Audi has released a new game app for its new A1 compact hatchback called “Audi A1 Beat Driver.” Available for the iPhone and the iPod Touch (and your iPad with 2x zoom), the game can be best described as what we’ve come to know as “Rock Band” – but instead of singing, playing the guitar, or banging on drums, you’ll be steering an Audi A1 through the beat of the music.
“The aim of the game is to collect objects and avoid obstacles while driving. Bonus symbols help to pile up the points,” Audi says. “The levels vary with the song, with bands like Torpedo, La Roux, The Rakes and Lo-Fi-Fnk supplying the music. What will be the smallest Audi ever is easily steered with just a finger and the touchscreen of the iPhone or iPod Touch.”
Audi A1 Beat Driver is available with different rock songs (check out the full list after the jump).
Refresher: The 2011 Audi A1 will go on sale in Europe later this year with prices starting around 16,000 euros ($22,062 USD). Power will come from a lineup of 4-cylinder engines, which consists of two TDI diesels and two TFSI gasoline units with output ranging from 84-hp to 122-hp. Mated to a 7-speed S tronic transmission, fuel-economy will range from 44 mpg and 62 mpg.
2011 Audi A1:
Track Listing for “Audi A1 Beat Driver”:
“Accelerate” by Torpedo,
“I’m A Rope” by Tommy Sparks
“Strength In Numbers” by The Music
“Farewell To The Fairground” by White Lies
“Gold Guns Girls” by Metric, “1989” by The Rakes
“Bulletproof” by La Roux
“Digital Age” by The Fall and “Want U” by Lo-Fi-Fnk.
Bill Totten has exhumed an old New York Times (1972) column by Paul Ehrlich, commenting “Nothing but the numbers has changed” – If All Chinese Had Wheels.
Now that the People’s Republic of China has been admitted to the United Nations and American leaders are jetting to Peking, it is inevitable that we will be hearing more proposals for trade and aid to help the Chinese bring themselves up to “our standard of living”. The idea of helping less developed nations “industrialize” or “catch up” seems as American as baseball. Few people question the common wisdom behind these programs, the idea that the developing areas of the world can somehow catch up with contemporary consumptive standards of living in industrial societies.
The emergence of China as a needy superpower must surely generate a re-evaluation of these beliefs. First, it is doubtful that the Chinese will ever reach our current standard of living; indeed it is not certain that this is even possible. But, more important, it is questionable whether such an achievement would be desirable, from any point of view. If the level of industrialization in China could be increased to the point that each Chinese family possessed an automobile and other amenities of industrial society, the effect on China and the entire world would be catastrophic. This observation immediately raises the point, of course, that the US should be considered overdeveloped by virtue of having attained a level of per capita consumption far in excess of that to which the bulk of humanity can realistically aspire.
Some very basic figures shed light on the development dilemma. There are currently at least 750 million people in mainland China. By contrast, the population of the United States is slightly over 200 million. Since there are more than 3.5 Chinese for every American, it would require some 3.5 times the present United States resource consumption to sustain China at current American levels. Such affluence in China would necessitate a tremendous shift in world consumption of raw materials.
Energy consumption is the best summary measure of industrial sophistication, and per capita energy consumption is indicative of average individual environmental impact. The world currently consumes 6.5 billion metric tons of coal equivalent in energy each year. The United States uses 2.2 billion metric tons equivalent or one-third of total world consumption. The Chinese, on the other hand, consume less than 400 million metric tons equivalent. In per capita terms, each person in China is supported by the consumption of less than 500 kilograms of coal equivalent, while his American counterpart is supported by some 11,000. Roughly speaking, twenty-two times as much energy is used to sustain an American as to sustain one citizen of China.
