If excessive is your motto, you’re gonna love this article. Opting to choose the path of interesting and innovative, we left out be-jewelled phones and diamond encrusted appliances to give you 17 truly expensive and truly unique devices that will surely make your neighbors and other rich cronies drool!
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Don Pelson thinks licensing music for online distribution is dumb. He should know: the former consumer marketing SVP at Warner Music Group wants to create a community around the music people already own play, and with uPlayMe he thinks he’s hit on a missing link.
UPlayMe will definitely not be signing licensing deals with the major labels to distribute music. Pelson sees music distribution as an overcrowded market plagued by hefty licensing fees, offering little room for a startup to connect music consumers around the music and videos they watch.
"To be blunt, the cost of licensing music is so significant that I don't see the possibility of putting an ad-based music service around music, if you're delivering it to the consumer," Pelson told us via phone. "Pandora, Rhapsody and the rest don't work, and over the next 24 months, licensing models will change. People who licensed (music catalogs at today's prices) will feel dumb."
Consumers already have plenty of places to check out music and videos. Why bother joining that crowded field? So uPlayMe takes a different tack: letting other companies handle the distribution of music while it concentrates on helping listeners communicate with each other about what they're hearing, regardless of where they're hearing it. "The content is there," said Pelson. "That's not the value proposition, that's not the problem that needs to be solved. It's 'how do you make music social again, how do you add value?'"
The uPlayMe application, released this week after about a year of development, sits on your Windows or Macintosh computer, checking out what you play in a wide range of online and offline music applications: iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp, YouTube, Last.fm, Pandora, Hulu, Metacafe and CBS Radio. UPlayMe watches what you play in these programs to create a realistic portrait of your media consumption habits. Luckily for occasional fans of adult or controversial content, it offers a way to delete objectionable media from your list.
Once it has a good picture of your listening and viewing habits, uPlayMe recommends new content and hooks you up with people who are into the same stuff. Once you make friends with people on the site, you can see what they're watching or listening to in real time. In addition, it shows you which other members are consuming the exact same piece of content as you at a certain time, so you can send them a message or check out their profile (see screenshot to the right).
The company is adding the ability to share and discuss media with people who don't have the application installed, as well. Those people will get updates via e-mail instead of being able to watch or listen inside the uPlayMe desktop application. Essentially, your friends become your filters, just like in real life.
The concept is somewhat similar to that of Last.fm, but Pelson sees an opportunity to leapfrog ahead of that site as it works on integrating with CBS and another CBS acquisition, CNET. In addition, Last.fm doesn't "scrobble" playback behavior from as many sources as uPlayMe. As for the social music behemoth iLike, which claims 28 million users, Pelson says most of those people don't use the service on a regular basis. He says uPlayMe's growth rate of 2,000 desktop installs per day is more significant.
So how is uPlayMe going to make money on music and videos without hosting or distributing them? In addition to receiving kickbacks for ticket and music sales, the answer, of course, is advertising. UPlayMe plans to offer user demographics to advertisers at a lower cost than other avenues will be able to match.
"Do you want to sponsor Madonna?" asked Pelson. "It used to be you'd write a huge check and talk to her manager. Here, we'll place your ad every time we play Madonna (by matching an ad to the song's metadata)," adding, "there's no reason we cannot do this legally."
By finding a spot between consumers and their media without having to license the media, uPlayMe could build a formidable business, assuming consumers continue to install the application. It essentially mirrors the way many of us consume media (via instant message or email from a friend) in a way that's both faster and more passive. All you have to do is listen to something or watch it as you normally would, and your friends will see it. Plans for the future include a mobile application that will overlay peoples' geographic locations into the network, so that you can find people in your immediate area who are into the same stuff.
Warner Music Group was impressed too. The company invested in uPlayMe in July.
Everything’s getting tiny. The once sexy V8 engine is now an automotive pariah while the Smart Car gets all the chicks; HD video cameras are now damn near Twinkie-size, and we’ll probably be implanting the next-generation iPod in our molars.
But there's at least one company isn’t succumbing to all this smaller-is-better madness: Tivo just announced the Tivo HD XL. Stuffed like a Cornish hen with a terabyte hard drive, it’s the highest capacity DVR available, with room for 150 hours of HD content. That’s, like, every Olympic event you actually care about plus all 60 episodes of The Wire. It’s an entire season of Sunday Night Football with more than enough space for your Food Network-obsessed roommate to go balls-out on Batali. —Joe Brown
WIRED Western Digital hard drive is nearly silent. THX-certified audio and video (finally). Say goodbye to the ugly sitck, because the XL gets the same slick programmable remote as the Series 3. TiVo-easy, as expected, with the company’s ever expanding catalog of downloadable videos (YouTube!).
TIRED Remote collects more greasy fingerprints than a second hand sex-bot. Annoying info screen hovers over the picture for a few seconds too long each time you change channels. Cutesy TiVo noises are a little grating, and your only other option is to turn all the sound effects off. We noticed an increase in video artifacts when recording off both tuners simultaneously. In San Francisco, at least, you have to deal with Satan Comcast to get service. $600 plus the $20 monthly fee is a lot of cheddar.
$600, tivo.com
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| Marc Baldo poses with a collection of glass sheets coated with light-emitting organic dyes. The dyes absorb light and reëmit it into the glass, which channels it to the edges of the sheets. Baldo uses the devices to concentrate sunlight, making solar power cheaper. Credit: Porter Gifford | ||||
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In his darkened lab at MIT, Marc Baldo shines an ultraviolet lamp on a 10-centimeter square of glass. He has coated the surfaces of the glass with dyes that glow faintly orange under the light. Yet the uncoated edges of the glass are shining more brightly--four neat, thin strips of luminescent orange.
