Facelifted Mercedes S-Class Coupe AMG Spied for First Time

Mercedes is working on a new CL which will be more appropriately named the S-Class Coupe when the new model is released.

These are some spy shots of the AMG version of the S-Class coupe looking mean is light-camouflaged black.

New features will include LED daytime headlights and, possibly, LED tail lamps too. A newly designed front bumper is also hinted in these photos and will sport a more aggressive look in this AMG version than on the standard S-Class coupe. The grill isn't as slanted as on the current CL and will now come split with a single chrome bar across it, giving more prominence to the Mercedes badge sitting in the middle.

AMG is also promising more power and less consumption from its new slew of engines. Doing so by focusing on better engine management as well as reducing consumption by lightening the weight of the car through the greater use of composite materials.

Audi is Western Europe’s Top Premium Brand

Audi continues on the warpath and its strategy of matching and exceeding its fellow German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz in sales seems to be working.

For the first time, Audi reported sales figures for January 2009 which topped its premium brand competitors. The automaker, part of the VW Group, sold 45,124 new vehicles in Western Europe, beating both Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

It seems Audi's market share is benefiting from the slump in auto sales currently hitting the market not only in Western Europe but all over the world. For January, its market share in the region was 5.1 percent, compared with a 3.9 percent share in January 2008.

Peter Schwarzenbauer, who heads Sales and Marketing at Audi AG, believes that the age of the brand's product range is what is helping the automaker gain share in the market. Audi has one of the youngest fleets in the premium segment. Last year, it released 12 new models and for the first half of 2009 there will be 6 more.

A lead in monthly sales has been a long time coming for the Ingolstadt-based premium automaker, which has spent the past two decades creating a brand name that can match the more established ones of BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Whether the image of an Audi has caught up with the prestige of either of those brands is still an open question and one difficult to quantify. But sales figures, one cannot argue against.

Proton Exora

Proton has announced the name for the new Proton MPV - the Proton Exora! The Exora is based on the name of the Ixora flower, with the tagline “Keriangan Keluarga”. The name was picked by the Name The Proton MPV competition grand prize winner Norsholihan Bt Abdul Eanich, who will get to drive the 7-seater vehicle she named once it is launched sometime in this year.

The company also revealed that the Proton Exora MPV will be priced at under RM 80,000 and will be available in 5 colours - Genetic Silver, Tranquility Black, Blue Haze, Pyrite Brown and Gaia Blue. In terms of safety, all variants will have at least 2 SRS airbags as standard, but this will be as far as it will go in terms of total airbag count. The Proton Exora will be built in the Shah Alam plant. Cost of development was slightly over RM 450 million.

Proton will produce between 3,000 to 3,500 units of the Proton Exora a month initially. After the local launch in April, the MPV will be swiftly exported to markets such as Thailand and Indonesia by July. We’ll see how the new Proton Exora fares in an open market up with our Tomyam-consuming friends up north against their favorite Toyota MPVs.

For more, please read some past coverage on the Proton Exora to find out more about the new MPV, expected to be powered by the Campro CPS engine. Bookings will be open at a fee of RM1,000 from this Saturday (21st Feb 2009) onwards

It's Getting Worse For The PS3

A new report out of Japan and China suggests that Sony's recent restructuring is proving to be way to conservative. The report indicates that part suppliers for the PS3 and other Sony Electronics products are growing weary of their future with Sony. As suppliers are being hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Can Panasonic save plasma?

With Japan's Pioneer and US-based Vizio recently announcing their exits from the plasma market, there's been a lot of chatter about the technology's short- and long-term viability. Some of plasma's problems are PR related. Lingering questions--justified or not--about burn-in and energy efficiency have become part of the public conscious and remain a stumbling block at point of sale. Ultimately, however, there are more simple economics at play. Far more factories are available to produce LCD TVs than plasmas which haven't been able to maintain their price advantage as margins have eroded and the performance gap between the technologies has narrowed.

But let's not dwell on how we got here. The key question is how can plasma survive? And for better or worse, the answer is really in the hands of Panasonic, the brand that has most closely linked its TV fortunes to the technology. Yes, Samsung and LG make lots of plasmas--and some good ones, too--but both are also well-committed to LCD and well-hedged should plasma go away (Panasonic makes some LCD TVs as well, but nothing larger than 37 inches, while plasma starts at 42 inches). Alas, with Pioneer's departure--a sad day for those who value great TV picture quality--Panasonic is left to carry the plasma mantle largely on its own.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Trailer to Play Before Friday the 13th This Weekend

We've all seen the thirty second Super Bowl Ad. Now, come this Friday the 13th, we will be able to watch the very first full length Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen trailer. That's right, this latest look at Michael Bay's giant robot sequel will unspool in theaters playing Warner Brothers' Friday the 13th remake. If you needed one more reason to watch Jason Voorhees chop up naked teenagers, this should be the incentive that pushes you over the edge.

We don't have a run time on the upcoming trailer, or any idea what footage will be shown. But you can rest assured that it will contain some never before scene moments that will have bloggers dissecting it shot for shot once it becomes available on the Internet. It will be the perfect Valentine's Day gift for that special someone in your life. An advanced look at robots followed by campsite carnage. What could be better?

So, make sure you check out Friday the 13th this weekend so that you can tell all your friends that you saw the new Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen trailer. Michael Bay's mega-opus will be released this summer on June 26th, 2009.

Kia Soul's speakers change their glow according to the music!!!

This is somewhat quite interesting. As you’ve previously read, the Kia Soul will be positioned as a lifestyle vehicle, Kia’s very own version of the MINI Cooper, the Alfa Romeo Mi.To and the Fiat 500. It’s gotta be cute and full of gimmicks to keep its owner amused and smiling. MINI has its little mood lighting thing going on in the interior where the user can change the ambiant light from various shades from blue to purple to an orangey-red. And the Kia Soul has the “sound volume reflecting speaker lamp.”

Lights in speakers are nothing new. My Perdana’s speakers are lit up too - they’re Soundstream units that have a light glow behind the spider-shaped speaker grille. They look out of place in an executive car like the Perdana though. The Kia Soul’s speakers take the light behind a speaker grille concept further - the light can actually brighten and dim according to the music being played.

There are four modes - On, Music, Mood and Off. On and Off are self-explanatory - the light will either be permanently on or off. Music and Mood behave differently - Mood just dims and brightens repeatedly in 2 second intervals while Music changes its brightness according to the music’s volume, bass tone and beat.

source: paultan.org

Pioneer reportedly ending TV production, spinning off DVD business

Say it ain't so (again) Pioneer, Japan's Nikkei is reporting that despite planning a return to profitability by sourcing Panasonic plasma panels, facing a consolidated loss of 100 billion yen ($1.08 billion U.S.) it will end TV development and production entirely. The DVD business will be spun off into a new venture with Sharp as part of a plan to shed several thousand employees over the next year, including a shutdown of its Shizuoka plant, along with already planned closings in the U.S. and Europe. Honestly, we should have seen things were going badly when it let LaserDisc die, but the worsening economy may have proved too tough for the idea that its Kuro and Elite line of products would not be subject to the ups and downs of the economy.


source : engadgetHD.com

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ps: Looking forward to it!!!

Revenge Of The Fallen - Close up Photo from Teaser