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Tesla deliveries Roadsters to Japan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Canada and Poland

epicmind — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:07:35 +0000

Tesla has announced it is bringing its iconic electric powered auto to 5 new nations. Canada and Japan are accompanied by Hong Kong, Poland and Turkey in becoming capable to now carry deliveries of freshly charged Roadsters. Of course, sufficiently motivated buyers could have imported theirs by now, but ıt is always very good to possess local assistance on an official basis and this does seem to signal a additional ambitious outlook around the part of Tesla. Also integrated inside the press release – yours to peruse after the break – is word that the company has shifted 1,200 Roadsters since inception. That may not be a great deal but you’ve to begin somewhere, let’s hope the up coming 1,200 don’t consider almost as lengthy to hit the road.

Tesla Roadsters Reach 5 New Countries on 3 Continents

Very first owners in Japan, Hong Kong, Poland, Turkey and Canada take delivery of world’s only electric sports activities car or truck.

The 1st Tesla Roadsters have arrived in Japan, Hong Kong, Poland, Turkey and Canada in recent weeks as world’s leading electrical automobile maker rapidly expands its retail footprint.

Tesla Motors has sold additional than one,200 Roadsters to buyers in a minimum of 28 countries. The Roadster accelerates faster than premium sports vehicles that cost twice as a lot, yet it produces zero tailpipe emissions and it is twice as energy effective as top hybrids. It consumes no petroleum and plugs into conventional sockets through North America, Europe and Asia.

Tesla’s 1st car or truck in Hong Kong went to Philip Liang, CEO of medical device manufacturer Standard Sensing. Tesla’s initial auto in Japan went to serial entrepreneur and BizSeek founder Takao Ozawa.

“As an early adopter, I wanted to invest my personal funds to show the rest of society what the electrical car or truck experience is like,” said Ozawa, who drives his Jet Black Signature Roadster Sport in and all-around Tokyo. “And now that I personal a Tesla, I’ve found that not only is it efficient and beautiful – but it’s really, genuinely quick!”

The Roadster qualifies for any wide variety of incentives in many countries, including sales tax waivers, income tax credits and cash rebates. For instance, Hong Kong residents do not pay ınitial registration taxes for the Roadster – a savings of as much as (US$128,600) on a automobile having a retail price tag of (US$154,358).

In addition, several with the world’s largest cities provide totally free metered parking, totally free road tax and totally free use on the high-occupancy vehicle and bus lanes for the Roadster.

Tesla sells vehicles directly to clients, each online and inside a growing network of regional showrooms worldwide. Electric motor vehicles do not require routine oil alterations, exhaust program repairs or other pricey support necessary by traditional gasoline vehicles. In most countries, Tesla will dispatch trained technicians to customers’ homes or offices to perform the recommended annual software upgrade.

Tesla currently has 13 regional showrooms and it is quickly expanding. Tesla announced final week that it hired former Apple executive George Blankenship as Vice President of Design and Shop Improvement. Blankenship will develop Tesla’s long-term retail advancement program, and his first projects incorporate opening Tesla stores in Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; and Washington, DC.

Tesla deliveries Roadsters to Japan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Canada and Poland is a post from: Epic Mind!

Alfa Romeo and Bmw

epicmind — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 09:34:58 +0000

True Bmw guys will migrate to Alfa Romeo

Do a little experiment for me if you will. The next time you’re driving to/from work on any major road or freeway in any metro area, especially in the ‘smile’ section of America (down the east coast, across the south, and up the west coast), start looking around and see if you can go a minute, one whole minute, without seeing a BMW. I’m betting you won’t be able to, as they’re absolutely everywhere. In the blink of an eye, they went from being fairly rare, usually driven by enthusiasts with a bit of money, to ubiquitous, driven by everybody with a bit of credit.

