tumblr served as a good incubator for Formspring.me, the service has since grown well beyond that site. He says that in the past few days only around 3-4% of questions answered on Formspring.me were syndicated to Tumblr. I suspect those figures are skewed by the fact that Formspring.me has been covered by a number of large tech blogs recently, but the appeal of these Q&A services clearly extends beyond Tumblr.

Tumblr hasn’t exactly shied away from ripping off other sites before. Back in August the site launched a StumbleUpon-like toolbar called TumblUpon (seriously).

Crunch Network: MobileCrunch Mobile Gadgets and Applications, Delivered Daily.

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As we’re all well aware, Google released the Nexus One yesterday, the first supposed “Google Phone.” But it’s hardly an iPhone killer. For that role, Google has something much more sinister in mind. Meet the “Fuck You iPhone” Phone.

I don’t even know where to begin. The best bits: ”The fastest processor ever in a mobile device. Also, it fucks with iPhones and the tools that own them.” ”This phone will fuck with any iPhone’s shit. Hard.” The “Optimized Urination Interface.” And yes, the phone used as the new Google Phone is an iPhone. Great stuff from LandlineTV.

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Stylesight, a company that specializes in trend forecasting and product development tools for professionals in the fashion and style industries, has raised $5 million in funding according to an SEC filing. The company previously raised $16 million in series A funding from Fidelity Venture in 2008.

Stylesight allows designers, manufacturers, and retailers to access the latest fashion data and images, which can then be used in online advertising campaigns, design plans, and merchandise displays. Stylesight hosts a library of millions of images from runway shows and other sources, and will give retail operations and designers reports on trends and product ideas.

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Right before we rung in the New Year, we heard rumors that Lamborghini is planning a hardcore version of the Gallardo, known as the Gallardo LP570-4 SV (Super Veloce). We now have some photo renderings of what the LP570-4 SV could look like courtesy of Lamborghini Cars.

According to sources, Lamborghini plans on showing dealers and customers the car later this month. A public unveiling is scheduled for the 2010 Geneva Motor Show with deliveries to begin in May.

After the Gallardo LP570-4 SV Lamborghini plans on offering a hardcore rear-wheel-drive version of the supercar in early 2011.

Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 SV (Photo Renderings):

– By: Kap Shah

Source: Lamborghini Cars

Bad news, Netflix customers: Warner Bros. and Netflix have just made an agreement to delay all new release rentals by 28 days so people will keep buying DVDs. Or, as is more likely, turn to piracy.

The upside of the deal is that Warner is offering up more movies for streaming on Netflix to make up for the lack of new releases. But don’t expect this to be the only studio that makes this deal. Now that one has shown that Netflix is willing to play ball, the rest should follow. Weak, Netflix. Weak.

I guess if you want to see a new release without buying the goddamned movie, you’re stuck heading to the torrent sites. You did this to yourself, Warner Bros. [Mashable]

Samsung’s been in the app game for a while, but now they’re setting up a store to give apps to all of your Sammy devices: TVs, phones, Blu-ray players, PCs, cameras and God only knows what else.

They’ve got apps built from the ground up specifically for your television, with features like weather, music, and so on. The apps are also available on Blu-ray products, with a first round of free apps available now and paid apps coming in the summer.

It’s an open platform, which means that third party developers will be able to build apps for Samsung products, and Samsung has plans to bring apps to the rest of your devices as well.

Samsung Unveils First Ever Application Store For TVs, Blu-ray Players, Home Theater Systems and Select Mobile Phones
January 6, 2010

“Samsung Apps” to be Rolled Out in Multiple Product Lines to Support a New Dimension of Home Entertainment with a Few Clicks of the Remote

LAS VEGAS – January 6, 2010 – Samsung Electronics Co. ., Ltd. and Samsung Electronics America Inc., market leaders and award-winning innovators in consumer electronics, today unveiled Samsung Apps, the world’s first HDTV-based application store where users can download and purchase applications from select 2010 Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Home Theater systems via the upgraded Internet@TV – Content Service. As a result of this new application platform, content owners and developers will now be able to develop one app that works across multiple devices, delivering a more consistent and intuitive experience for consumers.

Samsung Apps provides consumers with an expanded, easy-to-navigate selection of content and applications from leading content providers and services – all driven by the new, faster and more flexible Samsung platform. Applications can be downloaded and viewed all while watching TV. The first batch of TV apps will launch in the spring free of charge, while premium apps will be available for purchase via the platform’s transactional interface in the summer of 2010. Dozens of apps will be demonstrated on Samsung’s latest HDTVs at Booth #11026 during the International Consumer Electronics Show, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, January 7 -10, 2010.

