model

Tesla begins assembling beta versions of Model S

Tesla's Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen and Model S Program Director Jerome Guillen announced on the company's blog that they've begun working on Beta versions of the Model S sedan.

Tesla is breaking up the vehicle's development into two stages: Alpha and Beta. Earlier this year Tesla revealed the Alpha version of the electric sedan. In a recent blog post on the company's Web site, von Holzhausen and Guillen said that they've begun assembling the Beta versions of the vehicle to help them prepare for the preproduction of the vehicle that is expected to … Read more

Chart your course

We've had the unfortunate experience of working for employers who did not clearly define their business processes. The consequences of this are numerous: training is a nightmare, important tasks fall through the cracks, nothing gets documented, efficiency suffers, and employees are frustrated. Creating flowcharts that clearly illustrate your business's processes can save a lot of time, money, and headaches. Bizagi Process Modeler makes it easy to create attractive flowcharts that outline every aspect of your business.

The program's interface is sleek, resembling recent versions of Microsoft Office products. There are tabbed menus across the top and an … Read more

Songify makes your speech into song, sort of

Khush, the company that released LaDiDa (remember the "reverse Karaoke" app that takes a poorly-sung song and Auto-Tunes it into an arguably passable rendition), has gone a step further with its automatic song creation technology in its latest iPhone app, Songify.

Songify takes spoken text and then tunes, chops, and sequences it with pre-written backround music into what's supposed to be a little musical number.

It's fun for a bit, but there's only so much you can do with some of the source material. See the example below, which is a Songified version of me … Read more

Aboard the world's largest model train collection

HAMBURG, Germany--Sure, Miniatur Wunderland is the world's largest collection of model trains, but to describe it that way would do it a serious injustice. What it really is is a beyond-belief collection of fantastic dioramas depicting scenes from the Swiss and Austrian Alps, Germany, the United States, and Scandinavia throughout which run 900 trains on the more than eight miles of tracks.

I had planned to come here as part of Road Trip 2011, because I'd read that Miniatur Wunderland had recently added a giant scale model of a working airport. And when I looked into that, I … Read more

Car Tech Live 219: CNET picks over the 2011 Hyundai Elantra (podcast)

The trend is on to unplug red-light cameras...Cambridge Crude could be the electric oil of tomorrow...Tesla turns a corner...and we take you for a run in one of the new four bangers that shame most hybrids.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 219 SHOW NOTES

• CNET reviews the 2011 Hyundai Elantra

• L.A. seriously considers dropping red-light cameras

• Can "Cambridge Crude" make electric cars more practical?

• What do you think of a mini-er Mini?

• Tesla ends production of Roadster, gets ready to sell Model S… Read more

BMW ActiveE home charging supplier also powers Leaf, Volt

To power its upcoming test fleet of electric vehicles, BMW announced AeroVironment as the preferred supplier and installer for the ActiveE's 240-volt home charging dock.

Based on the 1-Series, the BMW ActiveE has a 32-kWh lithium ion battery pack that provides a 100-mile range. The AeroVironment EVSE-RS charging station uses the industry standard SAE J1772 connector to deliver approximately 25 miles of driving range per hour of charging time. Using the EVSE-RS charger, a completely drained battery can be fully recharged in 4 to 5 hours.

BMWs aren't the only electric cars the EVSE-RS can charge--AeroVironment's weather-proof … Read more

Why definitions of cloud are creating 'false' debates

Why, when so many have already begun evaluating and even executing on cloud strategies, are there still so many debates about what is and isn't "cloud"? When we've seen a growing number of stories about enterprises successfully consuming both public- and private-cloud infrastructure services, why are there still so many debates about whether one or the other is a smart thing to do?

The answer, I believe, stems from a growing division (or misunderstanding?) among technology and business decision makers about the very nature of cloud computing. I hesitate to go into cloud definitions, but I … Read more

New Nook coming soon; most likely e-ink model

This isn't how products are typically announced, but thanks to a couple of sentences in an SEC filing, word is out that Barnes & Noble plans to release a new e-reader later this month.

Late yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that according to the filing, Barnes & Noble will unveil the "new eReader device" on May 24:

Barnes & Noble spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating declined to comment beyond the 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which contained one sentence of text to comply with Regulation FD fair disclosure rules, except to confirm the meeting took place in New York City. The filing says simply that the company, in the meeting, "indicated it expects to make an announcement on May 24, 2011, regarding the launch of a new eReader device."

The filing had no specific details about the e-reader, but for some reason the Journal speculated that Barnes & Noble might release a "more powerful combination tablet and e-reader" that would perhaps run Honeycomb, the Android 3.0 OS designed for tablets.

We're here to tell you that's probably not the case and that the more likely--and logical--scenario is… Read more

Tesla drops hints on pricing for electric Model S

You'll be able to get the electric Model S sedan with an impressive 300 mile range next year, but it will cost you a hefty premium over the base model.

Tesla Motors last week provided a snapshot of the development of the Model S, an all-electric luxury sedan critical to Tesla's financial success. The car is now in alpha testing and the company plans to start delivering them to customer with reservations in the middle of next year.

Tesla plans to offer three models of the Model S based on driving range--160 miles, 230 miles, and 300 miles. … Read more