We’ve been waiting for this: Integrated social networking in iPhone, specifically of the Facebook variety—evidence of which has been discovered in iPhone 4.0 system files (via jailbreak), with support for contacts and calendars. [Gunning for Safety via Engadget] More »
It’s earnings week on Wall Street, and analysts had estimated that megabank Citigroup would break even in the first quarter. This morning, it announced a $4.4 billion profit — meaning the bank made around $49 million a day in the first three months of the year. Sure, markets improved and revenue grew, but, in a release along with the financial statement, Chief Executive Office Vikram Pandit noted the real reason for the company’s profitability:
All of us at Citi recognize that we would not be where we are without the assistance of American taxpayers. We are gratified that Citi has been able to repay their TARP investment in our company, with a substantial return, as well as create a significant increase in the value of their equity in Citi.
Still, that is not enough. We owe taxpayers a huge debt of gratitude for assisting us at a critical time. We are determined to repay this debt by continuing to build a strong company and contribute to America’s economic recovery.
Citigroup received a total of $45 billion in bailout funds during the worst of the crisis. It has repaid billions to the Treasury Department, which announced that it will sell off its Citigroup stock before the end of the year. The government owns nearly 30 percent of Citigroup shares, and stands to make a $7.5 billion profit if the stock stays up.
Technology Review has an article on “solar-cell manufacturing techniques [which] could yield LEDs that require 20 percent less energy” – Green LEDs for Efficient Lighting.
A new approach to fabricating light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could be used to increase their efficiency by 20 percent while yielding higher-quality light than conventional LEDs. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO, have demonstrated the approach by making a yellow-green LED that could soon be combined with other colored LEDs to yield white light. The new LED could help replace current, inefficient methods of generating white light.
LEDs, devices that emit photons when an electrical charge is applied to them, are more efficient and last longer than incandescent lightbulbs. By varying the composition of the semiconductor LEDs, materials scientists can coax the devices into emitting different colors. At the minimum, producing white light requires combining red, blue, and green, but so far, only red- and blue-light-emitting diodes are well developed. To produce green light, LED manufacturers typically apply one or more phosphor materials to blue LEDs. The phospors convert high energy blue spectrum light into lower-energy light through a process that reduces overall luminosity by approximately 20 percent.
To eliminate this loss of efficiency, researchers have tried to develop efficient green LEDs that don’t require phosphors. But a major stumbling block is that the different known semiconductor materials that can be combined to emit green light, typically indium and gallium nitride, have different-sized crystal lattice structures. For semiconductors to work efficiently, each layer of the device has to have a similarly sized lattice structure as the layer above or below it.
To get around the lattice-size mismatch, NREL researchers used a fabrication method that they had previously developed for building highly efficient multi-junction solar cells. Their method relies on using additional layers of other semiconducting materials with intermediate-sized lattice structures that bridge the gap between the disparate-sized semiconductors. “If you try to do it in one shot, the whole thing will be defective,” says Angelo Mascarenhas, team leader for solid state spectroscopy in the Center for Basic Sciences at NREL. “You have to grow a sequence of layers in a step-wise fashion.”
For some reason I’m skeptical that the one thing keeping newspaper readers from switching to E-Ink readers is the form factor, but that doesn’t make this semi-transparent E-Ink newspaper display concept any less cool. More »
Noah Shachtman attends a Columbia University address by Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that featured the admiral tamping down the persistent speculation that the U.S. or perhaps certain anxious Mideastern allies will attack Iran:
Sure, U.S. strikes might set back Tehran’s atomic weapons program — for a while. But the “unintended consequences” of a hit on Iran’s nuclear facilities could easily outweigh the benefits of that delay, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen told a forum at Columbia University.
“Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing. Attacking them would also create the same kind of outcome,” Mullen said. “In an area that’s so unstable right now, we just don’t need more of that.”
If there was any doubt that the Pentagon doesn’t want the January Gates Memo on Iran misinterpreted, let it be allayed.
Every time you send out 140 characters over the social application Twitter, how much energy does that consume? According to some back of the napkin calculations from Raffi Krikorian, a developer for Twitter’s Platform Team, each tweet sent consumes about 90 joules. That means each tweet emits about 0.02 grams of C02 into the atmosphere.
