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As opposed to their last report from September, which was somewhat ambiguous on Palm’s current fortunes, ChangeWave Research’s latest 90-day overview of the consumer smartphone space is decidedly more gloomy.

The survey of 4,068 consumers showed that in addition to Palm’s marketshare falling slightly by 1%, consumer preference for webOS has also dipped in the face of fierce competition from new Android handsets, dropping from 8% to 4% of planned future smartphone purchases. As the report’s authors note, Palm’s best chance to boost their slowing momentum is their upcoming launches on new carriers, finally freeing them of the Sprint exclusivity that many have blamed for webOS’s relatively unspectacular sales figures thus far.

It looks like we’re entering the age of the smartbook, a hybrid of a smartphone and a computer.

Lenovo is unveiling its entry into the smartbook market today with the Lenovo Skylight (pictured), an always-connected mobile device in a sleek package. It runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor based on the ARM architecture. In other words, there’s no Wintel inside.

The device, debuting with a bunch of other Lenovo laptops at the Consumer Electronics Show, has both Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, a full size keyboard and touchpad, a 10.6 inch screen and a full web browser. It also runs for 10 on a battery charge, with active usage. It’s actually thinner than many smartphones and weighs less than two pounds. It’s the first of dozens that are hitting the market this year.

The distinctions between laptops, netbooks, and smartbooks is getting blurry, with everything getting smaller, lighter, cheaper and faster. The company decided to put a full-size keyboard into the Skylight because a lot of people have reacted negatively to smaller keyboards in netbooks. This device is meant to be charged overnight and then used without being tethered to a wall plug. It comes with 18 preloaded web gadgets such as Roxio Cinema Now for downloading movies. The device has 20 gigabytes of flash memory, two gigabytes of cloud storage, and a 1 gigahertz processor. It costs $499 at full price, but those who sign up for mobile phone service with AT&T can get it at a discount. It will be available in April.

Meanwhile, Lenovo is introducing a bunch of other products. The IdeaCentre A300 (pictured, $699) is billed as the industry’s thinnest all-in-one Windows 7 desktop computer, combining a monitor and computer in the same housing. It is just 18.5 millimeters thick and has a 21.5-inch high-definition flat-panel monitor. It comes with Intel Core 2 Duo processors and offers an entertainment-oriented experience. Other models include the C310 ($649), which has a 20-inch monitor and a multitouch screen, and K320, a gaming desktop for $599.

The company is also introducing a number of IdeaPad laptop computers: the Y460 ($849), Y560 ($749), G460 ($699), G560 ($699), V460 and V360. The laptops are distinguished by their faster performance and larger screens. The Y460 has a 14-inch screen, while the Y560 has a 15.6-inch screen. They both have Intel Core i7 processors. The G460 and G560 laptops are aimed at mainstream consumers, with 14-inch and 15.6-inch screens, respectively. They have a number of multimedia-oriented features. The V460 ($749)and V360 ($749) are aimed at small businesses. All are available at varying times between now and the spring.

And, if you’re not already confused with this kitchen-sink line-up, Lenovo is also introducing its own netbooks: the IdeaPad S10-3t and S10-3 (pictured). The S10-35 has a multitouch capacitive screen which responds to finger gestures. It has a 10.1-inch screen and an Intel Atom N470 microprocessor. It has a 320-gigabyte hard drive and runs on Windows 7. It has face recognition software for security. The S10-3 sells for $349.99, the S10-3t for $499.

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The headline on that health-spending report in the news today is “Health-Spending Growth at a Historic Low in 2008.” That’s true as far as it goes — growth increased at a rate of 4.4%, the slowest rate in the past 48 years.

But an arguably more important figure to keep an eye on is national health-care spending as a percentage of total GDP. If health-care spending rose at the same rate as GDP, we could leave the current system in place and be fine (at least in a macroeconomic sense). But because health-care spending is rising faster than GDP, we are spending an ever-larger portion of our national income on health care.

So what happened with health-care spending as a percentage of total GDP in 2008? Not only did it rise — it rose at a faster rate than in recent years. In 2005, health-care spending accounted for 15.7% of GDP. It rose to 15.8% in 2006, and 15.9% in 2007. Then, in 2008, it jumped to 16.2% of GDP.

