The 2014 Kia Cadenza

Last week I was invited to test drive the 2014 Kia Cadenza along with a small group of other bloggers and auto journalists. The location Kia chose couldn’t have been more beautiful; we arrived in San Diego on Wednesday afternoon and took a short ride 20 miles north to Del Mar, an oceanside resort town. We stayed at the L’Auberge Del Mar, a 120 room boutique hotel on a hill overlooking the ocean. Our views were spectacular.

I heard repeated apologies from Southern Californians for the “May Gray” (overcast skies) we were experiencing, which made me laugh; I was steps from the ocean — close enough to hear it! Coming from dry, dusty West Texas, what did I have to complain about?

It was in front of the L’Auberge where I was first introduced to the 2014 Cadenza, Kia’s new luxury sedan. The funny thing is that the Cadenza had been parked right there when I first arrived — a little to the side of the valet stand and on the left of the drive-through circle — where the valet might put one of the hotel’s guest’s nicer cars. Good thing it wasn’t a snake, or it might have bit me, because I didn’t even give it a second glance; the car fit in well with its surroundings.  It was only later, when I came down for dinner, that I realized I had completely overlooked the star of this week’s show. This oversight would actually help me form my opinion about the Cadenza as the event went on.

2014 White Kia Cadenza

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International Jazz Day

For the second year, April 30th is International Jazz Day – and to celebrate there is a large celebration concert! With the success of last year the event has grown incredibly to be a major happening. This year the concert is taking place in Istanbul and you can actually live stream the event!

The site is hosted on YouTube, and will be streaming beginning at 9pm/Istanbul, 7pm/London 2pm/New York and 4am(May 1) Sydney. For those who can’t make the event, it will repeat a few hours later.

The spokesman of the event is UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Chairman and jazz legend Herbie Hancock, and he said that “It has been my dream that one day every year, jazz would be celebrated, studied, and performed around the world for 24 hours straight. A collaboration among jazz icons, scholars, composers, musicians, dancers, writers, poets, and thinkers who would embrace the beauty, spirit, and principles of jazz, all of them freely sharing experiences and performances in our big cities and in our small towns, all across our seven continents…”

Here are some of the musicians performing:

Herbie Hancock, Dale Barlow, John Beasley, Rubén Blades, Terence Blanchard, Igor Butman, Terri Lyne Carrington, Anat Cohen, Vinnie Colaiuta, Imer Demirer, George Duke, James Genus, Robert Glasper, Zakir Hussain, Al Jarreau, Bilal Karaman, Ramsey Lewis, John McLaughlin, Hugh Masekela, Keiko Matsui, Branford Marsalis, Pedrito Martinez, Marcus Miller, Milton Nascimento, Eddie Palmieri, Alevtina Polyakova, Jean-Luc Ponty, Dianne Reeves, Lee Ritenour, Husnu Senlendirici, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Joss Stone, Joe Louis Walker, Ben Williams, and Liu Yuan.

You can track events on Twitter with hashtag #jazzday, follow the event on Facebook, and check out more information about International Jazz Day at the official site.

Subscribe and watch the events on the official International Jazz Day YouTube channel!

Lessons on privacy, policy, and the technology of sex work (Image courtesy of Techstagram)

Yes, I know it’s been over for a few weeks now, but I still have some South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) notes about some interesting stuff that I encountered there that I would like to share with you all, so I hope you don’t mind.

Note to Readers: This post discusses topics related to adult industries, and specifically the sex worker sector.  If this type subject matter offends you, please skip this post.  Thanks!

One of the simultaneous joys and frustrations of SXSWi — which I discussed a little bit elsewhere — is that there are so many more talks than you can go to that you are almost guaranteed to miss something you’d like to see, see something unexpected, and end up in a clinker or two.  And so it was on this occasion: I really wanted to see the talk about Google Glass, “Building New Experiences with Google Glass”, but when I got there — shocker! — it was totally full.  Not even standing room only at that point, just simply packed.  So I wandered away and, clicking through the schedule for what was going on at the same time, found a very interesting talk on online privacy.

But here’s the thing:  It was told from the perspective of a sex worker.

Here at Gear Diary, we keep things pretty much PG-13 at most.  And so I’ve struggled with how to share this information with you all.  But I have finally decided to put it out there for you because I think that sex workers — escorts, dancers, cam models, and all the rest — are in many ways an acid test for online security of information.

For many, if not most, sex workers, their very job is — as presenter Sabrina Morgan put it — “in a legal grey area”.  You are often not going to get much help from the police if your privacy is violated and you find yourself, say, being shaken down by a client, or a former co-worker, or a close working associate.  So despite all the derision with which one might greet this topic, sex workers have had to become extremely savvy with regard to privacy and how it relates to technology.  And I really want to share some of Ms. Morgan’s thoughts with you, because they are interesting in general, not just if you are interested in sex work.

Image courtesy of Blogoscoped

And I should also note that there were quite a few sexually focused talks at SXSWi.  While we in the U.S. tend to push it underground as much as possible, if you’ve been online even for a short time, you know how big the online adult industry is, and might even be aware that the adult industry was one of the first to successfully make money on the Web.  For all the negative connotations, the adult industry and sex work industry are frequently right out on the bleeding edge when it comes to technology, believe it or not.

So as I mentioned, the speaker was Sabrina Morgan, who is both a sex worker and a speaker for sex worker’s rights.  One of the things she noted was that, in a “gray legal area” like sex work, privacy and your identity are your most valuable property.  Your personal identity, and the identity of your clients, are two things that must be kept confidential.  In that environment, you can see how online privacy and digital privacy are a topic of extreme interest to these folks.

I found her talk very interesting, but a lot of it was more in the area of advocacy for the decriminalization of sex work (which I absolutely believe in, but that’s just my personal take, not necessarily anyone else at Gear Diary’s official view), so I only am going to relay a few of the tech-related things she talked about:

• Sex workers usually use a “hobby phone” (also sometimes called a “burner phone”, usually a prepaid phone), and they recommend that their clients do the same.  Regular phones contain too much information, and make it too easy to track things you don’t want tracked.  It is easy for me to imagine this applying to ordinary folks, too.  If you watch a lot of police procedurals (I love “Elementary” and “Castle”, among others, and was a huge fan of “Monk”), you might hear a lot about “burner phones” to give them a negative connotation.  But think about it:  You are giving an incredible amount of information to potential surveillors when using (say) your iPhone — your name, your location, your purchases, who you’re talking to, and many, many other things.  Using a “hobby phone” for some of your activities could protect you from that, if you are so inclined.

• While they keep their identity as private as possible — “Sabrina Morgan” is her professional name, for example — she acknowledged that with cameras becoming cheaper and better, and with facial recognition software improving, that poses an issue.  In an online world, this can be very important for everyone.  While I have rarely found the need to use an alias online, there are plenty of people who need that.  For example, I know of a person who works in the financial industry, but also regularly posts to a blog; in order to protect both his employer and the blog, he writes under an alias.  And there are any other number of very legitimate reasons to protect your identity online.  To hear about the need for privacy from someone for whom her identity is almost her most precious commodity was very illuminating.
• Managing your money when in a legal gray area is difficult; you don’t have the support of the state, and your professional activities are under a pseudonym.  For example, what do you do about your records?  She indicated that there is really only one option for that:  safe office.  And it is easy for me to imagine other folks in other businesses who might need a similar solution; I find it unfortunate that there’s only one current option to fill that need.
• While records are a problem, I was startled to find that the IRS isn’t.  Sabrina indicated that the IRS is really just interested in getting their money, and she is actually able to indicate that her job is “sex worker” on her 1040, and she hasn’t been bothered by the federal government.  Even more, she has found that the IRS is very cooperative and open to her needs; when she needs to get copies of past returns to show to (for example) potential landlords, the IRS helps by redacting the areas that might make difficulties for her!  The lesson here: You pay the IRS, and they leave you be!  And this applies to everyone! If you are running a business (even one in a “gray legal area”), as long as you are making regular payments to the IRS and you have clear records, the government won’t bother you.  Good to know!

She noted that working in the Internet era has absolutely made a number of issues in her business easier, but it has also created problems that you have to be cognizant of.  Given that this isn’t a world with which I’m familiar (other than reading Tracy’ Quan’s posts in Salon), I found it absolutely fascinating to get this glimpse into the life of folks in the sex work industry, and their online and privacy needs.  (And maybe I’ll do a post on my blog about the rest of her talk!)  But what do you think?  Why don’t you share it with us below!

The New Santa Fe in front of the Coronado marina

As I had written previously, the folks at Hyundai took a group of ‘social bloggers’ to Park City, UT last August to introduce the new 2013 Santa Fe Sport. My review was highly favorable, but what was missing for me was the full-sized Santa Fe 6/7 passenger model – Hyundai teased that model, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures, get in or even touch the pre-production model they brought. However, they told us that once it was ready to launch we would be able to get a hands-on look. This weekend the made good on that promise, as Hyundai took a bunch of social bloggers to Coronado to test drive the new Santa Fe.

I will have a full drive experience report coming soon, but for now I wanted to give a quick overview of a few things that shaped the experience including the Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado itself, the food, and of course our first glimpse at the new Santa Fe.

The view from my room once the clouds cleared in the early afternoon. Gorgeous

Coronado is a peninsula that is separated from San Diego by water, and was bought by two men Buford & Story in 1886 for $110,000. The two men had made their fortunes helping to shape the rail system, and had taken to going to Coronado for hunting trips. At the time it was populated mostly by small game, but the two men had thoughts of transforming it into a destination for other like-minded people. To do this they decided to build a hotel and later engage in planning the design of a community, and the Hotel Del Coronado opened for business in 1888. They are marking 125 years of continuous operation, and it remains a luxurious destination that continues to attract presidents and other dignitaries and offers an amazing vacation spot for couples and families.

Looking back up at the hotel from the beach walk

As someone who grew up — and lived until recently — in the Boston area, I have always loved places rich in history and distinctive styling – the famous Colonial Inn in Concord is one of my favorite places to stay. The Hotel Del Coronado was built on a tight schedule without a proper architect or blueprints, working only from a rough work up of an exterior model. As a result, the interior design is best described as erratic or charming, depending on how you view such things. Another bit of history is that there is a mysterious ghost who purportedly haunts the hotel … her name is Kate Morgan, and she supposedly inhabits a room at the hotel where she is a benevolent spirit. A few folks in our group had issues with lights turning off and on, things getting unplugged and even with items going missing and later reappearing in random places; a few of the ladies had a sleepover because of this!

The main entry way into the hotel

Much of the hotel is original, from the redwood in the foyer to the tongue & groove crown room, to the uneven floors and winding halls and more. There is still an elevator operator on the formerly steam-powered bird-cage elevator! But it has also been modernized with all of the things you would expect from a 5 star resort, and all of the additions have been streamlined to match the original styling. The grounds are impeccable, and they were designed so that European visitors accustomed to lush gardens would be impressed … I know I certainly was!

From the second floor including the main chandelier

How do I know so much about the hotel and Coronado? Hyundai arranged a history tour of the hotel with the local chamber of commerce, giving us insights into our base of operations for the weekend. But it was more than that – they provided a view of the culture of the island, the people who built and grew the community, and the path from a small seasonal resort for the wealthy to a year round destination.

The crown room – all tongue & groove construction, no nails, and crown lighting purportedly designed by Frank L. Baum.

As I mentioned in my recent Monday Mile ‘Your Workout Is Where You Find It’, when I am going to be someplace other than home one of the first things I do is check out the map to figure out a running route. And when I am going to a place like Coronado, I am even more excited by the prospects. I mentioned finding tons of potential running routes in my post about preparing for the trip, but as I was being driven from the airport to the hotel I noticed that the traffic and pedestrian volume and curbside dining along many streets would make most of those routes tricky in the afternoon. Instead, once I got myself checked in and chatted with my wife quickly, I headed down the Silver Strand.

