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BYD, the most optimistic car company in the entire world, is getting ready to step in the United States, a thing that could happen before the end of the year. The company will initially launch the e6, an all-electric car that is said to provide a maximum autonomy of up to 300 kilometers per charge.

Talking to the press representatives at the 2010 North American International Auto Show, BYD business manager Fred Ni said the e6 is going to be very affordable but hasn’t provided a price range fo… (read more)

“People try to tell you that the secret to pepper steak is the seasoning, but we know different don’t we? It’s getting the pieces all the same size.”

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Do you like the feeling you get when you break a chocolate bar in half? Do you want to experience that feeling over and over for some reason? Then you’re in the target group for a new Japanese toy called Mugen Chokoreeto [JP], which (kind of) translates back to “Endless Chocolate Bar”. It’s the brainchild of major Japanese toymaker Bandai.

It’s essentially a mini toy made of plastic that looks like a small chocolate bar and that you can “break” into two parts repeatedly. You can choose between three “flavors”: milk chocolate, high-milk chocolate and white chocolate. The “bars” have a case, too, and weigh 22g. The Meiji branding you see on the picture above is actually the result of a licensing deal Bandai made with a real Japanese confectionery company called Meiji Seika.

Bandai plans to start selling the Endless Chocolate Bar in Japan on January 30. The official target group are men in their 20s. The bars will cost $7 each and are the newest addition to the Mugen series Bandai started a while ago.

The Mugen Pop Pop, for example, made it to America. But if you don’t want to take a chance, I suggest you contact import/export specialists Rinkya or the Japan Trend Shop in case you’re interested but live outside Japan.

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The 2010 Geneva Motor Show in March will also represent the official return of Cadillac in Europe as the brand is currently working on establishing a new dealership network across the continent. Speaking for just-auto.com, a Cadillac spokesman said the brand is looking into ways to set up a network of around 120 to 130 dealerships in Europe.

"Yes, we are doing a restart of these vehicles in the spring," the spokesman said. "No particular date, but I assume the Geneva show would… (read more)

Following an amazing performance of Japanese carmaker Toyota under the US Car Allowance Rebate System last year, the manufacturer said it would welcome the competition of American made cars, should they be allowed entry in Japan’s clunker program.

"We support that it will be allowed," Yoshi Inaba, Toyota Motor North America president told Autonews during the Automotive News World Congress. As expected, Toyota’s support was welcomed by the American automotive industry.

Sen. Debb… (read more)

Filed under: Motorsports, Ferrari, UK, Racing

Fans of classic racing liveries were elated when Aston Martin brought Gulf racing back on its Le Mans challengers. Now we’ve got another classic scheme on our hands, courtesy of STP.

The iconic American motor oil company has sponsored such notables as Graham Hill, Jim Clark and Mario Andretti, but is most commonly associated with Richard Petty’s stock cars. This year, however, the livery will be coming back on the GT3-spec Ferrari 430 Scuderia shown. It’s being fielded by Chad Racing in the British GT Championship and driven by Daniel Brown and Chris Hyman, the former a highly rated rookie driver in open-wheels. Details in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Chad Racing and STP]

Continue reading Back on Track: Classic STP livery returns on Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3

Back on Track: Classic STP livery returns on Ferrari 430 Scuderia GT3 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Marcus Ericsson is reportedly in pole position for securing the test/reserve driving position within the Mercedes GP Formula One team. Although there were several reports linking an experienced driver to that role (yes, we’re referring to F1 veteran Nick Heidfeld), some media reports from Finland suggest that Mercedes is searching for some young blood for that position.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat was the publication that reported this piece of news, through its live correspondent to the Madonna … (read more)

	Detroit 2010: 1,000 Tesla Roadsters have been built, Model S still over two years away Let’s look forward, not backward.		Detroit 2010: Smart USA’s Jill Lajdziak says lifestyle message can boost sales Would a temporary store make the Fortwo more appealing?
	Detroit 2010: Edison2’s Very Light Car scoffs at Electric Avenue It’s an ICE vehicle, for one.	Other news: Toyota to deploy 100 fuel cell vehicles in U.S. demonstration program Detroit 2010: CT&T debuts three models, including Multi Amphibious Vehicle Surprise: Study finds electric cars a good fit for urban environments

AutoblogGreen for 01.14.10 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A team of researchers has achieved a milestone in soybean research that could enhance its use for the production of biodiesel. Soybean, which is considered one of the most important sources of protein and oil, has now become the first legume species with a published complete draft genome sequence. As of now, researcher have determined the genetic code, they can expand their reference to more than 20,000 legume species and could access the evolutionary innovation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

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paperbag alerts us to the news that Peter Jackson is the latest filmmaker to go semi-ballistic over a film leaking to the internet. His new film, The Lovely Bones, apparently showed up online via a screener copy, leading Jackson to warn:

He stated that although up until [now] he did not hold a grudge against file sharing, he is heavily disappointed that the leak even happened to begin with. He also stated that “those responsible for the leak will be brought to justice with the maximum prosecution of the law in mind” and that “anyone who is caught illegally downloading the film will also be prosecuted to the fullest”, both statements which are sure to lose him a few fans.

