Check out this video showing off the new Microsoft Surface Computer. It’s pretty wild. A Surface computer is able to recognize physical objects from a paintbrush to a cell phone and allows hands-on, direct control of content such as photos, music and maps. Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a d
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Microsoft Surface: PM Gets Video First Look
The software giant announced today at the D5 conference that it’s built a new touchscreen computer—a coffee table that will change the world. Go inside its top-secret development with PopularMechanics.com, then forget the keyboard and mouse: The next generation of computer interfaces will be hands-o
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Learn the language of car designers
At one of the Hot Rod Power Tour stops a few years ago, I met a GM designer at the automaker's booth. I can't recall his name, but I was so starstruck I think I remember our conversation consisting mostly of me saying, "Hey, you're cool."
Don't let this happen to you. The New York Times provides a lexicon of design slang to help you at least fake a conversation if you happen to run in to, say, Brian Nesbitt at the local bowling alley. We're sure most Autoblog readers know many if not most of the terms defined in the story, but there are a few that might surprise, and a refresher course is rarely a bad thing. Here are a few of the more obscure terms to get you started:
I.P. - The NYT's story warns to never use the word dashboard when speaking with a designer, but instead to refer to it as the instrument panel, or , preferably, the I.P.
D.R.G - Cars designed with traits of its company have what is called Down the Road Graphic. It's the "visual signature" that with only a quick glance, communicates the brand.
Dead Cat Hole - We can guess the origins of this term, but it refers to the space between a car's tire and the wheel well.
Check out the NYT story for more terms defined, like gummidinger and rat hole.
Call Magnum, there's a new 308! Oh wait, it's a Peugeot...
Click image for a gallery of the Peugeot 308
In our minds, the number 308, as it pertains to cars, is inextricably tied to Ferrari, and by extension, one Thomas Magnum, whose 308 GTS was one of the cooler TV rides of the 80s. Unfortunately, the number will soon be associated with Peugeot's "gaping maw" front end treatment on the new 308 hatch. Regardless of how anyone feels about Pug's corporate schnoz, it's very...um, distinctive, and naturally, it adorns the automaker's newest 5-door. The photos here leaked earlier in the week, and there's no official release to accompany them yet (that will come on June 5, according to WorldCarFans).
The prevailing wisdom, however, is that is that the 308 will launch with the BMW-PSA 120-horsepower 1.6L four cylinder (also used in the Mk2 MINI Cooper). A range of diesels will also be available, and as previously reported, PSA's diesel-electric Hybride HDi system is also going to be in the mix. That powertrain should be good for something in the neighborhood of 69 mpg in the combined-cycle, which is obviously fantastic. Finally, an E85-capable engine will also be offered.
A wagon and coupe+convertible will join the hatchback later on, and a spunky, turbocharged 308 RC is expected sometime in the future. All these new 308s may well be fine cars, but we'd still rather have the kind with that horse on the hood...
[Source: WorldCarFans]
Enter the rumormill: Lexus IS coupe cometh
Although we've heard the rumors before, and it still seems like a no-brainer, Lexus has remained mum on the introduction of an IS coupe. With its assault on everything held dear to the Bimmer and Merc people, it's simply a matter of time before Lexus takes aim at the 3-series and C-classes that have remained largely unchallenged in the sports coupe market.
The most recent
[Source: Nihon Car and Bike]
F1's secret safety car showdown
On Thursdays before a Formula 1 GP weekend really kicks off, Bernd Maylander, the F1 safety car driver, and Dr. Jacques Tropenat, the F1 medical car driver, check out the trackside cameras and timing equipment. Steering identical Mercedes CLK 63's, they also check out their driving skills by seeing which one of them can set the best lap.
