plugins

Google has fixed a disconnect between two of its software products, its Chrome browser and the plug-in version of Google Earth.

"As of ~4 p.m. PST today, Google Chrome 1.0+ on Windows is an officially supported browser," a Google employee said on a Google Earth mailing list on Thursday. "That means Chrome users will no longer get the unsupported browser message, and the plugin and API should work just as they would in other supported browsers."

Google Earth is generally used as standalone software, but the plug-in version can be mashed up with Web … Read more

"Should Uncle Sam provide billions in loans and grants to a promising but unproven business? Or should the government wait for the market to sort things out before it backs a U.S. company?"

Those are questions posed in a BusinessWeek article last week. However, the questions are largely rhetorical: the U.S. Department of Energy already has a $25 billion Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, and many car and battery companies are counting on these loans to aid their development and production of lithium ion batteries.

So it's not a question of "should," it's a question of "how?"

Lithium ion batteries will add at least $8,000 to the price of a production plug-in hybrid vehicle, according to BusinessWeek. However, that amount is probably on the low side when you consider that the Chevy Volt is predicted to cost a bit less than $40,000, a good portion of that price being the battery. Another manufacturer representative estimated that a lithium ion battery currently costs approximately $22,000, effectively putting the electric car out of reach to all but the well-heeled greenies. … Read more

G-Force is a free visualizer plug-in for iTunes, which extends your options beyond iTunes' built-in visualizers for displaying colorful light shows to accompany your music. You activate G-Force like any other visualizer, just by selecting it while in iTunes, and then it shows complex, constantly changing visuals that move and react to whatever music you're playing. Because G-Force combines a huge number of shapes, colors, images, and other variables, this app produces millions of possible visual effects. What makes G-Force more interesting than many visualizers is hotkeys for quickly adjusting visuals on the fly (like skipping through effects or … Read more

DETROIT -- Toyota Priuses with plug-in hybrid technology are averaging 65 mpg in combined gasoline and electric-mode testing.

"That is real-world driving," said Bill Reinert, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.'s national alternative-fuel vehicle manager. "I ask my guys to drive them as you drive your normal Prius."

By comparison, the redesigned 2010 Prius, a parallel hybrid with nickel-metal hydride batteries, will have an estimated 50 mpg rating.

U.S. sales of a Toyota plug-in hybrid will begin sometime after 2010.

"It would make sense that we would do it with a Prius, but … Read more

Electric town car maker Think Global has been thrown a financial lifeline from battery maker Ener1 and other investors.

Last month Think CEO Richard Canny told reporters that the company was running out of working capital and had to suspend production of its small all-electric car, the Think City. The latest version with lithium ion batteries, giving it a range of about 100 miles and top speed of 65 miles per hour, was slated to go on sale in Scandinavia early this year.

On Monday, Think said that it has secured about $5.7 million in "interim financing," … Read more

As performance reasserts its prominence and features become less of the driving force behind browsers, I find myself looking at the list of inactive extensions in Firefox with jaundiced eyes. It's been months since I've added a new extension, but the ones I still have I use regularly, and several are actually new to me for this year.

Part of the problem with add-ons is that they're such a personal, subjective thing. What do you need? Why do you need it? One of my favorites is a minor, tiny thing, but it saves me so much time … Read more

In the race to deliver plug-in electric cars, European automakers have an early lead, according to Bob Kanode, the CEO of vehicle battery maker Valence Technology.

Austin, Texas-based Valence has been in the battery business since 1990. It already supplies batteries for the Segway Personal Transporter and is setting its sites on the auto market.

On Tuesday, Valence announced that French electric-bus and truck maker PVI will test Valence's lithium phosphate batteries for fleet vehicles in a deal worth $3 million.

As Valence seeks customers in the transportation field, Kanode sees Europe as far more mature than the United … Read more

Think Global, which makes the Think City electric car, is having difficulty securing money to continue operating and is seeking state aid from the Norwegian government, according to a report.

Reuters reported on Monday that Think CEO Richard Canny held a news conference where he said that the company needs up to $29 million in loan guarantees.

It plans to reduce staff by at least 50 percent and stop production with an eye toward restarting in the first quarter of next year, the report said.

The company said the global financial crisis has made it difficult to get working capital … Read more

Former Intel CEO Andy Grove has joined other Silicon Valley elites who are advocating for an industry shift into energy technology.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday, Grove said he is urging Intel to invest in battery manufacturing as a way to diversify from its core chip business.

Grove told the Journal that Intel's "strategic objective is tackling big problems and turning them into big businesses." He said Intel, with its cash resources, can invest in battery technology and manufacturing to bring down the cost of car batteries, which would drive adoption of … Read more