Now Call via Gmail in 38 languages with lower rates to over 150 destinations

Now Call via Gmail in 38 languages with lower rates to over 150 destinations: "Google has some good news for all of us. Gmail now allows users to make calls to over 150 destinations and supports 38 languages. They started the Call service right from GMail to any mobile phone or landline in the US. Now, they are supporting more destinations and also 38 new languages. You can now [...]

Now Call via Gmail in 38 languages with lower rates to over 150 destinations is a post from: Nihar's World

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Nissan Adds a QR Code to All 2012 Nissans

Nissan Adds a QR Code to All 2012 Nissans: "

QR (Quick Response) codes, those weird looking squares containing black hieroglyphics, are popping up everywhere. You’ll now find them on every new 2012 Nissan vehicle at local Nissan dealerships.

Nissan is the first OEM to place a QR code on individual window stickers. The codes are already on the 2012 Altima and 2012 Sentra models that have been in showrooms for the past couple of months. For the record, Porsche has also introduced a similar system, but it uses the Microsoft tag system to deliver its codes – just like the tags you’ll also find in the pages of Road & Track magazine.

If you own a smartphone you may already have installed a QR code reader app. If so, all you have to do is open the app, point the camera at the QR code and within seconds it’ll take you to Nissan’s website where you’ll find additional vehicle information including key features and available accessories, video based product overviews, an image gallery, incentive offers and dealer inventory. You can also request a quote and ask to be added to a mailing list.

If you don’t yet have a QR code reader on your smartphone, there are dozens to choose from and most are free.

Related posts:

1. Pricing Update: 2012 Nissan Leaf
2. Pricing Update: 2012 Nissan Versa Lowest Priced Car in U.S.
3. From the internet: 2012 Nissan GT-R

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The 2012 Ford Explorer with EcoBoost Will Start at $29,990, Running $995 More Than Comparable V-6 Models

The 2012 Ford Explorer with EcoBoost Will Start at $29,990, Running $995 More Than Comparable V-6 Models: "

Ford has announced that pricing for the 2012 Explorer with EcoBoost will start at $29,990 for a base model, and run up to $39,560 for a top-of-the-line Limited equipped with the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine. The efficiency-oriented EcoBoost motor is available on all three Explorer trim levels, where it has been positioned price-wise between front-drive V-6 and all-wheel-drive V-6 Explorers. On all three trim levels, the EcoBoost engine will cost you $995 over the standard 290-hp 3.5-liter V-6 engine.

The EcoBoost four-cylinder makes 240 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque, which is 50 fewer hp but 15 more lb-ft than the Explorer’s 3.5-liter V-6 produces. Rated at an impressive 28 mpg highway and 20 in the city, the four-cylinder EcoBoost-equipped Explorer is unavailable with all-wheel drive.

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Ford Lowering Price, Expanding Availability of SYNC, Starting with 2012 Edge and Explorer

Ford Lowering Price, Expanding Availability of SYNC, Starting with 2012 Edge and Explorer: "

Ford’s SYNC will cost $100 less on the 2012 Edge and Explorer than it did on the 2011 models. The automaker’s now-ubiquitous voice-activated infotainment system was a $395 option on the 2011 Explorer and Edge, but it will now command just $295. Furthermore, Ford is expanding the availability of SYNC to all trim levels, so buyers of even the lowliest Explorer and Edge can now spring for SYNC and sign up for SYNC Services (which includes turn-by-turn directions, traffic updates, and live operator assistance). Other Ford models due to benefit from SYNC’s lower price and added availability include the 2013 Escape, Flex, Focus, and Taurus. The changes will make their way to Ford’s entire lineup within the next three years.

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Mini Unveils U.K.-Only Soho Special Edition

Mini Unveils U.K.-Only Soho Special Edition: "

All Minis can be extensively personalized from the factory, but Mini has no shortage of special editions for those who want a unique Mini without exerting any creative effort, and the Soho Special Edition is the company’s latest limited release. The Soho Special Edition is named after the London neighborhood, in keeping with Mini’s practice of naming limited-edition models after London boroughs, districts, streets, and landmarks. Previous adherents to this policy include the Mini Cooper 50 Camden, Cooper Mayfair, and the Cooper Clubman Hampton.