I know there are plenty of true BMW lovers, enthusiasts who willingly pay the prices demanded because they cherish the premium experience these cars supply, their combo of tactile feel and luxury no other car maker in the world can duplicate, regardless of how much they’ve tried over the years. I’m not talking about you. You’re just becoming a smaller and smaller piece of any ever-growing pie.

A story: The last two American realtors I dealt with picked me up at the airport in their 5-series estates. Automatic transmissions, of course, because they didn’t know how to drive a stick. I asked both which engine they had, and neither had any idea. “Is it the straight six?” I queried. One replied, “Of course. A crooked six would be terrible!” All right, that last bit never happened, but it damn well could have.

There’s really nothing wrong with both those ladies and the hundreds of thousands of others who don’t really know, or appreciate, just what makes a BMW a BMW. In my extremely small sample size, both of those women had tried BMW because they’d been told the cars hold up well over the long-term. Both had come out of domestic sedans that had worn so cheaply they were embarrassed to transport clients in them, and their cars were nearly worthless upon trade-in. They ended up liking their new cars “quite a bit,” hard seats and all.

So in effect, they bought out of disgust with their old cars (to which they were once loyal), not out of any genuine appreciation for the best attributes of BMW. They didn’t buy because of an I-6 or a V-8 that sounds stonking at 6000 rpm, or the engineer’s obsession with 50/50 weight distribution, or Bauhaus-influenced IPs, or (until recently) understated design, or stealth performance, or a dozen other things I could mention. They bought because of what other people thought of the brand.

Which brings us to status. Many, many people drive BMWs because of the statement they believe it makes about them (this is so self-evidently true that I won’t even argue the point, nor bring up the whole “Yuppie” thing from the not-too-distant past). There’s nothing wrong with this. Brands matter. If they didn’t, the grocery stores would stock nothing but generic or store-label brands, Grey Goose would sell for the same price as Popov, and there wouldn’t be people who pay more for a GMC pickup because the Chevy is “just too common.”

People communicate things about themselves by the brands they chose and the brands they reject. Think of the people you know that are obsessed with everything Apple. They’re probably concerned with the climate crisis and are somewhat interested in organic foods. Pretty good chance they think Obama is the answer. Maybe even an Impeach Bush! bumper sticker on the Prius or Civic. Do I describe someone you know, or am I stereotyping? If I am, where did the stereotype come from? Yeah, brands communicate.

Now a thought experiment: If everybody and their real-estate-selling sister have one, does that make the brand more or less desirous in your eyes? Do you really want the same car as 25 percent of the people on your block, even if it comes from the same manufacturer that creates the M5?

By definition, status decreases as the object/action creating the status becomes common, and in this area BMW has trouble brewing on the horizon. BMW sold just 37,000 cars in the U.S. in 1980 (by the way, Jaguar outsold BMW, Merc, and Volvo that year). Nearly 300,000 moved last year (and Jaguar dropped below 16,000). So BMWs are now as common as Honda Accords. In fact, in the college town where I lived in the States, I’d swear BMW outsells all of GM. Is this status, or groupthink?

And that 300,000 last year was before the 1-series, which, as an enthusiast, I should be very excited about. I am, kinda, but isn’t this just getting back to what the 3-series was a couple of generations ago? I was in Frankfurt when the X6 crossover coupe (or is it a coupe crossover?) was unveiled, and it was hard to find anybody who loves this brand excited about this beast. X3 not cheap enough for ya? Just wait for the X1. Thank God positive integers don’t allow them to go any lower than that, and that the X7 has been cancelled, but that still leaves holes around the X2 and X4 micro-niches. The minivan â€” I’m sorry, I meant the “Multi Activity Vehicle” â€” was killed at the 11th hour. Unfortunately, it has morphed into the upcoming “Progressive Activity Vehicle.”

What the hell is going on in Bavaria? Are they determined to be all things to all people? Maybe the “same car, different lengths” strategy that gave the world the excellent and handsome 3-, 5-, and 7-series cars, with a couple of coupes and the very occasional roadster, was too limiting. But an avalanche of products?