My return running route – there is marina on the right, beach on the left, and the Hotel Del Coronado in the distance

The Silver Strand is the small strip of land that makes Coronado a peninsula rather than an island. It is wide enough for a 2-lane road in both directions along with a bike trail and beach, and narrow enough that you can see both sides at once. The weather was gorgeous – still mostly cloudy, only around 60 degrees … just wonderful. I ran down the beachfront (there is a wide walkway) until I ended up on the Silver Strand road, eventually getting across and onto the bike path. As I got onto the narrow part of the Silver Strand I discovered unpaved paths along the side that went through the garden areas, so I kept to those. I kept going until the GPS chimed 4 miles and then turned around, mirroring the path back to the hotel to end up just under 8 miles; it was glorious.

The Hotel Del Coronado is gorgeous at 5AM as well!

For Saturday and Sunday morning, I was able to get out of the hotel before 5AM to take my planned ‘tour of the island’ route that went along the shore near the marina to near the base of the bridge to the gates of the Naval Air Station to the beach and along the beach path to where it hit the Silver Strand and then back to the hotel. It was right around 7.5 miles and the streets were almost completely clear, allowing me to enjoy only the sounds of birds, waves, my own breathing and footfalls, and the waking up of the Naval Air Station. Finishing with 1.5 mile right along the coast with the crashing waves drowning out the chiming of my Garmin was incredible.

Hard to see, but this is the gate of the Naval Air Station, coming to life at 5AM.

One thing we learned in Park City was that the Hyundai folks would be sure to keep us stylishly fed for the weekend. The Hotel Del Coronado boasts four main restaurants as well as an ice cream shop and pizza shop. That means if you are looking for formal dining, somewhat less formal dining, casual take-out fare, or just some quicker simple food you are covered.

I walked to the water, turned around and … this.

Because the media were arriving all day, Hyundai gave us vouchers for lunch and an ice cream. I really wanted to be outdoors somewhere and found the outdoor restaurant too crowded and closed-in, so I grabbed a to-go turkey & brie sandwich lunch from Babcock & Story. I also grabbed a chocolate mousse dessert in a chocolate cup with fruit inside – I had planned on getting an ice cream but this changed my mind:

Seriously …

After lunch, the tour, and after spending some time wandering around the area, it was time to kick things off for real! Of course, this meant a reception with appetizers and drinks at a reserved area in the formal dining area. This was fun for several reasons – we were outdoors, sampling fresh local seafood and other great ingredients, and meeting old and new friends. Many attendees were also present at Park City, some I knew by name and others by appearance. All of whom it was great to see and catch up. Also, many of the Hyundai folks were the same, from Jim to Rob to Laurie to Linda – and they are all really great folks.

At dinner, Jim laid out the order of events for the next day, and each table had someone from Hyundai to go over things and make sure we were all prepared. But naturally much of the event was about socialization – both in-person and virtual. Hyundai refers to us as the ‘social wave’ and therefore it wasn’t just acceptable for us to be on our phones broadcasting on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/etc all the time – it was expected. Somewhere in between the time on our phones and the great talk with Liza from AddictedtoSaving and Scott from ChipChick and Laura from BetterinBulk and Laurie from Hyundai, we managed to have a great dinner. I went straight for the steak with asparagus and Creme Brûlée for dessert, with absolutely no regrets!

There were two orders of business before getting out on the road with the New Santa Fe: breakfast and product presentations. Breakfast was memorable not just for more great social interaction – pretty much everyone shifted seats from dinner to interact with a new set of people (except for one person and her minion who strangely remained aloof and mostly separated from the proceedings the whole weekend) – but also due to the presence of Harris’s Hawks. We learned that the hotel brought a pair of these on the grounds for the morning four days a week to deal with seagulls – just the screeching and presence eliminates the gulls for a day or so.

Harris Hawks apparently scare gulls away

And naturally we all wanted to pose with the hawks, as they are well-trained and used to dealing with people.

I wrote about it here but it is hard for me to look at a picture of myself without judging harshly.

After breakfast and fun with the hawks we went through the presentation. I continue to hear about automotive events where there are hours upon hours of presentations and precious little driving, and I was once again glad that with Hyundai that is NOT the case! Jim, Jon Shon and another product manager presented business aspects, competitive insight and technical details of Hyundai and the new Santa Fe. The Santa Fe Sport has gotten a great reception and has sold very well since introduction last summer (as I can attest from how many I have seen around my area), and Hyundai is very well positioned in terms of sales turnover and resale value.

As for the product specifics, I will cover those in the technical minutia of my drive experience, but basically what you are looking at is more than just a 3-row version of the Santa Fe Sport but less than a completely different model. The Santa Fe is longer, taller and has more space, and the back seat (middle row) has been modified to make it very comfortable for passengers but still allow access to the third row.

Hyundai Santa Fes in a row

Once the presentation and hands-on views (and assorted silliness such as seeing how many folks could comfortably sit in the cargo area at once (we did four but could have done five – but it wouldn’t make for such a fun picture!), it was time to hit the road.

Laura, Kas, Becca and Jasmine having fun in the back of the Santa Fe!

The way Hyundai does their drives is using a trip book: there is a lunch destination with a driver-change checkpoint half-way. The route is mapped turn-by-turn in a booklet that ensures you will get to do all types of driving: highway, city, up hill, down hill, narrow and wide roads, twists and turns, and so on. My driving partner was Louise from MomStart – she was fun to chat with, sharing my values of marriage, family and kids. We had a good time throughout the trip, learning about the Santa Fe and fumbling with some of the controls as we explored functionality.

The mid-way point was an off-road overlook area that was a great place for a break and change of drivers, and to find out how others did following directions. Louise mentioned that I was a really good navigator (I am an engineer, so linear mapping is something that comes naturally), but others were not so lucky. Some entered the location into the GPS and were sent mostly along the highway (boring!), others missed turns and ended up nearly crossing the Mexican border, and still others just got lost and ended up using the GPS to get back on track.

The first leg was ~40 miles, and the second part was just under 30 miles to the town of Julian, where at the Julian Grille we were encouraged to make sure to leave room for their famous pie! Both the lunch (veggie sandwich and fruit) and pie (multi-berry with ice cream) were excellent, as I wrote about on Yelp.

If you are in the area, this pie is worth the trip!

After lunch we headed off for the afternoon activity – which would mean another 60 or so miles. Louise was exhausted and asked me to drive, which allowed me to test out the Santa Fe on a mostly highway trip we took to the zoo. I was originally scheduled to go para-gliding and Louise hang-gliding, but she had switched to the San Diego Zoo and since no one had been able to para-glide all week (and since I love the zoo!), we headed to the world-famous San Diego Zoo!

Sadly the line for tours was too long so we didn’t get to ride these

Due to time constraints we knew we would only have about 90 minutes, so we hopped in line for the bus tour of the zoo along with Becca from MommaB Blog and Kas from SouthernBellasWaystoSave. The line was long and slow, but the bus tour was an excellent way to see the majority of the expansive park in as time efficient a way as possible.

Total show-off, doing backflips for the crowd!

My only regret was that we didn’t get to see the panda bears, but as the tour guide noted, pandas are stressed by noise, so the loud bus and tour announcers would pretty well freak them out running by a couple hundred times a day. Jim from Hyundai noted that he needed two trips to get a real feel for the zoo, so maybe I will need a return trip!

Oh … and apparently some of the animals made their way back to the hotel! That is James Hills of ManTripping and Jason Sasaki of SasakiTime.

After a long day with loads of opportunity to drive the new Santa Fe, we headed out for our last dinner. The Hyundai folks had arranged a dinner outing a couple of blocks away at Chez Loma. We had the entire upper floor to ourselves, which was a good thing since the restaurant seemed very intimate and a table for two having to deal with our crew would be sorely disappointed.

The cute little Chez Loma … I bet for a couple it would be nice, which almost makes me feel bad for my Yelp review … almost.

Sometimes a restaurant mistakes the ability to seat a certain number of people with the ability to host a function for a group of that size. For example, a group of 30 people (25 bloggers plus some Hyundai folks) would be ordering around the same time and expect their salads to arrive promptly and pretty much one table after the next. What you wouldn’t expect would be to have ordered salad when it was light as in the picture of the exterior and still have the entire room waiting until it was dark outside:

Coronado has cute views everywhere!

In fact, it was an hour before the first salads appeared (nothing particularly elaborate) … and another 30 minutes before the last table got theirs! So we got bored and took pictures of a tiny baby figurine on a rose. Why? Sit for 90 minutes before getting a salad and ask me again!

As for the food itself, the taste and presentation for MY dinner was very good … unlike anyone who ordered the cold/dry/tough/tasteless/etc scallops. My complaint was that a big reason I chose the duck was because it had sweet potato listed as the side dish – and as you can see there is about a tablespoon of sweet potato on the side almost as a presentation enhancer! Apparently a couple of the other entrees were pretty solid. One fun thing I learned at Chez Loma – when people are waiting for a course while others have already finished, you don’t need worry about over-aggressive wine refills! That makes tracking your intake easier. Sadly, Linda from Hyundai was wearing the stress on her face, so I told her to relax – everything was showing up, we weren’t on a deadline, and she would simply never come here again. She relaxed while chatting, but given the level of perfection she managed throughout the Park City and rest of the Coronado trips, I know she was very upset. Naturally I shared on Yelp.

I am STILL craving sweet potato!

After dinner we headed back to the bar at the Hotel Del Coronado, where a set of tables were reserved – but we were so much later than estimated that there were attempts to take over the seats! Fortunately everything was set up for us when we returned.

It was a great time of chatting and comparing notes and pictures and families and locations and blogs … but eventually it had to end. One thing about being on the fifth floor clear across the hotel was that it allowed me plenty of stair exercise! But I had to take a trip on the bird-cage elevator that still has an operator and was apparently once steam-powered!

The weekend was excellent fun and highly productive, and I will soon post about the featured event for the weekend: the new Santa Fe driving experience. Until then here is a shot of me behind the wheel!

Full disclosure: Hyundai paid for the entire trip including travel, food and lodging, but the opinions expressed are my own.

Sad to leave … but happy to be home!

Elon Musk, of PayPal, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX, was South by Southwest Interactive’s keynote speaker!
(And is it just me, or does he look like Christopher Walken?)

As South by Southwest Interactive (henceforth: SXSWi) approached I found myself a bit overwhelmed by all the choices of talks, panels, hangouts, meetups, and God only knows what else.  As an Austin resident, I didn’t feel the need to over-indulge on Sixth Street’s entertainment venues — I can do it any time — so I tried to concentrate on talks and events that I though I would find interesting, and you all would find interesting.  I got a clunker or two, but in the main I did okay.  Even with the overwhelming choices available, there was one person who I was pretty confident I wanted to see:  Keynote speaker Elon Musk.

As a reader of Gear Diary, you may have heard of Musk; he made his original big chunk of change through PayPal.  While some tech b’zillionaires may stop at that point and, I dunno, get into politics, or think tanks, or some other durn thing (think of Mark Zuckerberg or Marc Andreessen), Musk didn’t rest on his laurels or his big piles of cash.  He went on to found Tesla Motors (trying to build electrical cars that are actually cool and fun to drive, instead of — as Marv put it in “Sin City” — looking like electric shavers), and founded SpaceX, the civilian space flight company.  He is basically America’s answer to Richard Branson of Virgin (though South African by birth).  One company isn’t enough.

