The American auto-industry is certainly not beyond a little bit of self-deprecating humor, as made evident by the blends of coffee made available in the press room. ‘Bailout Blend’ was among the coffee choices offered to the press today at the 2010 North American International Auto Show hosted in none other than the Motor City itself. We thought it prudent to share this little bit of satire with our readers, as we found it quite entertaining.
-By: Stephen Calogera
Not all "Ultimate Fighter" cast members walk the instant path to the UFC. Jesse Forbes from Season 3 made his return to the Octagon for the first time since his 2006 and a TUF 3 Finale loss to Matt Hamill. Now 25, with 16 pro fights under his belt, he looked like a legitimate middleweight. Veteran Nick "Jersey Devil" Catone was alittle too much for him as he lost a close decision 28-29, 29-28 and 29-28 to open Ultimate Fight Night 20 in Fairfax, Va.
The first two rounds were razor thin. The entire 10 minutes were spent standing with the fighters trading hard shots. Give Catone credit, one of the first punches he absorbed, appeared to have broken his nose.
"He caught me with a couple of shots. I think the southpaw thing threw me off," Catone told UFC.com. "I kind of made the adjustment toward the middle of the first round."
Catone sealed the win in that final round by scoring two takedowns. He was actually denied a chance to do major damage on the ground after the first takedown. Referee "Quick" Rick McCoy stood the fighters up without much cause even though it appeared Catone was active while sitting in Forbes’ full guard. It may have been the first time in recent UFC history that a crowd booed a referee for bringing a fight back to the feet.
"Jesse was stuffing my shots in the first two rounds, but I felt like I was able to get into a groove in the third round."
Catone needed the victory. He dropped close fights at UFN 18 and UFC 102.
"I was coming off two tough losses," said Catone. "It felt good to get the win under my belt and get the monkey off my back"
HARRIS GET HIS FIRST UFC WIN
Much like Forbes, Harris had a disappointing finish to his appearance during "The Ultimate Fighter." A Season 7 castmember, Harris never got a shot to fight at the TUF 7 Finale, in spite of more than competing during his round of eight fight against the eventual champion Amir Sadollah.
Harris, called in tonight to fight on short notice because of an injury to Tim Credeur, was the fresher fighter against John Salter. After a delberate pace in the first two rounds, he finished things off in the third. After scoring two takedowns, Harris got into a dominant position and wailed away with some good elbows. When he got in a clean left and right, referee Ryan McGovern saved Salter at 3:24 of the third.
"I heard him say ‘ugh’ like he was hurt so I kept punching. I ended up with a TKO in my first UFC fight so I can’t complain too much."
Salter was also fighting on short notice. He was called in on Tuesday when Mike Massenzio had to drop out of the fight. The late notice killed him. Salter was out of gas early in the fight but Harris never really looked willing to push the pace.
"I heard a couple of boos. I love to please the crowd but I have to make sure to stick to my gameplan and get the win first. I wanted to have a better showing but there will be other fights."
The Patriot Center, hosting Virginia’s first UFC fight, is about 75-percent full with nine more fights on the way.
An artist’s impression of the proposed tower for the Volare site.
TWO major Gold Coast developers are planning luxury towers within 500m of each other opposite the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Amalgamated Property Group has lodged plans to build a 20-storey tower on the Volare restaurant site, while the Potter Group will lodge its documents in March, outlining its vision for the ageing Main Place shopping complex.
Both sites were amalgamated over the past five years and are valued at more than $4 million.
The projects are located next to the rapid transit route and are expected to attract extra tourists to the Broadbeach precinct.
City planning chief Cr Ted Shepherd said the renaissance of Broadbeach would help drive the city’s construction industry.
He said he would also push for a pedestrian link from Main Place to the convention centre.
"I would like to see an all-weather glass enclosed overpass linking Broadbeach to the convention centre," said Cr Shepherd.
"Unfortunately, this request has been met with some negativity from TransLink, who say they would like to keep pedestrians at ground level."
Cr Shepherd said the council would support new high-rise projects along the beachfront, with a focus on sustainable living.
"I’ve seen the plans for the Main Place project and it looks fabulous," he said.
The Main Place redevelopment, proposed by Gold Coast property identity John Potter, will comprise a new retail-dining precinct fronting the Gold Coast Highway with a high-rise residential tower at the northern end.
The project team will work with TransLink to accommodate a light rail station and car parking.
Meanwhile, the Volare site redevelopment will include 108 apartments.
APG has delivered almost $400 million in high-rise projects on the southern Gold Coast since 2008, including the $85 million Verve, $90 million Element towers and $32 million Ivory Tower.
Sources said the council could consider a deal with the developers that includes financial contributions to support the light rail track, which will run from Griffith University to Pacific Fair.
An APG spokesman said the Volare project could go to market by the end of the year.
You do not have to answer all the questions, but the more the better!
1) Name:
2) Email:
3) Date of diagnosis:
4) Do you have Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes or other?
5) Do you use insulin injections or the pump? or are you not on insulin? (T2)
6) What glucose monitor do you currently use?
7) Have you used others in the past? If so, which one/s?
8) Which has worked best for you and why?
9) Which has caused the least hassle overall and why?
(including its case design and necessities sold separately such as test strips)
10) When youre feeling especially tired of it all, do you sometimes neglect to replace the pricker, clean the surface of your skin before testing, and/or not test all together before eating? Do you think if steps were cut down/the process was subtler, you would pay more attention to doing it properly every time?
11) What is the worst thing about checking your blood sugar?
(Examples: the embarrassment of taking it out in public, the pain of the prick, the hassle of it all, etc)
12) In what situations/places is it specifically a hassle to check your blood sugar? (Ex: Sports, temperature, rain)
13) How do you record your sugar levels, insulin intake and food consumption?
A. In a notebook or sheet
B. Electronically (through what device?)
C. I dont record anything
D. I only record when my numbers are out of range
E. I rarely record my numbers
14) Additional comments/suggestions:
Describe your ideal case. What would/nt it have? What aspects are most important and/or are most annoying?
What part of the process is most consuming or sometimes complicated to do while on the move?
(Examples: recording the numbers, throwing out the trash, finding sharps container, alcohol swabs, filling the sterile pads)
As the first day of the Press Preview for the 2010 North American International Auto Show comes to a close, American automakers were left with a big responsibility as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ended her visit to Motown with the following quote; ‘Our hopes are riding on the auto industry.”.
In a press conference that lasted approximately 20 minutes, Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, and Republican Representative Fred Upton gave praise to the industry that seemedas if it was on the verge of collapse not too long ago. Both Hoyer and Pelosi commended and re-commended the Michigan congressional delegation for their ferverous and incessant advocacy of the region, and specifically with regards to the auto industry.
Pelosi lent particular mention to the fact that had it not been for the lobbying of the Michigan delegation, the wildly successful ‘cash for clunkers’ program would have been voted on as part of a larger climate bill and not have come to bear fruit as soon as it did, if at all.
It was not about the survival of companies, said Pelosi in reference to the bailouts, but of an industry. Hoyer, reminiscing back to his childhood, a time when the American automobile was the “envy of the world.”, agreed with Pelosi’s sentiment that a successful automobile industry is directly supportive of our national security. Specifically, a technologically advanced and environmentally friendly industry will drastically reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Pelosi promised to bring back to Washington a good report on the industry, citing that she was “impressed” with and “hopeful” about what she had seen in the Motor City. She had also eagerly mentioned her intention to return to the show next year.
Photo Copyright © 2009 Stephen Calogera – egmCarTech.
– By: Stephen Calogera
A Mercedes afirma que seu novo modelo SLS AMG possui uma aerodinâmica capaz de girar 360º em um túnel sem quebrar ou parar o motor graças ao trabalho realizado em toda a estrutura do carro.
O próprio veículo gera uma atração gravitacional que em teoria o prende ao piso sem tombar ou causar acidentes. Mas para que isso seja possível é necessário utilizar um motor de injeção com carter seco.
Esse vídeo foi feito pela própria empresa para provar essa teoria, porém mesmo vendo é difícil acreditar que o veiculo realmente seja capaz de realizar tal façanha.
Fonte: YouTube
HOUSTON, Jan 11, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Plunkett Research, Ltd. has released their newest market research and competitive analysis report, Plunkett’s Renewable, Alternative & Hydrogen Energy Industry Almanac, 2010 edition. This carefully-researched …
So, you don’t have $191,000 for that F1 car simulator you always wanted? Don’t worry: 1) take some Lego Technic, 2) grab an iPhone, and 3) invent a way to connect your brain to a hamster. [eblogx via RandomGoodStuff]
by Tyler Falk
Seattle, Wash.—Attending the American Farm Bureau’s annual meeting in the Emerald City on Sunday, I felt like a Red Sox fan at a Yankees game. It did nothing to calm my nerves when I heard Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman say this:
A line must be drawn between our polite and respectful engagement with consumers and the way we must aggressively respond to extremists who want to drag agriculture back to the day of 40 acres and a mule … Who would blame us for thinking that the avalanche of misguided, activist-driven regulation on labor and environment being proposed in Washington is anything but unfriendly?
