The future of the automobile was sealed at North America’s biggest auto show this week, where all of the hottest new cars and concepts had extension cords. Any idea that ethanol or hydrogen will lead us past petroleum was tossed out the window, as the big automakers — hobbled by a brutal economy, gyrating oil prices and humiliating congressional tongue-lashings — limped into the Detroit auto show. They all put on a brave face with the hybrids and electric vehicles they promise to start putting on the road next year.

“They’ve finally gotten a little religion,” says Chelsea Sexton, executive director of the EV advocacy group Plug-In America. “The auto industry is at the point where it has to invest in its future, and smart investors bet on the inevitable. Electric drive is inevitable. [via Wired]

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Both Chrysler and GM went above and beyond merely achieving fuel-efficiency with the introduction of electric vehicles. They are rather attractive and don’t take on the disastrously innocuous jellybean silhouette of current hybrid vehicles. Why must things that are “green” also be “incredibly round”? Honestly, if hybrids looked like aerodynamically chiseled, muscular luxury cars at a more affordable price point, they’d fly off the shelves. After all, a research study  [The Perception of Automotive Designs @ DOI: 10.1007/s12110-008-9047-z] found that:

One-third of the subjects associated a human or animal face with at least 90 percent of the cars. . . Overall, people agreed which type of car possesses certain traits [and] liked cars most which had a wide stance, a narrow windshield, and/or widely spaced, narrow headlights. The better the subjects liked a car, the more it bore shape characteristics corresponding to high values of what the authors termed “power”, indicating that both men and women like mature, dominant, masculine, arrogant, angry-looking cars. [via ScienceDaily]

Some people like friendly cars. Unfortunately, I must confess that I am an “angry-faced car” lover and that I prefer my car to look like it could rip your car into shreds. Hopefully, EVs get reworked to look tougher. 

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1. GM Chevrolet Volt (Production Model for 2010)
2. Chrysler 200C (Concept)
3. GM Cadillac Converj (Concept)
4. Chrysler Dodge Circuit(Concept)

Cheers for investing in a greener future (with sexy electric automobiles)!

“Dell’s Mystery ‘Adamo’ Could Be Thinner Than Air” - A recent dig through Dell’s trademarks turned up a couple of curiosities – “Adamo” and “Adamo by Dell.”According to the documents, the trademarks cover computer hardware, including possibly desktops and laptops. 

Aesthetically, it’s doubtful that Dell’s Adamo could rival the Air, but Dell could easily manufacture something thinner & lighter than Apple. It’s about time that Dell’s image receives a serious overhaul. Their products well regarded for function and affordability, but their products have a reputation for being large and clunky. Dell’s VP of consumer sales and marketing said it himself, “I think we need to get some iconic products out there, so people associate Dell’s brand with other things.” I can’t wait to see what Dell comes out with.

According to an anonymous source, Dell plans to market the machine as the “world’s thinnest laptop,” and it’s definitely going after Macbook Air market share. Adamo was slated to be released this month, but has been pushed back until at least February.

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Apple will unveil netbooks next month, says analyst
Citing evidence that included the gloomy economy, climbing sales of the least-expensive laptops and comments CEO Steve Jobs made in October, Gottheil said Apple would show a pair of netbooks at January’s conference…

The above is highly unlikely, but a fun thought. Consumers have gone to great lengths to run MacOSX on their netbooks. Apple should join the market and introduce some sort of ultraportable to fill in the $300-$800 price gap. Boing Boing Gadgets put together the “Mac OS X Netbook Compatibility Chart” in case you wanted to make a netbook “hackintosh.”

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Asus to launch touchscreen, dual core, and cheap Eee PCs – One word. AWESOME!!!!

More Info on the Asus S101, The MacBook Air that You Can Actually Afford – The Asus S101 is a oxymoron, a “high end” netbook. Not a fan of the color scheme. At that price I’d probably step up and get the new MacBook.

