Author: Serkadis

Macworld Expo 2010 kicked off without the traditional Apple keynote on Tuesday morning. The iPad event last month and the Aperture 3 announcement yesterday highlight the difference between years past and this year’s Expo. Without Apple on the floor the show is a bit smaller, but the Mac faithful are still showing up in large numbers to attend training, mingle with colleagues and see what 250 exhibitors have to show to world.

What to See

The keynote this year is not a big Apple shindig on Tuesday morning as has been the tradition, but rather a Thursday musical variety show with David Pogue of the New York Times. Pogue is sometimes clever and always entertaining and a good choice to carry the big event at Macworld Expo.

Some other feature presentations that I would recommend are the Macworld DEMO: Best of Show, Guy Kawasaki’s presentation on Revolution from the Rest of Us, and John Gruber on Friday. The recently added iPad special event on Saturday might be interesting, but I suspect that we still don’t have enough information about the device to make it much more than a rehash of Apple’s announcement last month.

Macworld Without Apple

Apple decided to pull out of Macworld because it did not like being tied to making product announcements in the first week of January and had the retail stores to let people touch its latest products. As Tuesday passed by yesterday without Steve Jobs up on stage at Macworld, I reflected a bit on what that event might have looked like if Apple had stayed in the show.

The iPad event last month and the Aperture 3 announcement yesterday were big news, but probably still not enough for a “traditional” Macworld keynote. We would have wanted iLife ‘11, MacBook Pro updates, Mac Pro announcements and more than just one hardware and one software product. I have a feeling that people would have been disappointed if Steve Jobs came out on stage yesterday with only the iPad and Aperture 3. Of course, if Apple had stayed, the Expo might have remained in the first week of January and nothing would have been ready to announce then. I wonder if Jobs had the foresight to see that there would not be any big products ready for 2010 a year ago when Apple announced that they would not be at this year’s event?

Macworld 2010 should provide a bigger stage for third parties to make big announcements and get some press attention without being upstaged by Apple or Adobe. There are some cool things coming this week, which we hope to show you over the next few days.

SHOREWOOD  — State police and emergency personnel are on the scene of a serious traffic crash Wednesday morning in the southwest suburbs.

The single-vehicle crash in the eastbound lanes of I-80, about three miles from I-55, near Shorewood, resulted in heavy traffic delays in the area.

All lanes of I-80 in both directions in that area were closed for about 30 minutes for a helicopter response to transport an occupant of the vehicle to a hospital, according to Joliet District State Police.

By about 11:45 a.m., I-80 was reopened to traffic, state police report.

No details on the crash were immediately available.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

All it took was a blizzard in New York to kill volume on the major exchanges.

The Dow ended down 29 points, falling to 10,030. The NASDAQ dropped 5 points, falling to 2146, and S&P 500 essentially broke even, closing at 1067.

Oil rose to $74.41 a barrel, up $0.66 for the day.

Gold took a hit of $6.60 to drop to $1070 an ounce. Silver fell $0.17 to $15.27.

Commodities were a mixed bag, as shown below. Overall, one of the slower days in the market.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Markets A Snooze After Last Week’s Violence
• Mid-Day Markets: Equities Give Up Some Gains, Commodities Climb
• The Stock Rally Peters Out As Equities End A Mixed Bag, Oil Prices Drop Over Increased Supply

Filed under: Aftermarket, Performance, Truck, Ford, Off-Road

Hennessey has worked its magic on the new Ford F150 Raptor and as you’d expect, the primary addition to FoMoCo’s Dakar-ready pickup is… power. Meet the Hennessey VelociRaptor.

With the knowledge that Ford’s engineers know infinitely more about suspension tuning, Hennessey has focused the majority of its efforts under the hood, slapping a Whipple supercharger onto the Raptor’s 5.4-liter V8 and ramping output to 501 horsepower (at 5,100 rpm) and 520 pound-feet of torque (at 3,200 rpm). Combined with the 9.1 pounds of boost, a K&N intake, upgraded fuel injectors, a stainless steel exhaust and headers, and then tuned with a reflashed ECU, the VelociRaptor’s 0-60 time has been reduced from 8.4 to 5.6 seconds with the quarter mile dispatched in 14.1 seconds at 97 mph.

