Hasta La Gadget!

This week is finally almost over, and there were tons of news stories published everyday. At the beginning of the week, we learned that there was an iMessage DDoS attack going around that would lag your device and inhibit its capabilities. More bad news for Apple followed when the USPTO denied its iPad Mini trademark. April Fools was a blast this year with many companies perfectly executing their well thought-out pranks.

Tesla cancelled plans for a cheaper,smaller battery version of its Model S vehicle, but later on it announced a revolutionary financing product to help make its Model S vehicles affordable to customers. Apple’s next two iPhones were said to be in production while Steve Jobs was still alive, and in related news, Apple issued an apology to China over its “unfair” warranty policies. The Pirate Bay also took the crown as the world’s largest file-sharing website.

Verizon and AT&T are reportedly placing a joint bid for Vodafone. Apple’s iPhone 5S is said to be currently in production, and AT&T, along with other carriers, states that the HTC One will begin shipping on April 19th. Windows Blue will reportedly be Windows 8.1 and be released within a few months, and Samsung’s new phablet will reportedly be called the Samsung Galaxy Mega and will have a 6.3-inch display. The 2nd-gen Nexus 7 is rumored to be released in July, and Samsung and Mozilla are working together on a new web browser engine. The USPTO invalidated Apple’s Bounce-Back patent once again, and Activision laid off 40 full-time employees after they finished development for its Deadpool game.

Facebook’s Event kicked off on April 4th, where it announced its new Android product, Facebook Home, which will be released on April 12th for multiple devices. It will have many features, like Chat Heads messaging and a Cover Feed lockscreen. It will be embedded on the AT&T’s exclusive HTC First, but you can easily disable the software with this guide. Be sure to check out SlashGear’s hands-on guide with both Facebook Home and the HTC First. Samsung is expected to launch “Experience Shops” in 1400 Best Buys to rival Apple’s mini-shops.

The full SXSW Google Glass demonstration video is now available for viewing. Images for the BlackBerry R10 leaked showing a low-end QWERTY Blackberry 10 device. An ITC Judge stated in a preliminary ruling that Samsung infringed on Apple’s text-selection patent, and a German court invalidated Apple’s slide-to-unlock patent. A Skype trojan has been reported to be going around globally, turning PCs into Bitcoin miners, and HP chairman Raymond Lane has decided to step down from his position. That’s all for today’s Weekend Wrap-up! Be sure to check out the Evening Wrap-Up tag portal for more in-depth news for each day of this week.

SlashGear Weekend Wrap-Up: April 6th, 2013 is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week if you’re in Google’s neighborhood in Calofornia, you might be seeing one eye-murdering iteration of an electric vehicle swinging your way, complete with a Batman symbol on its hood and massive plastic eyelashes above its headlights. This is the vinyl-wrapped Tesla Model S late April Fool’s Joke the Google executives other than Sergey Brin have played on the man – and yes, he is Batman. And yes, it’s not permanent.

Investigators have spotted this vehicle in multiple instances from multiple angles, and have caught it in motion, so there’s no reason to think the abomination that is bubble gum pink isn’t wrapped around this otherwise glorious electric vehicle. While the custom Google Chrome rims are part of Brin’s original build, the rest will only be there so long as the Google head decides they’re still funny.

If you head down to the TeslaMotorClub forums you’ll find several ladies and gentlemen confirming that they’ve been up close and personal with the vehicle – and that it’s not painted this way, only vinyl wrapped. The largest photo you see above comes from user Trnsl8r who appears to have caught the vehicle in the wild, parked sideways awaiting its pilot. You’ll find zebra print seat and steering wheel covers ready to rock with a pair of pink dice and flames on both mirrors busting out.

No word at the moment whether or not the Bat Wings on the back of this masterpiece will be auctioned off for the needy. You’ll also find Google’s Nathan Johns posting an image from another angle up on Google+ and the photo of Brin driving the vehicle was taken by Brian Li, Five Visions Photography and posted to Forbes. Keep on rolling right!

Have a peek at the timeline below for more information on the Tesla Model S and stick around the Google tag portal we’ve got set up for all the greatest Sergey Brin adventures you can handle each and every afternoon!

Sergey Brin’s Pink-Wrapped Batmobile Tesla rolls through Google HQ is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.

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“It doesn’t help to have a car that’s cheap, but that sucks.” This isn’t the sort of direct language that you typically hear from a CEO these days, but this is exactly the kind of material you can expect from Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk. Over the course of our conversation, Musk (who earlier co-founded PayPal and who also heads up SpaceX) went on the record calling journalists who didn’t understand the benefits of leases “dumbasses” and pledged that use of the company’s Supercharger stations will always, forever and ever, be free. Candid responses such as these are not new for Mr. Musk, having certainly caused some turmoil in the past, and they do make for quite an interesting interview. Join us as we explore why the cheapest Model S was scrapped and we ask just when we can expect the fabled, and truly affordable, third-generation Tesla.

Filed under: Transportation

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Tesla Motors has just revealed a new, amazing finance product that takes the best aspects of owning a car alongside the best aspects of leasing a car. With its new payment, those looking to purchase a Model S will be able to get one with virtually no down payment, as well as low monthly payments. After 36 months, they will officially own the car, which they resell back to Tesla for cash value, or obtain trade-in credit for it to be used towards their next Tesla Vehicle.

Tesla is working together with Wells Fargo and US Bank, two of the largest banks in the United States, to release the financing product. Both banks will provide you with the financing (based on credit approval) for the 10% down payment you need to make when you purchase a Model S vehicle. The financing will be more than covered by the $7,500 to $15,000 tax credit provided by the US Federal and State government.

After paying virtually no down payment on your new vehicle, you’ll end up paying $500 each month for 36 months. That seems like a high cost, however, considering all of the benefits you receive from Tesla’s Model S, it seems a lot more than it actually is. You’ll be saving a lot of money from not having to buy gasoline. You will also be offered depreciation benefits for your vehicle amongst other things.

Tesla states that after 36 months, you can sell your Model S for the “same residual value percentage as the iconic Mercedes S Class”. That’s a statement that is guaranteed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself. He wants to assure customers that they are getting both a quality car as well as quality service from Tesla. Tesla has been doing extremely well this year, despite that incident it had with the New York Times. To catch up with the latest news regarding Tesla, check out our timeline below.

Tesla reveals revolutionary financing product is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.