The sheet of glass is a new kind of solar concentrator, a device that gathers diffuse light and focuses it onto a relatively small solar cell. Solar cells, multilayered electronic devices made of highly refined silicon, are expensive to manufacture, and the bigger they are, the more they cost. Solar concentrators can lower the overall cost of solar power by making it possible to use much smaller cells. But the concentrators are typically made of curved mirrors or lenses, which are bulky and require costly mechanical systems that help them track the sun.
Unlike the mirrors and lenses in conventional solar concentrators, Baldo's glass sheets act as waveguides, channeling light in the same way that fiber-optic cables transmit optical signals over long distances. The dyes coating the surfaces of the glass absorb sunlight; different dyes can be used to absorb different wavelengths of light. Then the dyes reëmit the light into the glass, which channels it to the edges. Solar-cell strips attached to the edges absorb the light and generate electricity. The larger the surface of the glass compared with the thickness of the edges, the more the light is concentrated and, to a point, the less the power costs.
Baldo, an associate professor of electrical engineering, published his findings recently in Science. On their basis, he projects that his solar concentrators could be made big enough for the electricity they help generate to compete with electricity from fossil fuels. Indeed, says Baldo, panels equipped with the concentrators "could be the cheapest solar technology."
Secret Ingredient
The process for making Baldo's solar concentrators begins down the hall in another lab. A postdoctoral researcher, Shalom Goffri, takes several bottles filled with colorful dye powders from a cabinet and measures the powders into small vials. Some of the dyes were developed for use in car paints; others have been used in organic light-emitting diodes. Both types of dyes can last for years in the sun, a quality essential for solar concentrators. Once he has measured out the powders, Goffri adds a solvent to each to make a liquid ink.
The next steps take place inside a sealed box, so that Goffri doesn't inhale the solvents used to make the dye. He reaches into the box, using thick black gloves mounted in its glass front, and carefully mixes together different inks. Determining the right combination of inks solved a fundamental problem that researchers have encountered with this type of solar concentrator. If the glass sheet is coated with a dye that absorbs sunlight in, say, the green-to-blue range of the solar spectrum and emits light of the same wavelength, the emitted light will be quickly reabsorbed by the dye, and little of it will ever reach the edge of the glass. The problem has limited the size of these solar concentrators, since the further the light needs to travel to the edges, the less of the light will make it.
By using certain combinations of dyes interspersed with other light-absorbing molecules, Baldo makes coatings that absorb one color but emit another. The emitted light is not quickly reabsorbed by the coatings, so more of it reaches the edges of the glass sheet.
The coatings that Goffri is making absorb ultraviolet through green light and emit orange light. Once Goffri has prepared the final mixture, he pours a small amount on a 10-centimeter-wide glass square--the largest that can fit inside a device that spins the glass at 2,000 revolutions per minute to spread the ink evenly. Within a minute or two, the solvent has evaporated and the process is finished. The solar concentrator, with its coating of orange dye, is complete.
The Prototype
To generate electricity, Goffri connects the solar concentrator to solar cells. He's making what is called a tandem solar module, a type of solar panel that uses two different kinds of cells to capture more of the energy in sunlight than a single kind could. Different wavelengths of sunlight have different amounts of energy; ultraviolet light has the most and infrared the least. Solar cells are optimized for particular colors. One designed to convert infrared light into electricity, for example, will convert most of the energy in blue light into waste heat. Likewise, red light will pass through a solar cell optimized for high-energy blue light without being absorbed. Ideally, solar cells for different wavelengths would be used in combination to collect the most sunlight, but this approach is often too expensive to be practical.
Baldo's concentrators offer an inexpensive way to combine solar cells optimized for different wavelengths of light: different colored coatings can be paired with different types of solar cells in the same device. To make a prototype, Goffri takes a type of solar cell well suited to high-energy colors and glues it to the inside of a plastic frame; then he slides the concentrator into the frame so that its edges line up with the cells. The concentrator captures ultraviolet, blue, and green light and emits orange light that the cells convert into electricity. The lower-energy light, from the red and infrared end of the spectrum, passes through the solar concentrator to the next layer. In the prototype, the next layer is a full-size, conventional silicon solar cell that isn't paired with a solar concentrator.
The prototype, Baldo says, can convert almost twice as much energy from sunlight into electricity as a conventional cell can, provided that the concentrator is roughly 30 centimeters square. This translates to a 30 percent decrease in the cost of solar electricity.
In the future, the cost savings can be much higher, Baldo believes. He doesn't use a concentrator for the infrared light because, so far, no good dyes for capturing those wavelengths exist. But he is confident that such dyes can be developed. When that happens, he will be able to add a second concentrator, for little additional cost, and replace the full-size silicon solar cell with smaller, cheaper cells attached to the concentrators' edges. If the cost of photovoltaics drops over the next several years, as expected, this setup could make solar power about as cheap as electricity from coal, he says.
There's more work to be done in the lab, such as improving the range of colors the concentrators can absorb, which will make it possible to tailor them to specific slices of the spectrum. But Baldo says that it's time to start moving the technology out of the lab and into the market. He and his colleagues have founded a company called Covalent Solar, which is starting to raise money. The company, based in Cambridge, MA, plans to have its first products--probably tandem solar modules--available within three years.
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| Cancer signs: This image shows the active site of the IDH1 enzyme. Scientists have discovered that mutations in the gene encoding this enzyme are found in the tumors of patients with the brain cancer glioblastoma. Credit: Parsons et al |
In three new studies that could redefine how cancer is viewed, researched, and treated, scientists have created a detailed map of the genetic mutations that underlie two of the deadliest forms of the disease: pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma, the type of brain tumor that Senator Edward Kennedy was diagnosed with this past spring. The new findings are the first steps in the huge task of mapping the genomes of cancer, as researchers work to learn about cancers from the ground up.