Hennessey plans to create 100 VelociRaptors each year, with the full kit coming in at $10,950 or the Hennessey-installed solution for $14,995, which includes a one-year warranty. Full stats and breakdown after the jump, along with a video of the VelociRaptor running the traps.

Continue reading Hennessey VelociRaptor 500: Supercharged, off-road awesome

Hennessey VelociRaptor 500: Supercharged, off-road awesome originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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District 21 officials are getting ready to make some tough decisions Thursday night.

“I expect by the end of the night the school board will know the direction they want to go,” said Superintendent Gary Mical. “A lot is tied into teacher negotiations that are ongoing.”

Mical couldn’t comment further on the negotiations which affect about 600 teachers. He did say a resolution could happen “very soon.”

Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 is facing a $12 million deficit and will have to make some serious cuts before the next school year.

More specifically, the school board will have choose from eight cost-saving options that would save the district a total of $4 million.

The two biggest cost-savings choices would be to increase class sizes ($1.7 million) and to cut all before- and after-school activities ($700,000).

The class sizes would be increased from 25 to 27 students per class to 30 students per class in the elementary schools and 32 students per class in the middle schools.

The school board is also considering cutting administrative positions, professional development and extra work stipends.

Long-term, District 21 must take even more drastic steps, officials say. Closing one school outright would save $650,000 per year.

Switching to grade-based schools would save only $400,000 because transportation costs would go higher, said Daniel Schuler, assistant superintendent of planning.

“It’s a painful process,” Mical said in an open letter to District 21 parents.

“We have been fiscally responsible but the difficult economic times that the country is facing have trickled down to our administration, and it will be very difficult to balance the budget without making cuts.”

District 21 board member Arlen Gould said the board will trim a few options from the eight currently on the table.

No matter what the board does, it will probably involve laying off some teachers, he said.

“Salaries and benefits are 80 percent of our budget,” Gould said. “I can’t imagine where else we’d find the kind the savings we’re talking about.”

A final decision about the cuts will come in March, Gould added.

About 400 people attended the Jan. 21 school board meeting, where parents mostly defended the district’s extracurricular activities and class size.

Besides the economy, school officials blame tax caps that limit the district’s ability to increase taxes for the 2010-2011 school year beyond 0.1 percent, which was the Consumer Price Index from December 2007 to December 2008.

This means District 21 will essentially have the same amount of money in 2010-2011 as it does in 2009-2010.

District 21 has about 700 employees and a yearly operating budget of about $100 million. About 80 percent of the budget pays for salaries and benefits.

The District 21 school board meeting will start at 7 p.m. at London Middle School, 1001 W. Dundee Road. The meeting has been moved to the school’s gym to accommodate the crowd.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

A few years back, it seemed like Warner Music actually had a better handle on where the music industry was heading than its 3 major label rivals. In the last two years, however, it seems like WMG has consistently gone further and further in the opposite direction. It may have hit a new low today with the announcement that it will pull out of all free streaming music licensing offers. Yes, Warner Music just told the one thing that was effectively competing with unauthorized downloads to shove off. Brilliant.

“Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as Warner Music is concerned will not be licensed.

“The ‘get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price’ strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future.”

And thus, WMG will go out of business that much more quickly. That is the model that the market is moving to, and Bronfman and WMG appear to have decided to ignore what the market wants, to cover their eyes, stick fingers in their ears and go down with a ship that could easily be righted. Incredible.

Now, Warner may be a bit gun-shy after its investment in iMeem (a free online music streaming service) became a total disaster, but what Warner doesn’t seem to realize is that a big part of why it failed was the ridiculous demands Warner put on iMeem in terms of how much it demanded in payment per stream. The problem is that WMG has totally unrealistic expectations of how much money should be paid per stream, and that’s because the company’s top execs still don’t seem to handle basic economic modeling particularly well. And thus, the company will fail.

You don’t compete with “free” by taking your ball and going home. You don’t compete with “free” by pretending that old artificial scarcities are coming back after the wall has been broken down. You don’t compete with “free” by suing customers. You don’t compete with “free” by shunning those who have business models that work. You compete with free by offering a better product and a better business model. WMG is choosing to go in the other direction. Best of luck to them…

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CHICAGO — As Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty Wednesday to corruption charges in a revised indictment, his attorneys filed a motion seeking to play as many of the hundreds of secret recordings as they want at his trial.

Blagojevich’s lawyers wrote that the former Illinois governor is “desirous that the recordings be heard in open court by the jury, believing as he does that a full airing of the recordings will establish his innocence of every count in the indictment.”

