Artist and newly crowned TV show host ANDREW WK joins The 404 today in what might be the crowning moment of our careers. We run the gamut in our extra-long show--we chat about his music career, an upcoming album, his new show "Destroy Build Destroy," and Jeff and I actually reveal our two chance encounters with the man. IT'S TIME TO PARTY!
Posi posi posi posi.
(Credit: The404/CNET)After pimping out his appearance on the show for the past two weeks, we're very, very excited to welcome Andrew WK to our humble studio. Unsurprisingly, Andrew's super posi vibe gels well with the group and we get right into the interview, beginning with a story about how Andrew got into the piano as a kid and how it shaped his music today.
AWK and Justin freaking out
(Credit: The404/CNET)If you haven't had a chance to see Andrew play live, do yourself a favor and check it out with The 404's highest recommendation for a guaranteed good time. Also be sure to listen for a very special clip from Andrew's newest sold-out record, "DAMN! The Mixtape Vol. 1", currently only available for download on iTunes or Amazon. We also pick Andrew's brain for his opinions on the current state of music, including the overuse of auto-tune and his newfound appreciation for Dave Matthews Band.
After the break, we launch right into a conversation about Andrew's newest endeavor, a brand new show debuting on the Cartoon Network this Saturday, 8:30 p.m. EDT called "Destroy Build Destroy." The premise is simple: two teams of teenagers (with plenty of guidance and safety measures) compete to destroy a large structure, build the remnants up into something else. The winner of the competition gets to obliterate the loser's! You had us at "destroy," Andrew, the premise sounds like a mix between Double Dare and Battle Bots.
AWK's all over the place! In addition to Santos Party House, his successful bar in downtown Manhattan, Andrew also talks about his next solo album entitled "55 Cadillac" that's a pretty wide departure from his normal rock and roll. Listen to a few clips on his MySpace, give him a call, and let him know how much you love it!
Click on the slideshow above for candid shots from our interview with Andrew WK, courtesy of Sara the Woah-mantern, and a big thanks goes out to Anna David for introducing us to AWK! Wait, is it time to party yet? Yeah, it's time...LET'S GET A PARTY STARTED!
EPISODE 365
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Cadillac has announced the availability of an in-car wireless Internet option on its CTS sport sedan beginning in April. The new option will be called Cadillac WiFi (sic) by Autonet and be dealer-installed. The device itself will have an MSRP of $499, and the service will cost $29 per month.
This makes Cadillac one of the very first carmakers to offer wireless Internet in a production vehicle. Autonet Mobile says early market experience indicates that this option will appeal to families first, as opposed to the mobile business professional you probably think would be its main initial market.
We've seen this Autonet device before (though the latest model is smaller, dockable, and sports an internal Wi-Fi antenna) and a company called Waav offers a similar rig, but what's interesting about the Cadillac-Autonet deal is that a top-tier carmaker is putting its imprimatur on general-purpose in-car Internet connectivity.
Connect a few dots, and you soon arrive at a future in which almost every service in a car--entertainment, navigation, communication--is cloud-based, and not dependent on computation or data that are captive in the vehicle.
BMW has shown us something like that, Mercedes is pursuing the idea with its MyCommand prototype, and Blaupunkt is about to roll out the first Internet-streaming car stereos.
Of course, the big competitive threat is that we all just decide to get in the car with more and more iPhones and Netbooks with integrated 3G (and later 4G) wireless connections, and skip mobile routers altogether. Companies in the emerging in-car Internet space will soon need to bring more to the party than just Wi-Fi and some 3G network massaging; they'll need to bundle and optimize services for in-car use, as well as develop car-specific interfaces, and deliver both in a way that speaks to two major use cases: driver and passenger.
That said, it's heartening to see an Internet option make its way to the showrooms of a global auto brand. It helps deliver on the sometimes breathlessly hyped promise of life in the cloud.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)
It might seem absurd to match an efficient hybrid power train with a massive luxury SUV, but Cadillac went ahead and did it anyway. The result is a truck that offers a lot of amenities for seven passengers, plus towing capability, along with fuel economy we often see in V-6 sedans.
This limousine carried President Bush on a visit to New Delhi in March 2006.
(Credit: White House photo by Paul Morse )Meet the new ride, same as the old ride.
Inauguration Day for Barack Obama will also mark the first day of service for a new presidential limousine--a Cadillac, just like its predecessor. The Detroit News is reporting that the new limo, now in the hands of the Secret Service, will be about the same size as the one it's replacing, though it will have, at the very least, bigger windows. Beyond that, the newspaper said, General Motors spokesman David Caldwell offered precious little information.
Not surprisingly, the Secret Service was, well, secretive about everything but the January 20 date for the Caddy's debut.
GM did allow that the 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine is the first that doesn't have a specific model name, according to The Detroit News. President Bush's lame-duck limo is a 2006 Cadillac DTS. The Motor City newspaper said that GM "is believed" to have built no more than 25 of the new models.
While security-related information is understandably not for public consumption, the automaker apparently hasn't minded divulging some of the president's automotive amenities.
