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Moving Around Text

I mentioned in my Centro comparison post that I wish the hardware designers had worked a way into the Pre to better facilitate moving the cursor around. It did turn out that there was a supposed keyboard shortcut to do this, holding down the orange button would turn the touchscreen into more of a 4-way touch wheel.

Now, as a hack, that works out okay, but it comes across as far inferior to a good native solution designed around the intended functionality. For one, the cursor still jumps around too much for my tastes. I am most often using it … Read more

Samsung Highlight debuts for T-Mobile

T-Mobile's Samsung Highlight is the newest model in Samsung's touch-screen phone line that began last year with the Behold.

Also called the SGH-T749, the Highlight is positioned as an entry-level touch-screen device. On the outside it sports an agreeable design in either fire (red and orange) or ice (almost a turquoise).

You'll also find a stylized pattern on its rear face and well-designed physical controls. The 3-inch display is on the small side, but it compensates for size with a brilliant 16 million-color resolution.

The feature set isn't extensive, but it's respectable. You'll find … Read more

Segway gives us a lift in the PUMA

Buzzing around the floor of the 2009 New York auto show, is the PUMA--the result of a collaboration between Segway and GM. We had a chance to ride in the vehicle, an electric-powered two seater. PUMA stands for Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility, and works on similar principles as the Segway Personal Transporter. Where on the Personal Transporter, you lean forward to make it go, the PUMA's steering column has to be pushed, which causes the entire cab to slide to the front and move weight forward, making the PUMA go.

The driver of the PUMA cautioned us to … Read more

Land Rover adds HD radio and iPod integration--photos

At the 2009 New York auto show, Land Rover rolled out updates to its top-of-the-line vehicles, showing a new direction for the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, and renaming the LR3 as the LR4. All vehicles share a new 5-liter V-8 engine, with a supercharged version available in the Range Rovers, and new cabin tech, which integrates the navigation and audio control. iPod integration is finally available, at long last, and Land Rover will make HD radio available.

New electric sports car competes with Tesla

Note: This story was corrected to fix a typo in the company name after it initially published.

The Liv Inizio, an all-electric sports car with specs similar to the Tesla Roadster, is making its debut at the 2009 New York auto show. This new electric car is made by EV Innovations, formerly called Hybrid Technologies, which showed off the Liv Wise, a Toyota Yaris converted to an electric power train, at last year's New York auto show.

EV Innovations claims a 200-mile range for the Liv Inizio and a 0 to 60 mph acceleration time of 5 seconds. Top … Read more

Rinspeed to debut transforming electric concept car

Swiss automaker Rinspeed will debut at the 2009 Geneva auto show an electric concept car that changes shape to conform to the number of passengers on board.

The iChange is a lightweight, 4,280mm (approximately 14 feet) EV sports car with a teardrop-like silhouette designed to maximize fuel efficiency for the single passenger. But with the push of a button, the sloped rear of the car pops up to accommodate two additional passengers, if needed.

The concept sports car forgoes doors, opting for a very ADA-unfriendly clamshell roof. Rinspeed is obviously assuming that in the future, women will no longer wear skirts. … Read more

Honda Insight versus Toyota Prius: The great hybrid shoot-out

Honda generated a lot of excitement last year when it announced the 2010 Insight, a new dedicated hybrid. Could it unseat Toyota's Prius from the hybrid throne? But Toyota wasn't about to let this upstart go unchallenged, announcing an update to the current generation Prius, which has been in production since 2004. We got to see both production vehicles at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, and set them against each other in a series of photos. Will the Insight bring fresh thinking to the hybrid space? Will Toyota sit on its laurels, or give the Prius the update … Read more

Mercedes-Benz McLaren SLR Stirling Moss--photos

McLaren ends its SLR line with a special model named after a British racing legend. The SLR Stirling Moss features supercar performance and looks that, except for the carbon fiber, are right at home on a 1950s racetrack. When the limited production run starts on the SLR Stirling Moss, McLaren will stop building the current SLR line, and currently has no plans to bring it back. But the model is going out on a fine note, as this carbon fiber body has an extremely seductive side line and incredible power under the hood. Think less than 3.5 seconds to … Read more

New Jensen touch-screen multimedia system

The VM9423 touch-screen multimedia system is the first of six new Jensen models that will launch during the first half of 2009. This top-of-the-line system has a built-in HD Radio tuner, integrated iPod connectivity, and iTunes tagging. The VM9423 is GPS navigation, backup camera, Bluetooth, and Sirius/XM satellite radio ready--all of which require additional modules to add their respective functions. We cringe thinking about the mess of cables and modules that would have to be tucked behind the dash for the full-blown, all-bells-and-whistles install, but we think this modular approach will let users add the features they can afford … Read more