The day Google had to "start over" on Android

In 2007, Google's Android, team had been working 60+ hour weeks for over a year. They were sure they were going to take the cell (mobile) phone world by storm with their revolutionary smartphone project ... then Apple announced the iPhone ... & everything changed.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/12/the-day-google-had-to-start-over-on-android/282479/ / bar 2005, Google Google’s sprawling, college-like college like campus most secret ambitious team teams smartphone effort Android project Google’s Building 44 Google ad reps four dozen engineers on track deliver revolutionary device change mobile phone industry forever more consumer blown away wanted one immediately engineer start over again worked sixty to eighty 60 80 hour hours sixty-to-eighty-hour weeks fifteen months more than two years writing testing test code negotiate negotiating soft­ware licenses license flying over the world find right parts suppliers manufacturers been working with proto­types prototype six months planned plan launch by the end of the year Steve Jobs stage announce unveil the iPhone Chris DeSalvo’s DeSalvo reaction iPhone Silicon Valley iPhone iPhone’s unveiling January 9, 2007 done the impossible iPod iTunes wireless car­rier build a revolutionary smartphone hairy Google size Google-size problem software industry mobile phones most dysfunctional technology wireless bandwidth users surf the Internet weren’t powerful enough rudimentary software oligopoly carriers phone makers writing software for phones wireless bandwidth improve phone chips more powerful looked carri­ers phone makers would control building software one device at a time Vodafone big European carrier Google search on their phones good mobile browser ring tones tone ring-tones carriers provide all the services inside walled garden AOL control best way make money few developers built software mobile phones lost money no standardization industry every phone ran own software applications meaning software written Samsung wouldn’t run Motorola phone Nokia software platforms incompatible different versions of Symbian money pit testing company Larry Page frustrate frustration frustrating share holder share­holders smartphone smart phone phones smartphones Microsoft compete monopoly Page executives mobile business Windows CE mobile phones software niche market consumers platform search tech world co-founder cofounder Sergey Brin dressed search engine’s popularity a fad U.S. government’s successful antitrust trial against Microsoft Oracle v. Google copyright trial Lass Vegas handset makers carriers Consumer Electronics Show Tseng Stanford business school Eric Schmidt Android /

Watch "The first-ever BMW i3 hot lap" (video)

Credit: Chris Neff/Inside EVs

i3 is BMW's electric vehicle (EV). Optionally, a range extender (generator powered by a two-cylinder, 647cc internal combustion engine (ICE)) extends its 160 km (100 mile) EV range by 128 km (80 miles).

With 125 kW (168bhp) of electric power on tap, straight line performance is good: 0-100 kph (62 mph) in 7.2 seconds for the battery only car. In the extended range version, the extra weight slows 0-100 kph time to 7.9 seconds. With this kind of performance, the two i3 models have the 2nd & 3rd best straight line performances of any commercially available EV, behind the Tesla Model S.

Once the battery is exhausted, though, the 25 kW (34 bhp) ICE powered generator can provide only much reduced performance. Apparently, the trick is to turn on the range extender while the battery still has substantial charge (BMW suggests 40%), so that the entire 125 kW of battery power remains available for acceleration & hill climbing, while the 25 kW ICE provides power for cruise.

And how does it stop & turn with that tall design & those narrow tyres? Apparently better than you might expect:



http://insideevs.com/review-from-the-track-bmw-i3-gets-driven-to-the-limit-by-pro-driver-i-ride-shotgun-wvideo/

Summary: good acceleration & general performance & handling but, while the range extender is a solution to range anxiety, it will make any journey of more than 160 km a series of ~120 km "hops".

If you forget to turn on the range extender early enough, the second & subsequent "hops" could be very slow./ drive driving EVs MiniE BMW ActiveE performance ecology eco was green exotic car meets parked next to a Ferrari Lamborghini Mclaren fun daily driver funky look skinny tires fun as my ActiveE styling drive tire tyre tires tyres drivers’ EV race track track day professional professional race car driver Erin CrockervNascar racer sprint car racer stunt car driver EV newbie loves automobiles decent speeds test handling what Monticello Raceway New York video shoot ActiveE handles curves frunk garage control controls track speed increasing hairpin regenerative braking regen braking accelerator impressive closed course lap laps pits fear excitement video shoot take full electric REx extended range on track on-track abuse going flat out handling nimble handle engineer low center of gravity low weight tall weight is down low chassis stiff i3 leans lean predictable front tires grab grabbing electronic stability control sliding slide computer cutting the power fully disable anti-skid hairpin hairpins long sweeping turns corner turn quick steering turning radius brake brakes braking ride quality /

Ford: Predictive logic can boost cruise-control mpg 5 percent

Powertrain mapping for Ford predictive cruise control
Credit: Ford/Green Car Reports

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089187_ford-predictive-logic-can-boost-cruise-control-mpg-5-percent / 2014 Lincoln MKTCruise control American long road trips reduced reduction reduce fatigue adaptive cruise control systems system commutes traffic jam jams jammed traffic-jammed holiday weekend slogs save lot of fuel up to 10 percent foot on the accelerator foot-on-accelerator driving drive smoothing smooth driving styles style adapt cruise control surrounding traffic more extreme terrain question maintain maintaining speed recover desired speed vehicle vehicles hill hills cruise control systems market adaptive cruise controls set following distance predictive throttle speed drops drop slower vehicle directly ahead ease off speed rises desired setting eliminate overcompensation built into systems predictive algorithms more sophisticated mapping Ford engineers engineer soften throttle behavior save more fuel powertrain power train mapping predictive cruise control comparing load vehicle how many people aboard load passenger passengers headwind steepness grade powertrain torque applied smooth recovery trajectory speed drops drop fall falls decrease decreases connect connected cloud based cloud-based vehicles know vehicle's onboard measurements on powertrain load accelerometers yaw sensors air-mass meter air mass numbers typical powertrain module variables samples a few seconds total running memory less than 55 seconds predicts based on recent loading and terrain load constant transient connected vehicles uphill downhill eco rubber band rubber-band-style delay throttle response /