However the research does remind us that IT takes energy to run and the energy consumption — and carbon emissions — footprint of IT is just growing bigger every day. For example, Greenpeace recently put out a report that said that the energy consumption and carbon emissions of cloud computing are already significantly higher than previously thought. Folks in the developer community like Krikorian are acknowledging the problem, and as he says in the video clip: “We can do better.”
Preliminary evidence shows some solar stations may have run diesel-burning generators and sold the output as solar power, which earns several times more than electricity from fossil fuels, El Mundo said, citing unidentified people from the energy industry. The power grid received 4,500 megawatt-hours of power from midnight to 7 a.m. in the months audited, El Mundo said.
KNOXVILLE – Nine alumni and graduate students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, are recipients of the 2010 National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship. The NSF awards are given to students based on their potential as young scientists and for intellectual merit and broader impact. The fellowships are used to further their research.
The 2010 NSF recipients are:
• Jose Alfaro, a UT Knoxville graduate in engineering, is a graduate student at Clemson University.
• Bryon Aragam, who studied mathematical sciences at UT Knoxville, is a graduate student in applications of mathematics at the University of California – Los Angeles.
• Emily Austin is a graduate student in ecology and evolutionary biology at UT Knoxville.
• Michelle Russell is a graduate student in psychology at UT Knoxville.
• Daniel Sale, UT Knoxville graduate in mechanical engineering, will be a graduate student at the University of Washington next year.
• Todd Schoborg is a graduate student in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at UT Knoxville.
• Michael Vaughn, a UT Knoxville graduate in biochemistry and molecular and cellular engineering, is now a graduate student in chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University.
The NSF’s fellowship program aims to help ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the U.S. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees.
NSF fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.
Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin and “Freakonomics” co-author Steven Levitt.
Pouco tempo depois de sua apresentação, a Ferrari anunciou que seu mais novo e potente superesportivo 599 GTO, teve todas as suas 599 unidades comercializadas. De acordo com a companhia italiana, agora só resta entrega-las aos felizardos proprietários, o que deve acontecer a partir da metade do ano.
O superesportivo é considerado o modelo mais potente da Ferrari, e utiliza o motor V12 de 6.0L da Ferrari 599 normal, mas recebendo novas melhorias que elevaram sua cavalaria de 612 para 670 cavalos de potencia. Além disso, o seu peso também foi aliviado com a utilização da fibra de carbono em diversas partes do modelo, melhorando seu desempenho e comportamento dinâmico.
Seu cambio utiliza a tecnologia desenvolvida pela companhia na formula 1, onde as trocas de marchas da Ferrari 599 GTO são feitas em apenas 3,35 segundos. Dessa forma, o superesportivo acelera de 0 a 100 km/h em apenas 3,35, desbancando até mesma a Ferrari Enzo, sendo 0,3 segundos mais rápida. Sua velocidade final fica nos 335 km/h.
A Ferrari não divulgou a que preço foram comercializados as 599 unidades da F599 GTO contudo, a estimativa é que elas forma comercializadas por um preço superior que 400.000 euros.
Engadget has spotted the European variant of the Pixi Plus in the depths of the FCC’s website sporting the model number P121UEU, allowing users to safely use the handset in the US without the FCC sending a massive squad of goons in to take you down. That, or the AT&T version (the P121UNA) was just feeling lonely.
Tangoe, an Orange, CT-based provider of enterprise communication management software, has filed for an initial public offering of $75 million in common stock. The proceeds from the IPO will go to paying down the company’s debt, as well as increasing capital for financing growth, developing new products, and funding potential future investments and acquisitions, the filing indicated. Deutsche Bank Securities and Thomas Weisel Partners will act as joint book-runners for the deal.
Tweakers.net has managed to lay their hands on a copy of the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Architecture Guide and also a tutorial on compiling the OS, and have shared some more information about the upcoming OS.
