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Tech car buying guide

When shopping for a new car, the old questions remain relevant. Does it have enough seats for my family and friends? Are the seats comfortable? Will it suit all the uses for which I need it? Does it get good fuel economy? Is it safe?

However, there are many new tech features available that can make your drives more comfortable, keep you out of traffic jams, and prevent accidents. In addition, there are different drivetrain options that can save you a lot of money, depending on your lifestyle.

In this guide, we will let you know what features you can … Read more

Dodge, Ford, Mazda, and Toyota nominated for Green Car award

Each year, Green Car Journal names its Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. For the upcoming award, the field has narrowed down to five contenders, each using technology to achieve high fuel economy.

Here are this year's nominees:

Dodge Dart Aero Ford C-MAX Ford Fusion Mazda CX-5 SkyActiv Toyota Prius C

The Aero version of the new Dodge Dart uses aerodynamic components, low rolling resistance tires, and a grille shutter to get 41 mpg highway from its turbocharged 1.4-liter engine. However, its combined city/highway fuel economy is only 32 mpg.

Ford gains … Read more

Your automotive DJ: Five cars that play requests

Voice-command systems in cars let you make phone calls, enter an address into navigation, and even request music by an artist or album name, all without taking your eyes off the road or your hands off the wheel. Voice command over music usually works with an iPhone or iPod cabled to the car, or a thumbdrive plugged into the USB port. Most of the cars below rely on Gracenote's music database to translate artist and album names into phonetics understandable by a voice recognition system. This database includes nicknames, so instead of saying "play Bruce Springsteen," you can say "play The Boss."

Here are five cars waiting to take your musical requests. … Read more

Episode 18: The Galaxy Note 2 and a ThinkPad torture test

When Samsung debuted the Galaxy Note last year at CES, the phone met with, well, a mountain of mockery.

It was inexplicably huge, it came with a stylus, hallmark of the hopelessly unhip, and worse, pundits took to calling it a "phablet" -- half phone, half tablet. It appeared to be a product in search of a market it could never, ever hope to find.

We were wrong. The Note found a following, and Samsung reportedly sold 20 million of the funny little things. That's pretty good for a tweener device with no known purpose.

And here … Read more

Ford seeks to lighten cars, improve mpg, with carbon fiber

Exotic cars, such as the McLaren MP4-12C, boast lightweight bodies made entirely of carbon fiber-reinforced panels, yet a demonstration by Ford of a carbon fiber hood suggests that mass commercialization of this advanced material will trickle out on a piece-by-piece basis.

Carbon fiber-reinforced components can weigh less than half of their steel equivalents, while exhibiting similar strength. However, carbon fiber is currently too time-consuming and expensive to produce for use in affordable, mass market cars. BMW currently builds a carbon fiber roof over the cabin of its M3 performance vehicle, and is working with Daimler on developing a practical production … Read more

Massive 'Indiana Jones' exhibit headed to U.S.

The "Indiana Jones" film saga contains a plethora of real-world archaeology and stunning cinematography, an epic score by John Williams, and cunning characters. Perhaps the greatest charm of the movies, however, falls upon the main protagonist played by Harrison Ford.

To celebrate the legacy of the films more than 30 years after the Indiana Jones franchise debuted with "Raiders of the Lost Ark," National Geographic and Lucasfilm teamed with X3 Productions on the Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibition, which is set to open October 12 at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, Calif. The exhibit runs through April 21, 2013, and features an extensive collection of film props, set designs, models, and concept art used in the films. … Read more

Ford CTO on New Ford Fusion

Paul Mascarenas, Ford's chief technology and VP of research, was in San Francisco showing off the new Ford Fusion, which now comes with a choice of engines including a 47mpg hybrid and a gasoline engine that shuts the engine off when stopped at a light or a traffic jam. CNET's Wayne Cunningham got a brief test drive and wrote some " fun facts" about the car.

In a telephone interview (scroll down to listen) Mascarenas talked about the fuel efficiency features including a "start/stop system" in its 1.6 litre "EcoBoost" gasoline … Read more

2013 Ford Fusion fun facts

Ahead of the 2013 Fusion's on sale date, Ford hosted events in five cities around the country, giving journalists an up-close look at the new car. In San Francisco, Ford had the new Fusion Hybrid and the Fusion 1.6-liter EcoBoost on hand, along with Chief Technical Officer Paul Mascarenas to explain some of the new technologies in the model.

Fuel efficiency The Fusion Hybrid earned an EPA rating of 47 mpg city and 47 mpg highway, making it the most fuel-efficient midsize sedan, according to Ford. This car uses a 1.4 kilowatt lithium-ion battery and electric motor … Read more

iPhone 5, new iPod, may leave some cars in the dust

During today's event announcing the new iPhone and iPod, Apple V.P. Phil Schiller spent a little time talking about the Lightning connector, the port replacing the old 30-pin port on iOS devices. Although Schiller pointed out how Apple's adapter for the port would ensure backward compatibility, some car models are not likely to work with Lightning or the new adapter.

Schiller specifically mentioned how the adapter would work with existing iPod integration in cars, showing an image of an iPhone cabled to a car. The car shown in the photo was an Audi, identifiable by the distinctive … Read more