So sorry BMW, but it’s time for me to move on. I still love you for what the brand stands for, and probably always will, I’m just not in love with you anymore. I’m not interested in such an open relationship. It’s got to be a little more special, a little more rare. A tad exclusive.

By contrast, look at Alfa Romeo. I predict Alfa Romeo will be an unqualified U.S. hit in the next decade (in status, not in volume), because it captures a bit of the exclusivity and cognoscenti appeal BMW once had. Of course, BMWs were always a bit more reliable: Think of the guys you knew who told stories of driving old Alfas in college, and always had to park them facing downhill because their starters had burnt up. But they weren’t complaining, they were bragging. This is a brand with some real passion.

The 8C Competizione will set the tone and whet appetites when it arrives later this year, but that’s only going to be sold in tiny, collector-car numbers, all deep into six figures. No, it’s the ones coming after that, starting in 2010, which should cause enthusiasts to stash away a couple of extra bucks. The current 166 is sharp; the upcoming 169 sedan is stunning. More importantly, it’s unique. The Brera coupe, Spider, and 159 sedan will all be head-turners in America; even the Mi.To is car-club worthy. When was the last time you did a double take for a non-M BMW? It was for the extremely rare Z8, wasn’t it?

So in just a few short years, you’ll have some choices. If you want a German car, you can go look at dozens and dozens of Volkswagens, Audis, BMWs, Mercedes, even four or five Porsches. Join the crowd! Get a 3-series. Black or silver, of course. Come on, everybody’s doing it! You want to fit in, right? And you know what? Manual transmissions are a pain in traffic! They make talking on a cell phone inconvenient.

If you want the satisfaction of being just a step ahead of the pack, you’ll get an Alfa Romeo, and the chances are you won’t see another one like it for days, if not weeks. That exclusivity is what builds followings and, ultimately, brands. ( Source: motivemag.com )

Alfa Romeo and Bmw is a post from: Epic Mind!

Crysis 2 Warhead

epicmind — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 17:55:36 +0000

The iconic Nanosuit has undergone some changes in Crysis 2nd In the first game gave these exoskeleton tech-savvy among maximal strength, speed, stealth and power rocker – but all four options are mutually exclusive of each other. In Crysis 2, these capabilities have been rewritten to allow a little more for mixing and matching between the power-ups. This time, the four options, strength, stealth, power (the rate was folded into it), and a new mode of vision is like the previous game binoculars, tactical information upon which the layers of your field vision. The big difference is that the strength and stealth, or both-or basic-options (Cevat Yerli explains how the choice between a “Predator” and ” Tank “), while the power and tactical point of view can also be used on any of these two for three at once. All these features will evolve over time, drain again, but now there is greater flexibility in how you use it. In addition, Yerli intimidated adapt can also update your Nanosuit on the game time to allow for more individual skills. We are fascinated by this new feature, but it seems smart to avoid, a hope for a level of Modern Warfare benefits and upgrades.

The demo eventually left the roof down on the street, where Nomad has traded his shotgun and assault rifle grenade launcher for the foreign-looking humanoid robot to patrol the sidewalks below. Major intersections and buildings partially destroyed provided a major battleground for this fight. On a similar note, Yerli also noted that the verticality of the skyscrapers of Manhattan as an additional reason to believe that the gameplay has maintained a similar level of exploration open sandbox than the original game. Anyway, given the impressive fight with realistic damage happening everywhere and show frequent changes between the forces Nanosuit, how long to suit a given situation.

At this stage, it is gratifying to see how looks beautiful as the Xbox 360 version of Crysis 2nd would have been nice to see more play, the presentation we saw was heavy on tech demos and light on gameplay. But for the 10 minutes of the game, we have seen in action, there was much to be happy. Now we’re curious to see how ridiculous the PC version looks like and how the vertical “jump between skyscrapers numbers in. We should have more on Crysis 2 before the game’s release later this year.

Crysis 2 Warhead is a post from: Epic Mind!

