forte

Kia has radically restyled its model lineup over the last five years, coming up with a consistent look for everything from SUVs to compact hatches. Renderings of the next-generation Forte (to be called the K3 in Korea) show further evolution of Kia's design language, which should point the way for other Kia models.

With its lack of door handles and side mirrors, the front and rear renderings show a model that greatly resembles a concept car. These necessities will surely be added by the time the new Forte makes a public appearance. Current Kia design traits, such as the tiger nose grille, are present in this design.… Read more

FORT IRWIN, Calif.--The shoulder-launched rocket-propelled grenade was aimed at several U.S. Army soldiers trying to work their way through the chaos of an Afghan insurgent attack. This was not looking like a good day for the members of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Fortunately for those soldiers, the RPG wasn't real, and they weren't even in Afghanistan -- yet. They will be soon, though. But before deploying to the combat zone, the entire 4th Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., spent four weeks in the June heat of the Mojave Desert at the Army's National Training Center … Read more

Would you pay $2 if you knew that every single one of your Facebook friends would be exposed to your status update? The social network may soon give an eBay-esque highlight ability to those with the most disposable income, and some users in New Zealand already have access. But what could be so important that you'd pay to spam your friends? Let us know in the comments.… Read more

New details have emerged for what appears to be MetroPCS's first LTE smartphone. Previously known by its model number, the Samsung SCH-R910, the Android-based handset made its first appearance only two weeks back. Based on a recently uncovered Flickr photostream, the phone looks like it will carry the name of Samsung Forte when it's ultimately released.

As seen in the accompanying image, the phone features a four-row sliding QWERTY keyboard under, presumably, a 4-inch touch screen. If the rumored specs pan out, we're also looking at 1GHz Hummingbird processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and a Micro-SD card slot, … Read more

Summer is officially over and no one is happier with the sun's absence more than The 404 Podcast. Fall also happens to be the ideal season for Renaissance faires, and this weekend I checked out Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park up by the Cloisters.

Unfortunately, I didn't see anyone in a centaur costume, but I did witness a "real" jousting tournament, not to mention a falconer and Black Wolf the Dragon Master himself, from the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog segment at the Clone Wars premiere.

Tune in to the first half of today's episode to hear the rest and click the slideshow below for photographic evidence of my nerddom.

Switching gears to the only tech story in the rundown, Toshiba introduces the Regza 12GL1, the first line of 3DTVs that don't require a set of cheesy glasses. The 20-inch flat-panel display provides "nine different perspectives of each single 2D frame," which are then "superimposed...to create a three-dimension impression of the image."

Don't worry, we're totally confused by that quote as well, but we also think it's really funny that you have to sit 3 feet away to get the 3D effect. The Toshiba 20GL1 will be for sale in Japan later this year for $2,900, so now might be a good time to take out that second mortgage.

Enjoy the show!

MetroPCS Communications opened its second 4G LTE market today, this one in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

The new service follows the carrier's initial 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) launch in Las Vegas last week. As in Vegas, the Dallas-Forth Worth service will offer prepaid monthly plans starting at $55, which include unlimited talk, text, and data, and require no contract.

But Dallas-Forth Worth customers will also get a few additional features. MetroStudio, available through the $60 monthly plan, will offer downloads and ringtones as well as video content from NBC Universal and other providers, MetroPCS said. A new combined … Read more

We're glad to have Jeff back from his brief hiatus last week, although we soon find out that he spent a lot of the time playing NHL 2K11 for the Wii! To celebrate the release of the game, 2K Sports made Jeff's dream a reality and invited a few journalists to play *actual* ice hockey with NHL Pros Travis Zajac and Ryan Kesler.

And in other Jeff-related news, today's show title is in reference to a tattoo he has in the works courtesy of Miss D'Jo of Lark Tattoo, a friend and listener of The 404! We're excited to see what she has in store for Jeff...we're hoping it's a 404 tattoo on his face.

While everyone else spent Saturday, September 11, in mourning and quiet reverence, Microsoft staged a mock funeral parade the day before to celebrate the passing of the BlackBerry and iPhone.

The low blow even featured mock pallbearers, a large iPhone casket, a hearse, and--for some reason--an impromptu group Thriller dance. We hate to even give Microsoft publicity for this poorly timed stunt, but it's worth it to show how far a company will go to get exposure and shut down competitors.

And as if Microsoft weren't already in trouble, Xbox Live's stringent censorship rules are under fire again, this time with regard to a person getting banned for listing "Fort Gay, WV" as his location in the player profile section. Microsoft's automated censorship bots believed the name of the city to be an individual trying to degrade the sexuality of other players, but it turns out that Fort Gay is indeed a location in West Virginia. After some complaints, the player contacted the chief of Xbox Live police, and the ban was lifted.

After the break, we're proposing some new transit rules of our own after we hear about the New Jersey Transit express trains testing a plan to silence talking altogether on the first and last trains. Granted, the plan doesn't appoint a hall monitor to seek out rule-breakers, but this doesn't seem like a half-bad idea. Tune in to hear our idea of a public transportation utopia!

We're in desperate need of good call-backs, so leave a voice mail at 1-866-404-CNET and give us a piece of your mind! Also, big thanks to Alen for the BTTF Photoshop job you see up there; great work!

So many people use humor to get through their days and their dreary jobs, but sometimes people aren't joking.

I am sure there is often juvenile tittering when neophytes pass through Intercourse, Penn. Perhaps the same occurs with Fort Gay, W. Va., home to a 26-year-old gamer named Josh Moore.

Moore apparently wanted to show his Fort Gay pride. Indeed, he listed "fort gay WV" as his location in his Xbox Live profile.

Unfortunately, the Associated Press reports that, ever alert for the japes of wrath, Microsoft suspended Moore for what it assumed was a rather crude … Read more

NEW YORK--When my friend told me he thought there was a chance he could help me get to see the largest deposit of gold on the planet, you might say I was a little excited.

It's not that I hadn't seen the visceral representation of massive wealth up close and personal, and even recently. After all, only last month, I got a behind-the-scenes tour of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing's production line of the brand-new, next-generation $100 bills, and found myself staring at $38.4 million in cash.

And not long after that, I … Read more