Bernd is a former race car driver who has been doing safety car duty since 2000. When the FIA decided to hire a professional safety car driver instead of using former F1 pilots, Bernd was plucked from the DTM series and given two years of training. Now, the hardest driving he does is when he's called out to parade the racers around during a caution. He knows how slow it looks on TV, but he says "I have to drive 99% up to my limit. I can't drive over my limit - that extra 1% is to make sure I'm safe. The drivers know I have to drive really hard in a much slower car, but if they push me then I know I can drive a little bit quicker. We have to play together." He also wins the award for The Most Obvious Quote of Memorial Weekend when he says "The difference between a safety car and a F1 car is like a jumbo jet and a star fighter. To put it simply, I could never win a Grand Prix in the safety car." That said, his only real competition is the Thursday bout with his medical colleague. Call it Fire Marshall Bill vs. McDreamy.
Thanks for the tip, Patrick!
[Source: BBC]These kids today: college students think Volvo is German and Land Rover is American...
Do you know where babies cars come from? Anderson Analytics took a survey of 1,000 college students from more than 375 universities and discovered that many of them don't. A third of the respondents thought Lexus was American. More than half of them thought Hyundai was Japanese, and at the same time, two-thirds of them think Korean products are no good. Almost half thought Volvo and Saab were German, and more than half thought Land Rover is American. Which, technically, it is, but probably not in the way they meant it.
The survey, carried out last summer, was actually a study of country-of-origin on brand perception. Carmakers weren't the only ones to suffer from "They don't make that here?" syndrome. Almost no one knew that Nokia is Finnish, and almost everyone thought that Motorola's Japanese. But country origin doesn't have the same effect on brand perception for cell phones that it does on cars. However, how important can it be to make sure people know your car is Swedish if those people can't point Sweden out on a map? Just make sure they don't think it's Korean.
[Source: Carscoop]
Two strikes for Magna this week, what next?
Damon reported the other day that BMW has decided to shift production of the next generation X3 to their Spartanburg, SC plant. While that's good news for the employees in Spartanburg, it's the second big loss for Magna International this week. After losing out to Cerberus in the bidding for Chrysler, they are on the short end of the X3 production deal.
Magna-Steyr's plant in Graz, Austria has been assembling the X3 for BMW since 2003 in a deal that will end when the X3 starts coming off the South Carolina line. The X3 accounted for forty-five percent of the Graz plant's output and Magna is looking for a new customer to take up that capacity starting sometime in 2010.
[Source: TheAutoChannel]
Production take on BMW CS Concept likely
Click image for a high-res gallery of the BMW CS Concept
BMW's surprising CS concept car is likely to beget a new flagship sedan for the Munich-based automaker. This news comes from the mouth of BMW North America honcho Tom Purves, who told Automotive News, "We have a reasonable number of examples where we have built a concept car and relatively small examples where we have not built a concept car."
Additionally, Purves noted that his US dealer network is already very excited about the concept. If the post-Shanghai market research brings positive news, it's pretty likely that a production 4-seater based on the CS would get the green light. The new car would be positioned above the 7-series in the automaker's lineup.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
eBay Find of the Day: BMW Z1
click above image to view 22 pics of the BMW Z1 for sale on eBay
I'll never forget seeing my first BMW Z1. Strangely enough, it wasn't in Europe. It was a summer probably six or seven years ago while I was vacationing in Miami. I was seated outdoors at the News Cafe in South Beach, and it was parked curbside behind a yellow Ferrari F355 Berlinetta. I specifically remember noting that its electric sliding doors were in the "down" position.
I knew what the Z1 was, and that the likelihood of seeing one in the US (where they were never sold) was somewhere between slim and none. Having one in front of me in this unlikeliest of places was abundantly cool, and the car's great-looking in person. In fact, I remarked to my wife that at that moment in Miami Beach, the little BMW over there was about ten times as exotic as the Ferrari parked in front of it. After all, Ferraris in Miami are far from rare. To date, however, I've never seen another Z1, even after making multiple business trips to Europe in the intervening years. So I had to smile when I saw this eBay link.
The car up for grabs has 172,000 km on the odometer (106,000+ miles) and is one of 8,000 ever built. While never federalized, its status as a historically significant vehicle lets the owner get an exemption that allows it to be registered and driven up to 2,500 miles per year. The opening bid is set at $39,000.
It's in Miami.