EeePC 1002HA hits stores - Asus is insane, they’ve blown through so many models from the original 7″ EeePC 700s to now. Apparently Asus does not plan to go larger than a 10″ screen.

It’s a mega-mini — Dell’s Inspiron Mini 12 – This blurs the line between a conventional laptop & a netbook. I have to admit, Dell’s aesthetics are improving. The Mini 9 & 12 are cute!

Review: a weekend with the HP Mini 1000 netbook – I wanted to get my hands on the 10″ from HP, but Costco didn’t have any out on display.

Intel-Powered Convertible Classmate PC: The Touch Netbook to Emulate
Touchscreens on their netbooks should be standard, since there’s issues with the undersized keyboards. There’s a guy on eBay (Fido-Dido) that sells the modded Asus EeePCs & Aspire Ones & touch panel kits so you can install them yourself.

Coby to intro sub-$100 “Midget PC” – An even lower end netbook?

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Apple Exploring 3D Desktop and Application Interfaces - Dozens of Apple patent applications were published today revealing research that Apple had done in 2007 on many topics encompassing future versions of Mac OS X. The most intriguing is a series of patent applications which describe a “Multidimensional” user interface.

Rumor: Zune Phone Is Coming to CES 2009 – A what?

HP to unveil a flexible plastic display prototype - Reminds me of E-ink displays. Can these be used in netbooks?

Sennheiser announces wireless, unconnected ear buds - I can see these getting lost easily. Would I want to have to charge my earphones?

Citroen have designed the Hypnos, a diesel-electric hybrid concept car - The interior is crazy!

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Blagojevich Denies Any Criminal Wrongdoing via NYTimes
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, who has been accused of scheming to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat, said on Friday that he would not resign and insisted that he had done nothing wrong.

Bush Announces Deal to Stave Off Bankruptcy By Automakers via NYTimes
President Bush announced $13.4 billion in emergency loans to prevent the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler, and another $4 billion available for the hobbled automakers in February, with the entire bailout conditioned on the companies undertaking sweeping reorganization plans to show that they can return to profitability quickly.

The year of holiday thrift
Black Friday Turnout: No Miracle on 34th Street
Wal-Mart worker dies in rush; two killed at toy store

Oil prices at near 22-month low
Falling Prices Point To A Struggling Economy
Opec refuses oil production cuts
The Truth Behind Low Oil Prices
Can U.S. Go ‘Green’ Even When Oil Prices Drop?
GM Pondering Brand Cuts

Hopefully, the economy will shape up after January. Sales were meager this Black Friday.

Although falling gas prices appear to be a timely blessing, the ramifications beyond the gas pump worries me. Demand lessened drastically when the price of crude oil shot over $100 a barrel and prices have finally fallen, as a result. But prices will inevitably go up as soon as demand increases or as soon as OPEC decides to slow down production.

The downside of low prices is that the need for alternative fuels seem less urgent. Oh, it’s about damn time that the General Motors considers killing off some of its brands (Saab, Pontiac, Volvo, and Hummer) because it is seriously over-branded. GM doesn’t deserve any money from Congress; it is the company’s fault for producing inefficient cars and failing to capture market shares & consumer interest.

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24 hours of carnage leave 120 dead
Death toll climbs past 150 as city reels from terror attack
Mumbai counts the cost
Pakistan Denies Role In Mumbai Attacks

Barbara Walters | Michelle Obama Interview
New first lady pitches into ‘mommy wars’

Bill O’Reilly | Barack Obama Interview
President 2.0 – How will he use the power of the Web now?
Your Weekly Address from the President-Elect
Obama’s confidence-rating: High, steady
Washington faces overload as millions rush to see president sworn in
First Couple-to-be could be relationship role models for nation, experts say

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• Airless Tires for the Troops
• Microsoft in $20bn Yahoo deal
• A new study in PLoS ONE explores the gendered nature of American voting behavior.
• Born to Run? Little Ones Get Test for Sports Gene & The ACTN3 sports gene test: what can it really tell you?