They note that the device will be intimately linked with your Windows Live ID, and that on first bootup users will be asked to enter this and accept the EULA for the service. Hardware will also be tied to a Genuine Windows Phone certificate, else the ID will not be accepted.
A Windows Live ID will be needed for contact synchronization, to access marketplace and to access Microsoft’s services. In practice this means the device will be more or less useless without, but also that potentially each phone will be directly tied to one person, with may alarm privacy advocates somewhat.
More after the break.
The articles reveal more information which shows in some ways the specifications are quite forward-looking, for example each process will have access to up to 1 GB of RAM, but in others ways take little account of the future, for example lack of support for Bluetooth 3.
Microsoft will be keenly involved with devices, with even OEM ROM updates coming through Microsoft, with users notified to either download the updates over the air or tether their smartphones. Unfortunately the OEM is still responsible for supplying the Direct3D drivers, which may alarm some readers.
Microsoft will also control the user experience, with OEMs having very limited ability to customize the device, beyond installing their own live tiles and changing the operator logo. Devices may still come with OEM applications pre-installed, but to a maximum of 6, taking a total of 60 MB, and no trialware.
OEMs will also be able to change the default search engine in Internet Explorer, but for the rest of the device Bing will remain the default.
Windows Phone 7 devices will use Microsoft Unified Storage System for user files, meaning applications will not be able to distinguish between files on internal storage and main memory. This also means if the user removes the memory card the smartphone will only be able to make emergency phone calls, but nothing else.
For much more in the internals of Windows Phone 7 see Tweakers.net here.
When the 2011 Chevrolet Cruze hits the market later this year, General Motors will tout its new compact sedan with a long list of standard safety features.
“We are very confident of the safety performance of the Cruze and believe it will prove to be one of the safest vehicles in the segment,” said Chuck Russell, vehicle line director. “To benefit our customers, we went way beyond requirements to exceed government safety mandates.”
GM performed a long safety test on the Chevrolet Cruze at its rollover test facility. It is the only manufacturer-owned rollover test facility in North America.
Some highlights of the Chevrolet Cruze’s safety list include, ten standard air bags (the most in the segment – including frontal, head curtain side air bags, front and outboard rear-seat side-impact air bags and new knee air bags); StabiliTrak electronic stability control with rollover sensing, traction control and anti-lock brakes; Collapsible pedal system, which allows the pedals to detach during a crash to reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries; and OnStar with Automatic Crash Response.
Pricing details will be announced closer to launch.
Refresher: The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze’s base LS model is powered by a 136-hp 1.8L 4-cylinder engine, while the Eco, LT and LTZ model get a 1.4L turbo 4-cylinder Ecotec engine making 138-hp and a maximum torque of 148 lb-ft. The 1.4L turbo models are expected to have a cruising range of more than 500 miles and the Cruze Eco is estimated to get an EPA fuel-economy rating of 40 mpg on the highway. All 2011 Cruze models will be available with a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission.
2011 Chevrolet Cruze:
Press Release:
Designed To Protect: Chevrolet Cruze Provides Consumers With The Most Standard Safety Features In Its Segment
DETROIT – The 2011 Chevrolet Cruze’s class-leading safety features and structural strength were demonstrated today in a blunt manner – engineers crashed it. It was a planned test that highlighted the active and passive safety features, as well as the technology, of Chevrolet’s new, fuel-efficient sedan.
Cruze enters the market in the third quarter of this year with more standard safety features than any vehicle in its class, each contributing to Chevrolet’s goal of protecting passengers before, during and after a crash. Highlights include:
* Ten standard air bags – the most in the segment – including frontal, head curtain side air bags, front and outboard rear-seat side-impact air bags and new knee air bags
* StabiliTrak electronic stability control with rollover sensing, traction control and anti-lock brakes
* Collapsible pedal system, which allows the pedals to detach during a crash to reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries
* OnStar with Automatic Crash Response.
