fusion

Aesthetics may be subjective, but I believe the 2013 Ford Fusion is the best-looking midsize sedan of the current crop. Despite its trout-mouth grille, the Fusion exudes premium-car style. The only other midsize sedan that comes close in looks is the new Honda Accord.

But a midsize sedan must do more than look pretty. This class of car tends to be a multipurpose vehicle for a majority of Americans, a comfortable car for the daily commute that can also take the family to the relatives' on holidays. It is the weekend errand runner and road-trip vacationer.

The Fusion, with its … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about hiding the menu bar in OS X, a "formatter failed" error when erasing hard drives, alternative configuration possibilities for Apple's Fusion Drive technology, and whether or not a Mini DisplayPort cable can be used for Thunderbolt connections. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: Hiding the menu bar in OS X MacFixIt reader Shawn asks:

CoreStorage is Apple's volume manager that provides an interface between the OS and physical volumes on the drive. It was introduced in OS X Lion for its full-disk encryption options with FileVault 2, but in addition allows for volume spanning, where multiple drives in the system can be combined into one logical volume for the OS to use.

The CoreStorage volume-spanning feature not only increases a single volume's storage beyond the capacity of a single drive, it also prioritizes storage to the primary drive in its logical volume. This means that if you use an SSD as the … Read more

Apple's recently introduced Fusion Drive system is available in Apple's current Mac Mini and will be included as an option for other Mac systems starting in November and December of this year. This new drive setup has its benefits, but also some limitations, and to address these Apple has issued a FAQ that addresses troubleshooting and how the drive can be used and configured.

A Fusion Drive is essentially a hybrid volume that spans both a solid-state drive (SSD) and a hard drive installed in the Mac. As large SSD drives are unfortunately still rather expensive, to get … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Square launches mobile payment service at 7,000 Starbucks stores.

- Razer Naga gaming mouse requires always-on Internet connection; license agreement says they can use this to spy on you.

- Mr. Fusion (sorta) cell phone charger.

- Four African teenagers invent a urine-powered generator.

- Follow Bridget Carey on Twitter and check out CNET Update every afternoon!

- Don't forget to enter our Halloween Samsung Galaxy S3 Giveaway contest, ending this Sunday!… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- CNET goes hands-on with the iPad Mini: $329, 7.9-inch screen.

- Apple updates 13-inch MacBook Pro, adding Retina Display, for $1,699.

- Hands-on: Apple updates iMac with gorgeous new display.

- Peeved? Apple will exchange your 3rd-gen iPad for the newer model.

- To Apple: Thanks for making my 'new iPad' obsolete.… Read more

Apple announced at its October 23 event its first hybrid drive, called Fusion Drive, initially available as an option in its new iMac and Mac Mini.

Apple's Fusion Drive combines 120GB of solid-state storage and a regular platter-based hard drive of either 1TB or 3TB. Apple says the operating system and software will be installed on the flash memory part while all other data, such as media and documents, stays on the hard-drive part. However, users can move apps and files between the two sides of the drive to improve performance.

Apple claims that the Fusion Drive will offer … Read more

Autodesk Inventor Fusion is a Mac application for creating 3D CAD designs. This is not a stripped-down product meant to give you a taste of a much more expensive tool, but a free full-featured product of its own. The download is sizable at 740MB but installation on our MacBook Pro went quickly and easily. Once installed, Autodesk Inventor Fusion requires a bit of a learning curve to use effectively, but that's to be expected from a product such as this one.

The process of designing with Autodesk Inventor Fusion begins with the 2D sketch. A set of simple and … Read more

AT&T peeled back the covers today on a new monthly unlimited plan for its GoPhone subscriber base.

The plans, which goes into effect on October 7, gives users 1GB of data on top of unlimited texting and talking and costs $65 per month. According to AT&T, the plan costs $10 less than the previous iteration of the rate and will be offered alongside the $50 unlimited talk and texting option.

AT&T has also unveiled its latest Android smartphone under the GoPhone brand, the Huawei-made Fusion 2, which cleared the FCC in July.

Available immediately, … Read more