That happened because, even though the growth of health-care spending slowed in 2008, overall GDP growth slowed a lot more. This is typical during economic downturns: The paper notes that “larger increases in the health spending share of GDP generally occur during or just after periods of economic recession.” (The authors are based at CMS, the government agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid.)

This makes sense on an intuitive level, because people may keep paying for health care even when they cut back on other spending. What’s more, the federal government — always a big payer via Medicare and Medicaid — upped its contribution as well. Federal spending for health services and supplies grew sharply in 2008, up 10.4%, according to the paper, which was published in the journal Health Affairs.

One final note: Most of the increase in 2008 was due to higher prices, not due to population growth or more use of health-care service, according to the analysis.

Image: iStockphoto

Lenovo’s S10-3t is not just a netbook, it’s the industry’s first convertible netbook tablet to feature a capacitive multitouch screen (meaning finger tip touch instead of pressure touch). This kind of technology has mostly been reserved for more expensive laptops, but it’s finally making its way down into notebooks. Otherwise, the system’s specs are pretty standard – the system is running on an Atom N470 processor, 2GB of ram, it has a 10.1 LCD and a 2.76lb weight. Other features include DirectShare to quickly and easily synchronize files with another laptop without connecting to the Internet, Maplife location-based mapping software, and Quick Start 2.0 with ‘instant on’ function to access a range of applications and the Web without starting Windows.

 

Big news from Skype: They’re making a push for better video quality, with both new HD webcams and software support, but that’s not the biggest deal here. They’re also partnering with LG and Panasonic for Skype-enabled HDTVs.

The new Skype 4.2 beta can achieve better quality video than ever before: 1280 x 720 resolution at 30fps. They’ve also got a line of HD webcams (hardware from faceVision and In Store) that pack video encoding and processing onboard, so as not to confound your grandma’s crappy old computer. There are two versions from each manufacturer: FaceVision has one with and one without a microphone ($100 and $70, respectively) and In Store has the Freetalk Pro at $120 and the presumably ever pro-er Freetalk Pro Plus at $140.

Now for those HDTVs. LG and Panasonic are the hardware partners here, and they’ve integrated both a webcam and Skype software into their HDTVs. They’ll have just about every Skype feature the computer software has—voicemail, landline and mobile calls, free Skype-to-Skype, all that—as well as a 720p webcam and microphones specifically designed to pick up sound at couch distance. Want to say hello to your kid, niece, nephew, grandkid, whatever, but he or she won’t sit still in front of a computer? Let ’em run around in front of the TV! We’ll get more info from Skype on specific pricing and availability for these TVs this week. [Skype]

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Coupe, Performance, Cadillac

Back in 2008, Cadillac threw down the gauntlet against its German competitors in an attempt to show that it could build the best high performance mid-sized luxury sedan. The result was the CTS-V. Even if the recent CTS-V Challenge proved to be somewhat less than authoritative in establishing the current car’s dominance, it did show off its capabilities. Now Cadillac is expanding its CTS-V range by adding all of the V goodness to the coupe bodystyle that was revealed last month at the LA Auto Show.

The CTS-V coupe will debut at the Detroit Auto Show next week with everything that makes the CTS-V one our favorite super-sedans, albeit in a sexy new two-door shell. Aside from the sleek yet thick-of-beltline new suit, the only other real difference from the existing V is the one-inch wider track at the rear axle, which may or may not be noticeable when driving, and a marginally lower mass. The 556-horsepower supercharged LSA V8 engine and the choice of a manual or automatic six-speed gearbox carries over. We highly recommend that anyone considering a V regardless of bodystyle check the option box for the Recaro seats, they are worth every penny.

Carryover or not, we can’t wait for a crack at the V coupe this summer. Now if only Cadillac would hurry up and build a V-wagon.

[Source: Cadillac]

Continue reading 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe muscles in with a quickness and a thickness

2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe muscles in with a quickness and a thickness originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The world was rocked by the infinite format war, but hardware makers answered with HD media players that can read damn near everything. Iomega’s newest ScreenPlay Director players decode a vast array of 1080p video—and serves CinemaNow movies.

There are two devices, the $250 ScreenPlay Director HD, which comes with a built-in 1TB hard drive and its slimmed down hard-drive free sibling, the $130 ScreenPlay TV Link Director. Unless you want to spend $120 for a limited-purpose hard drive, I’d say focus on the TV Link, as it’s essentially the exact same thing. Iomega says it’s DivX-certified, and handles H.264, WMV and MKV at 1080p, which is a good sign. Better still is that the newly posted notice on the site says it can read DVD disc images and AVCHD (meaning video yanked from Blu-ray discs).

