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Chevy Volts forward

Bad pun, I know, but "Chevy charges forward" would be worse, because the concept Volt is an electric car. Chevy grabbed the front of its new Camaro and grafted on a small sports coupe made of lightweight composite materials developed by GE. GM has been using its Chevrolet brand to push its most futuristic alternative energy ideas, such as the previously announced Fuel Cell Equinox. The Volt seems especially designed to counteract the bashing GM got in the movie Who Killed the Electric Car?, as the Volt builds on the technology GM used in its original electric car, … Read more

Ford, Microsoft and boy bands

OK, it's Sync, not *NSYNC, and with its stylish logo it should be free of any associations from the band that made Justin Timberlake famous. Unlike the band, Sync also plays music. Microsoft has been trying to sell automakers on its automotive platform for a while and is really starting to gain ground. Last year at the Geneva Auto Show, Fiat showed off an installation of Microsoft's system, dubbed Blue&Me, in one of its cars. This year the software maker and America's number two automaker announced that a version of Microsoft's automotive platform will … Read more

Mercedes-Benz Zamboni

At the 2007 Detroit Auto Show, Mercedes-Benz demonstrated how its S-class could be used to smooth the ice of a skating rink. Or the company might have been demonstrating the new all-wheel-drive S550. Either way, most of the Mercedes-Benz floor area at the show was covered with ice, along with ice skaters chasing an S550 around the rink. Mercedes-Benz has offered its 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system in a variety of its models and used the Detroit show to announce its availability in the S-class. Mercedes-Benz brags in its press literature that it first developed an all-wheel-drive system in 1907.

The German … Read more

Do you crave Crave? Nominate us for the 2007 Bloggies!

It's been just a few short months since Crave launched, and we're pretty proud of where it's gone and where it's still going. If you're liking what you're reading, too, maybe you'd like to nominate us for the seventh annual Weblog Awards! You can vote through 10:00 PM Eastern time on Wednesday, January 10th.

Crave is eligible for the following categories:

Best American Weblog Best Computers or Technology Weblog Most Humorous Weblog Best Writing of a Weblog Best Group Weblog Best-Kept Secret Weblog Best New Weblog Weblog of the Year (if you … Read more

2007 Detroit Auto Show

Although most of the CNET crew will be at CES next week, we're sending a smaller contingent to the 2007 Detroit Auto Show. Our on-the-spot coverage of Detroit's auto show begins on Sunday, January 7, and will continue through the week. The tubes have been buzzing with advance pictures of cars for the show, and our interest is more than primed. We're all a titter over the upcoming announcement from Ford and Microsoft about incorporating Microsoft's Sync Bluetooth product in upcoming Ford models. Welcome to the 21st century, Ford. We hope some of your competitors get … Read more

Jaguar's new X

In a concept car set to debut at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show (see our coverage beginning on January 7), Jaguar shows off its new concept, the C-XF. This car represents Jaguar's continuing process of reinventing itself, which started with the launch of its beautiful XK last year. The C-XF concept is a substantial departure from Jaguar's current lineup, although the car's designers claim to have been influenced by models from the 1950s. Given the concept's name, it might provide a clue to the look of Jaguar's all new XF, which launches next fall and … Read more

Euro models picked as 2007's best

The winner is: Volkswagen's GTI. Automobile magazine may be published in Michigan, but it picked the VW GTI as its Automobile of the Year for 2007. Here's what our CNET car tech editors thought about the 2006 GTI.

Automobile's site won't have this information until January 7, but it released the winner's name on CNBC TV today. Its pick for best design? 2007 Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Our editors got inside a V8 Vantage at the Los Angeles Auto Show, as you can see on this video. We'll be looking over the GTI, Vantage … Read more

Mercedes shows S Class convertible

Mercedes-Benz has just released new concept photos of their S600 flagship sedan in convertible form, which could become the company's first big convertible sedan since the '50s.

The S Class has always been a technology tour de force, and this convertible concept reportedly adds one more neat trick: The "AirScarf" is a system of vents in the headrests that circulate warm air around the nape of your neck for comfortable top down jaunts during the colder months.

This S600 ragtop concept looks very much like a production car, and when automakers circulate concepts that look this real, … Read more

After 10 years, IBM to return to CES

SAN FRANCISCO--IBM will return to the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the first time it's had a presence at the Las Vegas convention in 10 years.

No, don't expect to see a Big Blue-branded digital media player to take on the iPod. Instead, the company will tout lower-level technology that gadget makers can use, such as technology for nearly instantaneous translation of speech into Arabic or Chinese, said Mike Fay, an IBM communications executive, in a gathering here with reporters on Thursday.

IBM makes most of its money selling business-oriented products such as servers and server software as … Read more