The comprehensive list of standard safety features on all models includes:
* Dual-stage frontal air bags
* Roof rail-mounted head curtain side air bags that help protect the front and outboard rear seating positions
* Seat-mounted side-impact air bags (front and rear)
* Front knee air bags
* Front passenger seat occupant sensing system
* Rollover sensing and protection system
* Collapsible pedal assembly
* Three-point safety belts in all five seating positions
* Safety belt retractor pretensioners and lap pretensioners in the driver and front-passenger positions
* Safety belt load limiters (with pretensioners) in the front safety belt retractorChild seat latching system in the rear seat.
Along with the standard safety features on all models – including a tire pressure monitoring system, daytime running lamps and automatic headlamps – LT and LTZ models include four-wheel disc brakes and offer rear-parking assist.
A strong foundation
The Cruze has a strong, unitized body structure that incorporates high-strength steel (HSS) in key areas to enhance strength and crash protection. It is used to help prevent intrusion into passenger compartment. The Cruze also features underbody main rails that extend from the front of the structure all the way to the rear, further enhancing the body’s strength and stiffness. A cross-structure beam behind the instrument panel anchors some vehicle features, while supporting the body during side-impact crashes.
Cruze’s safety has been recognized in markets around the globe where it is already sold. For example, it earned the top rating of five stars in European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP) testing. According to EuroNCAP, the Cruze scored 79 points out of 100, making it one of the safest models in the passenger car class. The Cruze achieved 96 percent in adult occupant protection, making it the runner-up this year and beating all tested premium brands. The Cruze received a maximum 16 points in the frontal offset collision test and a maximum eight points in the side-impact crash test against a moving deformable barrier. The Cruze is the first passenger car to receive maximum scores in both tests since EuroNCAP began providing crash test ratings in 1997.
OnStar with Automatic Crash Response
OnStar is standard and includes Automatic Crash Response and its latest enhancement, Injury Severity Prediction. This feature helps OnStar advisors alert first responders when a vehicle crash is likely to have caused serious injury to the occupants.
With Automatic Crash Response, OnStar uses data from a collection of built-in vehicle sensors that can signal an advisor for help if the vehicle is involved in a moderate to severe frontal, rear or side-impact crash, regardless of whether an air bag deploys.
Injury Severity Prediction uses an algorithm based on critical crash details, such as severity and direction of impact force, air bag deployments and whether there were multiple impacts or a vehicle rollover, to inform an OnStar advisor if there is a high probability of severe injury to vehicle occupants. Advisors can then relay this to the 9-1-1 operator, helping first responders prepare for what they may likely encounter at the crash scene and provide faster, more tailored help for the injured.
With more than 14 years of experience, OnStar has provided assistance in nearly 140,000 Automatic Crash Responses and received more than 1 million emergency calls for help.
If you’re going to produce world-class sports cars, you’re going to need the timepieces to go with them. It’s a time-honored rule that’s been followed by Ferrari, Aston Martin, Porsche and Bugatti, to name just a few. And now that the Saab takeover is out of the way, Spyker is preparing to join their ranks.
The collection will be crafted by Expressions d’Artistes International, based in Geneva. Limited details have been revealed at this point, but the range will include pieces crafted in steel, white gold and rose gold, and feature such complications as date indicators and power reserve meters. They’ll all bear Spyker’s trademark steampunk-style decor, from the machine-turned metal found on Spyker dashboards to the Hulshof leather from their bucket seats, which will be used for the wrist-straps.
Special editions exclusively for Spyker owners will feature their cars’ VIN digits. Prices will range from €8,000 for the steel model to €20,000 for the rose gold (that’s $10,700-$27,000 USD), with the official unveiling to take place at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. Details in the press release after the jump.
The New York Times runs a very good piece about the strained, tentative and sub rosa relationship between the Obama administration and American Muslim organizations. There’s an insightful bit about how meetings between Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, and U.S. Muslim groups contributed to her department’s repeal of ethnic profiling rules for air-travel screening created by the department after Northwest Flight 253.