Scientists have known for decades that cancer develops in response to genetic changes that cause cells to grow and divide uncontrollably. But uncovering each of these changes, and understanding how they lead to disease, is a Herculean task--one that involves sequencing and analyzing upward of 100 different kind of tumors, with hundreds of different patient samples of each. And while some believe that systematically cataloging the mutations could provide unprecedented insight into fighting or even preventing cancers, others believe that the high cost of such research might not be worth the rewards. These papers provide the first glimpse at what the rewards could be.
One paper, published online in Nature, is the first study born from data gathered by the publicly funded Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), an initiative created to use large-scale genome sequencing to find and map different cancers' genetic aberrations. Lynda Chin and Matthew Meyerson, both at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in Boston, analyzed more than 200 glioblastoma tumors for genetic changes (such as the number of copies of each protein-coding gene present in the sample, and whether these genes have been turned off through a process called methylation), and they also analyzed 600 genes already implicated in the disease. Their results confirmed known culprits and revealed previously unknown changes in three major genes: two known tumor suppressors (NF1 and ERBB2), and one that is newly associated with cancer (PIK3R1) and could potentially be targeted by drugs already in development.
The other two studies--the fruits of a private cancer genome project headed by a trio of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore--analyzed far fewer tumors at a far greater level of detail. Published online in Science, these papers examine 22 pancreatic tumors and 24 glioblastomas for gene copy number and gene expression, as well as the sequences of just about every single one of their more than 20,000 protein-encoding genes. The researchers found an average of around 60 genetic changes per tumor, but they also discovered that most of those mutations acted on a core set of just 12 cellular pathways.
These pathways may be central to future drug development. "It may be more productive to screen for drugs that act against the core pathways," says Bert Vogelstein, one of the project heads at Johns Hopkins. "By targeting the pathways, it's possible that new drugs could be effective against a much greater fraction of tumors."
ne finding in particular by the Johns Hopkins group shows the value of the genome-wide approach. Victor Velculescu, who led the Hopkins glioblastoma study, and his colleagues discovered that a mutation in one gene differentiates one subset of glioblastomas from another in a disease that researchers had always believed was quite homogeneous. The gene, called IDH1, had never before been implicated in any cancer. But the IDH1 mutation occurred in 12 percent of glioblastoma patients, and those people were, on average, 20 years younger and survived significantly longer than patients without the mutation. This finding--perhaps the most instantly clinically relevant piece of the three studies released today--is one that the scientists hope could soon be used to help physicians better predict their patients' survival. The finding could also help clinicians determine if existing therapies might be more effective on this brand of glioblastoma and ultimately help create treatments directed specifically at the IDH1 pathway.
Cancer researchers welcome the flood of data gleaned from both approaches. "I'm just glad the information is in the till," says Paul Mischel, a neuropathologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in glioblastoma therapy development and application. "These studies provide the first really well-delineated set of road maps." Chin and Velculescu hope that sequencing costs will soon drop low enough to allow them to combine the two techniques, sequencing large numbers of genes in many tumors.
The studies have also revealed to scientists looking to treat these diseases just how difficult their challenge really is. "For the first time, these are giving you the complete picture of these two cancer types," Velculescu says. "This is important, because if we ever want to cure cancer, we have to know what's wrong with it. And unfortunately, what appears to be wrong with most cancers is more complicated than we may have anticipated."
LAKE PARK, Florida — Former AMG stalwart Hartmut Feyhl's RENNtech figured there was plenty of untapped adrenaline under the hood of the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG — nearly 100 horsepower, as it turns out.
Once RENNtech was through fiddling with the car's 6.2-liter V8, output jumped from 451 to 548 hp while torque climbed from 443 to 510 pound-feet. The first step in the transformation was to upgrade the ECU. Then the tuning house added a set of stainless steel long-tube headers and performance-oriented tailpipes.
Dig a little deeper under the sheetmetal, and you'll discover a fully adjustable sport suspension that enables the owner to dial in ride height and shock damping settings. The brakes have been upgraded as well.
What this means to you: Even without additional modifications, the stock C63 AMG is a veritable bargain at $55,975.
Companies need the spendthrift, line-waiting, early adopters. So why are they so willing to screw them over?
I suffer from a near-debilitating fear of tech commitment. Early adopter, I am not. With pre-orders of the first Google Android phone rumored to be kicking off any day now, early adoption is a topic I’ve been burning a lot of brain cells on lately. I mean, should I or shouldn’t I? That’s the eternal question of this transistor-dependent existence I lead. Unfortunately for my own technological evolution, I find early adoption to be a lot like playing Russian Roulette with a bullet lodged in all six chambers: I can’t possibly win.
I often wonder what goes on inside the mind of an early-adopter. A good friend of mine has it bad—every single time a shiny new product is released, you can bet he’ll be one of the first to have it. You know this guy. He’s the one who set aside $600 for the iPhone the day it was first rumored to even exist. He’s always waiting in those wrap-around-the-block store lines or giving me the inside track on the next big “secret” pre-order or closed-beta he’s eyeballing. I remember the day the original gumpack-shaped iPod Shuffle was first announced. Despite having a top-of-the-line whatever-gen “full-sized” iPod was out at the time, he just had to get his mitts on the Shuffle. He told me it would be like a sidecar to his regular iPod. Poor guy. By now, he must have a Smithsonian-like storage locker full of dust-caked, obsolete gadgetry.
