Google and Stanford early adopters of Honda Fit EV

Honda's first all-electric vehicle is hitting the streets a little early.

The Honda Fit EV debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2011, and it's expected to be

available for lease this summer. However, Honda announced that Google and Stanford University got a special early delivery of the tiny EV this week.The Honda Fit EV is equipped with a 20kWh lithium ion battery, and has an EPA estimated driving range of 76 miles. Google added the EV to its car-sharing service for employees, dubbed the G-Fleet, in Mountain View, Calif. The search giant maintains several electric and plug-in vehicles that it uses for research and to cart Googlers around town and between buildings on campus.Stanford University also is an early adopter of the Fit EV, but will be using it primarily for research. The university's automotive research department will study the difference in psychological and physical reactions of using battery-electric vehicles compared to driving a traditional gasoline-powered vehicle.The rest of us have to wait until summer to lease the Fit EV, and some will wait longer than others. Honda will make it available first in select California and Oregon markets, and will expand to six East Coast markets in early 2013. The Fit EV is expected to retail for $36,625 and lease for around $399.

Comments

Silent headset lets users quietly commune with computers

Advances in voice recognition technology have seen it become a more viable form of computer interface, but it's not necessarily a quieter one. To prevent the click-clacking of keyboards being replaced by noisy man-machine conversations, MIT researchers are developing a new system called AlterEgo that allows people to talk to computers without speaking and listen to them without using their ears. At first glance, the AlterEgo headpiece looks like the product of a design student who didn't pay attention in class. Instead of the familiar combination of an earpiece and microphone, the device is a cumbersome white plastic curve like the jawbone of some strange animal that hangs off the wearer's ear and arcs over to touch the chin. It might look strange, but it's based on some fairly sophisticated technology. Inside the Alterego are electrodes that scan the jaw and face from neuromuscular signals produced when the wearer thinks about verbalizing words without

Qualcomm showcases the Snapdragon S4 ahead of Mobile World Congress

We’ve already heard about Qualcomm’s latest processor, the Snapdragon S4 , which will be quad-core and utilize LTE. Qualcomm took the time to give us some details ahead of Mobile World Congress. The new SoC now supports up to three cameras (two in the back for 3D and one front-facing), 20-megapixels, and recording video at 1080p (30fps). We can also expect zero shutter lag, 3A processing (autofocus, auto exposure and auto white balance), and improved blink/smile detection, gaze estimation, range finding and image stabilization. Last but not least, it supports gesture detection/control, augmented reality , and computer vision (via Qualcomm’s FastCV). Hit the break for a couple of videos featuring image stabilization and gestures.

Say Hello To Darkness In WhatsApp With Dark Mode

WhatsApp has rolled one of the most requested feature, Dark mode for all users across the globe. It is available as a part of the latest update on Android and iOS devices. Dark mode is a new design feature in WhatsApp that offers a fresh look on familiar experience and designed to reduce eye strain in low light conditions. There are many people in the planet who find dark backgrounds easier to look at for long time period, Dark mode is for them. Dark mode consumes less power especially your device has an AMOLED display. Above all, Dark mode looks cool and offers you a refreshing change from the White color theme. Enabling dark mode in WhatsApp is very easy. Here's the steps: 1. Open WhatsApp from the home screen. 2. Tap More Options. (Three vertical dots on the top right corner of the app) 3. Choose Settings. 4. Select Chats from the Settings menu. 5. Click On Theme. 6. In the Choose Theme dialog box, select Dark to turn on Dark mode. Choose Light to turn

Daily Tech News

Search This Blog