The Mini Soho wears a coat of striking White Silver metallic paint, which contrasts nicely with black 17-inch wheels. Interestingly, the White Silver hue is exclusive to the Soho in the U.K., while here in the States it is available on even base Coopers. Continuing the black/white theme, the Soho package also includes blacked-out bi-xenon headlights with white indicators. Inside, the Soho Mini wears an anthracite headliner, a sport steering wheel, and piano-black trim. Buyers can order their Soho Special Edition as a hatch or convertible, based on either the standard Cooper or diesel Cooper D.

Unfortunately the Soho edition is staying in the U.K.; but fret not: It isn’t hard to closely replicate the Soho’s basic kit on a U.S. Mini. Ordering up a base Cooper with the $500 White Silver paint, white indicator lamps (bundled with blackout headlamp housings), $500 bi-xenon headlights and retractable headlamp washers, $250 anthracite headliner, $250 piano black trim, and $750 black 16-inch wheels gets you a Soho of your own—you’ll just have to put in the creative effort to make it happen. Now consider that the Soho costs £16,765, which equates to a steep $27,261. Our American psuedo-Soho costs just $22,750.

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2012 Toyota Camry Spy Photos: The Sales Champ is Caught in the Buff

2012 Toyota Camry Spy Photos: The Sales Champ is Caught in the Buff: "

Like usual, the Camry takes a risk and comes up conservative.

Each successive generation of Toyota Camry seems to take one or two minor styling risks that generate some conversation without jeopardizing the model’s staggering sales figures. These spy photos showing the car running bare in the desert indicate that will be the case again when the car launches in the coming months.

Keep Reading: 2012 Toyota Camry / Camry Hybrid Spy Photos – Future Cars

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Ford Releases 84-hp Focus “Studio” in U.K., Makes Us Think of Tiny Apartments

Ford Releases 84-hp Focus “Studio” in U.K., Makes Us Think of Tiny Apartments: "

During the run-up to the arrival of the excellent 2012 Focus, Ford released the Focus Sport in the U.K.—a last-gen, Euro-market five-door packed with options, but offered at a low price and with puny engines—to spur showroom activity before the new model hit. The interim Sport model proved so popular that Ford has taken that car’s concept and applied it to the new model, christening its latest value proposition the Focus Studio. But don’t think the Studio’s low price and entry-level designation make it the rolling equivalent of a single-room habitat with a hot plate, because it’s actually rather well equipped. It’s much more appropriate to think of it as a studio apartment with track lighting and a dishwasher, and maybe even on-site laundry.

The entry-level Focus Studio costs just £13,995—about £2000 less than the next model up, the Focus Edge. The lowliest Focus is powered by an 84-hp, 1.6-liter gas engine, so while the low cost of entry may not get you road-burning speed, good fuel economy is most certainly part of the deal. Camouflaging the Studio’s base-model status are a set of attractive 16-inch aluminum wheels, a rear-hatch spoiler, a CD audio system with USB connectivity, air conditioning, and power-operated mirrors and front windows. The features list may be long, but the list of exterior color choices is amusingly short. Ford will spray your five-door Focus Studio in one of three grayscale hues: Panther Black, Moondust Silver, or Frozen White.

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Bugatti CEO Details Successor to Veyron: 16 Cylinders, Four Seats, €1M+ Price

Bugatti CEO Details Successor to Veyron: 16 Cylinders, Four Seats, €1M+ Price: "

Given the superlative nature and awesome speed of Bugatti’s already-legendary, 250-plus-mph Veyron supercar, interest in the manufacturer’s follow-up is intense. The company had previously gone on record as saying that its next model wouldn’t be a supercar, but details were scant—until now. In a recent article from the German magazine Auto Motor und Sport, Bugatti CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer confirms that the new car will be in the vein of the controversial 16 C Galibier concept, which we examined (and this scribe didn’t particularly like) back in 2009. It will seat four and have a generous trunk, Dürheimer says; you can bet that a set of fitted luggage will be one of the pricey options. We care somewhat more about what’s fitted up front, of course, which the article claims will be a 16-cylinder powerplant, although output wasn’t mentioned. (The W-16 under the Galibier’s butterfly bonnet delivers a mere 800 hp, somewhat less than the 1001 churned up by the 8.0-liter W-16 in the mid-engine Veyron.) The Galibier concept is big, though, so don’t expect Veyron-esque, sub-three-second 0-to-60 sprints no matter how much carbon fiber and aluminum the new car contains. Interestingly, a hybrid model (presumably a plug-in) is on the docket as well, with an electric-only driving range of about 25 miles, according to Dürheimer.