Side note: Branson, of course, founded his own space flight company, Virgin Galactic.  But I don’t think they’re competing; at one point Musk talked about “My friend Richard Branson,” and he was clearly not being ironic or sarcastic.  One guesses that the “Rich Tycoon Nerd” Club is pretty small.

And Elon Musk is a nerd — a genuine nerd — working on an Applied Physics and Materials Science degree at Stanford, for Pete’s sake!  Seriously, read his Wikipedia article.  I wanted to see this guy, who was basically the living embodiment of D.D. Harriman, the star of the Heinlein story “The Man Who Sold the Moon” (a fictional rich businessman determined to commercialize space flight!).

I wasn’t the only fanboy who wanted to see Musk; there were so many people there, they opened up several extra auxiliary rooms, and showed the Musk interview on CCTV, which is where I ended up.  But that’s all right; I figured the chances of me meeting Musk were essentially zero anyway; I didn’t have to be in the same room with him.

Musk was interviewed by long-time Wired contributor Chris Anderson, who did quite a good job, I thought.

They started off talking about SpaceX, Musk’s civilian space flight company.  SpaceX is the first civilian company to build a rocket that docks with the ISS (which it has successfully done now several times, I believe).  Musk was in Texas not just for SXSWi, but also to lobby the legislature to try to get a space port (!) built here in Texas.  See, at the equator, the rotational speed of the planet is just over 1000 miles an hour.  So the closer you are to the equator, the more speed you get just from the Earth sling-shotting you into space — hence the preference for Texas or Florida.  So I may actually see a civilian space port here in Texas in my lifetime.

Musk spent some time pointing out the difficulties of a civilian space flight company.  In addition to having to deal with governments for spaceport space (see previous), there’s this interesting factoid:  The U.S. government considers rocket technology to be weapons technology!  (Well, ICBMs, right?)  Plus rockets don’t go just straight up, so even after you get the space, you end up flying over the heads of a whole lot of different people, many of them who don’t want rockets taking off over their houses any more than folks don’t want to be in airport flight paths, or live near train stations.  Sounds like a nightmare, but I’m glad a rich, dedicated, smart person is on the job.

SpaceX’s goal is to use re-usable rockets that can take off and land back on Earth.  We were able to see–first time for anyone anywhere!–the demo video they had made up for this concept.  If you’ve watched films of Apollo launches you remember the stages separating and dropping back to Earth.  Well, the SpaceX “Dragon” rocket–which Musk referred to as a “grasshopper” because it “goes up and down”–has stages like Apollo rockets, but when each stage separates, instead of getting dumped in the ocean, it fires retro-rockets and comes in for a landing!  Musk talked about the next revision of his rocket, saying “Dragon 2 will land anywhere on the Earth with the accuracy of a helicopter,” which I find pretty friggin’ amazing.  From the video, it appears the Dragon 2 has two stages and a capsule, and all of them land back on Earth with thrusters.

Photo courtesy of UK Space Biomedicine Association

Musk is determined to re-use rockets.  He pointed out the high price of just throwing away your rocket with an analogy:  ”How much does it cost to fuel and airplane vs. how much does it cost to buy an airplane.”  Seriously:  Imagine how high your airfare would be if, on landing, they dumped your 757 into Jamaica Bay or wherever.  Not very cost-efficient, and as Musk pointed out, when it comes to space travel, “Cost is prohibitive.”

Anderson asked Musk about Mars, about which he seemed a little sheepish, in my opinion.  Musk said that he decided to set a target of going to Mars because NASA frustrated him.  Musk said, “I went to the NASA web site to find out when we’re going to Mars, and I couldn’t find out.”  He not only couldn’t find out when, he couldn’t find out any information at all about NASA’s post-Moon plans.  That clearly irritated the crap out of him.

But Musk wanted everyone clear on the fact that he is not competing with NASA — a huge percentage of SpaceX’s business (about 1/4, according to Musk) is with NASA, and they cooperate quite closely.  He would be thrilled if NASA would do this themselves.  But he said when he tried to get the government to increase NASA’s budget, it didn’t work, so he said (metaphorically), “Screw it; I’ll do it myself.”  Boy, haven’t I dreamed of having enough money to do that myself…

Musk is clearly very hands-on with SpaceX, and it is obviously his great love — which is what reminds me so much of Harriman from that Heinlein story.  I mean, this guy is in mission control for launches, and helping trouble-shoot problem; this is his passion.

The majority of the keynote was taken up by SpaceX, but Anderson did ask Musk a few questions about Tesla Motors, and particularly a recent very negative review of the new Model S by the New York Times, and the subsequent back and forth between Musk and the paper.  In case you’re unaware, Tesla sent the New York Times an early release of their new Model S sedan, and to put it mildly, the reviewer didn’t have a good time with it.  There has been some back and forth in the media, and Musk was asked to respond.  Musk said he felt the review was a “low-grade ethics violation”, and that it was “not in good faith”.  He clearly felt quite strongly that the reviewer had gone out of his way to slant the review towards the negative, but he didn’t exempt his own behavior: “I don’t think the language [of his own response] was inaccurate”, but felt that he could have been more diplomatic.

Photo courtesy of Popular Mechanics

This led, logically enough, into a discussion of Lithium-Ion batteries.  He absolutely refused to be drawn in to bad-mouthing Boeing, and insisted that his quotes in the press has been misinterpreted, and he had never intended to bad-mouth Boeing.  He did seem to feel, though, that embarking on a project of the scale of the 777 while out-sourcing so much of the component design and manufacturer was kind of asking for trouble.  I believe that both Tesla and SpaceX do the vast majority, if not all, of their components in-house.  And that kind of gives you an interesting slant on Apple keeping all their hardware in-house, too.

When it comes to battery design, Musk noted that “Tesla is a fan of small [battery] cells”, which allows you to have smaller gaps between the cells.  The Dreamliner has larger cells with larger gaps, of which Musk is clearly not a fan.  In spite of their problems, though, he absolutely believes that “Lithium is obviously the way to go” for airline batteries.

And as if those companies aren’t enough, Anderson noted that Musk is also Chairman of the solar-panel company SolarCity, and spent the last portion of the address talking about that.  For the first time in my life–and I have lived my whole life in an era when “the solar power breakthrough” has been “a few years away!” for, like, the last 45 years — I finally heard a good answer to my constant question:  Why don’t we put solar panels on everyone’s rooftops?  What could it hurt?  And Musk point out a couple of things that should be obvious:  First, it’s hard to “optimize” panel size.  That is, the size and shape of roofs isn’t “heterogeneous”, and so putting on “standard panels” (like you use “standard wallboard” when putting up walls in your home) is really hard to do.  And if you can’t standardize, the price goes up.  That’s a problem!

Photo courtesy of TechCrunch

The other issue is one of exposure:  When you have a house with the roof aimed in the right direction to get maximum sunlight, what do you look for in a house?  One with a friggin tree to cover it so you don’t overheat! Both of which seemed obvious in retrospect, but it was nice to have someone really smart explain it to me.

Finally, he noted that what you’re essentially doing is putting a whole second roof on your house.  Think about the last time you just had your roof re-done; it wasn’t cheap, was it … even if you used the cheapest, lowest-budget roofing tiles!  Now imagine the roofing tiles made of up solar electronic components.  Oh, yeah; expensive!  But they’re plugging away, working with cities to do pilot projects — like the one we have here in Austin, the Pecan St. Project Mueller development (about which you’ll see more later — watch this space!).  Musk is, unsurprisingly, hopeful and optimistic.

The degree to which this guy impressed me is probably clearly a lot.  Smart, articulate, committed, passionate about what he’s doing, plus he’s very much aware of the environmental impact of his work.  I mean, wow.  I’m impressed.

So what do you think about it all?  What are your thoughts on Tesla, or SpaceX, or Musk?  Share them with us below!

Talk Details:
Elon Musk Keynote address
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Austin Convention Center
South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi)

Some of Dan’s live photos:

Despite what Apple might want you to believe Android has matured into an impressive mobile operating system and Samsung is on a roll. Over the past few weeks I’ve had a chance to spend some serious time with the Samsung GALAXY Note 2 and the Samsung GAXAXY Note 10.1 with Verizon 4G (that review is coming soon). I have to admit I’m impressed by what the current version of Android offers when paired with Samsung’s hardware. No, I’m still not a fan of the plastic bodies Samsung is opting to use but the actual experience of using their devices is better than ever. This evening Samsung will be revealing the Samsung GALAXY S4. It is a big deal for the company who is taking over Radio City Music Hall for the Samsung GALAXY S4 event.

We expect the Samsung GALAXY S4 to be a bit larger than its predecessor, pack in  a faster processor and sport more RAM. After all, smartphone apps are becoming more and more powerful and, when combined with some of the amazing tech Samsung is putting in their devices, the demands placed on mobile devices are greater than ever before. What special surprise features the Samsung GALAXY S4 will offer as well as its battery life will be revealed early tonight.  We’ll be live blogging the event so joint us shortly before 7pm EST for a first look and initial impressions.

earSmart is the future of voice technology

I find myself using my smartphone less and less for voice calls and more and more for other types of electronic communication. I’m not nearly as bad as Judie, however, who rarely gets on the phone for actual calls. Still, there are times when we do need to use our smartphones as phones and having the best possible audio quality is important. While attending Mobile World Congress Judie saw the Audience earSmart ES325 Advanced Voice Processor. She was impressed.

The earSmart is the first Advanced Voice Processor that has innovations such as the ability to have simultaneous three-microphone processing, optimization for automatic speech recognition and super WideBand support for voice over IP. It also offers enhanced stereo recording. That translates to improvements of 30 to 55% signal-to-noise ratios when looking at the three microphone performance in noisy environments. That’s incredibly important since it translates into an improvement of 80% over the current two microphone enabled phones we currently use.

The most interesting aspect of this for me is the advancement that comes with this technology with regard to speech recognition. The company points out that the biggest challenge faced by current speech recognition technologies is the failure to recognize spoken words and complete assigned tasks because there is too much ambient noise. The EarSmart uses algorithms that actually isolate voice from ambient sound. The result is better dictation.

Another feature of the earSmart eS325 is Audio Zoom. This lets the mobile device switch between a single speaker in narrator mode and interview mode where the person with the device is actually interviewing another person in seeking to capture both his or her voice and the person being engaged.

This is definitely technology we’re going to want to keep an eye as it is further developed and makes its way into the devices we carry on a daily basis. You can learn more here.

Nokia and MakerBot Replicator 2 3D Printed Lumia 820 Case!

One of the coolest things I saw while at Mobile World Congress was the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer printing out a plastic shell for the just announced Nokia Lumia 820 (and soon the also just announced Lumia 520).  I had never seen a 3D printer in action, and I found the process fascinating (and mildly hypnotic).

When the MakerBot Replicator 2 is in action, it uses a natural PLA filament to “print”, and it follows a schematic to print row after row of the special plastic compound until the 3D image of the desired object has been replicated. It’s like the object has been cut into hundreds of thin slices, and the printer is reassembling them as a solid object. You can read more about 3D printers work by clicking here.

Nokia and MakerBot Replicator 2; a match made in heaven?

I took a quick video of the MakerBot Replicator 2 in action, and while I was doing that, a Nokia rep walked over and offered to give a bit of information about the MakerBot process. These customized shells aren’t and won’t be available for other Lumia models (like my 920) — because those Lumias don’t have removable cases. Watch the video though, and imagine the possibilities!

If you happen to be the lucky owner of a MakerBot and the Nokia Lumia 820, you can download the MakerBot optimized files for printing on a MakerBot Replicator 2. What you’ll end up with is a shell that “fits nicely around the phone with fully functional buttons” after about an hour of printing. The choices of different ways the Lumia 820 and 520 shells can be customized is pretty impressive; you can get more information on that, here.