“Samsung’s goal over the past two years has been to really push the envelope in terms of consumer experience with connected TV, and 2010 is no different,” said Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. “The upgraded Internet@TV feature with Samsung Apps is another major step in terms of a truly personalized, easy to navigate and convenient connected TV experience, which is why we’re offering it in the vast majority of TV models 40 inches and above and now extending those capabilities across multiple products.”

As the “connected TV” market leader in 2008, Samsung was the first to deliver RSS feeds via its InfoLink feature, bringing news, weather and stock information directly to televisions for the first time. In early 2009, the company launched Internet@TV, the first widget-based TV service and quickly captured 75% of the connected TV market share. In October 2009, Samsung was the first to launch Blockbuster’s streaming movie rental and purchase service on select HDTVs and Blu-ray players. This year, consumers will be interacting with their televisions through a wide range of applications. They’ll be streaming HD video, viewing personal photos, interacting with friends, and playing casual games all with the push of a button on their remote control.

Samsung Apps doesn’t stop at home –it also supports select mobile phones around the world. Samsung Apps Mobile is already launched in England, France, Italy, and Korea, and will expand to approximately 50 countries worldwide in 2010. Samsung Apps will become the integrated service channel that offers services for Samsung’s various electronic products in the future.

A New Dimension of Home Entertainment

The diverse range of apps will span video, information, lifestyle, games, and sports. Content partners will include Accedo Broadband, AccuWeather.com, The Associated Press, Blockbuster, Fashion TV, Netflix, Picasa, Pandora, Rovi, Travel Channel, Twitter, USA TODAY, and Vudu. More apps from partners globally will also be available within the year. A variety of options in 2010 will truly fulfill the promise of a connected TV with immersive home entertainment experiences that are easy to access and use. For example, by combining Web-enabled features with live content, a consumer could track a fantasy sports team and chat with competitors while everyone watches the game live. Additionally, several apps in 2010 will allow interactivity between HDTVs and select Samsung WiFi-enabled phones. Consumers, for example, would be able to play Texas Hold ’em poker with friends where the TV screen shows the table and the phone serves as the controller, while showing cards in your hand like a real poker game.

Good for Developers, Good for Consumers

Using the Samsung Apps Software Developers Kit (SDK), content and application developers have new opportunities to build applications, content and services. The forthcoming developers program will be an open platform that encourages anyone from premium content owners to individual developers, to create their own applications. Samsung expects many additional partners to become Samsung App developers by the end of 2010, which will make the content and services offered through the platform more diverse and robust than current competing connected televisions on the market.

Manufacturing employment was smashed by the recent economic downturn, and remains down 18% vs. two years ago (when things began to tank) according to employment data released by ADP.

Yet the Federal Reserve’s manufacturing output index has begun to recover. Either we’re currently experiencing a jobless (at best job-lite) recovery or the hiring is just around the corner.

(This employment datapoint was first highlighted over at Econompic. Check out their site for great charts.)

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See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: Manufacturing Capacity Was Demolished In 2009
• German Manufacturing Sentiment Soars, Signals V-Shaped Recovery
• Germans Complain That All The Good Manufacturing Jobs Are Going To America

Samsung’s LED LCD televisions are here and the flagship 9000 is a doozy. It’s the only one they’re calling “ultra thin”, has 3D support in late 2010 and a touch remote that shows you content from other video sources!

The thinness (it’s as skinny as a pencil) is achieved by shoving lots of guts into the pedestal, which doubles as a wall mount. The set can convert 2D content into 3D, although I’m sure of dubious quality. The remote looks rather Apple-ish in UI, but it can show you, as I said before, content from other sources, like live TV while watching a Blu-ray on the big screen. It has 240Hz tech, which we’ve never noticed as important in image quality, but it’s there (needed for 3D). No word on sizes or prices, yet. There’s Samsung app support, but platforms like these are never really well supported. The frame is very shiny.

The rest:

8000 Series: Not as thin as the 9000, it uses edge lit technology and has what Samsung claims is the advantage of backlighting with localized dimming. 240Hz. No prices or sizes. 3D, and treatment to upconvert 2D to 3D. Samsung apps.

7000 Series: No edgelit with localized dimming advantages as in the 8000. 240Hz. No prices or sizes. 3D, and treatment to upconvert 2D to 3D. Samsung apps. “Touch of Color” translucent frame from last year, with a new 4 legged stand.

6500 Series: 120Hz, “touch of color” finish. DLNA streaming capabilities. Apps. No 3D. No prices or sizes. Coming the first half of 2010, unlike the above which are coming in “2010”.
5000 Series: Focus on low power usage, including a low power monitor. DLNA, and USB port media playback.