Author: Serkadis

A couple of the hotter video games released in Japan later this month, as reviewed in this week’s issue of Famitsu magazine:

– Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (10/9/9/9, 37 points): Nothing negative was said at all in any of the four reviewers’ boxes for Nomura’s latest Disney-fied action RPG. “Each stage has different story and event bits to it, so it always seems really fresh,” one wrote. “A lot of innovation is in the battle system, and once you get to grips with it, it becomes really exhilarating. The graphics and sound are excellent, and the minigames are great, too. No complaints at all from me.”

Other reviewers added comments on the size of the game (”The sheer volume of the story, as told from three different perspectives, is amazing”) and the way battles get deeper over time (”It’s nice how new battle tactics gradually make themselves known as you learn new battle commands”).

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Chevrolet

Lee Noble has risen from the ashes of his former company, the eponymous Noble Automotive, and launched a new supercar under the Fenix Automotive banner. The company’s first new product is a clean sheet design that owes little to the old M12 and M400 cars that were sold in the States as component vehicles. While it shares similar specs and general shape with the new Noble M600, it has nothing else in common with the latest vision-warping supercar to bear his name.

Where the M12 and M400 were stripped-down flyers powered by various versions of the European Ford 3.0-liter V6, the Fenix will be powered by a choice of Chevrolet V8 powerplants. Customers can specifiy either the 480 horsepower LS3, or the 638 horsepower LS9 from the Corvette ZR1. With a projected curb weight of just 2,645 pounds, the supercharged Fenix should be able to sprint from 0-100 mph in under seven seconds and reach a top speed of around 200 mph.

The first prototype will be undergoing development around the company’s manufacturing facility in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Fenix supercar will go on sale in the UK in the second half of 2010 and U.S. sales are a possibility. The Fenix is expected to offer a level of performance and sophistication that would rival $240,000 thoroughbred sportscars while costing about half as much. No official pricing has been announced yet, but the company did issue a press release, which you’ll find after the jump, and a pair of photos in the gallery below.

[Source: Fenix Automotive]

Continue reading First images of Fenix supercar released

First images of Fenix supercar released originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Car Buying, Hyundai, Toyota

In a U.S. News and World Report story distributed via Yahoo dubbed “The 10 Best Discontinued Cars,” author Rick Newman spoke with an unnamed analyst at Kelley Blue Book in an effort to help new car shoppers find exceptionally deep discounts on new cars. Here’s where it gets hazy: As part of that process, Newman sought to:

“…identify models likely to be discontinued over the next couple of years. For some of these models, the manufacturers have confirmed that the car is being axed; others made the list because of strong indicators that they’re being discontinued, such as manufacturing changes or declining shipments to dealers.”

Note the word usage of “likely” and “next couple of years” coupled to that very misleading title. To Newman’s credit, he notes “unconfirmed” when discussing vehicles that haven’t been officially killed off, but to our eyes, the title is misleading and the execution of the list itself strikes us as disingenuous, particularly as it mixes vehicles that have already been officially nixed (Honda S2000, Mercury Sable, Pontiac G8, Saturn Sky, Volkswagen Jetta GLI) with end-of-life models that are likely to be replaced or die out in due time (Chevrolet Colorado, Lexus SC430), as well as nameplates that have been facing declining or slow sales (Toyota Matrix and FJ Cruiser, Hyundai Veracruz). We spoke with Curt McCallister, Toyota’s Midwest Public Relations Manager about the fate of the Matrix and FJ Cruiser, and he offered us the following guidance:

“There are no plans to discontinue either model. The Yahoo story is erroneous in that it was based on conjecture from unnamed analysts from Kelley Blue Book. The reporter (Newman) was informed of the factual errors in his story, multiple times yesterday. He was also questioned on why we weren’t allowed to confirm or deny these assumptions. It was poor reporting that unfortunately has an Internet reach.”

Click through to the jump for the rest of the story, including a comment from Hyundai.

[Source: U.S. News and World Report via Yahoo]

Continue reading Toyota, Hyundai refute report of discontinued models

Toyota, Hyundai refute report of discontinued models originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Filed under: Hybrid, CES, Technology, Chevrolet

It’s time for the Consumer Electronics Show and so it’s also time for the techiest cars on the road (and those which haven’t quite made it there yet) to strut their stuff. General Motors and OnStar took a little time last night to show off the Volt mobile apps that will launch with the car, which were formally announced last night, and we were there to try them out and capture a little video. Worth getting excited about? We think so, but read on to find out for yourself.

Continue reading GM and OnStar unveil Volt mobile apps, we try them out [w/videos]

GM and OnStar unveil Volt mobile apps, we try them out [w/videos] originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

AT&T made several announcements today that it hopes will boost the apps and phones on the company’s mobile network. Chief among them were the addition of devices using Google’s Android operating system and a new “Apps for All” initiative, which will make it easier for developers to build non-smartphone apps.

Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, made the announcements on-stage at the company’s developer summit in Las Vegas today. AT&T will soon add Android phones built by Motorola, HTC, and Dell — in fact, Motorola is giving out free Android phones to summit attendees later today. Also falling under the network’s goal to “continue supporting the smartphone apps revolution,” AT&T said that with the addition of Nokia’s Ovi and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile app stores, it should now support most major smartphone operating systems and stores. It’s also launching a site for emerging devices, like e-readers and navigation devices, on the AT&T network.

AT&T said its next major goal is to “spur the apps revolution beyond smartphones.” Its “Apps for All” program is aimed at mid-range “quick messaging devices,” which don’t have all the features of a smartphone, but do have QWERTY keyboards and mobile web browsers. They’re used chiefly for text messaging, and make up 30 percent of the devices on AT&T’s network. Now the company is teaming up with Qualcomm to allow developers to build applications using the BREW platform that will work across all of the quick-messaging devices on AT&T’s network.

“Two-thirds of the devices that we’re selling today are not smartphones,” De La Vega said, so this initiative should help solve the “developer’s dilemma,” where a small developer, especially, wants to make their apps available on multiple phones, but doesn’t necessarily have the resources to build the app over and over again.

De la Vega also touched on two other goals: to enhance developer programs and continue investing in its network. The company’s announcement earlier today that it has upgraded its towers on the 3G network is presumably be part of that last piece.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Remote tech support company, iYogi has secured $15 million in third-round funding led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and including return investors Canaan Partners, SAP Ventures, and SVB India Capital Partners. The new money will be used to improve its current offerings and expand its global team.

Similar services, like Geek Squad, require consumers to either bring in their computers to a physical store or have an on-site visit for repairs. iYogi uses remote specialists around the world to access consumer computers remotely.

After permission is granted by the user, an iYogi specialist can diagnose a problem and fix it, even from a great distance. Consumers get unlimited support for $139.99 a year — which includes around-the-clock attention, anti-virus and anti-spyware protection, and various tools to keep your PC running fast. The company also provides technical support for printers, MP3 players, digital cameras and other software applications.

The company says that it actively relies on platforms made by companies like HP, Microsoft and Cisco in order to provide its special brand of remote technical services. It has also recently bagged a couple of big name retailers as customers, including Amazon and Walmart.

The India-based company previously raised two rounds totaling $3 million in 2007 and $9.5 million in 2008.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Cloud-based online gaming startup Gaikai has raised $5 million in funding, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The company is headed by longtime game veteran David Perry, maker of games such as the Matrix and chief creative officer at video game publisher Acclaim. The company declined to comment on the filing, which does not identify investors. But one of the company’s directors is Mitch Lasky, a partner at Benchmark Capital.

Like its rivals OnLive and Otoy, Gaikai is planning to create a service that can deliver games on demand, without the need to install or run software on a computer or game machine. Rather, it runs the game on servers in the cloud and shares constantly updated video images of the action with the gamer.

While seven-year-old OnLive has raised much more money and has partners like AT&T, Gaikai is smaller and has less ambitious plans. For instance, Perry told me that Gaikai could be used to give users a better way to shop for Flash-based games by showing them a live preview of how the game works when a user hovers over an icon in an appstore. But it could also be used to provide games directly to end users via digital distribution and make an end run around physical game retailers, as OnLive is doing.

“Our goals are really simple, to remove all the friction between hearing about a game and trying it out, to help reduce the cost of gaming, to grow video game audiences, to raise the revenue that publishers and developers can earn, and (most importantly) to make games accessible everywhere,” Perry said in an interview last year. “If the iPhone AppStore has taught us anything, [it’s that] when you make it easy to check things out, you get a billion downloads.”