And in case you were wondering, the MakerBot Replicator 2 3D Printer has an MSRP of $2199; it ships with a one-pound spool of the Natural PLA filament, and additional spools of other colors are $48 each. I want one! =P

The HTC One Android Phone

The HTC One was the best Android Handset at Mobile World Congress — according to the GSMA 18th Annual Mobile Awards, anyway! Their judges considered the HTC One to be “the device that holds the most promise for success in the market this year, providing game-changing features, design and functionality”, and they awarded it the “Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress 2013″. Pretty impressive, right?

We covered the HTC One on its announcement day, and I was able to spend a little bit of time fondling one while at Mobile World Congress.  I found it to be surprisingly thin, and oddly reminiscent of the HTC Flyer — in the best way — because most of the design elements I had loved about HTC’s 7″ tablet design were present, minus the pen.

To recap, the HTC One is available in black or white; it has a 4.7” 1080p screen, a zero-gap aluminum unibody, dual front speakers, and new HTC innovations including BlinkFeed, HTC Zoe and HTCBoomSound. It also has a 1.7GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 600, quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, a 2300 mAH Li-Ion battery, and it will be available with either 32GB or 64GB ROM; the HTC One will run Android Jelly Bean.

Unlike the Sony Xperia Z with its sharp edges , the HTC One has a full-metal body with soft curves that begs to be held. The full metal body gives the device a substantial and sturdy build, and the screen … wow … the 4.7″ screen is amazing.

I realize that the Samsung S4 is coming out shortly, and that a lot of people will almost feel obligated to wait and see that device before making any decisions, but I feel confident enough about the HTC One to say that were I in the market for an Android device today, the HTC One is the device I would buy.

Why? Because Samsung has yet to produce a device that feels as solid and good as the HTC One does, and I like HTC’s Sense UI better than Samsung’s TouchWiz overlay. At this point I would be shocked if any of the improvements Samsung has put into the S4 could change my mind.

What do you think? Are you in the market for a new device? If so, which one are you leaning toward?

This is David Newton, a photographer who works with SanDisk on their ExtremeTeam

While at Mobile World Congress, we had a meeting with SanDisk. Going in, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen: would they pull out a bunch of thumb-drives and mini memory cards to show us their latest consumer designs as they had done several years ago? Or would we find something completely new to discuss? As it turned out, my meeting was with Yoram Zybergerg, the Senior Director of Embedded Business with SanDisk, so a good part of our meeting focused on the OEM side.

Yoram’s excitement about the limitless possibilities of flash memory — now and in the future — were very evident. He mentioned how SanDisk is used as the flash memory in many consumer devices, and how most consumers will never be aware that the reason their device is so fast (or runs so well) isn’t only because of the processor they happens to have, but also because of the operating system their devices are running and the speed of the SanDisk flash memory inside. For example, one of their most recently announced partnerships was with NVDIA; SanDisk’s iNAND Extreme Embedded Flash Drive (EFD) is “optimized for use in the tablets powered by Tegra 4″, and it will enhance “processing performance [while] providing reliable, high-quality digital storage.”

SanDisk is celebrating their 25th anniversary; I asked Yoram if there was one thing he wanted Gear Diary readers to know with regard to that, and he said that he we should know that SanDisk never stops looking for ways to being faster and better memory options to consumers. I can’t help but wonder what we can look forward to in the future, considering that in 2006 a 2GB microSD card cost $99, and now we can buy a 64GB microSDXC card for $60 or less on Amazon.

When I left the meeting, I was introduced to David Newton, an independent writer and photographer who works with Sandisk as a member of their ExtremeTeam. I filmed a video of him talking about SanDisk and his experience with their flash memory. Perhaps the most interesting thing for me was learning that the memory card can actually make your camera perform better:

I even got David to answer the question of whether he thinks it is better to have and depend upon one big memory card, or whether it is better to have a collection of smaller cards — just in case something goes wrong. Here was his reply:

David’s got one of the most awesome gigs in the world, don’t you think? And it was really cool to hear his candid thoughts on SanDisk memory. As for me, I’m content with my 64GB SanDisk Mobile Ultra MicroSDXC Memory Card in my Android device, but maybe it is time for me to upgrade the 8GB SanDisk SD card in my Canon G11 or the 16GB SanDisk Compact Flash card in my Canon 5D. I’ve certainly never had issues with the cards I have, and there are times when their size seems a bit restricting …

The Sony Xperia Z Android Phone

One of the cool things that happened this year at Mobile World Congress was that Sony and an assorted group of partners gave select press and others an MWC-software customized Sony Xperia T complete with Spanish SIM. With it we were able to enter the venue with a validated NFC ID, and we were able to collect information from NFC tags located on signs and booth fixtures throughout the Fira Barcelona Gran Via.

As enjoyable as I have found using the Xperia T for the past week to be, the Sony Xperia Z was the device that really caught my eye. You can read the full white paper on this 5″-screened, 1920×1080 pixel device by clicking here. The main features that interested me were its Snapdragon™ S4 Pro quadcore 1.5 Ghz processor with 2GB RAM, its water and dust resistance (you can put it in up to 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes!), its 13.1 megapixel fast capture camera, and its ”shatter-proof sheet on scratch-resistant glass” screen. The Xperia Z has 2GB RAM, 16GB storage memory, and it can accept up to a 32GB microSD card (although I bet it will work just fine with a 64GB card); it also has a 2,330 mAh Li-Ion battery.

It didn’t take long handling the Sony Xperia Z though, to realize that it might not be the device for me — it is one of the worst fingerprint-magnets I have ever seen, and all the Z’s edges are so sharp! You’ve heard me talk about caressability before, and it is truly a trait that I look for in any phone I want to use long-term. The Z is all hard edges, and as such it probably isn’t a device that I could see myself really enjoying … but don’t mind me! The Sony Xperia Z won ‘Best Smartphone’ and ‘Best of Show’ awards at CES 2013, so obviously others love it. The Sony Xperia Z is available now, and it can be purchased unlocked directly from Sony for £529.00.

On the left, the The Sony Xperia T; on the right, the Sony Xperia Z Android Phone

Also being shown was the newly announced Sony Xperia Tablet Z. Like the Xperia Z, it is dust and water-resistant (it is also able to handle up to 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes), and it has a 10.1″ display with 1920×1200 pixels. The Tablet Z has a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm APQ8064+MDM9215M Quad Core processor, an 8.1 Megapixels rear camera, and a 2.2 MP front-facing camera. The Xperia Tablet Z has 2GB RAM, 16GB storage memory, and it can accept up to a 64GB microSD card. The Xperia Tablet Z will launch globally in 2nd Quarter 2013, and it should retail for $499. You can check its full specifications by clicking here.

The Sony Xperia Tablet Z

The downside to all of these Sony Xperia devices is that they are fingerprint magnets of the worst kind, but otherwise they are pretty impressive!

Today was Day Two of Mobile World Congress, and Judie has been busy walking, talking and seeing all the new wares being rolled out in Barcelona. Along the way she got some hands-on time with the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0.

Judie’s Jabra UP shows that she walked just under 26,000 steps today. WOW!

We brought word of the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 the other day, and it looks rather compelling. It offers a 1280 by 800 pixel resolution, runs on a Squad-core Samsung Exynos processor and has a full 2GB of RAM. The device will come in 16GB and 32GB variants but both will offer expansion via a microSD slot. A 5MP camera is on the back, and a front-facing 1.2MP camera is on the front. And while it is a bit bigger and heavier than the iPad mini, the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 offers the productivity of an S Pen and a split-screen that lets specific apps run on two different halves of the screen.

Having spent time with the Samsung GALAXY Note 2, I have to admit that I am quite interested in picking up one of its larger siblings when the Samsung GALAXY Note 8.0 is released this spring. Check out Judie’s pictures below; you can read about the entire GALAXY Note lineup here.

ASUS PadFone Infinity Phone and Tablet

During the first day of MWC, ASUS showed off a number of new products. The ASUS PadFone Infinity is a powerful quad-core, LTE-equipped smartphone and redesigned tablet into which it docks. The tablet looks like any old tablet from the front but, flip it over and you’ll see that its brains actually come from the companion phone docked into it.

The phone portion of the ASUS PadFone Infinity is a 5″ 1080p handset with a Snapdragon 600 processor. The phone runs Android 4.2, weighs 141g and has a 2400mAh battery. With 2GB of RAM, the phone will be offered with 32GB and 64GB storage capacities. For connectivity the device offers 802.11b/g/n, 802.11ac with WiFi Direct, BT 4.0 and the NFC Judie discussed in this week’s Gear Diary Newsletter. The ASUS PadFone Infinity has a 13MP camera on the back with a f/2.0 aperture lens that helps with shooting in low light. A 2MP front facing camera is also present for self-portraits and video chats.

As we have seen with its predecessor, the ASUS PadFone Infinity docks into a 10″ 1920 x 1200 tablet. This time out it is known as the PadFone Infinity Station. The tablet dock weighs in at 530g and adds a 5000mAh battery into the mix. The tablet has a 1MP front facing camera but relies on the phone’s 13MP shooter for on the back. From the front you wouldn’t even know it was anything other than a tablet.

When it ships in April it will cost just under a thousand Euro. And if you live in the US you’ll have to add the price of a plane ticket. Yes, like previous PadFones, the ASUS PadFone Infinity won’t be released in the US. You can find more details here.

I’m still kind of smitten with the Samsung GALAXY Note 8, but the ASUS Fonepad looks kind of tasty as well. The ASUS Fonepad is a 7″ Android tablet running Android 4.1.2. Like the GALAXY Note 8, the ASUS Fonepad can also function as a phone. (That functionality may not be available in all markets and all carriers. We will see how that plays out once the device begins shipping.)

Now let’s admit that Judie looks kind of silly holding this 7″ tablet to her head as a phone. She wouldn’t be seen dead doing so in real life and neither would I. That noted, there is a pretty good argument to be made for having voice capabilities built into a tablet like the ASUS Fonepad. After all, Bluetooth headsets and speakerphones like the Jabra Speak 510 and the Plantronics Calisto work incredibly well. Moreover, I can see using a device like this with my Martian watch. In each case the tablet would make the connection but the conversation would take place over the headset, speaker or watch. And while my iPad mini doesn’t have the built-in voice connectivity of the ASUS Fonepad, Thanks to Line2 i use the tablet as my speakerphone on a daily basis.

ASUS did some interesting things with the ASUS Fonepad. Like the Nexus 7 the Fonepad has a 1280 x 800 IPS display that is LED backlit. For some reason AUS decided to use an Intel Atom Z2420 processor in the device. The radios include 850/900/1900/2100MHz WCDMA and 850/900/1800/1900MHz EDGE/GSM bands with support for 802.11b/g/n and, strangely, BT 3.0 rather than BT 4.0.

Other specs include 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The ASUS Fonepad does include a microSD slot so you can add additional storage. And while the ASUS Fonepad isn’t the most powerful or highly-spec’ed device we’ve seen, it does come in with one number that impresses — the ASUS Fonepad will be just $249 when it ships later this spring.

Ascend P2

When choosing a smartphone these days one of the key “features” worth considering is speed. After all, with smartphones now serving as powerful on-the-go pocket computers having a fast, ever-present connection is key. The Huawei Ascend P2 promises just that. Judie went hands-on at Mobile World Congress. Here’s a look.

The company is calling the Ascend P2 the “World’s Fastest 4G LTE Smartphone”. It features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and LTE Cat 4 that can offer speeds of up to 150 Mbps. The phone is just 8.4mm thick and sports a 4.7″ IPS HD in-cell touch display. Of course it has Corning’s second generation Gorilla Glass. The company is especially proud of the phone’s infinity edge that provides a streamlined edge evocative of an infinity pool.

The Huawei Ascend P2 ships with Android 4.1 OS and runs the company’s own Emotion UI 1.5. The phone packs in a 2420 mAh battery that powers the 1.5 GHz quad-core processor. NFC is also present and the company has built a number of power-saving technologies into it as wel.

The Ascend P2′s screen has a “magic touch” feature that makes it possible to activate the screen while wearing gloves. That’s something I could sure use right now! Rounding out the feature set is a 13MP read camera with HDR and a 1.3 MP from camera. The phone has a dedicated camera button on one side- I love that feature on Windows Phones!- and special technology to help when shooting in low light.

Pricing has not been announced but the Huawei will be available Q2. You can read more here and make sure to check out the full gallery from MWC.

It is also worth noting that the company has launched its Make it Possible campaign as it looks to gain more worldwide recognition. MWC 2013 marks the beginning of a year-long campaign that will encompass touch-points such as retail experiences, online activities, and media engagement. Huawei wants to be a global player and is making all the right moves to get there.

When I first saw the PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger (say that one five times fast!!) I didn’t think much of it. To me it looked like a clunky means of doubling your iPhone 5′s battery. Judie disagreed. Now that Judie saw and handled the PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger at MWC I have to admit she was right and I was wrong. Yes, the PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger is actually a rather ingenious way to quickly and easily double your smartphone’s battery charge.

Suction cups grab the phone and hold tight

The PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger holds a 2000 mAhbattery inside a case that is just 10mm thick. It weighs a scant 86 grams and is made from durable ABS and a hard-shell coating. It connects to your iPhone 5 thanks to a series of suction cups on the flat face of the battery. They are strong and flexible enough to attach to most phones and cases.

A Flex Tip Connector on the PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger bends up to 90 degrees. Connectors are available for devices using microUSB, Apple 30-pin or Lightning adapters. In other words, there are connectors available for almost any phone on the market.

The PowerSkin PoP’n Pop on Power Battery Charger is available in Black and White with more colors on the way. Prices range from $69.99 for the microUSB (available now) or $79.99 for the Apple-friendly connectors (available in March). You can learn more here.

I sure wish I had had the SpareOnePLUS after SuperStorm Sandy took out most of the power in my area last fall. Sure, Elana and I had charged up all of the eternal batteries we had on hand and immediately went into “smartphone power conservation mode”, but the SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone would have made our smartphone-worries disappear. Judie got her hands on one last night during an event at Mobile World Congress. Let’s take a closer look.

SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone gets its power from a single AA battery. So long as it is in range of a GSM cell tower even if the SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone doesn’t have a SIM card installed it will still let you make an emergency call. In fact, the single press of a button the phone can connect to emergency services and you can be geo-located. There’s much more to this safety device. It comes with a waterproof bag that floats and is also submersible. Moreover, you can talk through the bag. And the phone’s “extreme weather operating range” of -22F to 140F far exceeds all other smartphones.

SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone

The SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone gets up to ten hours of talk time on a single battery and it keeps its charge for up to 15 years. After all, what good is an emergency phone if it doesn’t have any juice?

We have already noted the fact that the SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone offers one-touch connection to emergency services. It is not, however, just an emergency phone. You can pre-program up to nine different phone numbers and the auto text reply feature will let anyone trying to text you know that you are unable to read text messages but can be reached by phone.

The SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone has one final trick up its sleeve. Since this is first and foremost a phone for emergencies the handset includes an LED Torchlight that provides up to a full day of continuous light o a single battery. (during our post-Sandy experience we could have used that too!)

The SpareOnePLUS Emergency Mobile Phone is just $99.99 and is available now. You can find more details and order yours here on the product page.

HP Slate7

HP’s journey into tablet-dom didn’t turn out all too well the first time. Sure their tablet running WebOS gained some traction, but that was only after they dropped down to fire sale prices. Well Mobile World Congress in Barcelona just saw HP announce their return to the tablet market. This time out HP is going with the time-tested Android operating system and the budget price of just $169. Will they have a winner on their hands? Only time will tell.

The HP Slate7 promises to be an affordable Android Jelly Bean tablet sporting a sweet spot 7″ diagonal screen. Designed to be taken any and everywhere, the HP Slate7 weighs in at just 13 oz. Priced at just $169 when it is released in April, the budget tablet sports a few features that aren’t quite as budget as you might expect. For example, the HP Slate7 is the first tablet with embedded Beats Audio. The company promises the “best-sounding, richest audio experience available on a tablet” but we’ll wait to judge that for ourselves. Better still, the HP Slate7 is a true Google tablet and brings access to such Google services as Google Now, Google Search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Drive and Google+ Hangouts for multi-person video chat, as well as access to apps and digital content through Google Play.

As you might expect, the HP Slate7 isn’t a cutting edge powerhouse tablet. Then again, at under $170 no one should be surprised. Still, the specs aren’t exactly bad either. It is powered by an ARM Dual Core Cortex-A9 1.6 GHz processor, has a 3PM camera on the back and a front-facing VGA camera. And while this tablet is likely going to be a better fit for media consumption that actual content creation it will ship with HP’s ePrint application pre-loaded.

The HP Slate7 looks like an interesting addition as the budget tablet war continues. We’ll look forward to getting our hands on one when it ships in April. You can learn more here.

The Academy Awards…I mean the Oscars are here. Get ready for a film filled Oscar weekend! The 85^th Oscars ceremony occurs this Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood televised live on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m., PT / 8:30 p.m., ET. Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy) will host as the stars squirm in their seats as viewers celebrate an exciting year in film. Nominees will be sitting much closer to the stage as producers plan a Hollywood musical theme based on the recent resurgence in the past decade beginning with Chicago plus several surprises.

Here are my picks (with asterisk in front) for this year’s Oscars (a.k.a. Academy Awards) for films released in 2012. Which are your favorites?

Best Picture
*Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

No acting noms for Life of Pi hurts their chances while Silver got all four. Still, I cannot tell a lie… Argo will win though Lincoln takes second place.

Best Director
*Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Michael Haneke (Amour)
Behn Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

This year the winner definitely won’t fall in line with the Director’s Guild of America winner…Ben Affleck. Haneke is the only one who could take prize from Speilberg.

Best Actor
*Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Denzel Washington (Flight)
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

First time nominees Jackman and Cooper (along with DeNiro, Lawrence and Weaver taking the other acting spots) made great impressions, but Day-Lewis wins again.

Best Actress
*Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Youngest versus oldest, but Lawrence will win thanks to some nice carryover from The Hunger Games.

Best Supporting Actor
*Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
Alan Arkin (Argo)
Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

Everyone in this category has already won, but TLJ made the biggest impression. Would Samuel L. Jackson finally have won had he been nominated?

Best Supporting Actress
*Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
Sally Field (Lincoln)
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
Amy Adams (The Master)
Jackie Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

Hathaway’s mesmerizing performance will launch her career to a new level and so will this win.

Best Original Screenplay
*Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
Michael Haneke (Amour)
John Gatins (Flight)

Boal helps Zero get at least one of the major awards.

Best Adapted Screenplay
*Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Chris Terrio (Argo)
Lucy Alibar & Ben Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
David Magee (Life of Pi)

Kushner’s amazing research, dialogue and balance makes him a sure winner here.

Best Animated Film
*Brave
Frankenweenie
Wreck-It Ralph
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Disney and Pixar hold all the best cards here.

Best Foreign Film
*Amour
A Royal Affair
No
Kon-Tiki
War Witch

Amour increased their chances with a best picture nomination.

Best Documentary Feature
*Searching for Sugar Man
How to Survive a Plague
The Gatekeepers
The Invisible War
5 Broken Cameras

Best Production Design
*Les Miserables
Anna Karenina
Lincoln
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi

Best Cinematography
*Claudio Miranda-Life of Pi
Janusz Kaminski-Lincoln
Roger Deakins-Skyfall
Seamus McGarvey-Anna Karenina
Robert Richardson- Django Unchained

Best Costume Design
*Anna Karenina
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Editing
*Argo
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
*The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Miserables
Hitchcock

Best Score
*John Williams-Lincoln
Mychael Danna-Life of Pi
Dario Marianelli-Anna Karenina
Alexandre Desplat-Argo
Thomas Newman-Skyfall

Best Song
*Skyfall (Song) (Skyfall)
Suddenly (Les Miserables)
Everybody Needs a Best Friend (Ted)
Pi’s Lullaby (Life of Pi)
Before My Time (Chasing Ice)

Best Sound Editing
*Zero Dark Thirty
Skyfall
Life of Pi
Argo
Django Unchained

Best Sound Mixing
*Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Argo
Skyfall
Lincoln

Best Visual Effects
*Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

Best Animated Short
*Paperman
Adam and Dog
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels

Best Documentary Short
*Open Heart
Mondays at Racine
Inocente
Redemption
Kings Point

Best Live Action Short
*Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Henry

Ready for my test drive in the 2014 Kia Forte!

I live in a part of the country where one is likely to feel out of place if not driving an SUV or a pickup truck, and I like driving a big SUV. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy taking the 2014 Kia Forte out for a test drive while recently attending the Kia First Drive event in Scottsdale, however, because there’s just something *fun* about sitting lower to the road and really feeling what’s going on that can’t be duplicated when riding in a jacked-up rig. Kia gave me ample opportunity to experience that sensation during my ~115 test drive last week, and when I was done I came away with a new respect for family sedans in general and Kia in particular.

Just as I did in my Sorento writeup, we’ll start with what’s new for 2014, and then I’ll jump into how the drive went …

The 2014 Forte is Kia’s 5th generation compact sedan; in four short years they have already replaced the last generation’s model, which Kia says should serve as an indicator of this market segment’s importance to Kia’s continued growth. Kia has replaced their compact sedan twice in the current generation of the Toyota Corolla because they want to continuously improve and compete.

From the development focus of the Kia Forte, they have enhanced the vehicle’s strong points — its design, the packaging, and the power train performance — and they made an “assertive leap” in terms of refinement by giving it better ride comfort, better miles per gallon, and by introducing premium amenities to this segment.

The design team drew inspiration from the cheetah and an archer for the new Forte, and the US design Center took the lead for the interior and exterior styling. Kia believes that people want to “look good in their car, that they want to be able to connect to the outside world from inside their vehicle”, and they want to “be seen as making a smart choice” in the vehicle they drive.

Some of the 2014 Forte’s key design elements include its broad shoulders, its voluminous hood, and on the EX — the 12 LEDs in the positioning lights. Kia added front and rear corner glass to not only make the interior seem bigger, but to also enhance visibility; it does both.

The EX has added upscale features including a chrome accents on the outside door handles and the lower window beltline, or “hockey stick” as Kia called it. You can see why they gave it that name by looking at this picture …

photo courtesy of Kia

The rear end, short deck lid, the color matched bumpers — and on the fully loaded model — 81 LEDs in each taillight make the Forte a “sporty and yet sophisticated car, unlike any other in this segment.”

It’s not immediately obvious, but Kia has increased the Forte’s trunk opening width by two inches, which will make inserting bulky items — such as a bicycle — that much easier.

The center console is canted 10 degrees toward the driver, as it is in the more expensive Kia Optima, which makes the controls that much easier to reach. This space is meant to emphasize “that the driver is in control”.

To give the Forte its more athletic proportions, Kia made it wider, longer and lower, as they have done with their other recent sedans; to increase its sportiness, they increased the Forte’s wheelbase.

The inside is a comfortable space for passengers. Front seat riders benefit from an increase in head, leg and shoulder room; the Forte remains “one of the roomiest compact sedans in this segment”.

The backseat has plenty of leg room!

Two all new engines will be introduced with the 2014 Forte: the 1.8 liter is standard on the LX, and it generates 148 horsepower; the new 2.0 liter engine is standard on the EX, and it produces 173 horsepower. As was done with the Sorento’s new engine, these engines have also been stress tested by running them for 200 hours at wide open throttle, and on top of that additional time at red-line. Kia’s engines “are built to last”. Some of the key elements of the new engine are an aluminum bed plate, which when compared to the last generation’s is lighter and stiffer. The 2014 Forte also has an offset crankshaft which reduces the friction between the pistons and the cylinder wall. The final feature was the lightweight material that Kia used for the intake manifold, which saves 30% in weight compared to the aluminum they used on the last generation.

The Forte has a MacPherson strut front suspension and a coupled torsion beam rear axle; the front bushing sizes have been increased from 66mm to 70mm to make the ride more comfortable and to help isolate noise from the road. Flex steering is standard on the Forte EX model, and the switch that controls it is on the right side of the steering wheel; it has the same three settings as the Sorrento — comfort, normal and sport.

Giving the Forte a quiet interior was one of Kia’s goals, and the ways that they made it happen included using a special material to create the dash isolation pad; they also used premium carpeting that is not usually found in this class vehicle. A dual-layered engine mount with two different tuning frequencies was used, which allowed Kia’s engineers to target high frequencies like wind sounds and lower frequency sounds like auto vibration.

Kia wants you to notice how quiet the car is when you drive it.

The 2014 has improved aerodynamics, and tortial rigidity. Reinforcements have been added to the cowl, the under floor, and to other integral parts. 63% of the Forte’s body is made from high-strength steel to give it that stiffer and stronger structure that is needed to deliver their desired attributes.

There are a lot of premium features that have made their way into the compact sedan market, and the 2014 Forte delivers many of the features that consumers now expect … and it introduces a few more. The EX has a power ventilated driver’s seat with memory; the ventilated seat is a class-exclusive feature. On an EX equipped with keyless entry, the side mirrors will fold out and approach lighting will come on in various points, basically “welcoming you to your vehicle”.

The Forte will be available in two trim levels; the base LX and the EX. The LX has the 1.8 liter engine, and it starts at under $16,000. The well-equipped LX Automatic with Power Package will be priced in the mid $18,000. The power package will include 16″ alloy wheels, remote keyless entry and cruise control. The EX adds to the power package, and it includes 17″ wheels as an option. The premium package includes things like a sunroof, leather seat trim, heated front and rear seats, a ventilated drivers seat, and other goodies. The Technology Package includes navigation, LED taillights, and HID headlights.

The UVO eServices package that I described in the Sorento writeup will also be available in the 2014 Forte.

The Test Drive

As is usually the case when we are attending an auto event together, Helena from Chip Chick and I partnered up. I drove, and Helena navigated the course that Kia had charted; we started at the W hotel in Scottsdale and made our way out of town. The way Kia had set it up was that we were given a book with our course plotted out, so it would say things like ’0 miles turn right from W Hotel’, ’2.3 miles turn right onto …’

I hate to admit it, but even with great instructions — and probably because we had started talking and weren’t paying enough attention — we almost missed one of those turns. As a result, I got to see exactly how nimble the Forte could be as I cut across a lane and darted into the right turn leading to our exit; the Forte handled itself beautifully.

Once we were on the open road, I realized that the speed limit was finally 65, so I got a chance to goose the accelerator and feel the Forte quickly respond. Alas, I didn’t try the three steering settings because I felt like the Forte was driving and handling perfectly as it was.

It has been a while since I drove a sedan, and there were several things that really struck me during the drive. I loved the way Kia had put a little window in front of the side mirror; this is something I had never seen before, and it not only made visibility better, it also made everything feel more roomy. That there was a window on the back quarter of the rear window was another blind-spot conquering bonus; you wouldn’t believe how much easier it is to see when you aren’t having to jerk your neck around to compensate for solid panels.

As I drove, Helena fiddled with the stereo. It was no time at all before she had her iPhone hooked up to UVO, and even though it’s not listed as a feature, we were able to get Spotify to stream over the system — with displayed tags — albeit briefly. Perhaps because it’s not technically compatible (yet?), we kept getting kicked off of Spotify back into iTunes. The stereo system in the Forte sounded amazing, by the way.

I’m pretty sure that this was my first time to drive a car with keyless entry, and I’m not going to lie — it took me a minute to get used to the idea that there was no keyhole to deal with, the key could either be in my bag or in the center console tray, and the car would start with the touch of a button. Awesomeness.

And I loved the way the Forte rode; there was no doubt that it was lower to the ground and more responsive than what I was used to, and not only did the Forte hug the road — it felt very sporty while doing so.

Probably the most important thing I can tell you about my time driving the Forte was that after a while I stopped thinking of it as a Kia, and I started thinking of it as a really nice car. In fact, if I hadn’t seen a single maker’s badge, and if I didn’t know one sedan from another based on its shape, I would have thought I was driving a much more expensive car made by a much more prestigious manufacturer. And that is perhaps what impressed me the most about the 2014 Kia Forte.

Learn more about the 2014 Forte at the Kia site

Ready to take the 2014 Kia Sorento for a drive!

Last week I joined a group of bloggers and traditional press in Scottsdale, Arizona for a chance to take a test drive and learn more about Kia’s 2014 Sorento (SUV)  and Forte (4 door sedan) models. I should probably admit that other than knowing a few people who own or have owned Kia vehicles, I haven’t had much personal experience with the auto brand — unless you count taking a few hair-raising test rides in the Optima Hybrid Carly reviewed last summer!  But I digress.

So here are some things you might not have known about Kia: Safety is a priority for them, and every vehicle that Kia has launched since the Soul has been an IIHS top-safety pick; “that’s nine top safety picks”, we were told by Tom Loveless, Kia’s Executive Vice president of Sales. “It’s quickly evolving into a heritage for us as a brand, and it is something that will continue to be a priority for us on a go-forward basis.”

From an IQS (Initial Quality Study) perspective, Kia is ranked 9th out of 22 non-premium brands, and they have outpaced the industry in terms of their growth with a 19 point improvement over the last two years. Kia has launched nine products in a three-year period; continuing to improve their quality will be a central focus for them as they go forward.

Kia’s KMMG plant in Georgia has brought 11,000 jobs to the area; it is the largest economic development project in Georgia’s state history. 40% of Kia’s total volume is actually built in West Point, which produces the Optima and the Sorento. The West Point plant is operating on three full shifts, and building 360,000 vehicles in total per year out of that single plant.

The Optima is Kia’s highest score in company history in terms of JD Power appeal studies; 80% of Optima owners would definitely recommend Kia. Based on what I experienced in my Optima Hybrid ride last summer I can understand why. Kia has seven all-new or significantly redesigned vehicles being brought to market in 2013, and their market-share is on the rise.

Let’s take a look at what will be new for 2014 for the Sorento, and then I’ll tell you about its test drive.

Sorento

The Kia Sorento debuted in 2003, and that design’s production lasted until 2009. In January 2010, the current model was introduced to the marketplace as a 2011 model year vehicle. In terms of life-cycle, Steve Hirashki (a Kia product strategy manager) said the Sorento is in mid-cycle, and it is now getting a”facelift”.

Some of the things that Kia wanted to achieve with the 2014 Sorrento were to freshen the design and greatly improve the convenience and luxury amenities of the vehicle’s experience, as well as improve the dynamics of the vehicle; they wanted to raise the Sorento to a new level.

This goal would require a few things, including a new platform.

Kia designers in California took on the task of  elevating the Sorento’s design; they wanted to improve the level of sophistication and refinement. Those who are familiar with the model will notice that there is a reduction in the level of black trim and there is more surface area of painted body colored components; this is especially noticeable on the rear. The front grill has been thinned out, and styling elements have been added including LED lighting accents. The idea was to widen out the vehicle, and give it a “better, cleaner stance”.

On the inside, the 2014 Sorento has also received an upgrade: Kia focussed on the communication interface points of the vehicle including the center console, the meter cluster, as well as a lot of the “touch points”. Kia adopted nano paint technology on a lot of the trim components, they added satin chrome accents, and they upgraded the leather used on the steering wheel — before it was split-grain, and now it is a full-grain leather.

2014 will bring all new seat fabrics on the LX trim; they will be great for families because they are soil-resistant, anti-static, and anti-microbial. Kia will now offer a new premium Napa-grade leather in addition to the leather they were already offering, and it will come standard on the brand new SXL trim level.

The center console has a large 8″ diagonal screen that features their new UVO eServices, as well as the Infinity by Harman entertainment system. There is a new 7″ TFT LCD meter cluster which has a configurable center, so you can change the info that’s shown.

Kia has changed the “gated shifter” that was on the Sorento (they added it because it was sportier) to a “straight boot” type surrounded by leather and material; they found that consumers wanted a “nice, easy throw, easy operation shifter.”

Here’s where things get interesting. As I previously mentioned, the 2014 Sorento receives an all new platform underneath, which allowed Kia to increase the interior roominess of the vehicle; this translates to an additional inch of leg room in the second row and about a centimeter (9mm) of increased leg room in the third row. I still wouldn’t want to sit in that third row!

With the new platform, Kia was able to rethink the Sorento’s suspension; the basic design remains the same with MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link rear. But changing the platform allowed the engineers the opportunity to rethink the bushing sizes, the controlling link arm designs, etc. What this boils down to — and what consumers will most appreciate — is the improved ride, the improved straight line stability, the enhanced dynamic performance, and an overall roomier vehicle.

Further improvements include Motor Driven Powered Steering (MDPS) to replace the hydraulic system previously used; this reduces parasitic drag. Because of the new MDPS capability, Kia introduced Flex-Steer, a feature that allows the driver to select a steering assist level of normal, comfort, or sport mode depending upon his or her preference. Flex-Steer will be standard on the SX and Limited trims.

The 2014 Sorento has a reduced steering ratio which gives it a quicker response; the turning diameter is now 30.5 feet, so it is one of the best in its segment. Wheel width has been increased by half an inch to give a stiffer ride and improved responsiveness. The front brake rotor size has been increased from 11.9″ to 12.6″ for shorter stopping distances – going 100 kph (or about 62 mph) to 0, the stopping distance has been shortened by 4 to 8 feet, which could be enough to make the difference in certain situations; the strut tower has also been stiffened.

With the new platform, Kia’s engineers were able to look at the overall body design, to examine the cross members and adjust them so that there was better absorption in a crash. They also increased the number of weld counts and basically stiffened the body overall — by about 18%; a stiffer box allows for a more solid road feel.

Three engines are currently offered on the 2013 Sorento — a 2.4 Multiport Injector (MPI) 4 cylinder, an optional 2.4 Gasoline Direct Injected (GDI) 4 cylinder, and an optional 3.5 MPI V6. For 2014, Kia is dropping the entry-level 2.4 MPI engine, so for 2014 the standard will be their 2.4 GDI engine, which adds greater efficiency and power.

Kia is also introducing a new, more compact 3.3L V6 (Lambda Series engine) which will offer greater horsepower (290 over the 276 that the 3.5 liter engine produces) with more torque and greater efficiency. This is the engine that is also being used on the just introduced Kia Cadenza, so this represents the Kia line’s premium V6.

Besides being more efficient and more powerful, the new 3.3L V6 engine is exceptionally durable; it was tested at over 300 hours at wide-open throttle, and then for another 20 at extreme engine speeds. When it was torn down, it showed very little wear.

2014 will see the addition of “Torque Vectoring Cornering Control” to the current AWD system. This adds an additional safety dimension to the all-wheel drive experience, because when the sensors pick up that the car is starting to understeer greatly, it applies the inside corner brakes to get the vehicle right.

Kia has also added a power liftgate to the new Sorento; it is programmable — meaning that if the person using it is of a shorter stature, or the garage where the Sorento is being stored has a height limitation — you can set the pull-open condition.

Available on the LX grade, and standard on the SX and Limited models, will be a second row window blind for passengers in the back seat. The panoramic sunroof has been redesigned to a one piece, with power-operated shade. Dual ventilated and heated front seats are now offered, and front door pocket illumination has been added so that (with the remote keyless entry) when you walk up to the car welcoming  lights will come on.

Unique in its class is the heated second row cushioning, which now also has a 40/20/40 split configuration.

Kia wanted to make sure that the Sorrento remained technologically advanced, so they are now offering blind spot detection with 2-mode operation so that when you are driving at speeds above 18 mph the indicator will light up when it senses a vehicle approaching from behind; if you turn on your turn signal, it will give out an audible warning as well.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the 550 watt Infinity by Harman sound system: 12 speakers in 10 locations, and amazing sound; it is included with the Kia Sorento navigation system.

The Sorento starts at $24,100 for the LX, which now comes standard with the 2.4 GDI engine; some of the upgrades mentioned are also available for that basic level. Kia is also introducing the SXL trim level for the more demanding Kia customer who wants even more gadgets and more luxury; SXL will have the standard Napa leather seating, the front headlamps have the Xenon HID headlights, heated second row seats, and heated steering wheel.

So the 2014 Kia Sorento has had a facelift, but with 80% new components, it is really much more than that. The Sorento has been thoroughly re-engineered with enhanced safety, more comfort, better ride quality, more room, with new premium features, and with cutting edge technologies.

But here’s the best part …

UVO eServices

Picture courtesy of Kia

Henry Bzeih, Kia’s Chief Technology Strategist, was on hand to introduce his technological masterpiece, UVO eServices. Three years ago, Kia introduced UVO powered by Microsoft, which gave drivers the ability to command and control their music and telephone — all the basic things one does while driving —  a touch away from the steering wheel. Now this system is available on most of Kia’s vehicles. Rather than rest on their laurels, Kia wanted to continue to improve and continue to add value with technology that makes sense for Kia owners.

UVO eServices (short for “Your Voice”) Infotainment System with Voice Command Navigation is available in the 2014 Sorentos rolling off the line; it is what Henry considers to be a great achievement for Kia. “It took a lot of work and a lot of effort to make this happen”, he said, and the ‘secret sauce’ is telematics.

Telematics is a hybrid word combining Telecomunication and Infomatics; telematics include the navigation, diagnostics and other convenience services that customers are used to paying for in services like OnStar. Now don’t get me wrong, OnStar and UVO are different services based on different platforms, but some of their services — like emergency assistance, diagnostic information and parked vehicle locator services — are quite similar.

As the original UVO did, the upgraded eServices system will offer its users a hands-free mobile phone solution as well as hands-free music control. UVO eServices will also be used to control the 2014 Sorento’s on-board navigation system through voice commands.

Kia want to “reinvent and disrupt” the industry. As we all know, to get any kind of telematic services today, we have to pay. Services like OnStar and Ford Sync have yearly subscription rates that are anywhere from $60 (Sync) to hundreds of dollars (OnStar); in order to access all of their benefits once the initial trial period is over, you must pay.

UVO eServices will be available to Kia owners for 10 years, or 100,000 miles, for FREE.

How can Kia do it?

From a telematics perspective, UVO eServices uses the customers smartphone as the means of transporting and conveying information. This means that there are no additional subscriber fees and no additional contracts for the customer; everything is done through their existing smartphone subscription. I love the idea of not having another data bill to pay — I already pay for internet access at home, on my iPhone and on my iPad. Enough already, right?

Kia has enabled this information ecosystem to make information available on the web and on the customer’s mobile device, so they will always have access to the information at home as well as in their vehicle.

Some of the services that UVO eServices will do for free include:

• 911 connect – if you get in an accident, an automatic call will go to 911 directly upon airbag deployment.

• Roadside assistance – push the button, and a guy on the other end at the call center will know where you are and what is wrong with your vehicle.

• Automatic Diagnostics – know in real-time what is wrong when a check engine light goes off or you get some other system warning. Not only that, with the push of a button you can make a reservation for service at your dealership.

• Maintenance – Usually you’ll get a reminder notice every 90 days from your dealership telling you it is time to come in for an oil change, at the very least you’ll have a static cling reminder in the upper left hand corner of your windshield. With UVO eServices, the Kia dealership will know exactly when you need service based on feedback from the vehicle, not based on assumptions. You’ll receive a notification through the web (and through your mobile) so you can schedule the exact service that’s needed when it is needed.

• Mapping – Through a Google partnership set up only a month ago, you will be able to go to Google maps, select Kia, and send the destination from your maps to your car’s navigation system; this will work from your iPhone, iPad, or the web.

Customers have told Kia that they want these services, but they don’t want to have to pay another bill on top of their car payment and insurance. Kia, through Henry and his team, decided to get creative and figure out a way that these services could be given to people for free. And make no mistake about it, these are just the initial services that UVO will offer —  Henry and his team are already working on introducing more features and more content.

A question was asked regarding whether UVO would work with Siri; Henry said that later this year they will roll the feature out where you will be able to push a button in the car to activate Siri through your iPhone or iPad. Well! I can’t help but think of how this method of doing things compares to the way Martian Watches handles data services. The result is a watch that works because it isn’t trying to be the computer; I don’t see why that same principle couldn’t work just as well — but with even more capabilities — in a vehicular setting. It boggles the mind. The only downside will be what happens if you live in a dead-zone, but the good news is that cellular networks are constantly expanding and improving in the US; perhaps my concern will eventually be a moot point.

UVO will work with iPhones at launch, and an Android app is coming in the second quarter of 2013.

The Test Drive

Helena from Chip Chick and I partnered up for our test drive, which started in the 2014 Forte; you can read about that experience by clicking, here. We drove about ~115 miles for the first part of the day, and then we stopped for lunch at the Copper Bistro in Miami. After one of the biggest burgers I’ve ever attempted to eat (half of, anyway), it was time for us to swap vehicles into the Sorento.

Henry Bezieh came along with us for the ride, and it was great having him along to answer any technical questions we had about UVO and the navigation system.  I was excited to drive the Sorento; my usual vehicle is a GMC Denali XL, which is a big SUV. I wanted to see if I felt crowded in any way inside the Sorento, or if it seemed to make any obvious compromises. Other than the loss of storage room in the rear compartment of the Sorento due to the third row of seats — and the obvious child-size leg room in said third row — I didn’t feel like I was in a much smaller vehicle.

I had an incredible amount of legroom in the driver’s seat — in fact I had to move my seat up! The Sorento we drove was also keyless entry, but after driving the Forte, I was finally accustomed to the system. I could get used to that luxury, as a matter of fact. Granted, the Sorento is five model years newer than Kev’s and my family wagon, but it was slightly disheartening to see that the options inside the Sorento that I was driving were as — good or  – than what I am used to.

Heated front and rear seats? Check. Heated steering wheel? Check. AWD? Check. Premium leather? Check. Holds seven? No … the Sorento can hold eight. OnStar? UVO. satellite radio? Check. Automatic rear lift gate? Check. But then, the Sorento also has navigation, keyless entry, ventilated front seats, and a full length sunroof. Sticker price on a fully loaded 2014 GMC Denali XL? I’m guessing that it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $76 – $80K. Sticker price on a fully loaded 2014 Kia Sorento? Somewhere in the neighborhood of $34 – $36K, from what I can gather.

Ouch. That’s an eye-opener.

I drove the heck out of the Sorento, and as I told Kev tonight, it is an SUV that I would be proud to drive. But I don’t think I could have always said that. Similar to the perception evolution that those of us who grew up in the 70s had to undergo as Toyota Datsun/Nissan and Honda went from being tin can economy cars to top of the line imports with luxury lines, I feel like Kia has crossed the line in the sand. It’s still economical, but Kia seems determined to make a product that is as good or better than the others available; I can’t help but respect that.

The Kia Sorento is made in the USA at a plant that employs Americans who live in an economically stressed area. The Sorento has every amenity I could want and then some, and the tech it incorporates is awesome.  If I had to make a short list of vehicles that I would consider when our Denali is ready for replacement, the Kia Sorento would definitely be on there.

Learn more about the 2014 Sorento at the Kia site.

There is nothing like a frenzy filled Friday. I received an email from PlayStation Network titled “Be the first to know” this morning sent just after midnight. The email lists an announcement on February 20, 2013 at 6 p.m. EST. as while as links to “Learn More” and their official Twitter and Facebook. Based on current general PlayStation knowledge, the most exciting would be a new console (e.g. “PlayStation 4”). Looks like Sony might not be waiting until June’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) to make the initial announcement. Sony, a Japanese based company, also has information on their official blog.

If the announcement is for something besides a new console, then Sony has an even greater advantage, but it’s not likely. Sony would not get much useful insight focused on a new “PS4” console if people talked about something different when they “join the conversation”. Unless Sony shifts their conversation by dropping clues and clever hints (maybe in a special game format) until the February 20 announcement, most participants can expect a predictable PS4 initial launch announcement…with specifics to follow and hands-on demonstrations at this year’s E3 where Microsoft will likely announce their next console. Do you think the announcement will create genuine excitement or just drive up demand for a PS4?

Did I speak too soon when just yesterday, for probably the umpteenth time, I said that BlackBerry was dead? The jury is still out on that one, but perhaps I’ll be issuing an apology in the coming months — and make no mistake about it, that would be one apology that I would be happy to make.

While I am in Scottsdale covering a Kia event, Dan was in NYC this morning at the BlackBerry event. He had a chance after the press conference to get some hands-on time with the just announced BlackBerry Q10, and he came away impressed. He will have a review soon on the Z10 (touchscreen) they were given at the event, but in the meantime — here are some specs and pics that he took of the new QWERTY model BlackBerry Q10.

Dan mentioned that the Q10 is not out yet, and they were only showing a few. Oddly, they didn’t let anyone dig too deeply into them, so I’m guessing that the software isn’t quite ready for primetime.

Dan said, “For those who love the BlackBerry’s physical keyboard but longed for a real pocket computer instead of a messaging device with apps, the Q10 may be just the thing.”

The BlackBerry Q10 will measure  119.6mm x 66.8mm x 10.3mm, and it will weigh 139grams. It will have a 3.1″ Super AMOLED display, 2GB RAM, and 16GB onboard memory. It will have a 1.5 GHz Dual Core processor, an 8 megapixel rear facing camera, and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera. The BB Q10 will have Bluetooth 4.0, and will be NFC enabled.

Regarding the Z10 he was given, Dan says “For those who want a big beautiful screen, but for whom connections matter most, the z10 has a lot to offer. For example, I get an email from Judie and can access her contact info without changing app. Then, with a tap, I can see all recent interactions across email twitter Facebook linked in etc. all in one place. It is slick.”

I’m really hoping that I was wrong about BlackBerry being dead, that I will be eating crow, and that BlackBerry will have the last laugh. Why? Because the mobile space needs all the competition it can get!

What do you all think? Are you willing to give BlackBerry another shot? Or are you now too firmly entrenched in your iOs and Android devices?

You can watch a replay of the BlackBerry 10 launch event by clicking, here.

It is RIM’s last hope to stay afloat. After hyping the BlackBerry Playbook and banking on its success RIM has continued to stumble. Even hardcore BB-user like Elana and her brother have left their BlackBerries and moved to other platforms. And as for the Playbook not being a hit, when the company that made their chops on messaging releases a tablet without a native email client, how could it possibly succeed?