But here’s the thing: My buddy and others like him are what make the tech world go ’round. Hardware manufacturers, software makers and Internet service operators don’t just hope for this type of consumer—they NEED them. Most of the tech-buying public is as skittish as I am about jumping into bed with something new and unproven. Thankfully, these early adopters are out there to test the waters for us. Once we see from the sidelines that they’re out there having fun, we’re comfortable enough to join the game. This is how a new product first survives and then eventually flourishes.
An early-adopter is a pioneer of sorts—but what’s the benefit of being one? If a product does actually take off and become wildly successful, it’s not like they get a share of the profits. In fact, they don’t get anything above and beyond what I get when I finally tag into the match much later on. What they do get, more often than not, is a royal screwing when the prices drop or successive product iterations are quickly ushered in.
Then again, isn’t the early adopter happy to play along? When he eschews personal hygiene and adult responsibility to stand in line for the latest and greatest wonder gadget, doesn’t he realize he’s going to pay a tax for the bragging rights he (thinks he) has? Doesn’t he know full well that a slicker Version #2 is just around the corner? Yes indeed, says the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
The non-profit research foundation has published a study, which found that early technology adopters make up 8 percent of the total U.S. adult population. “The overwhelming majority of them know full well what they’re getting into,” says Pew’s Assistant Director, John Horrigan. “These are people with a passion for technology who like being on the cutting edge. Companies understand this and know that these people will not be alienated by the subsequent versions [of their products] that come out. Clearly, this is worthwhile for a lot of early adopters, otherwise we wouldn’t have this model.”
That’s nice, but I’m going to remain steadfastly terrified of new, unproven technology and I’ll continue to cower behind the courage of the early adopter. You, my friend, are the battle-scarred warrior who goes forth bravely into the dark and dangerous, uncharted waters of tech consumerism. If you discover an island paradise out there, send a message back to shore and I’ll follow. But if your boat gets swallowed by a sea monster, well, you should have see it coming.
Exactly what’s got me so frightened about early adoption? Let’s have a look-see in my rogue's gallery of the products most cruel to their first owners.
words: Stu Fowle
Today I'm in a displacement lover's hell. The trip from Chicago to Dearborn was made in record time, but not because of some big, burly V-8. The twin-turbo six of Motive's long-term BMW 135i was responsible for pinballing me through the mouth-breathing, truck-driving hordes of rural Michiganders along I-94. And here at Ford's Beech Daly technical center, the buzz inside is all about the upcoming EcoBoost V-6, which Ford hopes will provide V-8 power with V-6 efficiency. Suddenly, the whining from purists two years ago when BMW announced its first turbocharged gas engine since the '70s doesn't seem like a big deal. This is Ford. Mustangs and F-150s. V-8s and Toby Keith. And now that's all fallen to turbochargers and economy? What's next, painting the blue oval green? To peek behind the curtain and see exactly what's going on, I've come here to get my hands dirty. I'm going to build one of the first EcoBoost engines.
Slapping two Honeywell turbos on the 3.5-liter Duratec and calling it the V-8 of our gas-deprived future wasn't the knee-jerk reaction to $4 fuel that it might seem, and it wasn't as easy as it might sound. Work on the EcoBoost started in 2002, long before the marketing department dreamed up that name. Over one million miles have been logged on dynamometers and public roads in the time since, and over 120 engines have been torn to bits and examined under microscopes. There have been 150,000-mile fatigue tests, 360-hour durability tests, and even one part of development that involved 1500 cycles of making the exhaust manifolds glow red with heat then cool again before making another run. While many parts of the EcoBoost's naturally aspirated counterpart didn't change significantly, almost everything was at least mildly tweaked.
Michael Shelby, Ford's EcoBoost V-6 Engine Development Leader, greets me at the door of the tech center with a pair of safety glasses and a smile, showing that he's prepared to laugh at some media-type trying to build his company's most advanced V-6 ever. We head behind closed doors — lots of them — and past a vast room ripe with the smell of old motor oil and full of long benches, each of them covered with prototype engines cut open like dissected frogs in a high school biology class. If I were a real Ford geek, I'd probably have some breaking engine news for you at this point. But I'm not, so I keep following Shelby and probably miss some quad-turbo Boss V-8 hiding in a corner.
In the next room, an EcoBoost is laid out at a horseshoe-shaped table with the deep-down bits at one end and the intake parts at the other. The engine block is first in line, and it's basically the same chunk of aluminum found under the hoods of Fusions, Tauruses, and most other V-6–powered Ford products. But then Shelby turns the block on its side and points out a few key changes — the outside of the cylinder walls have been strengthened to withstand extra pressure, and there's a bit of extra machining at the bottom of each cylinder to accommodate a squirter that blasts oil at the bottom of each piston to aid cooling. Additionally, the oil pump has been upgraded to flow four more cubic centimeters per revolution.
The only other changes made to the short block come when we get up to the pistons, which have already been set in place and connected to the crankshaft for me. (It's all right, I wouldn't have trusted me, either.) An advantage of direct injection is the ability to control the quick, precise blast of fuel. To capitalize on this, the EcoBoost gets piston heads with a bowl cut into them. It looks a bit like a backyard swimming pool with an oblong shape and a deep end at the middle. I run my finger along in the path gasoline will take, making a whooshing noise that silences the room with awkwardness. The fuel comes in from the side of the cylinder, sprays into this bowl, and is directed right up toward the spark plug for more complete ignition. This extra bit of engineering is advantageous when the engine's cold and operating less efficiently.
That brings us up to the cylinder heads; big, bulky hunks of aluminum that threaten to cut my hands in 50 different ways. Shelby spins one around in his hands, pointing out the obvious changes before passing it off to me. Beneath the surface, larger and deeper cooling jackets draw more heat from the fuel injectors. Additional cooling lines flow out of the block and through each turbocharger to cope with 1742-degree F exhaust temperatures. Shelby's engineering team spent extra time on these seemingly simple hoses to promote thermal siphoning within them. That's a process in which boiling water inside the turbos acts as a pump to draw cooler water in, which in turn prevents thermal soak. You don't honestly expect soccer moms in Flexes to sit in the garage for a few minutes so that the turbochargers can cool, do you? I pick up the entire assembly and hold it up to our unfinished engine. It fits snugly against the heads and wraps around from one turbo to the other. Shelby says how proud he is of the tight packaging that'll allow the engine to squeeze into so many of Ford's cars.
Back inside the heads, three of the engine's four camshafts are essentially the base 3.5-liter's with valve event durations slightly modified. They look like any other cams, with sets of two lobes sitting down over each piston. I set one in place after resisting the urge to wield the heavy metal bar like a nightstick. The fourth cam is affectionately referred to as the "shish kabob" because of its peculiar four-sided lobe halfway along its length. It drives the high-pressure fuel pump added to feed the direct-injection system and I don't notice it at first glance. Then I feel silly, like a child not knowing why the square toy doesn't fit in the round hole.
The pump sends fuel under pressures as low as 200 psi and as high as 2900 psi into the injectors, which spray fuel through six small holes directly into the cylinders. For as complicated and revolutionary as direct injection is made out to be, the injectors themselves look like three unassuming nozzles dripping off from one main rail. Looking at the fuel pump housing, though, you'd think it protected a ball of plutonium. There's a giant chunk of metal protruding from the cam cover to ensure the fuel pump isn't ruptured in a frontal collision, plus a thick cover over the pump to limit noise and vibration from its solenoid. Anyone who owns a direct-injection Volkswagen or the turbocharged versions of the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky will understand why that cover's there. Ford doesn't want anyone asking EcoBoost drivers if their cars are diesel-powered.
While the fuel side of power creation is highlighted by direct injection, air intake is all about the turbochargers. Two parallel turbos drive as much as 12 psi of boost into the intake manifold and dual-walled exhaust manifolds help drive more thermal energy back into the process. I pick up one of the manifolds, then a turbo, and fasten them together with two bolts. A plant worker would squirt a bit of silicone between the two flush surfaces, but because my engine's going to be torn back apart, we skip the sticky stuff. Eight bolts fasten the manifold to the engine block and I crank them down with an electric torque wrench just like the ones in the factory. Only in the factory, the tool records each and every bolt going on, automatically sets torque ratings for each, and records the whole process to prevent mistakes made by hangovers or a case of the Mondays.
Because the turbos help to drive up the engine's torque output, the traditional technique of using long intake runners isn't necessary, so the EcoBoost's manifold is noticeably shorter than its naturally aspirated counterpart. This prevents compression from happening in the intake and promotes higher compression inside the cylinders. It fits on top of the near-complete engine like a star on a Christmas tree.
Once the air and fuel finally meet in the EcoBoost's six cylinders, the engine produces 340 hp and 340 lb-ft of torque, but those figures might vary slightly from application to application. (The one I'm building? It'll probably make somewhere closer to 200 hp and drink oil like a worn-out RX-7.) Those numbers were also obtained on premium fuel — Ford recommends using the good stuff but assures us that the EcoBoost won't have detonation issues on regular unleaded.
Using direct injection allows the engine to run at a higher compression ratio of 10:1, which Shelby speculates is 0.75 to 1.0 points higher than the same turbo motor would run with conventional injectors. Along with the higher ratio, variable valve timing on the intake side provides increased efficiency and better low-end torque. By advancing intake timing as much as 40 degrees, Ford engineers were able to spread the engine's peak torque along a plateau from 1500 to 5000 rpm.
As I fasten one last bolt with the torque wrench, I can't help but be impressed by Ford's high-power V-6. It'll be marketed as an alternative to the company's own V-8s displacing 4.6 liters and higher, and Ford predicts fuel savings of as much as 20 percent. In products like the Flex, it'll boast a huge advantage over the less powerful sixes in GM's Lambda crossovers, Honda's Pilot, and others, while costing just $700 or so more than the current 3.5-liter. In another application, the EcoBoost will put the Lincoln MKS in a class above the twin-turbo BMW 535i, the Mercedes-Benz E350, or the Cadillac CTS and on par with some of our favorite V-8s, including Infiniti's M45. And then if Ford stuck this thing in an all-wheel drive Fusion — okay, we'll stop. But just keep this in mind: It was Ford's SVT communications manager who invited us out for a closer look at EcoBoost. Take from that what you will.
Of course, simply seeing and holding all the parts of this new engine in my hands isn't enough to say it'll draw Americans away from V-8s or more efficient foreign competitors. We'll have to wait until next spring, when the first Ford vehicles will start offering the EcoBoost, to say anything for sure.
Nobody knows better than the engineers and designers at Dodge that its 2009 Ram needs to break the mold. It's not helping that huge hurdles are in the way-oil breaching $120 a barrel, economy cars flying of dealer lots, and that Ford's about to unleash an all-new F-150 (check out our next issue). It's also no secret that Chrysler is suffering from the backlash of foisting too many mediocre products onto the public.
Will the new Ram make a difference?
To begin, much of the Ram is not modified (the frame is largely carryover, there are three cab configurations, three engine choices-auto and manual gearboxes are the same-and three box lengths). Still there is plenty here to separate the new Dodge Ram from its other half-ton competitors, especially the two recently revamped trucks (from GM and Toyota).
