karma

Join us for a real inside tour of the Fisker Automotive design center. Our tour guide is none other then Henrik Fisker. We'll see the Karma through his eyes, view the future of personal transportation, and see the cocktail napkin that started it all. In the end, you may be surprised at how much this is a story of America.

Henrik Fisker is best known for designing the Aston Martin DB9 and the BMW Z8, both masterpieces in modern auto penmanship. He also did the initial design work on the Tesla Model S, which led to a less than … Read more

A company called Karma has developed what it's called the "social telecom." The only issue is, its big unveiling took a hit recently after Karma mentioned two companies it has worked with but hasn't actually signed on.

At TechStars yesterday, Karma took the stage to show off its 4G hot spot. The small box, which costs $69 and runs on Clearwire's network, offers users pay-as-you-go WiMax 4G service in 80 cities across the United States. For each 1GB of data used, Karma charges $14. In addition, the hot spot is made to be open, so … Read more

Another 19 Fisker Karmas are being recalled due to a potential fire hazard risk in the battery compartment.

Incorrectly positioned hose clamps could cause a cooling leak, Fisker Automotive reported in its government recall notice. If coolant enters the battery compartment, an electrical short could result in a fire. The luxury automaker recalled 239 of its plug-in hybrid vehicles in December 2011 because of this installation defect, and the latest recall is an expansion of the same problem.

Owners of the affected 2012 Karmas will be notified by Fisker, which will arrange transportation of the vehicles to repair facilities. The … Read more

It's time to share your searches, stream original content and earn good Karma:

With all the news focused around Facebook, Microsoft just quietly launched its own social network for students called So.cl (pronounced "social"). It's different from Facebook and Google Plus in that it is focused around search. What students search for on So.cl is shared with other So.cl users -- and it can be shared on other networks like Facebook. The idea is to give students a quick and easy way to share information found through searches.

Hulu has unveiled 10 original and exclusive shows … Read more

Facebook knows mobile is its Achilles' heel, but I didn't expect the company to take such aggressive actions to solve its mobile problem.

The social network admitted to the weakness earlier this month when it amended its IPO filing. "If users increasingly access Facebook mobile products as a substitute for access through personal computers, and if we are unable to successfully implement monetization strategies for our mobile users, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our financial performance and ability to grow revenue would be negatively affected," the company explained in its amended S1.

Facebook … Read more

When I wrote in my review of Karma in February, "you'll be using this soon," perhaps I should have said, "Facebook will be buying this soon." Because that's what the company just did. As the Nadaq public market closed on Facebook's first day of public trading, the social network bought the small social gifting company.

Karma announced the acquisition in a blog post that doesn't say much other than revealing the acquisition. But we like Karma. CEO Leo Linden gave us a walk-through recently:

A gift-giving service like Karma might look like … Read more

Fisker Automotive received worrying news last week when a Karma sedan burned in a house fire in Texas. The cause is still being investigated, according to the company.

The fire started shortly after a new Karma owner parked the car in a garage, according to a report in Autoweek. A fire investigator told Autoweek that the Karma, which was not plugged in, was the origin of the fire, but the cause was not known.

Fisker released a statement saying that the electric car's battery pack was intact and "does not appear to be a contributing factor in this … Read more

The 2012 New York auto show starts early tonight with the official announcement and unveiling of the Fisker Atlantic. The Atlantic is the second new vehicle to be debuted by the vehicle (or the third if you choose to count the Fisker Surf design concept) and is Fisker Automotive's shot at building an extended-range electric vehicle that people can actually afford.

The Atlantic doesn't divert terribly from the formula set by the Karma. The sedans feature similar mustachioed front ends, the smaller Atlantic largely maintaining a scaled-down version of the Fisker design language with a few tweaks here … Read more

Every startup CEO, founder, or co-founder hopes that this year, South by Southwest will be the event that turns them into the next Twitter, Foursquare, or Beluga. They come to Austin, Texas, in search of exposure, new friends, more money, and parties (of course). This year, CNET's Brian Tong and I sat down to talk to a few of the companies we thought were interesting--out of the many, many, many others that are also interesting, don't get us wrong.

From our interview home at the Thirsty Nickel, we spoke with Dave Morin, the CEO of Path, who assured … Read more