God Of War III

epicmind — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:47:40 +0000

You finally knock the exhausted beast down, leaving it dazed and disoriented from your virtuosic display of hatred-fueled combat. As the Minotaur writhes on the ground, badly wounded but still not ready to succumb to deathâ€™s waiting embrace, you sprint over and take hold of its piercing horns. With muscle-tearing effort, you grapple with the monster, twisting its neck as it desperately tries to break free of your hold. A horrific snap echoes across the room: You have won the fight. His limp body falls pitifully to the ground, forgotten as you run off to your next conquest.

God of War III sticks to the strengths already established by its predecessors, but what it lacks in innovation it more than makes up for in execution. The combat is simple to pick up, but the added moves and weapons give it more depth than before, and the spectacular visuals make fights even more brutal.

But God of War III is so much more than its satisfying combat. The imaginative visual design and moody classical score balance your quest for vengeance with artistic pleasures, and the well-crafted puzzles further tap into your cerebral vein. God of War III is a brilliantly paced, meticulously detailed adventure that thrills and satisfies until the very end.

God Of War III is a post from: Epic Mind!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

epicmind — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:00:37 +0000

Early in the game, the cutscenes are pretty straightforward and serve mainly to lay the foundation of the game’s globetrotting story of illegal weapons and paramilitary conflicts. But it’s not long until the sense of humor that the first game was known for creeps back into the experience. At one point, a squadmate begins remarking on being shot at by enemies wearing cowboy hats. When asked why you’re being shot at by cowboys–who haven’t been in a war in a century–your squadmate Haggard replies, “The Dallas Cowboys go to war every Sunday. Sometimes Monday!” Then, there’s the argument in a Bolivian jungle about the best kill scenes from Predator, your spacey helicopter Pilot Flynn who can never seem to get a hang of Tuesdays, and a host of other eccentricities that add a nice sense of levity to what’s otherwise a very mature military shooter.
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Judging from these first few missions of the campaign, the single-player component of Bad Company 2 is going to be a lot of fun. The environments are varied and impressive to look at, the gunplay is just as solid as ever, and firefights are almost gleefully chaotic thanks to the improved destruction engine. And, above all else, it helps that the game has managed to maintain its sense of humor. You can expect to see Bad Company 2 released on March 2 for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.
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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is a post from: Epic Mind!

Twin Sector

epicmind — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:16:37 +0000

Twin Sector is a thrilling physics-based action-adventure game for the latest Twin Sector available at FilePlanet. Check out some of the subterranean bunker system in order to reestablish the stations functionality.
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The idea is cool, while not incredibly original is a standard-issue telekinetic glove by Robinson Corporation. You face the imminent extinction and must use special telekinesis gloves to get unlimited download speeds.
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Twin Sector is a post from: Epic Mind!

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

epicmind — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:24:43 +0000

Arguably the most anticipated game of the year, Modern Warfare 2 finally lands today. Following a week of content controversy and broken street dates, Modern Warfare 2 promises to elevate the action and intensity beyond even the classic original game.
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Among a sea of November releases, Modern Warfare 2 manages to stay afloat with its thrilling storyline and addictive online multiplayer.

First-person-shooter games are one of the most common genres in the industry, so with a seemingly infinite amount of competition how does the Modern Warfare franchise continue to dominate? It’s able to do so by providing a highly engaging and streamlined online multiplayer experience.

The XP (experience points), perks, challenges and killstreak bonus elements that made Call of Duty 4 so memorable are back and more rewarding than ever. In fact, there is so much going on screen at once, you’re sure to unlock multiple rewards each round you play at least for the first few hours or so. The smooth 60 frames per second gameplay returns, and believe it or not, we think it feels even faster than before.

Like a big blockbuster action movie (of the Schwarzenegger or Michael Bay variety), Modern Warfare 2 is loud, incoherent, and incredibly violent, packing more action into five minutes than your average service member sees in an entire tour of duty. As a sequel, it doesn’t bring a lot new to the table — but as fan service, it’s an instant classic, giving us more of the tasty pop culture junk food offered by the original game (itself a spinoff of the WWII-set Call of Duty series).