The former governor and his lawyers have long suggested their best chance of beating the charges in the case would be for the public to hear all of the conversations captured by the government and decide for themselves whether the talk constitutes public corruption or just typical political wrangling.

When investigators tapped Blagojevich’s phones, the phones of some of his associates and bugged his campaign offices in late 2008, they captured some 500 hours of conversations that have since been turned over to the defense.

In a statement after the hearing, Blagojevich said he’s challenging prosecutors and demanding all the tapes be played. “Play the truth and nothing but the truth” he said “Play all the tapes.”

While he may have a constitutional right to try to have the tapes suppressed, Blagojevich said, “I’m not going to hide behind my lawyers, nor will I hide behind technicalities in the law to try to block these tapes from being heard.”

Blagojevich said he told his lawyers to file the petition with the court “so every second, every minute, every hour that the government secretly taped me is provided to both sides to be heard and played in court.”

Blagojevich said the government should join in the motion if it is on the side of truth and justice.

“And if this was a crime spree like you claim it was, then don’t hide behind technicalities, play all the tapes,” he said.

His attorney, Sam Adam Jr., said the defense was not specifically demanding that all 500 hours of tapes be played, despite what his client had just said, but that either side should be able to whatever it wants to.

“We are saying either side can play any minute of any tape that they wish to play,” Adam said, and that means either side could play them all if they want to.

Adam said any relevant tape should be played, but not conversations of Blagojevich talking to someone about “the Atlanta Hawks,” or other unrelated conversations.

“We’re talking about any tape that has to do with this trial,” Adam said. “Any tape that can show either the modus operandi or the mental state of any of the subjects in this case, play them.”

Adam said he recognizes that, under the law, Blagojevich’s legal team does not have to prove the ex-governor innocent.

“We don’t have to prove Rod innocent, but the tapes will,” he said. “That’s the point here.”

Adam then noted what Blagojevich had told the judge in court. “He didn’t enter a plea of ‘not guilty,’ he entered a plea of ‘innocent,”’ Adam said.

“And you know why he entered that plea of innocence? Because he is.”

Blagojevich and Adam both repeated the former governor’s promise that he will take the stand at the upcoming trial.

Prosecutors have alleged that Blagojevich sought to enrich himself and some close to him by leveraging the powers of his office, and that he attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama to the highest bidder.

Blagojevich has contended that what he actually planned to do with the seat is attempt to appoint Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan in a political arrangement.

Read the original article from Herald & Review.

Blagojevich pleads not guilty, asks for ‘full airing’ of secret tapes originally published on Chicago Press Release Services

Just a little over two years after Goldman Sachs bought a Shanghai residential project for $190 million, the Wall Street firm is now poised to sell it for $328 million. 

A unit of the developer Shanghai Forte will buy Shanghai Garden Plaza for $328 million, Bloomberg reported this morning. The developer confirmed the purchase in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Bloomberg’s Cathy Chan reports:

Shanghai Garden Plaza was developed by Daito Trust Construction Co. of Japan and comprises 53 villa units and 511 serviced apartment units, CB Richard Ellis, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services firm, said in its report.

Goldman Sachs is selling Shanghai Garden Plaza after Chinese real-estate prices climbed the most in 18 months in December and Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to crack down on speculation and keep housing affordable.

Residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities increased 7.8 percent from a year earlier in December, accelerating from a 5.7 percent gain in November, according to the government. China last month raised the amount of money banks are required to keep as reserves and re-imposed a sales tax on homes sold within five years of their purchase.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Shanghai Nosedives, Down 1.9%, Commodity Shares Whacked
• Look Out: Goldman Sachs Is Now Dumping Shanghai Property
• Shanghai Redefines Subprime Construction: Building Just Falls Over

The Spider-Man film series are superhero films based on the fictional Marvel Comics character of the same name, and unless you’re living in cave you’ve probably seen one of the movies. The rights to a motion picture based on Spider-Man were purchased in 1985 and moved through various production companies and studios, at one point having James Cameron to direct, before being secured by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The three films, produced on a total budget of US $597 million, grossed nearly $2.5 billion worldwide. Each film set several box office records, with all three included in the top 20 highest-grossing domestic films as well as the top 25 highest-grossing worldwide films. Sony Pictures just announced the release date for the next movie in the Spider Man series, but first, lets take a look as this huge franchise is going to be very different.