In addition to YouTube, Flickr, Shoutcast Internet radio, RSS feeds and podcasts, there’s also CinemaNow. It may not be as cheap as Netflix or as sexy as Vudu, but CinemaNow is holding its own as a major video-on-demand service, and its prospects are only looking better and better. It’s DLNA certified, so it will play well with Windows 7 out of the box, and should take streamed video from many sources (and work with PlayOn). We haven’t seen shots of the interface, however, so that’s a mystery.

Bottom line: There’s a lot of these devices out there already—as you well know. This year, this week even, the field of HD media players is going to get even more crowded. Syabas’ new PopBox player has Netflix (but no pay-per-view VOD service). Lord knows it’s just a matter of time before there’s something with Netflix, a movie channel like Vudu or CinemaNow and the ability to decode a bajillion other video formats. That’s a tricky mix for some reason, but I can feel it coming. Maybe this week. Iomega had to come out with a new ScreenPlay that was fully HD and compatible with the latest formats, because their previous players didn’t hack it. Still, until we check it out, we’ll have to wait to say whether the ScreenPlay Director devices are worth ranking. [Iomega]

It’d be easy to get knotted up in jargon describing v.Clone, so let’s stick with the concept for now: It’s a syncable, complete image of your PC, which you can boot run from basically any other PC. And it’s free.

To anyone who’s used mainstream backup software, this probably sounds too good to be true. In a way, yes, it is. But the tradeoff is minimal, and the payoff is more than worth it. Here’s the deal:

v.Clone EMC owns Iomega, which makes portable hard drives. EMC also owns VMWare, which makes virtualization software around. v.Clone is essentially a portable installation of VMWare, meaning that you can plug your v.Clone-loaded Iomega portable HDD into most any Windows computer, run the app, and boot into your saved virtual machine. The secret, though, lies in what you’re booting into—namely, a perfect copy of your main PC.

In other words, v.Clone lets you make a full copy of your primary PC—including apps, media, settings, etc—to a VMWare image, run said copy from other Windows-based computers, and upon reconnection with the primary PC, sync any changes you made while running the virtual machine back to your main PC. Likewise, any changes you’ve made on your host PC can be synced to your virtual machine, so your v.Clone image is more or less a virtualized, up-to-date clone of your main PC. We haven’t been able to try it out yet, but Iomega assures us that the whole system isn’t as ass-slow as it sounds like it could be, because the syncing process is incremental—if you only change a few things on your virtualized image, syncing it with your host PC won’t take more than a few minutes.

There are a couple of catches here: the software may be called v.Clone, but it’s not creating a traditional, raw image clone. If your main PC faceplants and destroys itself, your v.Clone image will let you salvage your data, but it won’t let do a full restore, like Norton Ghost or Time Machine. And despite the fact that portable HDDs are all exactly the same, this software will only work with Iomega drives. But still, kinda genius! (If you happen to this particular brand of totally commodified product!)

v.Clone is available for owners of Iomega USB portable hard drives, including the full eGo and Prestige lines. [Iomega]

The Skylight is Lenovo’s entrant into the nascent smartbook category, and with Qualcomm providing its ballyhooed 1GHz Snapdragon chipset, it may well be an important evolutionary step in mobile computing.

The device will have a 10.1″ screen but will weigh less than two pounds, and according to Lenovo gets a very impressive 10 hours-plus of active battery life. Lenovo has also confirmed earlier reports that Skylight will be paired with AT&T for 3G connectivity, along with its own built-in Wi-Fi.

Other features include a full keyboard and a custom interface that uses “web gadgets” that give direct access to services like Gmail and Facebook. Skylight will be available in the US in April, retailing at $499 with no contract—though there may be a subsidy to go along with a two-year AT&T data plan.

Lenovo Skylight Lights Up The Web with Industry’s First ARM-Based, Qualcomm Smartbook All Day Use, Always Connected Device Heightens Mobile Internet Experience, Connects with AT&T 3G Mobile Broadband Service in the U.S.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – January 5, 2010: Lenovo today announced the Lenovo Skylight, the first ARM-based smartbook based on Qualcomm’s SnapdragonTM chipset platform. Skylight harnesses the best of smartphones and netbooks to create a new mobile consumer device. With a stunningly sleek and slim design, all day battery life, robust wireless connectivity and custom interface with live web gadgets, Skylight is designed to transform the mobile Internet experience. The Skylight smartbook connects with AT&T 3G mobile broadband service in the U.S.