Most notable, all new Rams now use a rear coil-spring suspension with trailing arms to locate the live axle, a la Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango. This change saves about 40 pounds in weight and allows frame engineers to better control many of the typical harsh ride frequencies and vague handling issues endemic to leaf-sprung pickup trucks. The front end remains similar in architecture, but does use a liberal amount of high-strength steel and aluminum to save another 10 pounds at each corner. All that weight saving came in handy as Dodge has finally created a true Crew Cab model for its Ram. This new cab length, which also requires a smaller bed box, allowed Dodge to incorporate two weatherproof, lockable storage bins into the bed's fender sides. The storage areas are easily accessed from either side of the truck and offer enough room for tools, sports gear, or camping supplies.
All three engines (3.7-liter V-6, 4.7-liter V-8, and 5.7-liter V-8) remain the same and oddly offer similar fuel-economy numbers. The V-6 is rated at 215 horsepower and 235 pound-feet of torque, is standard on two-wheel-drive Regular and Quad Cab models, and is rated at 15/20 mpg for the manual and 14/20 mpg for the automatic, with a flex-fuel version available for fleet sales. The 4.7-liter V-8 has 310 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque, is standard on all 4WD models and the Crew Cabs, and is rated at 13/19 mpg for 2WD and 13/18 for 4WD. All 4.7-liter V-8s are flex-fuel capable. The new-generation 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 has smarter variable valve timing, a two-stage intake, and a more aggressive MDS (multiple displacement system) calibration, all of which offers 13-percent-more power with four-percent-more fuel efficiency. The big V-8 is rated at 390 horsepower and 407 pound-feet of torque, is standard on all Sport and Laramie models (an option on all others), and is EPA-rated at 13/19 for 2WD, and 13/18 for 4WD models. It's worth noting 89-octane fuel is recommended.
Maybe the most dramatic change to the new Ram is inside the cabin. Dodge interiors have long been at the bottom of the segment; however, material upgrades, design layout, and convenience details are sure to make the new Ram a stronger player. The base ST cloth bench seats, as well as the top-grade Laramie leather buckets, have a sportier, well-supported character, with firmer seat bolsters in all the seatback and seat-bottom choices. Dash surrounds look more like furniture-grade choice, and gauge clusters and backings are well organized and clean. Seating configurations allow for a bucket seat/center console option on upper trim levels, as well as a more work-truck bench-seat option (it has bucket-type 40/20/40 seats) with a traditional column shifter that includes a convenient manual thumb shifter. Storage cubbies and slots abound, including two hidden six-pack floor doors at the rear passenger's feet in Quad Cab and Crew Cab models.
Still, outside is where many will feel the new Ram takes its most significant risk. Dodge designers have throttled back the "big-rig" look that so defined the revolutionary 1994 model. Now the Ram has a more polished and styled appearance, more balance between front and rear wheels (with none of that "butt in the air" look). Ralph Gilles, newly appointed vice president of Design for Chrysler and lead designer on the new Ram, worked with his team for more than two years to make the new truck look modern, yet still appealing to a typically traditional buyer.
The resulting slant-forward, head-tilted look of the new hood and grille gives the impression the truck is leaning toward you, as if it were putting a finger in your chest during an argument. This look, along with the smooth lines, wider wheel arches, and higher window heights (while keeping the bed height reasonable for an average man to reach into the bed) combine to give the new Ram a more sophisticated look, setting itself apart from the other competitors in the field. But does it work? We had the new Regular Cab 2WD R/T for a few days around Southern California, and if the reaction from the guys on the road is any indication, Dodge may have something here.
Our Inferno Red R/T had body-color bumpers with a few light chrome accents. Our test unit weighed only 4779 pounds, which gives it a strong power-to-weight ratio of 12.3 pounds per horsepower. The 4.10:1 axle gears and sticky Goodyear Wrangler HP tires don't hurt, either. At the track, this translated to 5.7 seconds 0-to-60 mph, and gave us a nice thrill ride around the streets of L.A. Dodge didn't ignore the stopping tech, either. Although essentially carryover technology from the previous gen, the stopping distance from 60 mph was a respectable 135 feet-10 feet shorter than a comparably equipped Tundra. We found it easy to get 19 mpg on the instant computer fuel-economy readout and took note of when the MDS kicked into fuel-saving mode.
The R/T's cornering abilities are especially impressive. Its figure-eight performance of 28.2 seconds at 0.61 g is among the best of this ilk, topping even the Range Rover Sport (no doubt a result of the new rear suspension and big motor). Additionally, when under hard cornering loads, the Ram proved exceptional at absorbing and dissipating harsh inputs, with the coil springs performing far better than the previous leaf-sprung setup. We ran with a 1000 pounds in the Ram's bed, and aside from small amount of body roll, the truck held its ground. Manufacturer payloads range from 1400 to 1900 pounds, with maximum trailer weights ranging from 2950 (V-6) to 9100 (Hemi) pounds. Dodge says it has as many as a dozen different single-stage coil springs that can be selected in just about any combination to set at either rear corner to compensate for the varying forces that depend on cab configuration, axle ratios, option packages, wheel and tire choices, and many other variables.
New Rams will offer five trim levels-ST, SLT (which will include the popular Lone Star and Big Horn Editions), Sport (which includes the R/T), TRX-4 Off Road, and topline Laramie-and pricing will be aggressive, starting at $22,170 (ST regular cab, shortbed, 2WD), but moving close to $45,000 with all the options (Crew Cab, Laramie, RamBox, Nav, DVD, moonroof, 4x4). We'll have more in the month to come as we pit the new Ram against other new trucks for Motor Trend's 2009 Truck of the Year.
