Auto News

A123 Systems gets battery supply contract for Navistar-Modec JV

Posted on 12 March 2010

Filed under: EV/Plug-in

Modec electric truck - Click above for high-res image gallery

The joint venture that was formed last year between Navistar and Modec has selected A123 Systems to develop and produce lithium ion battery packs for its trucks. Modec is a British company that has developed a dedicated electric drive medium duty truck chassis. Navistar will be building the Modec trucks in Wakarusa, IN for the North and South American markets.

A123 Systems will be building the packs at its new factory in Livonia, MI that’s scheduled to open this month. The goal is to give the Navistar-Modec trucks a 100 mile range on a single charge. A123’s battery technology is capable of absorbing energy at high rate so that it can be fast charged without degrading the lifespan. This could be very beneficial to the commercial users of such automobiles because they don’t want them sitting idle while waiting for a charge.

Gallery: MODEC - Electric Delivery Van

Gallery: EVS23: Modec electric delivery truck

[Source: A123 Systems]

Continue reading A123 Systems gets battery supply contract for Navistar-Modec JV

A123 Systems gets battery supply contract for Navistar-Modec JV originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Apple

iPhone Backgrounder: run multiple iPhone apps at once

Posted on 11 March 2010

iPhone Backgrounder - Image 1Here’s a useful new addition to the wealth of iPhone homebrew apps out there. iPhone Backgrounder is a code application that lets you run multiple iPhone apps at once. That means even if you exit, say, Pandora, you’ll still be able to listen to it while you’re running another application.

This is a code app, so there’s no icon for it. To use iPhone Backgrounder, open up the app you want to use and hold down the Home button until you get a pop-up saying “Backgrounding Enabled (Continue holding to force quit). If you want to disable it, just hold down the Home button again.

One thing: Backgrounder will be disabled if you respring your SpringBoard. Also, there’s a chance that an application would immediately quit after you hold down the Home button. According to developer gaizin, this might be caused by Intelliscreen’s App Launch Boost feature, which can be disabled in Intelliscreen’s Performance page.

The catch here’s that running multiple apps, even in background mode, can drain your iPhone’s battery faster than usual. It’ll also make you device run slower. If that doesn’t bother you one bit, check this app out. It’s available on Cydia for free.

Related articles:

Via [apple.qj.net]

Popularity: unranked [?]

Mobile

LG Andro-1 is a GW620 with a Korean keyboard, funnier name

Posted on 11 March 2010

Before this fancy-sounding LU2300 that we’ve been hearing about rolls in, LG’s got another Android-powered phone in mind for its domestic market — but we would’ve never guessed it’d be a rehash of a fatigued model that’s been sold internationally for several months now. Indeed, the KH5200 “Andro-1″ is tiny more than a remix of the GW620 QWERTY slider — a phone known as Eve to its Canadian buyers — with a 3-inch HVGA display and 5 megapixel cam on board. It’s stated the phone could launch on KT as soon as next week for around 600,000 won ($531), but what might make it more palatable is chatter that they’ll get the sucker down to a nice, round 0 won on plans of 45,000 won or higher. If true, that would make the Andro-1 KT’s first free-on-contract smartphone, ushering in an exciting new era of indentured servitude for Korea’s wireless subscribers. Welcome to the club, guys!

LG Andro-1 is a GW620 with a Korean keyboard, funnier name originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Auto News

Fisker says 100,000 plug-in hybrids a year could be built at Delaware plant

Posted on 11 March 2010

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Green Daily, Fisker

Fisker Karma - Click above for high-res image gallery

Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker gave a presentation at the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner Monday night about his compnay’s plans to build plug-in cars (PHEVs) in Delaware. Over 450 people from the community where Fisker’s new plant (and General Motors’ old plant) is located heard Fisker talk about the Karma and the upcoming Project Nina automobile. Nina, of course, is the lower-cost ($50,000?) plug-in hybrid that Fisker wants to build in and export from Delaware.

Based on local news reports, work on the plant is progressing smoothly, with “no major problems” discovered during an environmental assessment. Prototypes could be made there as early as next year, with full production - an estimated 100,000 vehicles a year - scheduled for 2014. As for automobile sales, Fisker said that Europe and China could be large markets for the PHEVs, and he reminded the crowd that Fisker has announced 45 dealerships in the U.S., including Union Park in Wilmington, DE.