In 2007, Spider-Man 4 entered development, with Raimi attached to direct and Maguire, Dunst and other cast members set to reprise their roles. Both a fourth and a fifth movie were planned, and at one time the idea of shooting the two sequels concurrently was under consideration. However, Raimi stated in March 2009 that only the fourth film was currently in development and that if there were fifth and sixth films, the two films would actually be a continuation of each other. James Vanderbilt was hired in October 2007 to pen the screenplay, after initial reports in early 2007 that Sony Pictures was in contact with David Koepp, who wrote the first Spider-Man film. The script was subsequently rewritten by Pulitzer-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, and rewritten again by Gary Ross in October 2009. Sony also engaged Vanderbilt to write scripts for Spider-Man 5 and Spider-Man 6.

In 2007, Raimi expressed interest in portraying the transformation of Dr. Curt Connors into his villainous alter-ego, the Lizard; the character’s actor Dylan Baker and producer Grant Curtis have also been enthusiastic about the idea. It was reported in December 2009 that John Malkovich was in negotiations to play Vulture, and that Anne Hathaway would play Felicia Hardy, though she would not have transformed into the Black Cat, as in the comics. Instead, Raimi’s Felicia was expected to become a brand-new superpowered figure called the Vulturess.

Sony Pictures announced in January 2010 that plans for Spider-Man 4 had been canceled due to Raimi’s withdrawal from the project. Raimi reportedly ended his participation due to doubt that he could meet the planned May 2011 release date while upholding the film creatively.

Simultaneous with the cancellation of Spider-Man 4, Sony announced that the franchise would be rebooted with a new director and new cast. The reboot film is scheduled to be released in summer 2012 and will focus on Peter Parker developing his abilities in high school. Sony also confirmed that James Vanderbilt will write the script for the new film and Marc Webb will direct the next Spider-Man film. Now things have finally come together, with Sony Pictures tweeting that the next Spider Man movie will come to theaters in 3D on July 3rd, 2012.

Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures, said, “At its core, Spider-Man is a small, intimate human story about an everyday teenager that takes place in an epic super-human world. The key for us as we sought a new director was to identify filmmakers who could give sharp focus to Peter Parker’s life. We wanted someone who could capture the awe of being in Peter’s shoes so the audience could experience his sense of discovery while giving real heart to the emotion, anxiety, and recklessness of that age and coupling all of that with the adrenaline of Spider-Man’s adventure. We believe Marc Webb is the perfect choice to bring us on that journey.”

Arad and Ziskin added jointly, “Over the years, the Spider-Man comics have been told with bold and creative new writers and artists who have re-calibrated the way audiences see Peter Parker. Marc Webb will do for the new direction of the films what so many visionary storytellers have done with the comic books. He is an incredibly talented filmmaker and we look forward to working closely with him on this new adventure.”

Webb said, “This is a dream come true and I couldn’t be more aware of the challenge, responsibility, or opportunity. Sam Raimi’s virtuoso rendering of Spider-Man is a humbling precedent to follow and build upon. The first three films are beloved for good reason. But I think the Spider-Man mythology transcends not only generations but directors as well. I am signing on not to ‘take over’ from Sam. That would be impossible. Not to mention arrogant. I’m here because there’s an opportunity for ideas, stories, and histories that will add a new dimension, canvas, and creative voice to Spider-Man.”

Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man, added, “I’m excited that Sony has chosen a director with a real penchant and understanding for the character. This is a brave, bold direction for the franchise, and I can’t wait to see what Marc comes up with next.”

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Truck, Work, Chevrolet, Off-Road

Identified by its new power dome hood, a styling throwback, the 2011 Chevrolet Silverado HD arrived at the Chicago Auto Show riding on an all-new ladder frame, suspension, and axles – about the only carry-over part is the front stabilizer bar link that connects the stabilizer bar to the lower control arm. Maximum towing capacity is up to 20,000 pounds with the DRW Duramax diesel and fifth wheel combo (yes, that trumps the Ford F-Series Super Duty F-350 apples to apples). The gasoline-fed SRW 6.0-liter V-8 engine will pull 14,500 pounds with a fifth wheel.