Perry didn’t reveal Gaikai’s business model. But the advantages of playing games stored on servers and not on home computers are myriad. First, gamers can buy the games on the spot and play them almost immediately. The gamers can also play high-end games on relatively low-end hardware. Perry said gamers could use Gaikai to play high-speed racing games such as Need For Speed on low-performance netbooks (web computers which are smaller than laptops). Since retailers aren’t involved, the games could either cost less or publishers can keep more of the money. And gamers never have to download patches or other upgrades. They just need a decent broadband connection to be able to play. That opens even hardcore games to a broader audience.

Based in the Netherlands, Gaikai’s co-founders include Perry, Andrew Gault and Rui Pereira.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Casey Johnson was heiress to the multi-billionaire dollar Johnson & Johnson empire — but allegedly couldn’t pay her bills.

The pharmaceutical heiress died owing Porsche Financial Services $105,740.93, according to court records obtained this week.

The 30-year-old socialite and mother of one was found dead in her West Hollywood mansion by a maid on Monday. For weeks prior to her death, Casey reportedly hid her leased Porsche Cayenne SUV in a garage to keep the company from repossessing it.

Aggregate Knowledge, developer of a platform that analyzes the performance of online display ads in real time and allows marketers to easily tweak their content to better target certain audiences, has brought in $9 million in a third round of venture funding led by OVP Venture Partners.

Based in San Mateo, Calif., the company employs algorithms based on machine-learning to parse massive volumes of data about what people are looking for and buying online. This allows it to give both brands and web publishers the insights they need to better tailor their campaigns. Aggregate says it will use its new funding to fine tune its product, making it even more helpful for advertising agencies.

The emphasis on display ad analytics is actually a bond new move for Aggregate, which previously focused on providing recommendation engines to e-commerce sites. It provided tools to consumers on these sites that would tell them what other products they might want to buy based on previous purchases. In that space, it competed with the likes of Strands, Loomia, and of course Amazon. Now it finds itself in the same company as AdReady, AdXpose, Adometry and Mpire.

Aggregate Knowledge shifted course last July when it launched its Audience Discovery Engine for display advertising, allowing its customers to track which ad campaigns are working with which demographics and why.

The company has now raised $34.5 million to date. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and DAG Ventures also participated in the recent round. In the past, it has taken funds from First Round Capital and NetService Ventures as well. It has 26 employees.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

A study of 50 million Wi-Fi networks around the world by WeFi — the company claims to have “the world’s largest community-based global Wi-Fi network” — found that 40 percent of the American Wi-Fi networks examined by WeFi were unprotected. No password. Open to everyone.

Is that bad, or is it good?

People seem to be irreconcilably divided on whether open networks are good or bad. In 2002, I attended a panel discussion where experts who had briefed then-czar of cybersecurity Richard Clarke didn’t even debate the merits of open networks. They stamped them a potential “terrorist tool.” Al-Qaeda, they said, was going to camp out in your company’s parking lot and launch attacks on the Internet if you didn’t lock down your Linksys box with 128-character passwords.

I’m in the other camp: Passwords suck. Free Wi-Fi boosts America’s productivity. Whenever I find an open network, I spend a minute trying to figure out who operates it so I can send them a thank-you mail.

WeFi’s study says that the most open countries for traveling Web surfers are Thailand, Israel, Brazil, Argentina and especially the Bahamas, where 69 percent of networks were open to the pubic.

By contrast, only 25 percent of observed networks in Europe were open. For now, WeFi hasn’t drawn any conclusions on why, or on what it all means. These stats are the first released numbers from a more detailed report the company plans to publish later in the first quarter of 2010.

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

Read Original Article

Decorated rally racer and DC Shoe co-founder Ken Block, one of Subaru’s most valuable assets in catapulting them to the height of their popularity, is now working for Ford. Famous for his stunning X-Games performances and Gymkhana viral videos (featured after the jump), Block’s legacy within the motorsports circuit is well known by even the most casual of fans and Ford has essentially landed themselves the golden marketing ticket.

Beyond the scores of devout broskies that worship in his wake, Block will also bring to Ford the street cred of a second-generation fanboy. “I am stoked to be rallying in a Ford. They are an impressive force in the sport,” said Ken Block. “From the days of the 1970s Escorts to the Group B RS200 to the modern-day Focus and now the Fiesta, Ford just does an excellent job at rally and I couldn’t be happier to now be part of this amazing heritage. Not to mention my dad would be proud. He was a dedicated Ford guy.”

Equally excited is Ford, who has gained another invaluable asset in promoting the highly-anticipated rally-bred Fiesta. “Ken Block has established himself as an action sports competitor and a rising star in the world of American rally racing,” said Jamie Allison, director Ford North America Motorsports. “We are excited to have him on our team to help promote our new global products, the 2011 Ford Fiesta and 2012 Ford Focus.”

Block’s first rally appearance with Team Ford will be in the 2010 FIA World Rally Cup Championship, full-length coverage of which will be available from Discovery Channel HD. For those of you broke bastards who aren’t about to spend $50 extra for the premium cable package, WRC TV also provides live (FREE) coverage at WRC.com.

Check out Ken Block in action

Source: PRNewswire

With innovation clubbed with environment sensitivity at its peak, a new stadium at Zaberg designed by Croatia-based njiric+ arhitekti is unique in its own right. It is an amazing volcano shaped piece of architecture, circular, made of light-weighted materials, the ‘Blue Volacano’ as it has been nicknamed rises a little above the ground surface to surround the area within. Not giving it the heavy look, the building is made of light materials such as steel cables, EFTE membranes and a polycarbonate dome. An artificial hill holds up the building and is made up of recycled rubber. Some kind of ‘floating cloud’ covers the stadium. This cloud generates power for the stadium because of the light weight photovoltaic panels on its surface. There have been several eco stadiums developed in the past few months like the The Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya and many more. This is not just any other eco stadium; it definitely is a ‘smart’ eco stadium.

[Inhabitat]

Oh boy. Here’s a fun one. You had to expect that there would be more defamation lawsuits about Twitter following the first one involving Courtney Love, but this one is quite impressive, considering of all the twists and turns that must be followed. It involves some company promoting something called “The Cookie Diet” (which appears to be exactly what you would think) suing Kim Kardashian for libel. If you don’t keep up with pop culture, Kim Kardashian is one of those people famous for being famous. The details of the lawsuit, though, are somewhat complex, and it’s difficult to figure out who to side with in this trainwreck in progress (and, yes, it seems pretty likely that the whole thing is a publicity stunt for all involved, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth covering).

So, basically, the story is that this “cookie diet” supposedly has some fans in Hollywood, and a variety of media have covered the story. Some of those media reports claimed that Kardashian (among many others) were fans of the diet. The Cookie Diet people — like you would expect — have a page on their website that links to news coverage, including a story (which they had nothing to do with) that said Kardashian used the diet. At some point, they also sent Kardashian’s publicist a box of the cookies.

At some point towards the end of last year, Kardashian saw the link on the website and got upset, posting two Twitter messages saying the following:

After that, her lawyers sent the Cookie Diet people a letter demanding that it remove the link to the story. It’s unclear on what legal grounds the demand was made, as the diet company insists it had nothing to do with the story, did not supply the information and, in fact, had no knowledge that Kardashian had tried the diet. However, they did remove the link. It was only then that they noticed the Twitter messages and… then we get the lawsuit.

OK. So far we’ve already got some confusion about whether a link to a news article is actionable, combined with a Twitter libel claim. But then the story gets even more bizarre. You see, there’s been a lot of talk lately about Kardashian being the most high profile client of some company that gets people to post sponsored Twitter messages. In fact, reports claim that some companies are paying her $10,000 per sponsored message. This may or may not be true, but if it is true, then the companies paying that money are likely getting seriously ripped off because they don’t understand how Twitter works and how follower counts are grossly inflated.

So, what does this have to do with the cookies? Well, the cookie people are noting in the legal filing that Kardashian is paid to promote QuickTrim, but that she failed to note this. How does that become important? Well… you may recall last year’s kerfuffle over the new FTC “guidelines” about paid endorsements online. While the cookie people don’t specifically bring this up, it’s certainly implied that Kardashian’s paid sponsorship had something to do with her messages against the cookie people.