One bonus bit of information Fisker said during his speech: the prototype Karma that ran around the track at Laguna Seca cost $1.5 million. You can watch a video of part of Fisker’s talk after the jump. The videographer apparently just discovered panning, so listening without watching is suggested. Thanks to Roy B. for the tip!

Gallery: Fisker Karma

fisker_karma006bfisker_karma016image003-fkfisker_karma_1747refisker_karma_1798re-3

[Source: Delaware Business Ledger, Delaware On the internet]

Continue reading Fisker states 100,000 plug-in hybrids a year could be built at Delaware plant

Fisker says 100,000 plug-in hybrids a year could be built at Delaware plant originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Apple

iPhone homebrew: Let’s See clear Winterboard theme

Posted on 10 March 2010

Let's See - Image 1WinterBoard has certainly opened up a lot of new avenues for customization on the Apple iPhone, but it’s a bit of a hassle when you can’t even see your cool new wallpaper since it’s been covered by all your app icons.

That’s where clear icon themes come in. They use clear icons so you can still see your iPhone’s wallpaper even when your phone is packed with apps. One of these is Let’s See, a free new WinterBoard theme that you can get on Cydia.

Let’s See works like a charm, but since it uses a full icon cache, there’s always the chance that one of your app icons doesn’t have a corresponding clear icon included in the theme pack. If that happens, you’ll see the default icon for the app.

Don’t worry, though. Let’s See’s developer Tizocman has been kind enough to accept icon requests from users. You can drop him a line at the Via link below.

Related articles:

Via [apple.qj.net]

Popularity: unranked [?]

Mobile

Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video

Posted on 10 March 2010

The ability to remotely schedule DVR recordings hasn’t hit every Comcast system yet (c’mon Ann Arbor) but that hasn’t stopped the company from delivering version 2.0 of the Comcast Mobile app on iPhone (Blackberry is “coming soon,” no word on webOS, Android or WP7 plans) complete with the aforementioned myDVR manager, an improved TV Guide browser, push notifications for emails and voicemails and more. Comcast Voices blogger Scott McNulty has put together a pretty thorough video demo, embedded after the break (also there for comparison, our video walkthrough of the original release), so give it a look while we doublecheck… again to see if our DVR has gotten a new firmware update, or punch the read link to go straight to the App Store and download.

[Thanks, Simon]

Continue reading Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video

Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Auto News

AT&T agrees to buy at least two Ford Transit Connect Electric vans

Posted on 10 March 2010

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Ford

Ford Transit Connect Electric - Click above for high-res image gallery

The all-electric Ford Transit Connect Electric utility van became available for ordering during the recent Chicago Auto Show and Azure Dynamics, the company in charge of converting and selling the trucks, has announced that AT&T will be the vehicle’s “Lead Customer” with an order for two units.

AT&T announced about a year ago that it would spend up to $565 million to introduce 15,000 substitute fuel automobiles to the company’s fleet over the next decade, starting with CNG automobiles. AT&T’s first electric automobile, a Smith Electric Automobiles Newton, joined the fleet last November. For the run-down on the Transit Connect Electric, including our first drive report, read this.

Gallery: Ford Transit Connect Eletric at Chicago Auto Show

[Source: Azure Dynamics]

Continue reading AT&T agrees to buy at least two Ford Transit Connect Electric vans

AT&T agrees to buy at least two Ford Transit Connect Electric vans originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Apple

iPhone Homebrew - Windows QuickPwn 2.1

Posted on 09 March 2010

iPhone - Image 1The iPhone Dev Team released a new version for their iPhone homebrew app collection, Windows QuickPwn 2.1. This new version supports the 2.1 firmware with the unlocking and jailbreaking of iPhone 3G (2G) device.

Apart from that, it also supports the jailbreaking of iPod Touch 1st generation device and iPhone 3G. You’ll need upgrade your device, though, to 2.1 through the use of iTunes 8 before you can successfully run this application.

Here’s the changelog:

  • Support for firmware 2.1
  • Auto-detection of firmware version, insistence on correct firmware bundle to prevent user epic fail.
  • Use of iASign to activate to prevent bspatch epic fail.
  • Removed buggy and never really tested 2.0 support

However, it does have its limitations, which are the following: