• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: Motorsports, Rumormill
Ralf Schumacher entered Formula One six years after his brother Michael, with the same Jordan team that introduced his sibling to the grid. That’s about where the similarities end. After an 11-year career with Williams, Jordan, and Toyota, Ralf retired in 2007 and ended up in the DTM series. He was a good driver and had a decent car early in his Williams tenure, but he simply didn’t have the edge. He ended up with fewer race wins, six, than his brother did World Championships.
Now that Michael has returned to the circus, it looks like Ralf wants his turn under the Big Top again. Ralf said, “I know that my reputation suffered during my time at Toyota but I left that behind me. I know what I can do and I feel ready to do it again.” Having turned down a race seat with one of the new teams, other rumors suggest that he’s talking to Toro Rosso, where he would replace Jaime Alguersuari and partner Sebastien Buemi. Toro Rosso and Renault – and Sauber, depending – are essentially the only teams who have openings and a chance of giving Ralf a car he can do something with.
[Source: GP Update | Image: Alex Grimm/Bongarts/Getty]
Is the other Schumacher pondering a F1 comeback too? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: GM, Saab
Saab: A history in pictures – Click above for high-res gallery
After canceling a earlier deadline of December 31, General Motors has given potential suitors until January 7 to come up with a bid for Saab or the storied Swedish brand will go the way of the dodo. On a business level, the move to rid itself of Saab makes sense. Saab is a perennial money loser and it has never quite figured out how to handle the brand. At this point, about the only possibility for Saab to escape the guillotine is for Spyker Cars or another bidder to somehow come up with a satisfactory last minute bid- or is it?
The brand enthusiasts at Saab History are trying to stage a last minute rally of their own – only instead of a bid for the company, these fans are looking to rally at GM’s Renaissance Center headquarters in Detroit, hoping that a show of force will help keep the doors open in Trollhättan. The goal is to assemble an impressive show of force just hours prior to the General’s January 7 board meeting that will determine the fate of the brand. The directions are simple. Get to GM headquarters, park your Saab, get some group photos and talk to the press.
The hope of the rally is that GM’s board members will see the outpouring of support for Saab and somehow push harder to make a deal a reality. While that sounds nice – and probably fun – like the hoped-for agreement with Spyker itself, it remains to be seen whether the plan can be seen through. After all, the rally suggestion was floated just yesterday, and thus far plans are in their infancy. That said, we’ve seen car enthusiasts scrap together more with less, so this is something worth keeping an eye on. Interested in learning more? Click on the link below.
[Source: Saab History]
Saab enthusiasts planning rally at GM HQ? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: Etc., Toys/Games
The Top Gear Cool Wall ranks cars in four categories, from Seriously Uncool to Sub Zero (which is really, really cool), using a highly unscientific method that no one can get an exact grip on. If you’re hooked on trying to figure out whether a car is beyond uncool, like the Fiat Panda, or Sub Zero, like the Ford GT, then there’s an app for that.
It’s called “Cool Wall,” and you can get it over at Apple’s iTunes store. Looks like TG may have released the app before it was finished cooking, however: it’s $1.99 and so far, the reviews are mixed, with purchasers complaining about things like cropped pictures of cars. The app page claims updates are on the way, but buyer beware in the meantime. Thanks for the tip, Bryan!
[Source: Top Gear via iTunes]
Top Gear Cool Wall lands in iTunes app store originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
THE Government is to establish a Diaspora department in the foreign affairs ministry to handle issues related to investment of Ugandans working abroad, but willing to invest in the country.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Several hundred people join protests in Gaza, Israel and Egypt against the blockade of the Gaza Strip.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: CES, Technology, Kia
When you think Microsoft car technology you think
SYNC, right? Perfectly natural, since it’s the only place Redmond’s bits and bytes have made much of an impact on the automotive scene. But SYNC is just Ford’s flavor of Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Technologies — naturally with plenty of customizations and functionality on top. It’s not an exclusive partnership and we’ve known for some time now that Hyundai and Kia were next in line to get some love from Washington. Kia’s time has come, with the company set to launch UVO at CES next week. The only question now is: What exactly is it?
We spoke with representatives from Microsoft and Kia on Wednesday, where they unveiled the UVO name, explained as being short for “your voice.” Because of that we expect there will be a strong focus on speech recognition in this system, but beyond that it’s anyone’s guess what the latest automotive infotainment system will be packing — those same representatives were tight-lipped about the details. Naturally we expect it’ll be generally similar to Ford’s SYNC, but Kia is a very different sort of company than the one Henry built, so surely a much fresher look and feel is in store at the very least.
Ford recently announced that it would be
letting outside developers augment SYNC’s functionality, and after the amazing success of Apple’s App Store it’d be a shame if Kia didn’t support the booming app market from the start (just think of all the telemetry systems a developer could build with access to vehicle sensor data and a three-axis accelerometer). All will be unveiled at next week’s
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Ford will be similarly showing off its
latest SYNC revisions. Which infotainment system will reign supreme? We can’t wait to find out.
[Source: Kia, Microsoft]
Kia and Microsoft set to debut UVO at CES, leave us wondering for now originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: Etc., Motorcycle, Specialty
A stretch-limo Vespa may still garner a fist to the face, but this attention-grabbing idea is better than the last flash of brilliance Vespa South Africa Managing Director Andy Reid put into action. That plan involved fake parking tickets being placed guerrilla-style on large vehicles to drive the point about Vespa’s fuel efficient image.
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em seems to be the latest modus operandi. Aimed square at the blingy-glam heart of the public at large, a custom Vespa “stretch limo” has been whipped up to generate publicity. Vespa calls it a family car on two wheels and intimates that children will dig going to school on it. Maybe the going part. Other glitterati-friendly uses abound: be the designated driver and still park outside the front door (didn’t know that was a problem?), make friends and drag them home, all in one swift, conjoined-twin-motorscooter motion. The reality is more likely that this thing is a dog to ride. It’s akin to surfing a pipeline while standing at the very front of your longboard on your tiptoes. Now that would certainly get your attention, now wouldn’t it? Exactly. Hat tip to Robin!
[Source: Motoring.co.za via Neatorama]
Piccolo Grande: Stretch-limo Vespa? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Police say militants have beheaded six Afghans for cooperating with government authorities.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Filed under: Etc.
Autoblog’s Top 100 Photographs of 2009 – Click above for high-res image gallery
We’re a privileged bunch here at Autoblog. We drive some pretty amazing cars and go to the world’s best automotive events. Of course, it’s our job to not just keep these experiences to ourselves, but let others enjoy them as well. Our cameras are perpetually in hand, capturing the best moments of each test drive, auto show, auction, race and everything else to share with you, our faithful readers.
With 2009 coming to a close, nothing reminds us more of how lucky we are than browsing through the thousands of photos we’ve taken ourselves throughout the year. Of course, we wanted to share the memories with you as well, so we picked out our favorite images taken by the Autoblog team in the last year and put them in one big gallery. We’ve also included a link to the original story from which each image was pulled, just in case you missed out the first time. So to honor the year that was, we give you Autoblog’s top 100 photographs of 2009. Enjoy, and let us know which are ones are your favorites!
For nostalgia’s sake, feel free to also check out the top 50 photographs of 2008.
All photos copyright (C)2009 Autoblog / Weblogs, Inc.
Autoblog’s Top 100 Photographs of 2009 originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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• Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Freed British hostage Peter Moore has spoken of his two-and-a-half years in captivity following his kidnap in Iraq.
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