Electric motors can make a hybrid economical or powerful. BMW steered the performance course with the BMW ActiveHybrid7, a $107,075 variant of the V8 gasoline-only BMW 750Li that accelerates to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds (half a second better than the 750Li) and also gets about 15% better fuel economy. You only lose a small corner of the trunk to the lithium ion battery pack, and none of BMW’s sporting ride or luxury.
Just as we surmised, Seagate is taking the wraps off its new hybrid drive, with OEM shipments of the Momentus XT starting today. Hailed as the fastest 2.5-inch laptop drive on the planet, this here device marries a 7200RPM hard drive (250/320/500GB) with 4GB of SLC NAND flash memory and 32MB of cache, and the company’s Adaptive Memory technology allows it to store frequently used information on the latter for ultra-speedy access. It can boot up to 100 percent faster than a conventional 5400RPM hard drive, and thankfully for us all, it utilizes a standard 9.5mm-high form factor that the vast majority of laptops use. Seagate also affirms that the drive “operates independently of the operating system and the motherboard chipset,” but we’re going to hold tight until we see the first real benchmarks (it’ll soon be an option in ASUS’ ROG G73Jh gaming laptop) before getting all hyped up. In related news, the outfit also announced the world’s highest capacity 7200RPM drive at 750GB, with the Momentus 750GB boasting SATA 3Gbps support, an NCQ interface, 16MB of cache and “silent acoustics.” No price is mentioned, but you can bet a hefty premium will placed on something this capacious. The full presser, another image and a specs sheet awaits you beyond the break.
Update: The reviews are already pouring in, and at just $155 for the 500 gigger, it’s receiving a fair amount of praise.
Continue reading Seagate pairs 7200RPM HDD with 4GB of NAND in 2.5-inch Momentus XT hybrid drive
Seagate pairs 7200RPM HDD with 4GB of NAND in 2.5-inch Momentus XT hybrid drive originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 08:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Who says people aren’t willing to pay upwards of $30k for a car that can only go 100 miles before needing to be tethered to a wall outlet? Evidently Nissan has struck a chord with the US populace, as the automaker just announced that 8,000 orders for the all-electric Leaf were booked in a mere nine days after orders went live. According to Mark Perry, the company’s North American director of product planning and strategy, Nissan is “on its way to have 25,000 firm orders by December,” and considering that it’ll only ship initially in California, Arizona, Washington, Tennessee and Oregon, that’s a pretty bold assumption. Better still, Nissan plans to “make money at the price that it announced,” though we’ve no doubt that the $7,500 Federal tax credit has urged fence-sitters to jump in the pre-order line. Still, it’s good to see consumers putting their money into unconventional automobiles, but we can’t say we’re eager to see a special run of Parking Wars dedicated to brawls over what motorist gets the last charging socket on Main Street. Or maybe we are, in a sick and sadistic sort of way.
Nissan books 8,000 Leaf orders in nine days, gets turned on with that electric feel originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 17:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Chinese carmaker Geely is no stranger to building derivative designs, and its latest PHEV effort takes so much inspiration from Volkswagen’s Beetle that even the press release begins with a metaphor about caterpillars flourishing into butterflies. That’s also a little nod to the car’s development, which has seen its initial design overhauled into the four-seater, photovoltaic cell-laden transporter you see above. The powertrain is still a hybrid number and not entirely electric, but seagull-wing doors have been added for some extra flair. Geely’s IG is currently on display at the Beijing Auto Show, alongside its all-electric EK-1 and EK-2 brethren, the latter of which is promised to deliver 150kmph top speeds together with 180km cruising ranges and an 18-minute recharge time for 80 percent of the battery capacity. We’ll believe it when we see it. This trifecta, along with a pair of other alternative fuel vehicles, is slated to “be marketed” in two years’ time. You can wait that long, can’t you?
Continue reading Geely IG is covered in solar cells, two years away from marketability
Geely IG is covered in solar cells, two years away from marketability originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Those ultra-mysterious folks at Sony are finally starting to loosen their grip on info about the Japanese giant’s entry into the growing market for compact interchangeable lens cameras. Having already witnessed some of the user interface and a few prototype bodies, we’re now seeing the first shots of these new shooters in the wild. Spotted in an Asian pub (what is it with drinking establishments and hardware leaks?), the mirrorless NEX3 body reveals its name, an external flash attachment (with a proprietary connector, boo!), and a a chrome-finished 16mm F2.8 pancake lens. It doesn’t look very pancakey to us, and indeed Sony Alpha Rumors claim it’s bigger than the nearest competitors from Olympus and Panasonic, but apparently that’s because Sony has included optical image stabilization in the lens, perhaps a worthy trade-off. Both new models are expected to sport the 14 megapixel ExmorHD sensor, though the NEX5 will record 1080p video versus the NEX3’s 720p. We’re told to expect a May 11 announcement for the pair, with what’s being described as “very aggressive” pricing relative to their Micro Four Thirds competition. Let it be so.
Sony gives NEX3 and NEX5 names to its first ultra-compact interchangeable lens cameras originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
This probably isn’t a response to the 3D onslaught or even “superbit” releases like the upcoming Avatar 2D disc, but just in case the standard 50GB Blu-ray discs were beginning to feel a bit — how do you say… cramped? — the Blu-ray Disc Association’s rolling out a new BDXL format capable of holding up to 128GB (write-once) or 100GB (rewriteable). Before you get too excited, you should know that you’ll need a new player to access these — even a firmware update won’t save the PS3 this time — since they go up to three or four layers deep and will likely need a more powerful laser. While our home movies can be compressed just fine, corporations currently still using other mediums for archiving might appreciate the extra space, as well as the new IH-BD discs, designed with one 25GB read-only layer, and one 25GB rewritable layer on the same platter. If you’re looking for a place to permanently back up that super high-res “amateur photography,” take heart — a consumer version is in the works, though it will first be aimed at markets where Blu-ray Disc recorders are popular, or available at all (read: maybe Japan, definitely not the US). No word when the new hardware will actually hit the market, but final specs are due “in the next few months.” In the meantime, check out the full details after the break.
Continue reading Blu-ray Discs expand to 128GB under new BDXL spec
Blu-ray Discs expand to 128GB under new BDXL spec originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Green cars will again be the highlight of the New York International Auto Show, which opens Friday following press previews today and Thursday. Highlights include further details on the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf electric cars, a 40 mpg Chevrolet Cruze Eco, and plenty of hybrids. The show is at New York’s Javits Center and runs through Sunday, April 11. It’s the last of the major U.S. auto shows, which began last fall in Los Angeles and worked their way through Detroit (January) and Chicago (February). Details after the jump.
Well, it looks like Samsung’s NX10 hybrid DSLR may be about to get some company. While everything is still far from official, at least one online retailer is now listing a number of accessories that are apparently compatible with both the NX10 and a hereto unheard of NX5 camera, which would presumably be a less expansive, possibly more compact version of the NX10 (pictured above). That’s backed up somewhat by a rumor that K-rumors has heard, which suggested that the NX5 would lack a built-in EVF and run between $499 and $599 depending on your choice of lens.
Accessory listings hint at Samsung NX5 digital camera originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Qualcomm isn’t typically in the business of producing consumer-facing hardware — the company prefers to just build the chips that make your devices go “vroom” — but we’ve come across a patent application that details just such an idea. The multi-fold mobile device can be seen as either a foldable tablet or an expandable cellphone, but in either case its purpose is clearly to act as a hybrid device that performs both roles. With all least two displays on its three panels, this concept will also automatically reconfigure its UI based on a folding configuration sensor, and Qualcomm suggests you might also use it as a widescreen TV display, an alarm clock, a media player, or a web browser. Click past the break for a couple more suggested use diagrams, and feel free to write to Qualcomm with demands that this be put into production pronto.
Continue reading Qualcomm’s multi-fold mobile device is the future we keep waiting for
Qualcomm’s multi-fold mobile device is the future we keep waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Um, we’re sure there’s something sensible to be said about this Porsche concept, but we’re not altogether capable of coherent expression at present. We want to own one of these so badly, we don’t even care if it has an engine. And boy does the 918 Spyder have an engine. A 3.4-liter V8 petrol burner is combined with electric motors to put out 500bhp, while featuring the mind-altering acceleration to go from a standing start to 62mph in just 3.2 seconds. Topping out at 198mph and offering a very respectable 78mpg fuel economy, this is pretty much the stuff dreams are made, which is quite naturally why you shouldn’t expect to see it in any purchasable form any time soon. If you do care to see more of it, however, you can do so at the Geneva Motor Show this year or just past the break, the choice is yours.
[Thanks, Zach]
Continue reading Porsche 918 Spyder concept is the most beautiful hybrid we’ve ever seen
Porsche 918 Spyder concept is the most beautiful hybrid we’ve ever seen originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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