Small business owners are still optimistic and confident, both in themselves and in their businesses, and if you were to ask any of them, they would each have unique lessons to share, things they know for sure. Here are some things that I know for sure: Read more »
In a new supply deal between energy behemoth ConocoPhillips and A123 Systems, whose batteries are slated to power upcoming plug-in vehicles from Fisker Automotive and Chrysler, Big Oil meets little lithium-ion. Read more »
The new iPhone 4 does away with the ‘hold’ button during a call, but what if you want to put your caller on hold? Don’t worry, you still can. Read more »
How much is an electric car maker worth? Some of the world’s largest automakers have invested significant sums into plug-in vehicle development efforts, but Tesla’s IPO gives us the first real glimpse of how the market values an electric vehicle business. Read more »
A boilerplate is a flexible term used to describe many different things, but Apple’s boilerplate is those lines of text that you see at the bottom of each of all its press releases, and it has remained largely unchanged for the past few years. Read more »
Ford and General Motors plan to let drivers send Google Maps directions to their in-vehicle communication systems, Sync and OnStar. The automakers announced the services separately today, as Internet rivalries spill over into the landscape of connected and electric cars. Read more »
ABI Research forecasts in a new report that apps for smartphone devices will give vehicle navigation systems a run for their money over the next five years — a trend that could make demand for connectivity a double-edged sword for green cars. Read more »
Coulomb Technologies, a startup working on charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, has garnered a $15 million federa; grant to support deployment of 4,600 networked charging stations in nine regions around the country — a $37 million endeavor in all. Read more »
Plug-in hybrid vehicle startup Fisker Automotive has closed its latest equity financing round at $189 million — a major step toward meeting the venture’s cost sharing requirements for green car projects backed by Uncle Sam. Read more »
General Motors has stepped back from the financial brink, reporting its first quarterly profit Monday since 2007. These earnings suggest progress toward the turnaround GM mapped out in financial viability plans last year, which played up a role for the Chevy Volt. Read more »
Electrovaya, the Canadian battery maker supplying lithium-ion batteries for Chrysler’s plug-in hybrid truck demo, brought in nearly $1.1 million in revenue during the first three months of this year, compared to just $675,000 in the same period a year earlier. Read more »
Nissan has previously described its upcoming LEAF electric car as being priced for profitability from the get-go. Now the automaker say it expects to initially lose money on the vehicle, at least until it fires up high volume production. Read more »
Roku is boosting the amount of sports content it carries through a multiyear deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) that adds live pay-per-view events and archived matches to its broadband set-top box. It’s the third major sports deal for the set-top box maker. Read more »
A new research paper shows what kind of havoc a hacker could wreak on vehicles that rely heavily on in-car networks and connect to the web via wireless signals. It’s an issue of growing importance as electric vehicles come into the picture. Read more »
So it turns out there’s a sneaky way to “speed-listen” to podcasts on iPhones/iPods. It’s useful because while here are some great podcasts available they take time to get though, and if you subscribe to a few of them that time commitment can get pretty large. Read more »
Silentale is a service that works to unify your address books, and gives you one place to archive your messages. It’s similar to Threadsy, which aims to bring together your email and social network inboxes in one place, although you can’t compose messages directly in Silentale. Read more »
Electric cars and emerging markets: That’s the name of the game for Nissan in the next fiscal year. Reporting a 42.4 billion yen profit for the year ending March 31, Nissan executives emphasized signs of recovery and commitment to greener vehicles Wednesday. Read more »
It’s not just technology advancements that could pave the way to smaller, lighter battery packs in electric vehicles — but also the collection of data as automakers learn more about how these cars perform on the road. Read more »
Online distribution site Blip.tv is aiming to engage with the local web series scene by opening an office in Los Angeles and hiring Epic Fu co-creator Steve Woolf to work directly with creators interested in using the Blip platform. Read more »