American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman speaks at the opening general session.Photo: American Farm BureauYikes! I was at the meeting to see what role sustainability and environmental concerns play in the Farm Bureau’s philosophy, and Stallman was giving me a pretty good idea.
With its 6 million members, the group is highly influential. It’s traditionally friendly to agribusiness, and in the past year has played a notable role in bogging down and opposing climate legislation. During his opening speech, Stallman touted the Farm Bureau’s corny anti-cap-and-trade slogan:
At the very same time that we need to increase our food production, climate change legislation threatens to slash our ability to do so. The exact level of land that will shift to trees will depend on the price of carbon … the USDA suggests we could easily be talking about 59 million acres … Stop by our tradeshow booth, sign a petition, pick up a farm cap. Our message to Congress about cap-and-trade is clear—Don’t CAP Our Future.
OK, he’s clearly not a cap-and-trade fan. So later, at a press conference, I asked Stallman if there were climate change legislation that he would support. His response:
Attendees signed a petition to tell Congress “Don’t CAP Our Future.”Photo: Tyler FalkThere are a lot of people who say the only thing you can have is a
carbon tax or a mandatory cap-and-trade program. We disagree with that.
We think we can move forward with a renewable electricity standard,
more incentives for solar and wind energy, voluntary tax-based
incentives, or subsidy based incentives, continue with a renewable fuel
standard, create more supplies of natural gas to displace some of the
electricity generation done by coal, research and development of carbon
capture and storage to be sure we’re able to use these vast coal
reserves we have in this country in a way that keeps carbon from being
emitted into the atmosphere. And then sort of a Manhattan Project, if
you will, for nuclear power … But all of those things could be done and put in place through
government policy at a much lower cost to the economy [than cap-and-trade] in a manner that
wouldn’t downsize American agriculture. So we think that’s a much
better approach.
The tradeshow floor.Photo: Tyler FalkAfter all that talk about renewables, I headed over to the tradeshow to see for myself what kind of exciting green innovations are happening in the agriculture world. Well, let’s see. There’s a John Deere tractor, and of course John Deere apparel. Here’s a Stihl weedeater. I smell some ham cooking somewhere. Oh wait, look over there—an ethanol booth! That’s a start—if only it didn’t take so much energy to make ethanol in the first place. There’s a guy promoting “going green” by using propane. And another “environmental” guy who seems primarily interested in manure. Nothing organic or actually sustainable in sight. Keep looking. Wait, what’s that over there in the corner? I can’t quite see it past the glare of shiny new Dodge Rams. Hey, it’s the European Union booth!
Shiny trucks!Photo: Tyler FalkTurns out the Europeans have the only display promoting sustainable agriculture. When I tell the woman at the booth about my interest in sustainable agriculture, she eagerly loads me up with more literature than I can carry (plus all of the other E.U. memorabilia that she clearly doesn’t think she’ll be able to give away during the meeting).
Feeling disappointed with the state of modern U.S. agriculture, I decided to get kicked while I was down and subject myself to some good old fashioned climate change denial.
Before a standing-room-only crowd of about a thousand white-haired farmers, the charismatic Christopher C. Horner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, was there to give us the “story behind the story about global warming.” He hit on “Climategate,” global cooling, Al Gore’s cherry-picked data, and just about every other denialist argument you’ve ever heard. After the presentation a woman I overheard on the escalator said: “He was great. I wouldn’t want to debate him though. He talks so fast. Boy, does he know his stuff though.” Thank you for smoking, anyone?
So there you have it from the American Farm Bureau’s annual meeting: Don’t cap our future, don’t bother us with “sustainable” ag, and global warming isn’t real.
I’m going to put on my XL E.U. T-shirt and dream of a sustainable world, because from what I saw on Sunday that’s about as close as I’ll get.
Related Links:
Industrial farming head just says ‘no’ to call for civility
Is the Obama administration about to eat the foodies’ lunch?
Scientists demand meeting to talk climate with head of American Farm Bureau
Tra gli obiettivi riguardanti lassetto e lutilizzazione del territorio e dello sviluppo economico, il Comune di Riccione da tempo sente lesigenza di una adeguata difesa della propria costa dallerosione marina nonché la mancanza di uno struttura portuale adeguata alle caratteristiche rivierasche della propria città individuando nelle medesime il volano per crescere e consolidare il ruolo primario delleconomia turistica.
Da qui qualche anno fa nasce il progetto "Sealine" un’isola artificiale a largo della costa Riccionese.