Also interesting is Dürheimer’s hope of selling between 1000 and 1500 of the super-luxe conveyance over the course of its lifetime, roughly triple the number of Veyron coupes and Grand Sport convertibles Bugatti has built since 2004. The story also projects that the big Bug will go on sale during the fall of 2012, about a year earlier than most stated projections. How much will it cost? Dürheimer says it will command at least €1M, which amounts to about $1.42 million at today’s exchange rates.

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Infused With Elvis? Fiat Launches First North American Marketing Campaign for New 500

Infused With Elvis? Fiat Launches First North American Marketing Campaign for New 500: "

Fiat has announced its U.S. advertising campaign for the reborn 500, strangely electing to ignore its most well-known brand-associated phrase here and instead opting for the tagline “Simply More.” While “Fix It Again, Tony!” may have a certain frisson lacking in the new message, we understand. What perplexes us is the tack they’ve chosen to take with the new spot.

Presumably, the target demographic for the Fiat 500 did not grow up going to the drive-in or listening to Elvis. Or even grow up on Cheap Trick covering Elvis. (Yes, that happened. Watch the result here.) Yet a subtle nod to the King’s “Jailhouse Rock” is the hook for the 500’s first North American ad spot, featuring a couple pulling into a drive-in movie. You can check it out video below. Have today’s twentysomethings ever even actually been to a drive-in movie?

The company’s rationale is that the 500 debuted in ’57, the same year as Elvis’s iconic single. But any American with 1950s fever is hooked on befinned Chevrolets, Forward-Look Chryslers, and two-seat Thunderbirds. Twinning the Cinquecento with American midcentury nostalgia and proclaiming it an icon in a country where it was never more than a curio seems like a wrongheaded grab for a history that never was. We do, however, approve of the “On a scale of 1 to 10, it’s a 500.” print ad, featuring a brown Cinquecento. That’s the kind of marketing that gets us right in that special place. You hear us, Fiat? Less Elvis, more brown. And maybe some Cheap Trick.

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2012 Ford Edge with 2.0-Liter EcoBoost Rated for 30 MPG Highway

2012 Ford Edge with 2.0-Liter EcoBoost Rated for 30 MPG Highway: "

Ford just announced that the four-cylinder-EcoBoost-powered 2012 Explorer achieves 28 mpg on the highway, and it’s now released fuel-economy figures for its 2012 Edge crossover with the same engine. The five-passenger crossover nets 21 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway with the turbo four and front-wheel drive. For comparison, front-drive Edges equipped with the standard 3.5-liter V-6 swill gas at a rate of 19 mpg city and 27 highway.

The optional turbocharged four-cylinder produces 240 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque here, which is 45 hp fewer—but 17 lb-ft more—than made by the Edge’s standard 3.5-liter V-6. The EcoBoost Edge’s efficiency is aided by a unique six-speed automatic transmission, low-friction motor oil—remember to ask for it at your local lube shop, kids!—and active grille shutters that close at higher speeds to improve aerodynamics. Ford has not announced pricing yet, but the EcoBoost costs $995 on all Explorer trims, and we’d expect that to hold true here.

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2013 Mazda CX-5 Official Photos and Info: The Smallest Zoom-Zoom Crossover is Revealed

2013 Mazda CX-5 Official Photos and Info: The Smallest Zoom-Zoom Crossover is Revealed: "

We get our first look at the new CX-5 crossover.

The Mazda CX-5 small crossover—previously seen as the Minagi concept earlier this year—will be unveiled at September’s Frankfurt auto show. (Well, at least the Euro-market version pictured here will be; our model should differ only slightly, if at all.) It will be the first Mazda to wear the company’s new Kodo styling language, which replaces the current, smile-intensive Nagare theme.

Keep Reading: 2013 Mazda CX-5 Official Photos and Info

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