Snow Leopard's across-the-board leap to 64-bits, from the kernel to all of its bundled apps, will do more than just make more memory available. It will also have a significant positive impact on performance system wide, even more than the same jump to 64-bits in Windows Vista. Here's why. Following the initial introduction to 64-bit computing leading up to Snow Leopard and a second segment outlining issues related to the amount of RAM that can be installed and actually used by the system, this third segment examines how much memory a specific app can use and how performance will improve with 64-bit addressing despite the additional overhead involved. A follow up segment will look at how the market for 64-bit apps is unfolding and how Apple is pioneering 64-bits on the desktop.
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bits
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: 64-bits, Santa Rosa and the great PC swindle
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: Twice the RAM, half the price, 64-bits
Road to Mac OS X Snow Leopard: The Future of 64-bit Apps
System RAM vs App RAM
While the 4GB limit described earlier is only just beginning to affect mainstream users, there's another problem that prevents full use of the installed memory by any specific application. In fact, the real problem for RAM-starved apps is not how much RAM can be installed in a machine, but rather the limits on the amount of memory a single application or process can address itself.
The 32-bit versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X handled their 4GB limit differently. That means their transitions to 64-bits offer varying levels of improvement to their users. In 32-bit versions of Linux and Mac OS X, the kernel maps out a 32-bit, 4GB virtual memory space for itself and one for each app (or process). The virtual memory system shuffles memory around as needed to take best advantage of however much RAM is installed. The more RAM the better, of course.
In 32-bit Windows, every app only gets a 2GB virtual address space; the 4GB space afforded by 32-bit addresses is split with the kernel. By default, the split is right down the middle, so the app gets 2GB to work in while the kernel reserves the other 2GB. With a special setting, Windows can be adjusted to a 3GB/1GB split to give the app a bit more room, but there's no way to approach a full 4GB address space in Windows. This impacts every app on the system that wants to use a lot of RAM.
The reason behind Windows' split memory allocation is performance. Windows system calls can address memory locations mapped to the application and to the kernel in the same breath, because the CPU can directly address the app's RAM and the kernel's RAM at the same time using a cached lookup table called the "translation lookaside buffer" or TLB.
A study commissioned by a phallically named insurance company proves beyond all doubt that the unbridled roar of an Italian supercar turns women on but the soft purr of a fuel-efficient econobox doesn't stimulate anyone's MPG-spot.
David Moxon subjected 40 men and women to the sounds of a Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari, then measured the amount of testosterone in their saliva. He found everyone had higher levels of the stuff -- a measure of their arousal -- after hearing the revving exotics, but the amount the women had was off the charts.
The econobox, however, left everyone colder than a January day in Nome.
The study was commissioned by the ultra-exclusive British insurer Hiscox (we swear we're not making this up), which was curious to know how people respond to high-end luxury cars. "We knew owners of luxury cars felt a connection with the sound of their vehicles," says Steve Langan, managing director of the insurance company. "We have now scientifically proven the physical attraction people feel when it comes to cars."
To test the theory that high-performance cars get people hot, Moxon had 40 men and women listen to recordings of the three Italian exotics and a Volkswagen Polo. Everyone had significantly more testosterone after hearing the exotics, and all of the women were turned on by the Maserati. The guys, on the other hand, were drawn to the Lamborghini.
“We saw significant peaks in the amount of testosterone in the body, particularly in women," Maxon says, noting that even women who said they had no interest in cars were turned on. "Testosterone is indicative of positive arousal in the human body so we can confidently conclude from the results out today that the roar of a luxury car engine actually does cause a primeval physiological response.”
As for the Polo? Everyone had less testosterone after listening to it. That means the acceleratus interruptus of a Prius going all-electric in traffic is automotive equivalent of skin flicks starring previous secretaries of state, despite General Motors' claim that nearly nine out of 10 women would rather talk to a guy in a hybrid than a Porsche.
Don't buy it? Check out these videos of Maserati, Lamborghini and VW Polo exhaust notes and tell us how you feel afterward. Be forewarned, though -- we are not responsible for any primeval responses they cause.
Photo by Flickr user VOD Cars.
Besides the slick and probably expensive editing designed to make Jerry Seinfeld look like the more awkward of the pair, there's not a whole lot of special effects in this clip. In fact, there's not really a whole lot of anything, including laughs, information or pimping of Vista. It's kinda like Seinfeld's really long, really rambling Superman ad for Amex he did a few years back. We hope the rest of the campaign is better.
They did get Bill Gates to use his mug shot somewhere in the spot (not spoiling it by saying where), but other than that we're underwhelmed. Here's what we took away from it: Bill Gates's jiggling ass is moist and tasty. Don't ask us now, watch the clip and you'll see.
POKANE, Wash. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attended five colleges in six years before graduating from the University of Idaho in 1987.
Federal privacy laws prohibit the schools from disclosing her grades, and none of the schools contacted by The Associated Press could say why she transferred. There was no indication any of them were contacted as part of the background investigation of Palin by presidential candidate John McCain's campaign.
"Our office was not contacted by anyone," said Tania Thompson, spokeswoman for the University of Idaho in Moscow.
Palin, the governor of Alaska, was born in Idaho. Her family moved when she was only a few months old to Alaska, where she was raised.
She began college at Hawaii Pacific University, a private, nonsectarian school in Honolulu. She attended only as a freshman during the fall of 1982, school spokeswoman Crystale Lopez said.
Then known as Sarah Louise Heath, she was in the business administration program as a full-time student, Lopez said.
"We're trying to track down someone who knew her," Lopez added.
From Hawaii Pacific, Palin transferred to North Idaho College, a two-year school in Coeur d'Alene, about 30 miles east of Spokane. She attended the college as a general studies major for two semesters, in spring 1983 and fall 1983, spokeswoman Stacy Hudson said.
"We were not able to track down club affiliations or anything," Hudson said.
The school identified one of her professors but he did not remember her, Hudson said.