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E’ questa l’idea contenuta nei nove progetti per immaginare senza pregiudizi, presentati in occasione di Sealine Riccione, un workshop internazionale promosso dalle facoltà di architettura delle Università di Ferrara, Syracuse (NY, Usa) e Delft (NL) in cui loro studenti hanno svolto un lavoro di ricerca sul tema dello sviluppo sostenibile della città di Riccione lavorando sul rapporto città – mare. La proposta per rendere il futuro di Riccione sostenibile è, secondo studi recentissimi, un’isola o un gruppo di isole artificiali. Le Facoltà di Architettura delle Università di Ferrara, Syracuse (NY, Usa) e Delft (NL) hanno invece proposto una soluzione innovativa, partendo dalla considerazione dell’estrema densità della costa e della mancanza di spazio per la crescita qualitativa e diversificata della città e dalla volontà di considerare la città, meta turistica e città residenziale, nella sua globalità. Soluzioni del genere sono state già state progettate per realizzare Surfer Paradise a Norrowneck, La Grande Motte a Monaco, Java ad Amsterdam, Isola del giorno dopo a Tel Aviv, Waterfront a Genova, e testimoniano la volontà e la necessità di molte città costiere di crescere in armonia con il mare. Consapevoli di essere di fronte a un paesaggio artificiale, risultato di trasformazioni del territorio che hanno sottratto parti di mare per renderle aree urbanizzate ci si è resi conto che ricercare il naturale, o meglio ritornare al naturale è impossibile afferma il Prof. Emanueli, responsabile del progetto è invece plausibile immaginare e progettare ambienti iper-naturali, vale a dire ambienti che pur essendo artificiali si avvicinano al naturale attraverso l’ideazione di nuove porzioni di territorio. Un’isola, quindi, o addirittura un arcipelago di piccole isole realizzate con l’utilizzo di sabbie marine e di altri materiali naturali, oltre la fascia attiva per evitare il velocizzarsi delle correnti tangenziali alla costa. L’isola, secondo gli studiosi, può rivestire il duplice ruolo di una protezione contro le mareggiate e di nuovo spazio di sviluppo per la città da destinare a un porto semigalleggiante, un parco ecologico, un’area da dedicare alla moda e all’industria, o addirittura un centro per la pace riservato a studenti di teologia. Le nove proposte avanzate sono da ritenersi l’inizio di un processo per ripensare lo sviluppo armonico delle nostre città costiere verso il mare e non la conclusione di progetto didattico multiculturale. Sono un brainstorming per accumulare idee che certamente necessitano di una elaborazione e di un approfondimento ulteriori attraverso il confronto multidisciplinare. |
Nel mese di Aprile 2009 il Consiglio Comunale di Riccione ha approvato la creazione di una Società a Capitale misto per la promozione e la realizzazione di una piattaforma destinata al servizio della nautica da diporto e servizi accessori.
(Sealine – Riccione International Design Workshop)
I was diagnosed with type II diabetes in 1996. I’m 67 years old and used coffee creamer — Coffee Mate or any other kind –for years. I watched all other carbs and was always curious why my readings would go up to 120 to 140 or more. I read the labels on the coffee creamer and saw a long time ago that the main ingredient is corn syrup. I ignored it because I don’t like black coffee or black tea. Then I decided to try drinking both black to see if I could get use to it. My blood sugar now reads 97 to 100 maybe 108. I’m trying my darndest to just get used to black coffee and black tea. I’m not a doctor but that has been my experience. I bet we’re on the right track.
I only hope someone is working on a creamer made from something else or I guess it’s water for me.
Jo
» It looks like Windows Mobile 7 will be nothing like the Windows we know today. [PubCreativo]
» Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is working on enterprise and mass-market versions of the Nexus One. [V3.co.uk]
» Engadet’s “best of the worst nominees” from CES. [Engadget]
» Almost half of consumers used their phone for holiday shopping. [Mobile Entertainment]
» A phishing app on the Android Market, Droid09, defrauded First Tech Credit Union customers. [AndroidGuys]
Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Freeware, Internet, Developer
Mozilla has dropped a Firefox 3.6 release candidate which you can download and install it now if you want to try the browser’s latest and greatest. It’s a big, significant update, including many of bug fixes, built-in Persona support, fullscreen for open native video, and an improved automatic form fill. For developers, there’s even more updates, including support for the HTML5 File API, and new features in CSS and DOM as well.
Despite the recent emergence of Chrome and the continuing popularity of Safari, Firefox remains my browser of choice. It’s good to see that the latest release pushes the envelope. Of course, it’s fine to wait for the official version, but if you want to get your hands on the new features right away, here’s your chance. Firefox 3.6 Release Candidate is a free download as always.
