October 13, 2005, 5:07 PM PDT
2006 hybrids and diesels get best fuel economy
Posted by: Wayne Cunningham

The EPA released its fuel-economy report for the 2006 model year, and hybrid or diesel engines power 9 of the 10 most fuel-efficient cars. It's not too much of a surprise, since hybrids are designed to capture wasted energy and put it back into the car, making an obvious improvement upon gasoline equivalents. Diesels have long been known for greater fuel efficiency over gasoline. Readers of CNET Car Tech occasionally ask why there isn't a diesel hybrid to get the best of both worlds. I've heard that Audi worked on the idea some years ago, and I can only speculate why there aren't diesel hybrids right now. It's possible that diesels are so efficient that any increase offered by hybridization is too small to justify adding the hybrid system.

I was pleased to see that the Ford Escape hybrid made the top 10 list of fuel-efficient cars. The only straight-gasoline car to make it on the list was the Toyota Corolla. You have to give Toyota credit for some fine engineering. On a related note, Ford dropped the Excursion from its lineup, which wouldn't have been anywhere near the top 10.

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October 13, 2005, 4:47 PM PDT
Football on your phone
Posted by: Kent German

Attention, football fans: Sprint Nextel has launched its NFL Mobile service, which provides access to NFL content and programming from the carrier's phones. Available for $6 per month to both CDMA and iDEN customers, the themed content includes the NFL Network television channel; NFL Films, which gives video and audio highlights; scores, statistics, and injury reports; and NFL Fantasy, which includes content from Hollywood Fantasy League. Users also can purchase NFL-related items through the NFL store and sign up to receive text-message alerts. After Nextel's partnership with NASCAR, the deal makes sense, especially in light of the recent launch of ESPN Mobile. And as Sprint rolls out its 3G service in 2006, the video quality can only improve. I just wonder if we'll see football-themed phones.

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October 13, 2005, 2:00 PM PDT
MP3 breast implants?
Posted by: James Kim

Ananova.com has an article about the potential for an MP3 player being built into breast implants. "One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection," so states the piece. Wireless headphones and Bluetooth would be added to the mix, according to Ian Peterson of BT Laboratories, who says such a device is feasible within 15 years--silly but plausible and certainly interesting. I guess that would mean you'd carry one fewer gadget.

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October 13, 2005, 1:13 PM PDT
Could Samsung be Apple's downfall?
Posted by: Molly Wood

Samsung has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $300 million for conspiring to fix memory prices in 2002. Meanwhile, the Korean government is looking into the possibility that Samsung gave Apple a too-sweet deal on flash memory used in, you guessed it, the iPod Nano. Dishy!

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October 13, 2005, 1:10 PM PDT
Web collaboration for small business
Posted by: Dorian Benkoil

WebEx Communications, which got the highest editors' rating in our roundup of Web conferencing software, this week announced the launch of WebOffice "to deliver collaboration solutions for individuals, small businesses, and enterprises."

WebOffice Personal requires a monthly subscription of $49.95, for which an individual gets basic office applications, such as a Web calendar and document storage, plus an unlimited number of meetings of up to 5 people. WebOffice Workgroup for $59.95 allows shared database applications, discussion boards, and shared calendars. For meetings, you have to pay another $49 for up to 5 people, or $59 up for to 10. You can also get meetings without a subscription, billed per minute, at WebEx.com.

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October 13, 2005, 1:07 PM PDT
Media consolidation, Google style
Posted by: Molly Wood

Google and Comcast are reportedly talking about buying a minority stake in AOL. The deal would bring together content, search, e-mail, ISP services, telecommunications, and cable TV. So, you know, pretty much all the major tenets of modern life.

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October 13, 2005, 1:05 PM PDT
Future of IM: interoperability or actual openness?
Posted by: Molly Wood

While Microsoft and Yahoo were busy announcing that their IM clients would operate on each other's networks, Google was apparently hiring the main developer of Gaim, an open-source client that lets you access all flavors of IM. You choose: two clients? Or all clients?

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October 13, 2005, 11:39 AM PDT
PocketDish first impressions
Posted by: David Katzmaier

I've been playing with the PocketDish AV700E portable video player that Dish Network announced a couple weeks ago, and it has its strengths and weaknesses. The $599 list device is basically an Archos AV700 (40GB) with the added ability to download and play back TV programs from Dish satellite DVRs. That part works fine: I loved being able to fill the device with a bunch of shows from my Dish Player-DVR 942. The AV700E's hard disk can store a massive amount of programming--40 hours--and during my couple of weeks with the unit, I've used it primarily to watch Dish TV. The convenience of being able to hook the device directly to my satellite receiver and record shows faster than real time (with the standard Archos, you have to record video in real time or download it from a PC) can't be overstated.

On the other hand, I wasn't thrilled with transfer speed via USB 2.0: it took 6 minutes, 24 seconds to transfer an hour-long show. Transferring the same file from my PC to the Archos took 1 minute, 12 seconds. Dish's rep blamed the slow transfer on the 942's processor speed compared to a PC's. Video quality was fine, about as good as real-time analog recordings, but the AV700E's screen appeared soft and somewhat washed out (the Archos review had similar complaints). I expect the screen on the smaller AV500E to look better. Look for the full review of the PocketDish in the next few days.

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October 13, 2005, 11:15 AM PDT
New Windows Vista leak
Posted by: Robert Vamosi

According to Slashdot, new Vista images are available online, leaked from an expected October CTP release of Windows Vista. The CTP code is pre-Beta 2 and available only to developers, but it seems everyone is interested in what might be included in the final Windows Vista package (expected in stores in late 2006). Microsoft offered no comment on the leak.

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October 13, 2005, 10:37 AM PDT
Canadian Idol
Posted by: Rich Brown

Never one to shy from an alternative case design, Calgary-based Voodoo PC's new Idol small-form-factor PC looks like a Mac Mini but comes with Wintel guts.

Starting at $899, the Idol, according to Voodoo's press release, measures 6.5 inches deep and wide and comes with an Intel Pentium M notebook CPU, a 7,200rpm Hitachi hard drive, and a slot-loading DVD burner. The boutique-PC company recommends the Idol as a second computer.

We wonder how much of the $899 price tag accounts for the automotive paint job?

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