BMW mulls selling engines to other automakers
Don't go getting too excited, it probably won't mean a crate version of the S65 or N54 for Roundel fans. Running an automaker is expensive, especially a manufacturer that leans more toward niche status than casting a wide net. BMW is looking at all options for future revenue, and one of the thoughts that's occured to the well-respected manufacturer of cars with chutzpah is to bank on its engineering chops and sell engines to other carmakers. Lotus has pimped themselves out for years to other automakers, and the Porsche name has ended up on things like hard drives, so BMW selling their award-winning engines to gain an extra stream of return on their investment is a far less radical move. Hey, if selling their more mundane powerplants to emerging markets like India and China keeps the coffers full and awesome performers rolling our way, we're all for it.
[Source: Motor Authority]
Video: New York Auto Show Recap
The Autoblog team hit the New York auto show with full force, and we captured everything the show had to offer. In fact, the 2007 New York show represented the most videos we've ever done for an Auto Show, and we started our own video page on YouTube to house it all. The new Hyundai Genesis, Subaru WRX, Ford Flex, and NISMO 350Z were only a few of the things we saw in New York, and we've captured a bunch of the news in the video after the jump. We hope you like it.
GM continues partnership with Governors Ethanol Coalition
The Governors Ethanol Coalition (GEC) is a group of U.S. governors and representatives from other nations that promotes the use of ethanol. General Motors, which began a partnership with the GEC last year, said last week it would extend that partnership.Ken W. Cole, GM’s vice president for law and public policy, stated, "We are delighted to continue our work with the GEC on this important campaign to promote the use of E85 in states across the country. This partnership is just one of our many efforts to minimize the impact of our cars and trucks on the environment, including the 1.5 million GM vehicles already capable of using E85 fuel. GM will continue to work with organizations like the GEC to promote the use of E85 and the many available benefits for the environment, the economy and consumers."
General Motors will continue to loan E85 flex-fuel vehicles to GEC members as both organizations work to educate the public about the vehicles, the technology and the fuel alternative. GM also plans to add more than 400,000 flex-fuel vehicles to the road by year’s end.
[Source: Auto Spectator]
GM loans Cleveland Browns QB Brady Quinn pair of Hummer H2s for a year
Brady Quinn, former quarterback for the Notred Dame Fighting Irish and recently the 22nd pick in this year's NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns (Go Browns!), will be receiving a one-year loan of two HUMMER H2 SUVs from General Motors. GM put out a press release today that didn't provide many details as to why Quinn is being given the SUVs, but HUMMER was the sponsor of the 2007 NFL Draft, so perhaps it's a consolation prize for his infamous slide on draft day. No word was offered on whether Quinn will get the 2007 or 2008 models with their updated interiors. Quinn will take possession of his loaner vehicles this Monday, May 14th, at the Central HUMMER East dealership in Beachwood, Ohio. That's a stone's throw away from where this blogger lives, so maybe I'll show up and see if Brady wants to toss the pigskin around.
We're headed out to the New York Auto Show, so let's hear it!
As we've alluded to in previous posts, we're on our way to take in the Press Preview at the New York Auto Show, which starts up tomorrow and runs through Thursday. Follow through to the jump to see what we're expecting to see, and remember: the same deal applies as it did in Chicago: Let us know if you need anything while we're scoping out Javits. We're going to be tight on time and can't promise we'll get to your request, but the Autoblog crew will do its level best to snap photos and snag the details on the rides you want. What are you waiting for? Sound off in 'comments!'
[Sources: NY Auto Show and Edmunds]
Porsche proposes to Volkswagen
It's official, Porsche has submitted an offer to buy the Volkswagen group. Unless you've been living in a cave, you probably already know that the erstwhile sportscar manufacturer is more profitable than the megalithic auto consortium, with all its subsidiaries, and has been steadily increasing its stake in VW.
When Porsche raised its stake in Volkswagen past 30%, German law mandated that it submit an offer to Volkswagen shareholders to buy them out and take over the automotive conglomerate outright. The mandatory offer has now been officially submitted, and subsequently approved by the German Federal Agency for Financial Services Supervision.
