plugs

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded:

Windows Phone 7 is scheduled for its first update since the mobile operating system launched last fall

The iPad 2 may not launch until June and may have some kind of smart bezel

The next generation of MacBook Pros may have a new wireless connection technology

Apple may be working on a television product other than the Apple TV

Toyota is going to start selling hybrid car chargers in 2012

Former Senator Chris Dodd may soon be named chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America

Twitter shut down third-party Twitter clients for … Read more

The Prius is still the monster among hybrid cars, but EVs and newer hybrids have stolen a fair amount of its thunder. Is the Prius Plug-in enough of an innovation to keep Toyota out front as the brand that means high tech power trains? Or is too subtle an evolution? Brian Cooley mulls that over as he takes you for a drive and checks the tech.

The electric ForTwo and the Lexus LF-A debut for very different audiences. Verizon tries but can anybody beat Google maps on Android? The car key that doubles as a wallet. And we drive the BMW 740i, the thinking person's 7 Series.

• Lexus LF-A being delivered

• And the first electric Smart ForTwo being delivered!

• Can Verizon VZ Navigator ever top Google Maps on Android?

• Solar road melts the snow that falls on it

• CNET's picks for must-have car tech features… Read more

They don't go up for sale until 2012, but Zipcar has managed to snag eight Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHV) for its members to rent as part of a testing program with Toyota for the prototype vehicles.

Zipcar locations in Boston and Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco, and Portland, Ore., will receive the plug-in Prius cars, which have an electric range of up to 13 miles on a full battery and can be charged from a standard 110-volt outlet in up to 3 hours. For longer distances, the plug-in Prius achieves an average of 50 mpg, according to Toyota. … Read more

Battery-powered vehicles will come in a range of electric and hybrid models in coming years, rather than come in one or two configurations.

The Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) yesterday hosted a teleconference where battery company executives predicted how auto electrification will take hold and how the industry will tackle the cost of batteries.

Hybrid cars are now a familiar sight in the U.S. and many consumers are already aware of the battery-electric Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt, which uses a gas engine to run a generator that charges its batteries. Automakers are investing in plug-in vehicles, relying … Read more

The technology to shift U.S. transportation from oil to electricity is basically ready to go, but political and infrastructure issues could stymie growth beyond a niche set of drivers, according to a study done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The report, put out today by the MIT Energy Initiative, said that the two main reasons for electrifying transportation are to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce dependence on imported oil.

Conventional hybrids lower carbon dioxide emissions compared to gasoline engines by about 33 percent, it found. If a plug-in hybrid were charged by carbon-free electricity, such as … Read more

Add-ons to Web browsers are exceptionally popular, but sometimes can result in features being tacked onto the brower's interface that can be annoying at best if they're not used. Many times these add-ons are simple drag-and-drop plugins that can be removed from the various Internet Plug-Ins folders in either the global or user libraries, but at other times the add-ons may use alternative means of loading, which can make removing them less straightforward.

One of these is the Community Toolbar, which is developed by "Conduit" and may be customized by other developers for specific purposes and … Read more

It looks like automakers will be required by law to add audible alerts to silent-running electric vehicles to keep sight-impaired pedestrians safe.

President Barack Obama this week signed into law the Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act (S. 841), which will protect the blind and other pedestrians from injury as a result of silent-vehicle technology, said the National Federation of the Blind.

The new bill, sponsored by Senator John Kerry, and 29 other co-sponsors, allows the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) begin crafting standards for an alert sound.

"The National Federation of the Blind is pleased that this critical legislation … Read more

LAS VEGAS--Gear for smart, connected homes may give you consumers fine-grained control over home energy, but ThinkEco has got a light-weight approach to saving electricity.

At the Consumer Electronics Shows here, ThinkEco said that a consumer version of its connected plug and software will be available this spring for $50. Additional plugs cost $44.95.

The company's modlet--short for modern outlet--is a two-outlet plug that fits over ordinary plugs and is equipped with a Zigbee radio. Using a USB stick in a PC, the owner can then see the energy usage and control whatever's plugged into the … Read more