In addition to the beefy hood, the front bumper has been revised with a larger emblem and a more gaping intake – designed to improve transmission cooling. Other improvements include 17-inch wheels (standard) or optional new 18- or 20-inch alloys. The dual rear-wheel tires are still 17-inch, but they now accommodate taller aspect ratio tires. The improvements for 2011 are all good news for heavy duty truck buyers with the exception of the wheel bolt pattern – the eight-lug hub has a slightly different measurement meaning 2007-10 wheels simply won’t fit. See the rest of the details in the press release after the break.

Photos by Drew Phillips / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Chicago 2010: 2011 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty ups the ante

Chicago 2010: 2011 Chevrolet Silverado Heavy Duty ups the ante originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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All day the market has been very inactive. About as exciting as watching linoleum curl.

The Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 are all about break even, despite a bit of a bearish tone earlier in the morning.

Oil is up $0.68 to $74.43 a barrel.

Gold falls $4.70 to $1072.50 an ounce. Silver is down $0.17 to $15.27.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Market Opens Weak: Dow Down 55 Points, Commodities Up
• Markets A Snooze After Last Week’s Violence
• Europe Back In Love With The PIGS

Last week Australia stunned the world when it decided to pause its series of interest rate hikes. With that single move, it seemed, the tightening cycle had come to a premature end.

Or maybe it was just a pause.

That’s what analysts at Hong Kong-based Currency Options Hotline argue in a recent note:

——

   Last week, the Reserve Bank of
Australia (RBA) confounded economists’
forecasts — including our own! — by
holding short-term interest rates steady
at 3.75%.

   This broke a run of 3 consecutive
quarter-point hikes going back to
October.

   But in retrospect, it’s clear that
the currency markets effectively
anticipated this decision.  The Aussie
actually peaked in mid-January above
US$0.93, and has since fallen about 6.9%
to US$0.8673.

   That said, the same factors that
have thus far led to 3 consecutive
quarter-point interest rate hikes since
October, still exist.  For example …

   * The Australian economy is still
     growing strongly.

   * Consumer spending and employment
     are rising sharply.

   * Inflationary pressures continue to
     intensify.

   Because of this, we are pretty sure
RBA’s decision represents only a pause
— not an end — to the rising interest
rate cycle.

   On top of that, the Aussie’s retreat
to date has left it sitting just above
major support near US$0.865.  To us,
that suggests the A$’s temporary
pullback has probably run its course —
which means the next move is likely to
be back up.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Gold Powers Higher After Australia’s Decision To Keep The Money Spigot Open
• Australia Stuns The World By Announcing Un-Official End To The Rate-Hike Cycle

Though California is one of seven states with the greatest percentage of seniors passing Advanced Placement tests, the rate of students taking those college-level classes has slowed dramatically, according to an annual report released Wednesday.

[Updated at 1:47 a.m.: A previous version of this post stated that California was one of seven states that posted the highest five-year gains in students passing AP tests.  It is one of seven states with the greatest percentage of seniors passing AP tests. It also said the number of students taking those college-level classes has slowed dramatically. The rate of students taking those classes has slowed dramatically.] 

In 2009, about 22% of California’s graduating class earned a score of three or higher in one or more AP exams. This compares with 16% nationally.

Although the number of students taking AP tests has almost doubled in the last decade, course enrollments are slowing, particularly in California, said Trevor Packer, the vice president of the College Board, which released the report.

In the last decade, California saw an 8% average growth in AP course enrollment per year. In the 2008-2009 school year, that growth rate slowed by almost half, and the current academic year’s growth rate was only 1%. 

“In the 2010 exams, we expect to see a further slowing down,” Packer said.

Packer said schools lack the budgets and resources to train teachers for the advanced classes. AP teachers are also retiring at twice the rate of regular instructors, he said.

Robert Schaeffer, the public education director for FairTest, a group that is critical of standardized testing, said AP courses are expensive and usually require smaller class sizes.

“Money is the driving factor,” he said. “If you don’t have the flexibility in your budget to send a potential new AP teacher off for the necessary training, you won’t have a quality course and maybe you won’t have a course at all.”

— Nicole Santa Cruz

Honda today gave us the first look at the next-generation of its award-winning Odyssey minivan with the new Honda Odyssey Concept, which is on display at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

Unlike previous Odyssey models, the new Odyssey Concept shows that the next-generation version will offer a more aggressive take on minivans with a wideer stance and a slightly lower roofline.