Jackson is definitely a director with a huge and loyal following. These are people will see his movies no matter what — even if they happen to download them. It’s a bit surprising that he would go to such an extreme, even to the point of claiming that those who are caught downloading the film will be prosecuted (though, we wonder how he’s going to figure out who downloads the film). Being anti-fan is no way to build a business these days.

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Despite Chinese government efforts to cool housing prices, their rise just accelerated at the fastest pace in 18 months during December.

Bloomberg: Residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities rose 7.8 percent from a year earlier, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its Web site today. That topped a 5.7 percent gain in November.

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“We only expect to see about a 5 percent increase in overall prices this year as we believe that would be acceptable to the Chinese government,” Raymond Cheng, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Credit Suisse AG, said before the data release. “They don’t want the bubble to burst.”

The scariest idea supporting Chinese asset markets is the faith in the government to control the economy. Confidence in the government’s ability to keep the economy humming, property prices rom getting out of control, or support the stock market is the kind of problem that doesn’t show itself until it becomes enormous and disastrous.

Don’t miss: Why Shanghai Real Estate Is The Most Obvious Bubble Ever — >

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See Also:

• Look Out: Goldman Sachs Is Now Dumping Shanghai Property
• Morgan Stanley: Keep Riding The Hong Kong Property Bubble, It Can Still Go Way Higher
• Why Shanghai Real Estate Is The Most Obvious Bubble Ever

The Renault Group has released its 2009 global sales results today. The company now has an overall (passenger cars & light commercial vehicles) market share of 3.7%, representing a slight 0.1 percent increase.

When it comes to sales, the group registered a 3.1% decrease, with a a total of 2,309 million units. However, the 3.1% figure is smaller than the 4.7% drop for the world market.

In the passenger cars market, the manufacturer increased its share by 0.2 points to 4.3%. More importantl… (read more)

LotusLive has scored a big win over Microsoft Exchange in perhaps the most significant deal to date for a SaaS provider. The IBM deal with Panasonic means that 300,000 people at the electronics company will drop Exchange for the LotusLive, web-based collaboration service.

We would normally not cover customer wins, but the LotusLive deal with Panasonic is so large it signifies how lucrative this market could be for cloud service providers.

We expect these deals to pop up everywhere as more companies see the benefits of shedding IT assets for cloud-based services. In turn this will change how companies negotiate. With more competition and publicized wins, managers will look beyond the desktop for the best deal possible they can find from a cloud services provider.

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Panasonic will use LotusLive for its calendar; email; web conferencing; messaging; file sharing; project management and contact management as well.

LotusLive will also replace Lotus Notes and other collaboration tools.

The LotusLive tiered pricing structure looks similar to what we see with many SaaS providers. According to eWeek, the cost for LotusLive starts at $3 per user, per month. As the client uses more services, the price per user increases.

The win also shows that Google Apps is not as dominant as it sometimes appears. Google Apps has not scored a win on this scale.

Still, Google Apps has had the most success as a provider of online collaboration service. It recently closed deals with several large enterprise customers, including the city of Los Angeles.

All of these wins show that enterprise customers will move faster to the cloud than many expected. In the coming months, we expect Google and IBM will intensify its campaigns against Microsoft. IBM may also have an advantage against Google as the LotusLive pricing structure makes it easy for customers to make an investment. Google offers its services for free and $50 for a premiere account.

It may seem like Microsoft is the one most vulnerable. But we don’t think so. Its cloud-based platform, Azure, may be the best fit of all for many enterprise customers. Further, its deal with Hewlett-Packard means it now has a powerful package it can sell, combining HP servers with Microsoft software.

This is already proving to be quite a year for cloud computing. And just think, we’re only halfway through the month of January.

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By Jonnelle Marte, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal

“Sexting,” the short– and sometimes annoying—term for “sexy texting” is getting a lot of negative attention these days as anti-sexting ad campaigns heat up online.

The Ad Council has launched a series of Public Service Announcements promoting the slogan “Think before you post.” One depicts a teenage girl who keeps getting creepy comments from people who seem to know intimate things about her. The football coach compliments her on her new tattoo. The ticket collector at the movie theater asks what color underwear she’s wearing today. Then we hear a voice saying “anything you post online, anyone can see.” Another video shows a girl posting a picture on a bulletin board that instantly reappears after someone takes it down, allowing everyone at the school– even the janitor– to get a copy. The message: once you post something online, “you can’t take it back-anyone can see it.”

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Ailing Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ is expecting a recovery of up to 50 percent in the Russian market, as the local auto sector is showing signs of recovery for the current year. Nevertheless, AvtoVAZ has a lot to do before restoring the pre-crisis figures as vehicle production dropped according to just-auto.com by 63 percent in the last year.

AvtoVAZ, 25 percent owned by Renault, will also benefit from a restructuring plan established by Russia and the French manufacturer back in November. Accor… (read more)

For all its efforts, Microsoft just can’t get ahead in the search market. After seeing some growth in the months after it launched, Bing dropped significantly in December to just 9.9 percent of the US search market, down from 10.7 percent in the previous month. Yahoo isn’t faring any better either seeing yet another month of declining market share. Google, on the other hand, is surging ahead at the expense of its competitors, according to numbers from Nielsen.

A total of 9.95 b… (read more)

A date has been set for the arrival of DSi XL in the UK. Not only is the date set, the accompanying titles have bee identified as well. Details after the jump.