ABC

ABC station makes tragic Petraeus Web-sourcing error

Humans make errors.

Some are tragic. Some are merely funny. Some would say that the recently-revealed entanglements of generals David Petraeus and John Allen generally contain a little of both.

However, ABC Denver found an utterly bizarre way to err during its recent news broadcast about the military four-step.

For, in reporting on the affair, it produced a cover of Paula Broadwell's biography of Petraeus, "All In," that was instead adorned with an odd title.

It was "All Up In My Sn****." (The asterisked word rhymes with "catch.")

This, of course, was a … Read more

The Disney Way with acquisitions

"The Disney Way" often refers to the Disneyland employee handbook, which introduces staff ("cast members") to the values that embody Disney. But it should also refer to Disney's habit of making bold acquisitions and turning them into home runs.

The Walt Disney Company just sent shockwaves through the entertainment, tech, media, and finance worlds with its $4 billion blockbuster acquisition of Lucasfilm, the creators and owners of the "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" franchises. Lucasfilm has also provided the visual effects for countless blockbusters, including "The Avengers" (a Disney … Read more

What's so great about direct injection? (ABCs of Car Tech)

You may have read or heard one of your favorite Car Tech editors talking about gasoline direct injection and how it's one of the "big technologies" that's helping to keep the almost 200 year-old internal combustion engine alive well into the 21st century. In this week's issue of the ABCs of Car Tech, I'm going to explain just what the heck gasoline direct injection is and why you should care if it's in your next car's engine or not.

How did fuel injection work before direct injection?The modern gasoline internal combustion … Read more

What the heck is torque steer? (ABCs of Car Tech)

Torque steer is a phenomenon that mostly affects front-wheel-drive cars where heavy acceleration causes the vehicle to veer to the left or right.

Take a front-wheel-drive car to a wide, open space where you can test acceleration from about 0 to 15 mph without hitting something or someone (perhaps a big empty parking lot). Take both hands off of the steering wheel and give the accelerator a brief but firm squeeze. What did you notice? For most FWD cars, you likely saw the steering wheel twisting to one side and the vehicle lurching to either the left or to the … Read more

What can Bluetooth do besides make calls? (ABCs of Car Tech)

Most of us can agree now that Bluetooth connectivity is something that every tech car should have, but why is it important? Is it enough for a car to simply support Bluetooth or is there something more that you should be looking for?

In this week's ABCs of Car Tech, I'll do my best to answer those questions and explain the ins and outs of Bluetooth wireless technology.

What is Bluetooth? When most people hear the word "Bluetooth," they immediately think about speakerphones and wireless headsets for hands-free calling. That's partially correct in that these … Read more

Google leads April Internet visits, but news sites see big growth

Google dominated April Internet traffic rankings for overall site visitors and advertising, but general news sites such as Yahoo-ABC News and Huffington Post also saw big increases in traffic that pushed the entire category to an all-time high in the month, according to the latest data from ComScore. See all the rankings in the PDF below.

ComScore's monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity found a 12 percent increase in traffic to general news sites. In April, these sites saw a total of 183 million visitors.

"The general news category reached an all-time high in April, reaching nearly … Read more

Facebook to unveil 'life-saving tool' tomorrow

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a potential "life-saving tool" announcement to make.

Zuckerberg will unveil the tool tomorrow during "Good Morning America," while Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg will provide more details in an interview during "World News with Dianne Sawyer," ABC said on its site today.

There are few details on the announcement, although ABC has been plugging the segment all morning. Zuckerberg will be showing off the tool at the company's Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters.

iPhone manufacturing costs revealed?

An unprecedented peek behind the curtain of Foxconn's factories in China may have revealed new hints to how much it actually costs to make each iPhone.

ABC's "Nightline" was recently given access to the factory floor, and the resulting reporting has provided some new insights into exactly how iPhones are built, a part of the gadget's gestation process that's typically been a very closely guarded trade secret.

Horace Dediu, blogger, analyst, and former business development manager for Nokia, tried to parse some of the clues and came to some interesting conclusions.… Read more

ABCs of Car Tech: Driver aid systems

Last time, we took a look at how cars protect their passengers in the event of a crash. This week, we're taking a look at a few high-tech ways that modern vehicles can help prevent accidents in the first place.

Modern tech cars can be equipped with a host of driver aid systems that help make driving easier for your average commuter. From road-aware cruise control systems to self-aware headlight systems, cars are getting smarter every day.

Adaptive cruise control If the standard cruise control system was the first step toward vehicular autonomy, then adaptive cruise control system is … Read more