“The Odyssey established its reputation by providing families with what they most want in a minivan – great functionality, an emphasis on safety and good fuel economy,” said Vicki Poponi, assistant vice president of American Honda product planning. “Odyssey then further delighted customers with its surprisingly engaging, fun-to-drive and dynamic nature. The next-generation Odyssey promises to take these strengths to a higher level while adding more style and personality.”

Honda says the redesigned Odyssey will also see improved interior seating, packaging and storage.

Honda said that enhanced aerodynamics and advanced powertrain technologies will contribute to the next-generation Odyssey’s increased fuel efficiency. Ready to make its debut in the fall, the 2011 Honda Odyssey is expected to achieve an EPA-estimated fuel-economy of 19/28 mpg (city/highway) on select models.

2011 Honda Odyssey Concept:

Press Release:

Odyssey Concept Reveals Stylish, Dynamic Image for All-New Honda Minivan

02/10/2010 – CHICAGO – The Honda Odyssey Concept, on display at the Chicago Auto Show, introduces a sleek and distinctive exterior styling direction for the next generation of the industry’s best-selling minivan, set to debut this fall, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., announced today.

The Odyssey Concept dramatically departs from conventional minivan styling with its low and wide stance, highlighted by a “lightning-bolt” beltline that further distinguishes the vehicle’s profile. Compared to the current Odyssey, the Concept’s slightly lower roofline (-1.0 inch) and wider stance (+1.4 inch) contribute to a sleeker, stronger and more dynamic presence with improved aerodynamics that help increase fuel economy. Forthcoming improvements to the production Odyssey’s interior are designed to further enhance the current model’s accommodating space for people and cargo.

The steeply raked front and rear roof pillars, unique side-glass profile, chamfered roof line, and tapered rear cabin shape combine to create a dynamic and distinctive appearance from any perspective. The lightning-bolt beltline dives toward the rear of the vehicle emphasizing the new Odyssey’s sporty appearance while enhancing outward visibility for third-row passengers. Aggressive body-to-wheel proportions reduce the perception of vertical height common to most minivan designs. Fender flares further accent the vehicle’s securely planted and stylish persona. The concept vehicle’s projector beam headlights, LED taillights and form-fit fog lights further heighten the sophisticated quality of the design.

Enhanced aerodynamics and advanced powertrain technologies will contribute to the next-generation Odyssey’s increased fuel efficiency. The all-new 2011 Odyssey is expected to achieve an EPA-estimated fuel economy rating1 of 19 city/28 highway miles-per gallon on select models (preliminary estimate determined by Honda).

Currently in its third generation, the Odyssey’s unique array of features, including its superior driving dynamics, 3rd-Row Magic Seat® and efficient i-VTEC™ V-6 engine with three-mode Variable Cylinder Management™ (available) all combine to offer a sophisticated environment with room for up to eight people (seven on Odyssey LX). The Odyssey has been America’s best-selling minivan since 20082 and is produced exclusively in Alabama by Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (using domestic and globally sourced parts). Both the concept and production vehicles, along with all development activity for the 2011 Odyssey, are being designed at Honda R&D Americas in Torrance, California, and Raymond, Ohio.

The Odyssey has won numerous awards and critical acclaim. Recent accolades include the Edmunds.com 2010 “Top Recommended” minivan award, U.S. News and World Report 2010 “Best Minivan for the Money” award, Automotive Lease Guide 2010 “Best Minivan for the Money,” the Kelley Blue Book award as one of the ten “Best New Family Vehicles of 2009″ and “2009 Best Resale Value Award” in the van category, which recognizes vehicles that are expected to have segment-leading resale value after five years of ownership.

Odyssey Concept Basic Dimensions

– By: Omar Rana

Filed under: Chicago Auto Show, Minivan/Van, Ford

Hot on the (w)heels of the Ford Transit Electric, the Transit Connect Taxi drove onto the stage at the Chicago Auto Show today running on compressed natural gas (CNG). The clean-burning utility van – based on the gasoline-powered North American Truck of the Year winner – adds to Ford’s taxi fleet options like the Crown Victoria (see: pretty much any taxi in any city in the U.S.) and the Ford Escape Hybrid. The new taxi van can also burn propane (LPG, or liquefied petroleum gas). Of course, regular Transit Connect buyers can also opt for Ford’s engine prep package to be able to put the gasoline alternatives into the tank. Like its battery-powered cousin, the Transit Connect Taxi will be in dealerships later this year.