TUAWFirefox 3.6 Release Candidate now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Less than a week ago, Google introduced its own Android phone, the Nexus One. Over the weekend, we got a chance to take the phone through its paces and while we aren’t quite ready to give up our iPhone yet, the Nexus One is a formidable challenger. Apple will clearly have to step up its game with the next iPhone if it wants to hold off Android’s momentum. In terms of features, the Nexus One is already on par with the iPhone platform and beats it in many areas. When it comes to the overall user experience, the iPhone is still a step ahead of the Android platform, but that could easily change in the near future.
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For the sake of this review, we won’t look at the Nexus One hardware in great detail. Suffice to say, the 1GHz Snapdragon processor makes the phone extremely fast and the 3.7 inch AMOLED screen simply looks gorgeous. While it isn’t much bigger than the iPhone’s screen, the difference in resolution (800×400) is quite noticeable. We didn’t get a chance to formally test the phone’s battery life, but unless we made extensive use of the GPS, it easily got through a day’s use without needing a recharge.
The phone’s 5 megapixel camera works just as advertised – though the camera app isn’t the prettiest app on the phone. Picture quality was generally on par with pictures from the iPhone 3GS, though the built-in LED flash gives the phone an important additional feature that Apple doesn’t currently offer.
In the long run, the big difference between the two platforms isn’t the hardware but the operating system. After all, the iPhone 3GS is also quite fast and we haven’t heard a lot of complaints about the iPhone’s screen. Android 2.1 isn’t a major step up from version 2.0, but it does introduce some notable new features, including the ability to use voice in every application that brings up the built-in virtual keyboard.
While the Nexus One isn’t an iPhone killer, it’s already on par with Apple’s phone in many regards. As Google and the developer community that has grown around Android continues to improve the OS, it is only a matter of time before Apple will have to react with an updated version of its iPhone OS.
Here are some of the features that make the Nexus One and Android 2.1 a winner in our opinion. We should note there are some unresolved customer service and hardware issues that have made headlines over the last few days. We didn’t experience any of these problems ourselves, but your mileage may vary.
But there are also some areas where the iPhone is still a clear winner:
As we pointed out last week, the Nexus One and Android 2.1 aren’t quite ready for the enterprise yet and Google has to work on the security features of the phone and software before it can become a major player in this market. Google, however, is aware of this and is already working on an enterprise version of the phone.
Overall, we were very impressed with the phone’s hardware and software. Android 2.1 could still benefit from some design work, but in terms of features and functionality, Android can now easily compete with the iPhone.
Disclaimer: Google provided us with a loaner unit and a working SIM card free of charge.
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By Jennifer Valentino, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal
Two big questions remain about the recent spate of Facebook updates from women posting only their bra color as their status: Do the messages really raise awareness of breast cancer, as they’re reportedly intended? And who came up with this idea, anyway?
The Washington Post’s Know Your Meme, which follows Internet trends, says the messages began taking off on Thursday. The site offers several versions of the letters that started the trend, with the typical format going something like: “List the color of your bra in your FB status, just the color, nothing more. Then send this mssg to your girlfriends’ inboxes, too … no men. The point is to see how far we can spread breast cancer awareness … and make the men wonder what’s up 
” Some of the letters mention breast-cancer awareness, but some talk only about playing a joke on the men of Facebook.
Read the rest of this post on the original site
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While BMW won’t be doing a Z4M anytime soon, it has satisfied the speed demon in us (that loves roadsters) with the new 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is. The 3.0L inline-6 twin-turbocharged engine features increased air intake flow and increased boost pressure to release more power. With the combination of twin low-mass turbochargers and High Precision direct injection, output is increased to 335-hp with a peak torque of 332 lb-ft available from 1,500 rpm to 4,500 rpm.
With an electronically-controlled overboost function, torque is increased by another 37 lb-ft. That allows for a 0-60 mph time of 4.7 seconds, compared to the Z4 sDrive35’s time of 5.1 seconds.
We’re not sure what BMW will price the Z4 sDrive35is at, but if a 0-60 mph difference of .4 seconds makes any difference to your life, get ready to pay a couple thousand over $51,900.
Make the leap for the high-res image gallery.
2010 Detroit: 2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is:
All Photos Copyright © 2009 Stephen Calogera – egmCarTech.
2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is:
– By: Stephen Calogera
Filed under: Budget, Sedan, China, Chevrolet
While all kinds of reveals are occurring at the Detroit Auto Show, halfway ’round the would, General Motors has unveiled its 2010 Chevrolet New Sail to China, the world’s largest auto market. The New Sail is a joint venture between joint ventures: General Motors‘ local partner in China is Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), and the subcompact was developed by Shanghai GM and Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center, which are both jointly owned by GM and SAIC. It’s the first time such a collaboration has produced a locally created car.
The New Sail will start around RMB 60,000 (circa $8,800 USD), putting it in direct contention with fully homegrown brands. The NS wants to lure buyers away from domestics with best-in-class fuel economy from its 85-horsepower, Variable Geometry Intake System (VGIS) 1.2-liter S-TEC II engine that returns 41.2 miles-per-gallon. The slightly larger 1.4-liter has 102 hp yet still turns in 39.8 mpg. Both engines work through a five-speed manual transmission.
You can get GM’s exhaustive details in the press release after the jump, and check it out from numerous angles in our gallery of high-res photos below. In spite of the Cavalier epithet reference we made last time we met this car, it’s not a bad looking piece of kit.
Gallery: 2010 Chevrolet New Sail
[Source: Chevrolet]
Continue reading GM releases Chevrolet New Sail in China
GM releases Chevrolet New Sail in China originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Crossover, Hyundai
The 2010 edition of the Hyundai Santa Fe isn’t getting a full redesign, but a visual refresh does provide a few hints of the “fluidic sculpture” design language that debuted last month on the new Tucson and Sonata. The new hood features a pair of ridges extending back from the grille to the A-pillars as well as sculpted bars in the grille similar to the Sonata. The lower front fascia also gets some new forms that evoke a similar look to the Tucson.
However, the most important upgrades to the Santa Fe are under the hood and will no doubt help Hyundai maintain and advance its lead in the CAFE race. The old 2.7-liter and 3.3-liter V6 engines have been sent off to the scrap heap in favor a pair of engines that provide better performance and efficiency. The base setup is the same 175 horsepower 2.4-liter inline-four found in the new Tucson while the optional engine is a re-vamped 3.5-liter Lambda V6 now with 276 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque. Both engines are mated up exclusively with six-speed transmissions but only the four gets a manual option.
The four bumps the EPA numbers from the 18/24 mpg of the old 2.7-liter to 20/28 while the 3.5 improves on the 17/24 mpg values of the 3.3 to 20/26 mpg.
Gallery: Detroit 2010: 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe
Gallery: 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe
[Source: Hyundai]
Continue reading Detroit 2010: 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe shows mild freshening, new engines
Detroit 2010: 2011 Hyundai Santa Fe shows mild freshening, new engines originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrid, Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, Crossover, Audi, Electric, Diesel
As stated earlier – and despite quotes to the contrary – Audi is increasingly serious about alternative propulsion. After pioneering direct injection and pushing the envelope of diesel technology, Audi is looking to electricity for its next round of innovations. And the fruits of its labors are coming this year.
In addition to the forthcoming hybrid Q5 (due to arrive this fall), Audi announced plans today to unveil the 2011 Audi A8 Hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show this March. All told, Audi will release eight new models in 2010 and hopes that its continued work in the diesel realm, coupled with its burgeoning image in the U.S., will thrust it over one million sales next year.
However, Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen said in no uncertain terms that, “We must say no” to technologies that don’t move the game forward. As such, Audi will not create any “mild” hybrids and instead focus its efforts on full gasoline-electric technology as they “share more relevencies to EVs and consumer expectations.” With products like the Q5 and A8 hybrid, the new interest in diesel technology in the States and the forthcoming e-tron, Audi has placed its bets and by the end of the decade, it needs them to pay off.
Gallery: 2011 Audi A8
Detroit 2010: Audi A8 Hybrid coming to Geneva, no mild hybrids… ever originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Here are our observations about the top trends at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. We spent five days there checking out the gadgets, parties, and press conferences. Check out how well these trends match up against our predictions from before the show.
3-D TV in the home. Some years, it’s hard to figure out the trends at CES. This year, it was easy because every big company talked about viewing 3-D movies, TV shows and games in the living room. Blame it on Avatar. The advocates include LG Electronics, Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp, Panasonic, Sony, Intel, and Nvidia. Some of the companies gave 30 percent of their press conference airtime to 3-D. Nvidia had the best 3-D viewable images (as far as we saw) on a racing game. That’s because personal computers can use the best dedicated 3-D graphics hardware, making for more realism. Both Panasonic and Samsung unveiled a whole ecosystem of products from glasses to 3-D ready TVs.
Last year, the 3-D craze was just getting started. But the billion-dollar box office revenues of Avatar made made all of the difference. The movie’s 3-D experience is truly immersive, not formulaic. Another 50 3-D movies will be released in 2010. Movie theaters love them because they give people a reason to come to the theater, and because they can’t be pirated. But TV vendors love it because it will give consumers a reason to go back to stores, even after they’ve already bought their high-definition screens.
As good as this sounds, we’re not sure it’s going to be as big as HD TV itself. There are still lots of skeptics out there who won’t watch in 3-D because it gives them a headache. They’re not likely to pay extra for it. And it could be some time still before all of the 3-D ecosystem — with content, cameras, TVs, and glasses — are available in a lot of homes. We don’t expect every movie to be as good as Avatar, either. Samsung and Sharp may be able to boost the market some because they have technologies that can convert 2-D programs to 3-D on the fly. But 3-D is at least off to a good start in 2010 and it will trickle down from the theaters to homes in due time.
Tablets by the dozen. Apple is expected to launch a tablet computer at the end of the month. But everyone at CES wanted to show off their own cool designs first so that they won’t look like copycats. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer showed off three tablets in his keynote, including Hewlett-Packard’s tablet. But HP was very light on details, perhaps because it wants to wait to see what Apple launches. Most tablet makers would be wise to do the same. But the foundations were all there at CES: touchscreens, swipe controls, content such as eBooks, and chips from companies such as Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Marvell. Tablets have been around for a while, but the new ones should be much more responsive to touch commands. Of all of those who have models in the works, HP will likely be the best challenger to Apple, says Richard Doherty, analyst at the Envisioneering Group. That’s because HP has decades of experience with touchscreens, has a lot of TouchSmart computers already in the market, and has a big collection of touchscreen patents as well. We only wish we saw more of it in action.
New devices may bring e-books to the masses. It looks like both device-makers and publishers are expecting books to be a major part of the content on those tablets. After all, Microsoft’s Ballmer showed off the HP tablet’s touchscreen by accessing an Amazon Kindle application and flipping through a few pages of the bestselling novel Twilight. Meanwhile, Plastic Logic launched its Que e-book reader, which is one of the most impressive-looking devices in its market (it had better be, since the device is also substantially more expensive than Amazon’s Kindle).
With these devices, not to mention Apple set to announce its all-but-official tablet/e-book reader later this month, readers’ embrace of e-books as a complement or even replacement for physical books may ramp up dramatically in the next year. As that happens, the question is whether e-book readers can compete against fully-fledged tablets. Are the reader manufacturers in trouble? Will they have to make their devices more tablet-like to compete?
Oh, and the shift may not be limited traditional books — a startup called Graphic.ly, which was also demonstrated on-stage at Ballmer’s keynote, is developing a digital comic book reader and store.
Netbooks are getting more and more attractive. These machines make perfect sense with their smaller screens, low prices, and sole purpose of cruising the web. But the first generation of netbooks that came out about 18 months ago had return rates as high as 40 percent. They didn’t play games, choked on a lot of web sites, and were generally a lousy consumer experience. Despite that, netbooks are selling in the tens of millions and there were dozens of new models at the show. Now, with the newest generation of low-power technology, the category is no longer just a bunch of hype. The machines can live up to their billing. The latest Intel Atom chips give these $400 or so machines a lot of oomph to do tasks that once required full laptops. Toshiba’s new Toshiba Mini NB 350 has an 11 hour battery life. HP’s new Mini 5102 netbook has a touchscreen. About 33 million netbooks sold in 2009, and that should grow 20 percent in 2010, according to market researcher DisplaySearch. The category will get competition from smartbooks, which are hybrids of smart phones and netbooks, and perhaps e-book readers and tablets as well.
Everyone’s jumping on the app store band wagon, and they’re bringing plenty of devices. After Apple found big success with its iPhone/iPod Touch App Store, other smartphone makers followed suit. Now the model is moving to other devices, particularly those netbooks we mentioned. Intel announced AppUp, which netbook makers can customize to offer their own stores to customers. Samsung announced its store too, which appears to use AppUp technology. Netbooks seem like the obvious next step for this model, since they sit between the sophistication of a normal laptop and a smartphone. At the same time, you could see this as a blow for native apps over the “net” part of netbooks, since netbooks are supposed to be all about accessing the web, not downloading applications. Google has been the most vocal about this, declaring that “all apps are web apps” in its forthcoming netbook operating system, Chrome OS.