“The web has become the window to the world for more and more people, helping them connect with friends and family across town or thousands of miles away,” said Peter Gaucher, executive director, Mobile Internet Product Management, Lenovo. “Skylight combines the long battery life and connectivity of a smartphone with the full web browsing and multimedia experience of a netbook to create one of the first devices in this developing smartbook category. Consumers want choices. They can now choose from a full portfolio of Lenovo mobile consumer devices including netbooks, smartbooks and laptops.”

“Now more than ever, consumers are looking for devices that will keep them connected virtually anytime and anywhere,” said David Haight, vice president, business development, AT&T Mobility. “The Lenovo Skylight is slim and attractive with extraordinary battery life, and when paired with the nation’s fastest 3G network and AT&T Wi-Fi service, it gives consumers a great web and media experience on the go.”

Skylight brings users a brand new way to enhance their mobile web experience:

Beauty and Brains – Thinner than many smartphones, Skylight’s sleek and lightweight design is a technological combination of beauty and function. Skylight is being introduced in two new vibrant colors, glossy lotus blue and earth red models. Skylight’s clamshell design opens to reveal a brilliant high definition 10.1 inch screen designed for watching high definition videos or viewing photos. Tote it in a purse, backpack or bag. Weighing less than two pounds, Skylight is extremely mobile and lightweight enough for the user to tote it in a purse, backpack or bag. Unlike many netbooks, Skylight’s full size keyboard makes typing easy.

No Power Cord? No Problem – Skylight has over 10 hours of active battery life,1 enough to allow the user to watch two movies or more back to back on the next plane flight. Simply plug it in at night to charge like a mobile phone. On the next plane flight, enjoy watching two movies or more back to back.

Wireless Freedom – Skylight has built-in WiFi and 3G connectivity to give users a web connection nearly everywhere they go, and Skylight will seamlessly handoff between the WiFi and 3G. With the purchase of an AT&T DataConnect plan, users get 3G data but also access to AT&T’s nationwide Wi-Fi network, including more than 20,000 Hot Spots in the U.S. for fast and easy web access on the go.

Web Optimized Interface – Skylight’s unique custom interface lets the full capabilities of the web shine through with live web gadgets. Users can check Google GmailTM, update their FacebookTM status, see what’s new on YouTubeTM or browse the Internet. simultaneously without having to continually refresh or log in. There are more than 18 preloaded web gadgets including Amazon MP3 to download digital music favorites and Roxio CinemaNow to buy and download digital movies. Powered by the Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon chipset platform and featuring 20 GB of standard flash and 2 GB of cloud storage, Skylight delivers the performance needed for mobile users unwilling to compromise their mobile experience and the flexibility to store their data wherever they like – in the cloud or on the device.

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform offers a powerful combination of mobile processing performance, optimized power consumption, ubiquitous connectivity and powerful multimedia in a single chip.
“Snapdragon-based smartbooks like the Lenovo Skylight will change the way we connect to the world, and enjoy the web and media on the go,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of marketing and product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “Lenovo is leading the way for innovation in this space by utilizing the groundbreaking capabilities of our Snapdragon platform. We are excited for consumers to enjoy the new mobile experiences, such as extended battery life and increased connectivity that the Skylight will deliver.”

Pricing and Availability

The Lenovo Skylight smartbook will be available starting in April in the U.S. It will be available in China and in Europe later this year. In the U.S., it will be sold through www.lenovo.com, www.att.com and AT&T retail stores. Pricing will start at $499 at full retail price. AT&T offers two- year AT&T DataConnect service plans, as well as Data Connect Pass – a pay-as-you-need it data service available by the day, by the week or by the month.

Last year at CES, Lenovo debuted a one-inch thick all-in-one that was the slimmest in the world at the time. It was a fatty compared to this year’s 18.5mm-deep IdeaCentre 300A.