At the same time, it’s a testament to how effective the right was at smearing Obama as a clandestine Muslim who planned to replace the Constitution with Islamic law and recruit your children to al-Qaeda. Each Muslim nominee for an administration position receives a level of background-dependent scrutiny from conservative fever swamps that no one of any other background receives. That has the compounding effect of disinclining the administration to seek out qualified Muslims for important roles.
[I]n the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That’s why I’m committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.
Still waiting on that one. The most the administration can say on that front so far is Attorney General Eric Holder has said he’s unsure whether to appeal a decision by a federal judge that the government illegally wiretapped the extremist-linked al-Haramain charity.
This is what a smear is designed to do: raise the political stakes for straying beyond the restricted boundaries of a policy discussion. It’s fear-mongering, pure and simple. And it’s working.
Talk about burying the lede. This from the NYTimes and my pal John Harwood:
One way to reach that 3 percent [deficit-to-GDP] goal, by the calculations of Mr. Obama’s economic team: a 5 percent value-added tax, which would generate enough revenue to simultaneously permit the reduction in corporate tax rates Republicans favor.
Me. Not only does it look like they are considering a VAT, the only offset would be lower corporate taxes. The whole thing would be a net tax increase, obviously. I mean, that is the whole point, despite all the talk about its efficient, pro-growth effects. A VAT of that size would raise $250-$300 billion a year in new tax revenue.
KNOXVILLE — Peter V. Zarubin, scientific adviser to the director of the high-energy laser design bureau — “Granat” — in Moscow, will discuss recently declassified information on the laser race between the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War during a visit to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on April 22.
Free and open to the public, the event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Toyota Auditorium at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, 1640 Cumberland Ave.
By examining the roles and actions of scientists, politicians, government officials and military personnel who participated in the Soviet High Energy Laser Research and Development programs from 1963 to 1980, Zarubin will look at the inside realities of the laser weapon race.
From 1967 until 1990, Zarubin worked in the Soviet Ministry of Defense Industry as technical director and director of Laser and Laser Systems Chief Directorate. Zarubin was deeply involved in the Cold War as one of Russia’s scientists and administrators, integral to the development of high-energy lasers, and as one of the leaders of the Soviet equivalent of the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, “Star Wars.”
Zarubin was the winner of the Soviet state prize for science and technology in 1980 and the Russian government prize for science and technology in 2002.
The Baker Center, which opened at UT in 2003, develops programs and promotes research to further the public’s knowledge of our system of governance, and to highlight the critical importance of public service, a hallmark of Baker’s career.
At the end of last week, the Obama administration reportedly told Senate Democrats to drop the $50 billion liquidation fund — often referred to as a “bailout fund” — from the financial regulation bill as a concession to Republicans. Senate Democrats broached the deal with Republican leadership. They refused.
Still, yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) made the “bailout fund” the centerpiece of his argument against financial regulation reform on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley.
Of course, the “bailout fund” is no “bailout fund.” The idea is that banks would fund a $50 billion pool; were any to get into trouble, regulators would fire every member of management, wipe out shareholders, split the company up and sell the pieces, and tap the $50 billion fund to pay for the process and ensure the orderly dissolution of the firm. Companies like Citigroup were given bailouts during the crisis. This would be an execution (or, as Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) likes to say, a “death panel“).
Still, McConnell has made the fund a central talking point. The political calculation is clear: At least for now, Republicans believe that they are better off arguing the bill is not good enough rather than voting for reform, no matter how cynical and hypocritical it might seem.
Every time you send out 140 characters over the social application Twitter, how much energy does that consume?
KNOXVILLE — Peter V. Zarubin, scientific adviser to the director of the high-energy laser design bureau — “Granat” — in Moscow, will discuss recently declassified information on the laser race between the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War during a visit to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on April 22.