Porsche is offering Є100.92 per common share, and Є65.54 for preferred shares, coming in at the bare minimum required by law. Volkswagen shareholders have until May 29 to accept or refuse the offer. If they accept, Porsche will have full control of Volkswagen and all its subsidiaries, including the Audi, Skoda, Seat, Lamborghini, Bugatti and Bentley brands, turning what was once the niche sportscar maker into one of the largest automobile makers in the world. It's unlikely that the VW board will accept, however, considering Porsche made the bare min bid.Cerberus could align GMAC and Chrysler Financial
No one knows yet what Cerberus is going to do with Chrysler. However, the possibilities probably include quite a few things that wouldn't be normally expected in the car business -- such as GMAC and Chrysler Financial working closely together.
Cerberus hasn't made any mention of such, yet -- that comes from GM CEO Rick Wagoner in his first public comments since Cerberus was announced as the winning Chrysler bidder. Cerberus bought 51% of GMAC last year, and now runs Chrysler Financial. Wagoner's comments, however, were very open and non-committal -- specifically, he said "I think it's possible you could see opportunities for Cerberus-owned Chrysler Financial and Cerberus-owned GMAC to seek out opportunities to work together." GM isn't looking for such a tie-up, it is simply open to "potential synergies" should such cooperation be shown to be in everyone's interests. He did appear sure that such a proposal -- for working together -- would be coming in time. If Cerberus did combine the two, it would rule the auto loan market, taking the number one spot from Ford Motor Credit.
[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]
Online car sales - is now the time?
Online sales are now a big and fast-growing part of U.S. retail sales, for everything from books to auto parts. True, the total amount of retail sales booked online is a small fraction of the total volume of consumer goods, but it is the fastest growing of all sales channels, tantalizing manufacturers with its efficiency and low cost (not to mention the potential boost to the bottom line).
This week, The Economist looks at the prospects for online auto sales in the U.S., a market locked in the grip of the nationwide franchise network of auto dealers. To date, attempts to sell cars online have not been promising, but things may (slowly) be changing.
With a whopping two-thirds of new car customers researching their purchases online and virtually complete access to the byzantine maze of rebates and incentives, consumers have been using their new-found knowledge to drive down the dealer's profit margin. This is making some dealers, notably consolidated dealer networks like Lithia and AutoNation, consider how to better integrate online retailing into their operations. As a direct result, AutoNation is launching its SmartChoice online service in June.
Meanwhile, financial institutions like Capital One and Chase (think auto loans) are looking at online auto retail channels as a way to streamline the buying process for their loan clients - using volume buying power to guarantee a fixed price for its customers before they set foot in dealerships. Capital One has partnered with Zag - an internet-based company that brings its car buying expertise to affinity and membership organizations (think credit unions, buyers clubs like Costco, etc.). Even Amazon is rumored to be looking at auto sales.
Is this the death knell for the dealership? Well, no. By law, independent online sellers cannot buy "factory direct" - they must buy their cars from a dealer. Besides, virtual test drives aren't very much fun.
Have you/would you bought/buy a car completely online through eBay Motors or another service? Fess up in 'Comments.'
[Source: The Economist - subscription required]
Porsche 914/G: Now that's a hot car
Doug Burris of St. Louis has built what simply has to be the hottest Porsche 914 around. Literally. The blue 1975 model won't ever run on its own power again, but its remaining days will ensure that every time it's fired up (again, literally), it'll provide sustenance to all who gather around it.That's because Doug's ride is now one of the baddest BBQ rigs you'll find anywhere. We've decided to call it the 914/G (as in "grill"). Pop the front lid and you'll find a firebox used to feed the smoker residing in the former passenger compartment. Open the engine cover, and a full grilling station awaits. Delicious. This is one trailer queen that we'd be happy to see rolling into our driveways on holiday weekends like this. A word of warning, however: excessive operation could result in heightened blood cholesterol numbers and an expanded waistline. Now pass us another burger. And some ribs, too.
Click the photo to see the full image and four more in the slideshow at Yahoo!
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