Detroit Auto Show 2012: Ford pushes the 2013 Fusion to 100 mpg

Ford Motor Co

Later this year, Ford Motor Co. will launch this: the 2013 Ford Fusion midsize sedan in three variations — including a plug-in hybrid that gets 100 mpg, besting every other liquid-powered vehicle for sale to the American public. It could be a winning equation, but there's a few key variables Ford hasn't revealed.

The current Fusion has turned into a mainstay of Ford's lineup, and the most popular car built by an American automaker, with sales hitting 248,067 in 2011. For its redesign, Ford will run the same play it's called on with the smaller Fiesta and Focus −- build one version of the Fusion for sale worldwide, using the Mondeo name in Europe and elsewhere, to lower costs while raising quality. Assembled in Mexico and Michigan, styled in Europe to follow the new Ford global look, two of its three engines will be built in Spain and England.

All three of those engines will be four-cylinder units, in line with the trend among downsized motors for midsize sedans. The base 2-liter four returns with 170 hp and 170 lb.-ft. of torque; the top engine is now a 2-liter EcoBoost turbocharged plant with 237 hp and 250 lb.-ft. of torque — a step down from the top 3.5-liter V6 offered now.

The middle engine is a 1.6-liter EcoBoost turbo — a tiny engine for a midsize sedan, but one capable of 179 hp and 172 lb.-ft. of torque. Ford expects that model to hit 26 mpg in the city and 37 mpg on the highway, which should top the class. Ford will also aim to entice buyers with technology, such as an automated lane-keeping system and voice-controlled entertainment.

Of those 248,067 Fusions sold last year, just over 10,000 were Fusion Hybrids, which while garnering praise for handling cost several thousand dollars more than a regular version. Ford says thanks to a new lithium-ion battery pack and a smaller 2-liter engine, the Fusion Hybrid should get 47 mpg in city driving and 44 mpg on the highway, good for substantial bragging rights over the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata hybrids.

But it's the plug-in version, named the Fusion Energi by Ford's Department of Redundanci Dept., that can achieve the equivalent of 100 mpg — 8 better than the Chevy Volt, and 13 mpg more than the Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid. But Ford disclosed no other details about the plug-in — such as how far it can travel on electricity alone, how big its battery pack will be and just how much it will cost.

That number will be the key to whether the Fusion Energi might be positioned as a plug-in hybrid for the masses or just another expensive science project. Ford's all-electric Focus just going into production has a sticker of $39,995 before a $7,500 federal tax credit. If the Fusion Energi has a similar price, the vast majority of Fusions sold will drive on hydrocarbons rather than electrons.

Adapted from YAHOO

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The Global Temperature in 2011 is not the Hottest

You feel the temperature around your hot throughout the year 2011 then? According to some observers environmental scientists from the United States, in 2011 only in the ninth position as the warmest year of the 33 years since the first Earth's surface temperature recorded last in 1978.

According to John Christy, director of the Earth System Science Center, University of Alabama in Huntsville, United States, the average temperature in 2011 is not hot because there is the phenomenon of cooling water temperature of the Pacific, otherwise known as La Nina at the beginning and end of year it.

If averaged globally, by 2011,
the Earth's atmosphere is about 0.27 degrees
warmer than average during the last 30 years.

"If averaged globally, by 2011, the Earth's atmosphere is about 0.27 degrees warmer than average during the last 30 years," said Christy, January 10, 2011.

They developed their own system reports temperature records from almost all regions of planet Earth.

As part of an ongoing project between the University of Alabama, NASA, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Christy and her team used data collected by the advanced microwave sounding units on NOAA and NASA satellites belonging to obtain accurate temperature information from the entire region the earth. Includes remote desert, ocean, rain forests, which are regions where the climate of accurate data is not available.

Satellites also measured the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere from the surface to an altitude of 26 thousand feet (7924 meters) above sea level. Data were collected and processed on a monthly basis, and available to researchers atmosphere and environmentalists from around the world.

Adapted from VIVA

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Toshiba Excite X10, The Thinnest Tablet in the World

Toshiba announced the newest tablet computer Android-based Excite 10 inches at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012, Las Vegas, United States.

Toshiba Exicite X10 

Interestingly, this tablet has a thickness of only 0.3 inches, or about 7 millimeters. Product introductions in the world's thinnest tablet is quite surprising because Thrive, 10-inch tablet PC that first released them quite big and too thick.

With a thickness of 0.3 inches and weighs 0.5 kilograms, Excite X10 is thinner and lighter than the iPad 2, which weighs 0.6 kilograms. However, there are rumors reported that the iPad 3 will be coming soon and dimensions offered rival Toshiba Excite X10.

Quoted from bandwidthblog, January 10, 2012, although thin, is presented Toshiba tablet PC equipped with a micro USB port, micro HDMI, SD card and connector for docking. Tablet that will present the possibilities with the Android 3.2 or 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

With a dual core 1.2 GHz processor, 2 megapixel camera on the front and 5 megapixels in the back as well as 1GB of memory, these tablets using magnesium alloy casing on the back. The front is fitted with gorilla-glass to prevent scratches on the screen resolution of 1280x800 owned.

There has been no definite date when this product will be present on the market. But Toshiba said that Excite X10 is available in the U.S. market by first quarter of 2012 at a price of U.S. $ 529.99 and U.S. $ 599.99 (32GB).

Adapted from VIVA

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New iPads Imminent? Source Claims Taiwan Manufacturer Already Taking Orders

Customers look at the iPod and iPad 2 at the Apple retail store in San Francisco, California November 17, 2011

DigiTimes may be the new 50-50, as in “half the time they’re kind of right,” “half the time they’re mostly wrong,” but okay, we’ll bite: Another supply chain source just told the rumormonger that Taiwanese electronics supplier Pegatron is already taking orders for Apple’s next iPad.

Whether it’s an iPad 3 or just an iPad 2.5 is anyone’s guess — DT says “supply chain players” call it the former in a placeholder sense — but what the site seems sure of, is that it’ll launch in March, followed in October by a so-called “iPad 4″ with order volume of between 7 and 10 million units.

Less interesting from a consumer standpoint (but hypothetically as important from an availability vantage) DT’s source says Apple will shift its product outsourcing responsibilities so that manufacturers aren’t doubling up on production: Pegatron will focus on iPad production first and the iPhone in a secondary capacity, while manufacturer Foxconn Electronics will do the reverse. Apple reportedly hopes the arrangement will “decrease risk and increase the quality of its products.”

True or false? As usual, we have no idea, other than to speculate based on timing — since the iPad 2 debuted in March 2011 and the original iPad arrived in April 2010, it stands to reason we’ll see whatever’s next in March/April 2012. As they say, even a broken clock’s right twice a day.

Adapted from TIME

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