Caldwell said he couldn't give specifications--even the engine size or type--in either the current limousine or the new one. Other facts also are secret like the vehicle's curb weight, though Cadillac has disclosed in the past that the limo has a 10-disc CD player and hand-stitched leather interiors.
But a somewhat closer look is on the way. Both the GM and Secret Service spokesmen said they would offer pictures, along with more information, next week. For now, viewing is limited to "spy photos" from the automotive paparazzi, as here on CNN.
(Credit:
Corinne Schulze/CBS Interactive)
The days of keeping a library of tapes or CDs in your car are over. You walk around with an MP3 player, so why shouldn't you be able to use it in your car? Today's MP3 players can hold your entire music collection, so you don't have to decide which tunes to bring with you. Today's cars let you easily plug in an iPod or MP3 player and have full control over the device through voice command or the car's touch screen, and that's much safer than trying to manipulate the small controls on an MP3 player while barreling down the freeway. We've picked six cars that work particularly well with iPods and MP3 players.
(Credit:
Crave Asia)
Are you an ardent fan of the Hummer H-series or the sleek Cadillac CTS sedan? New handsets from Quantum Telecom are styled just like your favorite model complete with car shine finish.
Aside from the logos and paint jobs, the Hummer HQ1 3G also has an engine intake grille adorning its front and crisp lines on the rear. The CDQ, on the other hand, mirrors the real McCoy with its blend of wing-like edges, sharp angles, and wire mesh bottom.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Cosmopolitan CMQ streamlined clamshells with clutter-free exteriors that are less intimidating but still have plenty of aesthetic wow factors. For starters, it has a crystal-studded shell in various eye-catching designs, as well as a leather-clad equivalent and another coated in shiny enamel.
Standard features include a 262K screen, Bluetooth connectivity, camera, and MP4 playback. Even better, some of them will be priced affordably between $199 and $299 and are slated for launch across Asia starting next month. (Get more CommunicAsia 2008 coverage here.)
(Source: Crave Asia)
Our favorite Cadillac gets it all together with oomph. Get a first look from the 2008 Detroit auto show.
In this latest video from a series about GM designers, Cadillac design director Clay Dean talks about the CTS-V, the sport-tuned version of the new CTS. We gave the 2008 Cadillac CTS our Tech Car of the Year award, so the CTS-V is working from a platform we really like. In the video, Mr. Dean talks about his background a little bit, then gets up close to the car, pointing out specific design cues. Our favorite quote, "This is no boy racer, no hoorah, no frou frou. This is the real stuff."
The first car ever launched at an electronics show. Get a first look at the Cadillac Provoq concept from the 2008 Detroit auto show.
There was no shortage of sexy, sporty cars at this year's North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Here are my favorites (in somewhat of a particular order):
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
The race-bred concept, which means "wind" in Japanese, is based on the Courage C65 chassis, which Mazda used in the American Le Mans Series two seasons previously. It has a three-rotor rotary engine that's capable of churning out 450 horsepower. And while it looks awesome, I'd say the chance that it goes into production is pretty slim.
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General Motors)
The uber-performance version of Cadillac's sportiest model is slated to hit dealerships at the end of this year. Its 6.2 liter supercharged LSA engine delivers an estimated 550 horsepower and 550 pound-feet of torque. It also features Magnetic Ride Control, an "industry-first Performance Traction Management program" (although I'm not quite sure what that means), as well as a new automatic transmission with paddle-shift control (some of us recognized the extra space for the paddles on the steering column when we drove the 2008 CTS earlier this year).
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Audi's sleek supercar gets an update with a 12-cylinder diesel engine -- a first for a high-performance road car. The V12 TDI (which stands for turbo diesel injection), generates 500 horsepower and an impressive 738 pound-feet of torque. The V12 TDI is closely related to the engine in the Audi R10, the two-time Le Mans winner. I love how the car looks, but I'm still befuddled by that giant strip of carbon fiber down the side.
(Credit:
Fisker Automotive)
I'm hoping for good karma for Henrik Fisker, best known for his designs of the Aston Martin DB9, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, and BMW Z8. The Great Dane is launching his first car built from the ground up, powered by plug-in hybrid technology. The drivetrain, developed by Quantum Technologies, consists of a small gasoline engine that turns a generator to charge a lithium-ion battery pack. The batteries power the electric motor and turn the rear wheels. With a zero-to-60 time of less than 6 seconds and a top speed of more than 125 miles per hour, the Karma is definitely poised to be a Tesla-killer.
(Credit:
General Motors)
My number one car (though a tough call) evokes images of Tim Allen doing his manly grunt on Home Improvement. The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is the most powerful and fastest production car ever made by parent company General Motors. It features a new, supercharged 6.2-liter LS9 V-8 engine that cranks out a jaw-dropping 620 horsepower and about 595 pound-feet of torque. GM says the ZR1 will be the first production Corvette to achieve a top speed of at least 200 miles per hour. But those speed junkies and midlife crisis victims still need to hang on a big longer -- the ZR1 won't arrive until this summer.