Prior to her selection by McCain, the North Idaho College Alumni Association notified Palin in June she would be the recipient of its 2008-2009 Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award.
From North Idaho College, Palin transferred 70 miles south to the University of Idaho, the state's flagship institution. She majored in journalism with an emphasis in broadcast news. She attended Idaho, whose mascot is the Vandals, from fall 1984 to spring 1985.
She then returned to Alaska to attend Matanuska-Susitna College in Palmer in fall 1985.
Then she returned to Idaho, for spring 1986, fall 1986 and spring 1987, when she graduated. Despite her journalism degree, she does not appear to have worked for the college newspaper or campus television station, school officials said. She worked briefly as a sportscaster for KTUU in Anchorage after she graduated college.
The McCain campaign did not have an immediate comment on Palin's higher education record.
In a recent interview with the school's alumni magazine, before her selection to run on the GOP ticket, she explained that her curiosity and love of writing made journalism a natural choice.
"I was always asking everyone the questions, and I still am today," Palin told the magazine.
The University of Idaho is taking advantage of Palin's nomination. A prominent photograph of her is featured on the school's Web site.
To maintain its standing as the indisputable leader of the go-fast world, Ferrari channels most of its energies into its highly successful F1 racing program, and then pumps out a couple thousand really fast road cars per year to sustain it. And every few years, Ferrari builds something that more or less blends both worlds together. These are the superstars of supercars with names like F40, F50, Enzo, the track-only FXX, and soon, the car you see (kind of) here: the FX70.
Underneath the clever camouflage—seemingly cobbled together from the front clip of an F430, the body and rear of a Scuderia, and the outer taillamps of the 599GTB Fiorano—is the chassis of Ferrari’s next big thing.
The massive FXX rear wheels give it away, placed further back in the body than they would be if this was a real Scuderia and, of course, looking far too big for the car—like a little kid wearing his dad’s shoes. Oh, and there’s a big, center-mounted tailpipe that recalls those of the Lamborghini LP640 Murciélago and Reventón.
What’s underneath all that? That’s unconfirmed at this point, but our spies say it sounded completely awesome as it rumbled by, amid rumors it houses either a twin-turbo V-12 of about 800 horsepower, or a more eco-sensitive (in adherence to Euro emissions requirements) twin-turbo V-8 of perhaps 700 horsepower. Either way, don’t expect to catch up to one unless you’re in an F-18 fighter jet.
What we don’t know is if this is the rumored Millechili (or whatever its name will be in production), or will exist in addition to the lightweight two-seater.
Production would be extremely limited and, in proper Ferrari tradition, the precious few will be offered first to the tycoons, royalty, and dictators currently nestled at the top of Ferrari’s VIP list who already own several of this car’s predecessors. And they can each expect to shell out at least a million bucks for one.
PARIS — Citroën previewed its Hypnos hybrid crossover in advance of the 2008 Paris Auto Show, showing off a low-slung concept designed to take aim at the BMW X6 and Infiniti FX. Curiously, the Citroën Hypnos is named after a figure in Greek mythology who personified sleep and lived in a dark cave where the sun never shines, according to Wikipedia.
The Hypnos is anything but a snorer, however. It is characterized by exaggerated features, such as oversize doors and tires. The cabin gets jewel-like, faceted seats — not surprising given Citroën's track record in striving to attract attention on its home-turf auto show. "A powerful sensory experience awaits the driver and passengers, taking them into the realm of pure magic," said Citroën in a statement heavy with hyperbole.
Without giving away critical details — which will come when the crossover is unveiled on October 2 — Citroën said the hybrid gets a 200-horsepower engine with low fuel consumption and emissions.
No word on whether the Hypnos will ever see the light of day as a production vehicle.
What this means to you: Citroën shows its wild and crazy side with the Hypnos concept.
TORRANCE, California — Honda on Thursday lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding its new Prius fighter, saying the compact five-door hatchback — christened the Insight — will make its debut on October 2 at the 2008 Paris Auto Show. Honda said the Insight, which will undercut the price of the Toyota Prius, will go on sale in the U.S. next spring.
The new Honda Insight is expected to be priced from under $20,000 and is the first vehicle in Honda's ambitious hybrid strategy. In comparison, the 2009 Toyota Prius starts at $22,660, including a $660 destination charge.
Honda plans to roll out four new gas-electric models over the next four years as part of a broad global strategy to boost hybrid sales to 500,000 units by 2012 — which would represent more than 10 percent of its total worldwide annual automobile sales.
"Following the launch of the new Insight, Honda also plans to introduce another unique sporty hybrid vehicle based on the CR-Z, first shown at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show," the automaker said in a statement.
Also in the pipeline is a replacement for the current Civic Hybrid, which is due out in late 2010, and a new hybrid edition of the Honda Fit in 2012.
The new Insight is a major leap from the original Insight, a cramped 70-mpg two-seater subcompact that was introduced in December 1999 as America's first gas-electric hybrid car. Honda took pains in its Thursday announcement to describe the new Insight as "roomy." It said the futuristic Insight Concept "shares styling cues with the Honda FCX Clarity fuel-cell vehicle and will provide an early look at the highly anticipated five-passenger hybrid vehicle."
Honda said it was able to hold down the price of the production Insight "by utilizing a more cost-efficient version of Honda's Integrated Motor Assist hybrid technology, resulting in a new level of affordability for hybrid customers worldwide." Although it provided few technical specifications, the Japanese automaker also said the production Insight will have "a function to assist customers in achieving more fuel-efficient driving habits." The new Insight will be built in Japan.
The Honda Insight is expected to have annual global sales of 200,000 units a year, with about 100,000 of those in North America.
What this means to you: A more affordable Prius fighter is on the way from Honda and could be in your driveway in just a few months.
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