In the end, it doesn’t much matter which path one chooses — the chapter seems to wrap up the same way regardless — but it’s a thought provoking sidebar for a game mostly concerned with hoorah flag waving and a fetishistic obsession with military hardware.

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Of course, it’s just as easy to ignore the subtext of putting yourself in the shoes of a terrorist (or at least an undercover protagonist masquerading as one) and just enjoy the ride. Thanks to Hollywood-level production values, breakneck pacing, and great controls that just “feel” right, even in the very crowded first-person shooter genre, Modern Warfare 2 stands out as a best-of-breed.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a post from: Epic Mind!

Nokia N900

epicmind — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:04:39 +0000

The Nokia N900 has a very simplistic interface. Thereâ€™s a prominent green button that lets you stream videos immediately. Thereâ€™s also quick access to set a title and and privacy.
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The application menu on top gives you more settings to play with. Here, you can choose whether to stream videos with max quality or minimum delay. You can also go to your Qik profile from this menu or sign up if youâ€™re new.

Clicking anywhere else on the screen toggles full-screen mode just like the main camera application on the Nokia N900. I noticed thereâ€™s currently no way for me to use video autofocus. I hope this feature gets added in an update.

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I found streaming to work really well on wifi. The delay is very minimal. My main complaint is that the videos arenâ€™t really viewable â€˜liveâ€™ when using the a carrierâ€™s internet connection. Viewers will see a choppy video until the file is fully uploaded. For best results, use wifi. Whatâ€™s also great about Qik is that it will automatically resume uploading if it was previously interrupted or disconnected.

Nokia N900 is a post from: Epic Mind!

Canon EOS 7D

epicmind — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:38:22 +0000

The first thing that strikes me about the 7D is the little extra bulge at the top. We have waited far too long for a 100% VF in an APS-C camera from Canon. I think a big and bright viewfinder is one of the most underrated features of a camera. I give top marks to the VF on the 7D.

The ergonomics of the camera are slightly different than any previous EOS camera. Youâ€™ll notice they finally moved the on/off switch to a better spot, this should be a lot less confusing for consumers. The lock button remains at the bottom. They have added a toggle switch around a stop/stop button for video and stills liveview. This is the best implementation so far on an EOS camera. Itâ€™s easy to get to and use. The â€œQâ€ button gets you to the on screen control menu where you can quickly navigate with the joystick. Another great implementation.

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New Features

Electronic Level
The electronic level is a good addition to the camera. I mapped it to the M-fn button near the shutter button. Itâ€™s easy to see and may be useful. Iâ€™m still not sure if Iâ€™ll use it. The electronic level in live view mode is good as well, although I find it distracting and would need to continuously activate and deactivate it. That being said, itâ€™s a lot better than using a flash shoe level.

Flash Master
I will never use it, so I didnâ€™t try it out. Iâ€™ll leave it to the strobists!

1080p in 24p and 30p
The 24p mode is fantastic and I love the look of it. 5D2 users are probably jealous as heck right now. Hopefully Canon will add the feature to the 5D2 soon.

Thereâ€™s nothing of note I find different from theÂ 5D2 movie mode. Great quality, a little bit cumbersome to use for the beginner videographer type.

Image Quality
This can be beaten to death by everyone and anyone. I am the wrong person to ask about this. I add noise to images sometimes. Iâ€™ll run around a wedding at ISO 3200 when I could be at 400. I love my 10mp cameras and have gotten 4â€² x 6â€² prints that look great. Thatâ€™s rightâ€¦ 4 feet by 6 feet!

I respect that people want low noise, high ISO images. Iâ€™m just not that guy.