The vision isn’t limited to netbooks, but encompasses TVs, PCs, and other devices too. Samsung, in particular, promoted its apps’ cross-device capabilities. It’s about not about TV apps, or phone apps, or whatever, but rather apps that work across all devices, storing your activity so that your behavior on one device carries over the others. As companies release new gadgets (see the tablet trend above) and old devices get web connected (see the TV trend below), these kinds of cross-device features will become more crucial.
New user interfaces abound. Ever since the iPhone and the Nintendo Wii debuted, the tech industry has been experimenting with new ways to control devices. Touchscreens have infiltrated lots of products, from Microsoft’s pricey Surface tables to everyday cell phones. At the show, Motorola debuted its Backflip phone with a touch surface in the back of a phone, allowing you to control the screen without obstructing your view of it. The iPhone’s accelerometers introduced the intuitive shake or tilt functions that add more nuance to your controls. Synaptics, meanwhile, showed what is possible by combining touch with other controls in its and Fuse and Scrybe demos. This should be quite useful for future phones and tablets.
Gesture controls are also taking a leap forward. Microsoft said it would launch Project Natal, which has camera-based sensors that can detect your full body movements, for the Xbox 360 in the fall of 2010. Sony was strangely silent about its rival technology debuting this spring. But companies such as GestureTek, Canesta and others showed off their own technologies for controlling TVs or other gear with gestures. It remains to be seen how well users will warm to these new control schemes, and how soon software takes advantage of it.
Mobile TV gets competitive. Qualcomm has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into its FloTV business. The company has acquired the spectrum it needs to broadcast mobile digital TV programming wirelessly to cell phones (including the iPhone) and its own FloTV handheld player. But now it has some competition from the Open Mobile Video Coaltion, which has passed a Mobile Digital TV standard. New devices based on the standard were shown at CES, but the battery life and usefulness are still lacking. While Qualcomm has a national network with a wide variety of programming, the Open Mobile group can so far only produce local digital TV programming in 30 cities. The Open Mobile group offers the service for free, while Qualcomm charges a subscription. Unlike the other trends, this one is still emerging and was evident in just a handful of booths. Like digital TV, it may take a long time to evolve. But consumers will probably watch TV on their handhelds, when it comes in crystal clear video and has enough content. A proof point is Telegent, whose chips provide analog TV programming for cell phones around the world. Telegent is lining up an initial public offering on the strength of its international business. If analog TV can take off, then it probably means there will be demand for mobile digital TV.
Cars get smarter. Ford has seen a great deal of success with its Sync voice-controlled car electronics system. In surveys, 32 percent of buyers said that Sync was important or critical in their decisions to buy a Ford vehicle. Ford hit its target of selling a million vehicles with Sync last May. About 81 percent of customers are satisfied with Sync and 77 percent would recommend it. This week, Ford said that developers can create apps that can run on Sync, it will give users 3G or Wi-Fi access inside the car, and it has redesigned its dashboard to be electronics friendly. You can plug in your iPods, phones, memory cards and other devices into the deck.
Not every car is going to be so connected in the future. But Ford’s moves show that the car companies are finally moving to an annual cycle for driving new technology into their vehicles, instead of the usual five years. It’s also heartening to hear that we’re not all heading for a big pile-up. Ford says that Sync lets drivers choose a new song with voice commands in 4.9 seconds, while it takes 30 seconds without it. The company is trying to minimize distractions for the driver even as it adds more stuff for you to do while you’re driving. Ford was just one example of myriad other car-related announcements at CES.
Connected TVs catch on. Web-connected TVs are now proliferating through the model line-ups of consumer electronics companies. Last year, Yahoo launched its Widget Engine to enable TVs to display web sites on a TV using a remote control. Samsung, LG, Toshiba and Sony have all shipped TVs with the Widget Engine. In 2009, sales of web-connected TVs rose 830 percent from a small base, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. This year, growth is expected to be about 129 percent, and Yahoo expects its Widget Engine will be on millions of TVs. That gives the TVs access to thousands of web sites, ranging from Netflix to Pandora. Samsung, which says it captured 75 percent of the connected-TV market in 2009, is adding an app store so that users will have more choice about what they can access via the connected TVs.
Green tech gadgets get real. Green technology is moving from the sounds good, lip-service stage to real products. The big consumer electronics companies halted their arms race of making bigger and bigger flat-panel displays (although there was an 84-inch TV on display in LG’s booth). Instead, they talked up the better energy efficiency of LED TVs and thinner sizes. Hewlett-Packard got rid of some toxic chemicals in its PCs and has switched to entirely degradeable packaging. About 20 companies displayed their wares in a green tech zone on the show floor. And most big TV makers had flat-panel displays in their booths with wattage data.
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