While Lenovo was busy carving out a super-skinny niche for themselves with the 300A, they didn’t forget to pack in some decent specs too: up to a Core 2 duo processor, a 21.5″ full HD (1920×1080) widescreen LED display, up to 4GB DDR3 RAM and 500GB HDD storage, and HDMI in (which is something last year’s IdeaCentre 600 sorely lacked). The 300A will be available in February starting at $600, but expect to dole out a chunk more for optional add-ons like an optical drive and integrated TV tuner.

Other additions coming to the IdeaCentre line-up in February include the C310, Lenovo’s first multitouch all-in-one, and the K320, a high-performance gaming desktop. The C310 features an Atom 330 processor, a 20″ screen, and up to 640GB HDD storage starting at $650, while the K320 can be customized up to an Intel i7 processor, DirectX 11 graphics, and up to 1TB of storage with prices ranging from $600 to $2000 for a fully tricked-out rig.

A convertible netbook tablet that sports a capacitive multitouch screen has been a long time coming. Now it’s here, and at a surprisingly competitive price.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad S10-3t still has netbook guts, which means a wimpy Atom N450 or N470 processor and only 2GB of DDR2 RAM. But it’s the first convertible netbook tablet to have a screen that supports capacitive multitouch instead of the firm press a resistive screen requires. And its starting retail price of $499 when it goes on sale this month is well within range of the Asus EEE T91, a resistive screen convertible netbook tablet that debuted last year with Windows XP and a 16GB SSD, compared with the S10-3t’s Windows 7 configuration with up to 320GB HDD storage.

Lenovo is also introducing the 14″ IdeaPad Y460 and 15.6″ Y560, two multimedia notebooks that feature up to an Intel Core i7 processor and up to 500GB HDD storage. Some models will also feature Lenovo’s RapidDrive technology, which purportedly lets the Y560 book up in just 15 seconds. Both will start at $850, with the Y460 available in February and the Y560 not hitting stores until March.

Given a bleak year in 2009, where is the biodiesel industry headed in 2010?

Trash bags are ultra boring to ponder, but if your goal is green living, it’s smart to give trash bags some thought.

The EPA estimates that the average person creates 29 pounds of trash per week so when you add up an entire household of trash then bag it, well, that’s a considerable amount of trash bags. Plastic trash bags pose large threats to the environment. One, that’s a ton of plastic left to linger in our landfills and two, the manufacturing of said bags uses energy and nonrenewable resources. Some plastic trash bags will break down a little while hanging in the landfill, but most don’t, especially if they’re stuck at the bottom of a trash pile, unexposed to the rain, snow, sun, and so on.

Your choices:

Plastic trash bags – not great (see above).

Paper bags in my opinion are a little better than plastic, but only because they break down. Manufacture wise they take a lot of energy to make, and plus, you shouldn’t have excess laying around. You should be taking reusable bags to the grocery store. Also paper bags suck when it comes to holding wet stuff. If you do go with paper look for 100% recycled paper bags.

Recycled plastic bags are a decent choice, with many containing as much as 80% or more recycled plastic content. They cause less pollution to manufacture then do new plastic bags plus use less petroleum.

Your best bet is a combination of recycled paper or plastic and creating less waste to begin with. Buy less stuff to start with. Hold a trash audit and see what you could be recycling vs. tossing. Compost what you can or grind up leftovers in the garbage disposal.

• Seventh Generation
• Best Earth-Friendly Trash Bags
• BioBag Biodegradable & Compostable Bags

[image via stock.xchng]

Post from: Blisstree

Green Trash Bag Choices

For quite some time, we’ve been noting how ridiculous UK libel laws are (and, by the way, we still have not been sued by the person in the UK who insisted we had libeled her), and there have been ongoing efforts to change those laws. While it’s not much, it’s a start to find out that the UK government has set up a panel to review the law. Hopefully this isn’t just a panel to make the issue go away. It does sound like a fairly comprehensive review, however. The panel is expected to present its findings in early to mid-March, with a plan to try to implement any recommendations relatively quickly.

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The Red Green Show officially went off the air in 2006, but the indelible legacy it left on DIY gearheads lives on and to this day, duct tape is second only to Bondo as the destitute crowd’s favorite repair tool. Among those most heavily influenced by Red Green’s jury rigging is a member of RideLust’s own staff (who shall remain nameless) that attempted a half-assed repair job of their own on an aging Volvo. Hilarity later ensued at the inspection station (followed immediately by a rejection sticker) and in honor of the laughs they elicited we’ve assembled an assortment of our favorite moments in Possum Lodge engineering.