I will say that this camera is a lot noisier at ISO 400 than the 1D Mark III. Itâ€™s not even close. I didnâ€™t see any difference between the 7D and 50D as far as noise goes in print. The â€œnoise patternâ€ was a little more appealing in the 7D. However, if youâ€™re looking for a clean high ISO performing camera, get a 5D Mark II or wait a while for new EOS-1â€™s.

Image quality is very good. Images are full of detail.
The viewfinder. Itâ€™s big and bright.
8fps is never a bad thing to have.
Flash master finally built in.
19 AF Points. This to me is the perfect amount. Having 40+ selectable AF points is crazy!
30p and 24p at 1080p
Video quality is amazing, wish I knew what I was doing with it.
The Liveview and VF leveling tool is a nice touch.
Compact Flash. No SD slot is fine by me, I never want CF to die.
Lots of button mapping options, more than any other EOS.
Menu System. They are easy to navigate. I especially like Custom Function IV Menu 1. The graphical display of what button youâ€™re mapping is great.
The toggle switch for movies and stills is the best yet for EOS.
â€œQâ€ Button, accessing & navigating the Quick Control screen is a breeze.
No â€œScene Modesâ€. I like that folks will have to be forced to learn a little bit about photography. Auto & Creative still there, but weâ€™re progressing!
The on/off switch is idiot proof now. (canonrumors.com)
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Canon EOS 7D is a post from: Epic Mind!

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim

epicmind — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:45:25 +0000

The story here, then, is all about design, and it’s generally a good one. For starters, the Slim is 33 percent smaller and 36 percent lighter than its predecessors, and it really does look significantly more compact when you put it up against the “fat” PS3. Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and many people, including this reviewer, think the Slim’s new frame is fairly fetching.

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Width 11.4 in
Depth 11.4 in
Height 2.6 in
Weight 7.1 lbs

In that regard, the PS3 Slim’s new design and finish seem well thought out. And the new system is not without a little glam–there’s a mirrored strip on the front of the unit next to the opening of the slot-loading disc player and some glossy plastic on the sides. Those shiny finishes, like the glossy finish on the “fat” PS3, do pick up fingerprints, and it’s also worth noting that the matte finish does absorb the oil from your skin and attracts smudges. In other words, if you end up handling your PS3, expect to have to wipe it off from time to time just like the old “fat” model.

More important than some branding changes (the PS3 logo and lettering has undergone a redesign), the touch-sensitive power on/off and eject buttons on the front of the unit have been replaced by standard push buttons and the master power switch that was on the back of the old unit has been removed (you still can’t charge the controllers while the system is off).

Some people will like that the master power switch is gone, but parents with small children would probably prefer if Sony had left it on the back to keep their toddlers from accidentally turning on the system. The new button in front is nice and responsive and doesn’t require too firm a touch to turn the system either on or off (this system appears to boot up just as quickly as the old system–in just less than 20 seconds), so your little ones will have no problem firing up your PS3 in your absence.

According to Sony, to achieve the new small size, the internal design architecture of the PS3 Slim has been completely redesigned, “from the main semiconductors and power supply unit to the cooling mechanism.” As always, we’re impressed that Sony engineers have been able to build the power supply into the system itself rather than forcing you to deal with a giant external power supply like the one found on the Xbox 360.

The PS3 Slim is powered by a new 45nm version of the Cell processor, which runs at the same speed as the 60nm processor in the “old” PS3 but is smaller and more energy efficient. Company representatives said that power consumption for the Slim has been cut from 280 watts to 250 watts.

Advantages: More affordable $299 price; slimmer, more compact design with quieter operation; all games in high-definition; easy-to-use interface; doubles as a Blu-ray and upscaling DVD player; built-in Wi-Fi; 120GB hard drive; HDMI output with 1080p support; no external power supply; built-in Web browser; free online gaming service.
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Disadvantages: Lacks backward support for PS2 games; no infrared port means non-Bluetooth universal remotes aren’t compatible; online gaming, media, and commerce options still aren’t as fully developed as Xbox Live, though they’re getting better

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim is a post from: Epic Mind!