Ford product development vice president Derrick Kuzak said that there is “strong demand” for CNG and LPG vehicles among fleet operators. Kuzak also highlighted the small size of the Transit Connect in an odd way: if all of the taxis in Chicago were replaced with these vans, he said, it would free up approximately four acres. Um, OK. Now, what should we do with these extra acres?

Photos by Drew Phillips, Sebastian Blanco / Copyright (C)2010 Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Chicago 2010: Ford Transit Connect Taxi burns CNG, LPG and four acres of space

Chicago 2010: Ford Transit Connect Taxi burns CNG, LPG and four acres of space originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ve written about my love affair with Quickoffice before, but there’s always been one issues I’ve had with it: the only cloud storage service it supported was MobileMe’s iDisk. I’ve come close to plunking down the money for MobileMe a few times, but because Dropbox works for me, I’ve been hesitant.

Quickoffice just announced its new iPhone app Quickoffice Connect which now lets you access and edit files on Box.net, Dropbox, Google Docs and Apple MobileMe. It’s available for an introductory price of $9.99, but it showed as a free upgrade for my existing Quickoffice application.

In my very brief testing, it has worked as advertised. I was able to connect to my Dropbox account, browse all the files and open a Word doc and edit it. The usual disclaimers apply: the formatting is still rough (the document I tested with has extensive formatting and fonts not available on the iPhone, so the results were a little rough), and editing documents on a small screen can be a dicey proposition.

It’s this type of functionality I think will make QuickOffice much more valuable to business users on the iPad than the iWork suite — assuming Quickoffice will be coming out with an iPad version; I’m betting they will.

Just as we were getting ready to push out Derek’s post about broadband competition, it looks like Google tossed a bit of a grenade into the mix, announcing plans to at least start trials of super high speed fiber-to-the-home networks in some areas. Of course, there have been rumors for years that Google might get into the internet access business. It had invested in a failed broadband-over-powerlines operation, and there had always been talk of a Google wireless solution — but none of those seemed particularly serious (even Google’s muni-WiFi experiment in its hometown of Mountain View has been somewhat half-hearted). So, it might be a bit early to look to Google to really dive in as a serious broadband competitor, but it certainly does raise some interesting questions.

From the very beginning we’ve been arguing that the real issue isn’t about net neutrality, but about competition — a point Derek reiterated — and anything that drives more competition in the broadband space is a good thing. And, since Google monetizes internet access in many other areas, it doesn’t need to be greedy about how it grants access to the pipes. But, even more interesting is that Google seems to realize that if you have a fiber to the home network at the infrastructure-level, the really interesting play is actually letting multiple service providers compete above that:

We will allow third-parties to offer their own Internet access services, or other services, using our network. We believe this approach will maximize user choice as well as spur greater innovation and competition. Most providers in Europe and many places elsewhere in the world operate open access networks. It will be open to any service provider, including incumbents and new entrants. “Open” means open.

By no means is it guaranteed that Google will be able to succeed in this market. In fact, I’d probably bet against it if you were laying odds. It’s just a really tough business to be in, especially as a brand new entrant, and I’m not convinced that Google will focus enough on this to make it a success. But I hope I’m wrong. More serious entrants into the market would be a good thing, and Google’s view on line-sharing is exactly right: it does tend to encourage greater innovation. So hopefully this is something that works in trials and gets expanded more widely.

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Don’t expect Greeks to swallow their medicine willingly.

Civil servants in the massive default risk country launched a 24-hour strike today to protest government cutbacks. Mob chants included “We won’t pay for their crisis!” and “Not one euro to be sacrificed to the bankers!” according to the New York Times.

Strikes are a beloved tradition in many European countries, but they do make financial reform hard. Recently, Iceland refused payment on a financial crisis debt for fear of angering the population.

Air traffic controllers, customs and tax officials, hospital doctors and schoolteachers are involved in Greece’s strike. Needless to say, that means basically no economic progress in Greece today.

See the Greeks taking to the street >

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See Also:

• Here’s The REAL Reason Germany Is So Hesitant About Bailing Out Greece
• Roubini: The Greece Bailout Isn’t Enough, Ultimately Europe Is So Screwed That It Will Need The IMF
• Darkness Falls Over A Europe In Chaos, As German, Swedish, And UK Leaders Have Different Ideas For Solving Greece