It’s hard to see either side as being worth defending here, but sit back, grab a cookie and enjoy watching the legal arguments fly.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

Emotional blackmail is the worst form of blackmail that ever exists. And when even machines use the emotional tactic, it sure is going to get very difficult for us emotional fools to survive. Better yet, we will at least get environmentally sensitive. Designer Jin Kim has designed this mirror that can show how much water we use on a daily, monthly and even on a yearly basis. The mirror looks unsuspecting until the LED lights glow with the hard to digest facts about your water usage. The system is attached with the sink, so the colors on the lights work on tandem with the amount of water used. You can also make the mirror control the excessive amount of water you consume. If the water used is over the regular mark, the LED flickers the image of an African child carrying a pot of water reminding of the painful fact that how these kids have to travel miles together to fetch one mere pot of water. Very thoughtful indeed.

[YankoDesign]

Not digging the Microsoft Windows themes Smart ForTwo above? Think you can do better? Well head over to www.styleyoursmart.com and show off your talent. From now until February 3rd, Smart is running a content and is looking for the coolest design and will award prizes to the winner with a total value of €5000 ($7,210).

The “Style your smart” project is one of more than 1200 ideas submitted by the “Business Innovation Community”, a Web 2.0 platform on the Daimler intranet.

Winners will be announced on Feb. 26th.

Click through for the press release for more info.

Press Release:

Stuttgart – smart is staying true to its brand slogan “open your mind” and opening to outside ideas with a design contest. From 6 January 2010 fans of smart and design worldwide are invited to design a smart fortwo on the website www.styleyoursmart.com. smart is looking for the coolest smart design and will award prizes with a total value of €5000 to the winners.

Marc Langenbrinck, Managing Director smart brand and Head of Sales & Marketing smart says “In our daily contact with our customers we keep experiencing how passionate they are about smart. Many of them personalise their smart with products from our wide range of accessories. Lots of them go even further and realise their own ideas. We are now taking this up. The design contest offers all smart drivers and fans a platform to lend expression to their creativity.”

Participants can give free rein to their imagination. A design configurator is available on the online platform www.styleyoursmart.com. It offers a multitude of colours, prints, patterns and shapes. At the same time budding artists can also develop their own graphic ideas. In addition, they can exchange views with other contestants and comment on and rate ideas and designs. In this way a design community for car enthusiasts and smart fans will be created.

Designs can be put online until 23 February 2010. An independent expert jury will subsequently select the best contributions based on the community ratings. The winners will be announced on the website on 26 February 2010 and can look forward to prizes totalling €5,000.

“Style your smart” is one of more than 1200 ideas submitted by the “Business Innovation Community”, a Web 2.0 platform on the Daimler intranet. Employees can post their ideas here – and their colleagues from other departments and regions can comment on them, rate them and further develop them.

– By: Kap Shah

Article Tags: BBC, Headline Story, James Delingpole

At last. The BBC Trust – the BBC’s governing body – is to launch a review of its science coverage, especially regarding “climate change”. (Hat tip: Yaosxx)

The review comes after repeated criticism of the broadcaster’s handling of green issues. It has been accused of acting like a cheerleader for the theory that climate change is a man-made phenomenon.

Critics have claimed that it has not fairly represented the views of sceptics of the widely-held belief that humans are responsible for environmental changes such as global warming.

Knowing what we do about the BBC, I’m sure the review’s considered conclusion after a careful ignoring of all the relevant facts will be that the Pope most certainly isn’t Catholic, and that in no wise are bears guilty of sub-arboreal defecation. But just in case the BBC is interested in having a full-on, Caliban-style bit of self-examination in the glass, the excellent website Biased BBC has an abundance of useful leads.

Click source to read FULL article by James Delingpole

Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Read in full with comments »   

A night of fist-bumping landed Jersey Shore “guido” Ronnie Magro behind bars in the Ocean County Jail.

Magro was arrested for aggravated assault after he decked a drunken racist during an altercation outside a Seaside Heights bar last September. Ronnie tells PEOPLE the fight — which was captured by MTV camera, mind you — erupted after an unidentified man hurled racist obscenities at one of Magro’s African-American bodyguards before spitting on him.

“I really don’t feel bad for the altercations that I did get into in Seaside because I’m really not a person who likes to fight,” Ron explained. “He was just being a drunk jerk, saw the camera… [and] I think he chased us down like two blocks or something like that. At that point, you’re like, ‘What am I gonna do?’”

Ronnie was later notified by mail that the charges were dismissed, but said he spent a few hours in jail, had a mug shot taken and was forced to fork over $600 smacks for bail.

“I definitely felt out of place,” he calls. “It’s definitely a place I never want to go back to again. Definitely a lesson learned.”