lotus

I hope you've enjoyed all of this week's video of amazing World Rally Championship racing. I thought a good way to close this series would be this tribute video dedicated to the history of WRC and how it's changed throughout the years--how the cars have changed, and it even includes historical data at the end detailing what cars have won the title and in which year. It's great for knowledge hounds as well as anybody who just wants to see some fine automobiles kickin' up dust and sliding on the asphalt.

We spend a lot of time evaluating the electronics in new cars, digging through navigation system menus, hooking up phones and iPods, and listening to audio systems. But occasionally we get to put these very same cars on the track, to find out how their performance technologies work under stress.

This year, we drove a wide variety of cars on the track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. There was the new Hyundai Genesis Coupe and Chevrolet Camaro. We had familiar rides such as the BMW M3 and Acura TL SH-AWD. Then there were the race-bred cars, the Audi R8 and … Read more

We mentioned at CTIA 2009 that Sprint had plans to release a red version of its popular LG Lotus messaging phone. Well, it's now officially available, and at 50 percent off the original price!

It has the same textured design as the purple version, and features include a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, EV-DO, a music player, and more. And yes, instead of $100, the Lotus is now available for $49.99 with a two-year service agreement. So now it's even more affordable for you messaging fanatics out there.

In an odd case of backflow, Lotus will be providing automotive infotainment system manufacturer Harman Becker with a variety of audio technologies. Harman Becker, a division of Harman International, is behind a large number of audio brands found among major automakers, including Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, and Mark Levinson. With that kind of portfolio, it is surprising to find the company needs help with audio technology.

The deal also highlights Lotus' hidden side. Known for unique-looking sports cars marked by excellent handling, Lotus also engages in pure engineering, developing efficient power trains, crash safety gear, and suspension systems.

Lotus … Read more

In the 1990s, Lotus Notes gained notoriety, in part, for the nifty collaboration features it brought to corporate e-mail. IBM's CEO at the time, Lou Gerstner, was so impressed that he paid a premium to consummate what began as a hostile tender to buy Lotus in 1995.

Notes went on to become an unqualified commercial success with some 145 million users around the world who use the product. Still, Lotus hasn't quite secured for itself the reputation of offering the must-have enterprise collaboration technology in the age of the Internet.

What with the proliferation of competing Web-based technologies … Read more

Sprint has made it official that it plans to release a red version of its LG Lotus messaging phone. It will have the same textured design as the purple version, and will have the same features as well.

Features include a 2-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, EV-DO, a music player, and more. Of course, you also get the same QWERTY keyboard and nice 2.4-inch display. We don't yet know when it'll be released, but it'll likely be about the same price of the current LG Lotus, which is about $100 after a two-year service agreement.

This two minute, shaky, handheld camera footage of the Lotus Elise Type 25 Special Edition was shot at St. Louis Motorsports' "Cars and Coffee" event this month and popped up on YouTube this week.

If there's one thing that Lotus Cars does well, it is building fantastically balanced cars. What many don't realize is that Lotus also works behind the scenes for many larger automakers (Chrysler, GM, Toyota, and Ford, to name a few) designing and tuning some of the most excellent power plants and chassis in the business. Kia Motors seems to have taken notice, because the Korean automaker is working with Lotus to tune the suspension setup of its future models, starting with the Kia Soul.

Lotus will be working to tune the Kias' suspensions specifically for British roads. According … Read more

IBM is crowing about its increase in Lotus Notes licenses to 145 million, up five million in the past year. That's nice, but I'm willing to bet that Microsoft could issue a similar press release, and probably could claim even more Notes/Domino emigrants to Exchange.

In fact, for the past few years Microsoft has been doing exactly that.

If one looks to neutral analysts to be the line judge in this discussion, the water becomes even murkier, as eWeek points out:

Market share estimates vary widely for Exchange and Lotus Notes. Gartner Dataquest's most recent report … Read more