So RIM has developed and entirely new operating system and is formally showing off the OS and the devices to run it. I’m in Manhattan for the Blackberry Experience and will be adding text and pictures as the event unfolds.

One of the two pictures that keeps cycling through this slides while we wait is a shot of the email client. Clearly RIM is trying to leverage their history as a messaging device. (The other picture is of the camera app. Not a surprise since that ha emerged as one of the most important functions on today’s superphones.)

They are hyping the ability to use it for various aspects of your life and keep each area separate while switching between them quickly.

Discussing the last year of working to get developers on board. They traveled throughout the world and are referring to a “huge wave of support” from the developer community. They are “stoked”. “Largest catalogue ever for the launch of a new platform”.

Thorsten Heins took reigns of RIM one year ago and today launched the next generation of BlacBerry.

This platform is for people who are hyper-connected and need balance in both their personal and professional life. And it is for people who want to be able to go from one app to another without having to hit a home button over and over again. (A clear shot at iOS.)

“We intend to lead the move from mobile communication to real mobile computing.”
“Constantly connected at all times and we will be a leader in keeping you connected.”

BB10 is designed to work with other devices and extending your mobile computing.

“Today represents a new beginning for BlackBerry. Two years ago we had to make a tough decision. Did we adopt someone else’s platform or did we build a new platform from the ground up.” Obviously they took the even more difficult approach and created a brand new OS.

“We have transformed ourselves inside and out… and today we make one more announcement. Today RIM becomes BlackBerry.” They are now one company known by the same name everywhere. The new beginning starts today with “our renaming and the launch of BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry Z10. One new all touchscreen phone. 4.2″ display with 356ppi. Back is a textured surface that is easy to hold. Integrated social communication

BlackBerry Q10. Has a physical keyboard. “We build the best keyboard experience in the world.”

BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry Hub and BlackBerry Flow let you move from one activity to another without pausing the first experience to access the second. You can actually get a quick look at your messages. That’s BB Flow. The BB Hub lets you see all your messages in one integrated view. And all of it can be done with one hand and one thumb.

BB10 seems to take social integration to a new level. You can, for example, be going into a meeting, and if you have indicated who is in the meeting the BB Hub will pull down all sorts of information from FaceBook, Linked in and more. That even includes pictures.

The new keyboard lets you put words into your messages by literally flicking words from the keyboard to the screen. It is hard to appreciate it without actually seeing it in practice. It is impressive. They also displayed the ability to move from one language to another with ease.

BlackBerry Balance lets you keep your work phone and your personal accounts separate while still being able to keep constant access to both. It means that, on one device, you can have two devices. This feature is one hat I think will really resonate with consumers and enterprise alike.

Now talking about BlackBerry Messenger.

BBM now lets you go from a chat to a video call without leaving one application for another. It also lets you screen share and lets you share your screen with someone else, while also maintaining complete control over the experience.

BlackBerry Remember lets you integrate all your content for specific contexts into a single place; this includes Outlook and Evernote content.

Camera lets you focus by tapping anywhere on the screen. And you can capture a period of time and select the picture you want. The picture editor is also built in. There is no need to jump to other applications. It is all built in and accessible. They have not, however, discussed hardware specifics. In fact that is the case everywhere so far.

Story Maker is built in and simple to use. It is not a huge innovation but it is nicely implemented and does not require tapping a home button, selecting another app and bringing content into the app. It is much smoother.

In a world where content is king BlackBerry has made sure to have plenty of content. There are applications, music and movies galore. The company has worked hard to make sure they have parters on board. They have been far more strategic than ever before. There are over 70,000 applications already available.

The number and quality of the apps that are already available is impressive. Plenty of games, social apps, music apps, business app. The company accomplished this by looking at what apps are used and talked about on other platforms and then went out to get them on board with the BB10 platform. BB went to them to establish partnerships. “Our partner success is our success.”

BlackBerry World is now the one place for apps, music and movies. They have all the major studios on board with them.

“When can I get it?” By the end of February we will complete most carrier testing.

AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile will be announcing pre-registration today.
Available in Canada in the next weeks for $149.99 on a three-year contract.
It will be available in the UK tomorrow.

Alicia Keys has just been announced as BlackBerry’s New Global Creative Director. She used BB, left BB and now is back as a BB user. She will work with developers and artists to leverage the power BB10 offers.

One of the first synths I did serious work on was the Prophet 5. That synth was introduced by Sequential Circuits in 1978 as one of the first polyphonic instruments, but the reason it is still popular is the amazing sounds. The Prophet 5 was the brain-child of Sequential Circuits founder Dave Smith. If that name sounds familiar it is because Smith is also known as the ‘Father of MIDI’, and I recently wrote about the 30th anniversary of MIDI.

After Yamaha bought Sequential Circuits in 1987, Smith went on to head up the new US research lab for Korg which developed the Korg Wavestation (which was awesome, I had one), before starting his own company that released the first PC-based software synth which was then licensed by Creative Labs and used in their AWE32 and AWE64 cards (remember those?).

More recently Smith opened his own instrument design company ‘Dave Smith Instruments’, and has produced some amazing instruments. Now he is back with as he says “After 35 years of creating synths, this is simply my best synth yet,” said Smith. “We sort of started from scratch on this one rather than spinning off another product from our previous designs.”

In terms of key features:
- 12-voice polyphony, extremely high for an analog synth.
- 4 oscillators per voice, capable of generating classic and complex waveforms, a sub-oscillator, resonant analog low- and high-pass filters, and analog VCAs.
- There is a new ‘Character’ section that employs more modern synthesis techniques to perform wave shaping and sound sculpting options
- Just about everything can be synced, so you can have your LFOs, delays, and arpeggiators sync to internal or external MIDI clock.
- Rather than traditional pitch and mod wheels, you get dual programmable and touch sensitive sliders for maximum expression capabilities.

Everything about this says the Prophet 12 is going to be an amazing instrument – there are loads of classic analog features, all mixed together with some of the most modern sound shaping and signal routing possibilities, all packed into a gorgeous instrument built around being extremely musical … so let’s hear and see it in action!

Here is the basic intro:

And here is a more in-depth look from the NAMM show floor:

The Prophet 12 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2013 with na anticipated price of $2,999.

You can find more details at Dave Smith Instruments

Last year I got myself a 20 watt Roland Cube guitar amp. For years I had just played through my studio system and relied on effects to shape my sound, and had forgotten how great an amp can sound. More than that, I was amazed at the leaps in technology that allowed a small and inexpensive amplifier to have not just a great pure clean tone, but a number of custom amp models via modeling techniques.

Here are some features:
-11 amp models based on the Valvetronix series
- Amps range from clean to intense distorted sounds, and are suitable for keyboards and other instruments as well as guitar
- Four standard effects – compressor, chorus, flanger, and tremolo
- Four types of delay & reverb bring the total effects count to eight
- VOX “Bassilator” circuit delivers incredible low-end response from the small speaker
- 10 genres of rhythm patterns, plus pattern selections gives you 99 choices to play along.
- Runs on six AA batteries for nearly 20 hours. Also includes an AC adapter.
- Power soak feature lets you change volume without altering the sound.
- Mic input routes through delay/reverb for optimized vocals
- Route your MP3 player through the AUX input jack to jam along to your music library.
- E-string tuner built in
- Maintains the classic VOX design
- Also includes a carry strap easy transportation

The Mini5 is expected to release in spring 2013 and cost $159, which is a solid price for such a feature-packed little amp!

Here is a cool highlight video:

Head to the VOX Mini5 product page for more details!

At the NAMM 2013 show, Korg announced nine (!) new products that all look great – I recommend you head to Korg to get all of the details. But I wanted to highlight two that look super-cool: the MS-20 Mini and KingKORG. The MS-20 Mini is the reimagining of the classic monophonic synth that we have seen emulated so much recently. The KingKORG is a robust analog modeling synth built for great sound and performance.

MS-20 Mini

Everyone loves the Korg MS-20, it seems. This 1978 monophonic synth with cable-patching and limited configurations ultimately had one major thing that has kept it alive: great sound. Korg capitalized with the DS-20 and DS-20 Plus for the Nintendo DS, and more recently the iMS-20 for the iPad. All keep the amazing sound intact, and expand upon the capabilities by adding layers, recording, and more.

But all of those devices remove you from the direct control of physical patching and knobs, and from all of the advances in analog microelectronics that have happened over the last 35 years. So Korg had the original MS-20 designers come up with a redesign of the same synth for a new generation. It is smaller, uses 3.5mm rather than 1/4″ cables for patching, and incorporates MIDI control and a USB port. But what has not changed is the sound – in fact, the deep and rich tones still shine through, and even brighter due to a much cleaner signal path. That makes for a great instrument that will actually stay in tune (unlike most classic analog synths)!

Korg created a great video overview that shows off the strengths of the instrument and the excitement of its designers.

The MS-20 Mini is set to release in April for $599. It will also include the original MS-20 owner’s manual and settings chart.

KingKORG

Also on display was the new KingKORG. This is a ‘virtual analog’ synth, which means it is a digital synthesizer that uses computer modeling techniques to create the sounds of an analog synth. This includes oscillators, filters, amplifiers, and signal chains. What makes KingKORG special is the emphasis on usability and live performance. And the sounds. And the recreation of classic instruments. And the CV/Gate Out jack for external control. And … you get the picture!

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Full 61-key (5 octave) keyboard designed for live performance
• Oscillators designed for both usability and depth
• Amazing breadth of modeling filters that reproduce classic instrument sounds
• Three full effects sections add six effect types each
• Vacuum tube circuits add smooth and rich overtones and a natural distortion
• Knob-heavy panel design begs to be played
• CV/GATE OUT allows you to control a Monotribe or MS-20

Librarian software allows you to use your PC to manage programs.

Here is a video showing off all of the features of KingKORG.

Korg has not yet announced the pricing or availability for KingKORG … but they certainly have everyone’s attention!
While last year was ‘all about iPad’ at NAMM, this year we are seeing an amazing breadth of instruments both mobile and traditional that signal a return to focus on the musicality of sound rather than novelty. The MS-20 Mini and KingKORG are all about putting great sounds and powerful sounds into the hands of musicians.

via Korg

Last year at NAMM Mackie brought iPad control to their DL1608 mixer. Now for 2013 NAMM they have introduced the DL806 mixer and major updates to their Master Fader control app.

This EQ is great for getting vocals, guitars and other instruments to sit perfectly in a mix. Now, DL users can choose between clean, surgical modern processing and the new range of classic vintage plug-ins for more flexibility in use.

You can grab the app for free now, and the update will be coming soon.

Mackie has added an episode to their DL Series podcast regarding Master Fader v1.4 on iTunes.

More info on the entire DL series and the control app can be found at the Mackie DL series site.

I have relentlessly pounded on Android for being a crappy audio solution, but have also frequently posted about companies seeking to solve the key issue – latency. Most companies have been seeking their own path and we are starting to see products trickle out as a result, but now at NAMM 2013 we hear from Sonoma Wire Works that they have created and are licensing a solution to address the latency issue (the time it takes for sound to go into a system and back out) at a base level so manufacturers can integrate it on their devices to get around the limitations of the Android OS.

Sonoma Wire Works is demonstrating their Low Latency solution at the NAMM 2013 show going on now, and are licensing it to manufacturers to deal with the inherent latency issues of Android. As noted, their solution allows for “analog input to output measurements comparable to what is currently available on iOS”, meaning that as we move forward Android could become a viable music platform – which is GREAT news!

Let’s hope this takes off! Check out Sonoma Wire Works for more details.

Read the full press release.