Myth busted: renewable energy is intermittent, it is too unreliable to be the major source of electricity supply

Credit: Professor Mark Diesendorf/Climate Spectator

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/12/18/energy-markets/base-debate-holding-renewables-hostage?utm_source=exact&utm_medium=email&utm_content=553416&utm_campaign=cs_daily&modapt= / edited extract Mark Diesendorf new book Sustainable Energy Solutions for Climate Change published Australia New Zealand UNSW Press December 2013; ublished overseas Earthscan April 2014 myth renewable energy intermittent unreliable major source electricity supply penetration penetrations renewable energy grid must await development baseload renewable power stations vast amount storage refute refutation computer simulation modeling electricity systems 80-100 per cent 80% 100% renewable electricity RE refutes this traditional assumption simple conception balancing baseload demand baseload supply 24-hour period outdated context renewable energy electricity RE future appropriate inflexible baseload power stations coal nuclear atomic uranium radio active activity only choice 24 hour 24-hour power large penetrations RE integrated into grid baseload power stations not needed their inflexibility inflexible liability computer simulations show baseload demand supplied reliably reliable mix RE sources source baseload power station figure David Mills mix flexible variable RE power stations output varied rapidly required flexible technology dispatchable switched on rapidly coal fired coal-fired nuclear power station electrical power electricity fed into grid upon demand high degree certainty following renewable electricity systems are flexible to varying degrees gas turbine assured source of fuel derived from biomass organic materials hydro-electric station hydro electric large dam geothermal power station concentrated solar thermal power station thermal storage definition grey areas flexibility RE source storage increases store wind solar PV without storage run-of-river hydro much less flexibleclassified variable sourcesbelectrical outputs variable power stations decreased required cannot increased beyond level offered weather flow conditions dispatched reliably part mix flexible renewable power stations label variable RE technologies intermittent misleading implying incorrectly large scale large-scale renewable electricity production generally cuts off abruptly wind drops cloud blocks the sun output single wind turbine solar PV moduleintermittent in this sense wind farm spanning tens kilometres solar power station spanning kilometre take much longer cut-off system of geographically dispersed wind farms solar power stations take many hours short term short-term changes wind sunshine predicted quite well weather observations challenge predominant predominantly RE system supply peaks in demand baseload, achieve achieved both geographic dispersion mix flexible variable power stations flexible conventional generation, grid storage, transmission responsive loads changes power system operation Mark Diesendorf associate professor deputy director Institute of Environmental Studies UNSW university of NSW New South Wales /

Gmail announces the ability to download your email & calendar data

Credit: Gmail Blog/Zagg

http://www.zagg.com/community/blog/gmail-announces-the-ability-to-download-your-email-and-calendar-data/ / new technology Google ability export copy your Gmail Google Calendar data download mail email calendars subset subsets label labels calendar calendars prefer preference possible download single archive file multiple products copy Gmail Drive Youtube Google+ calendars calendar other Google data Google owns half Internet file hold a whole lot make backing up back up backup data moving different service easier secure security ensure safety emails email documents email ability download gmail messages rolled out over next month everyone should be able download calendar data today going Account Download your data /

Fleksy keyboard for Android receives a big update & a beautiful new vanilla thyme

Credit: Droid Life

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/fleksy-keyboard-app-faq,review-1979.html

iOS too

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/12/5201868/fleksy-wants-to-become-your-new-ios-keyboard-everywhere / Fleksy Android update fully resizable fully-resizable reduced reduces file size application app enhancement enhancements vanilla theme dark theme beta test group Google+ free original developers of BlindType blindly type away fully hide keyboard ultimate full-screen typing experience feature showing off Swiftkey resizable Full Tiny Vanilla reduced file size 25% memory usage 15% configurable configure haptic feedback duration feed back smoother animations animation mproved web typing removed white text box hiding hide app landscape improved increased accuracy tutorial dictionary backup cloud stock Jelly Bean bugs bug squashed S4 flicker swap invisible bullets facebook tag KingSoft Office /

Road trips in a Tesla Model S electric car: lessons learned

Tesla Model S at a Supercharger fast charge station
Credit: George Parrott/Green Car Reports

Most electric vehicles (EVs) have short battery range: less than 160 km (100 miles). This is more than enough for the vast majority of daily use, but not for the much less frequent road trip. For a road trip, short range is compounded by slow charge times. An exception is the Tesla Model S with an EPA certified range of up to 426 km (265 miles). Using a Tesla Supercharger, the Model S can recharge to 80% of full charge in 20 to 30 minutes.

All of the above problems are compounded by cold weather. Charging is slower & the ability of the battery to release its stored energy is compromised, reducing range.

Use of the heater further reduces range in cold weather. This can be minimized, by using seat heating (a common fitting in EVs), rather than heating the entire passenger compartment. One quarter of the power use is representative. Warm gloves required.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089093_road-trips-in-a-tesla-model-s-electric-car-lessons-learned / battery EV electric vehicle car automobile lithium ion LiIon DC AC alternating current direct Amp Volt Watt kiloWatt kilo Watt hour kWh Supercharge Supercharger recharge level 2 Nissan dealer charge station park 85 kWh 60 kWh lessons learned road trip heater air conditioner West Coast road tripper winter heating battery pack gasoline diesel petrol publish published reports report West Coast East Coast nationwide network quick-charging quick charging quick-charge quick charge quick-charger quick charger /