Mobile Brand

Ethnographers to artists, all chip in for mobile phone designs
IBNLive.com
PTI New Delhi: Ever wondered about the brains behind mobile phone designs?
It is not just brilliant techies but also a diverse creative pool ranging
from ethnographers to sociologists to artists. For the popular global
mobile phone brand Nokia the ...
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A light bite for mobile Indians
The Hindu
In terms of the mix of products and mix of geographies, we make
differential margins on different brands. If I sell more of one brand, I
improve margins and the quality of revenue improves. If you are a newcomer
to the market, you have to think which ...
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Zain Recognised as 'Best Overall Middle East and Africa Mobile Operator"
Sudan Vision
"Zain, whether in terms of its vibrant brand, strategy and vision,
financials, products and services, people, management, communication with,
and social support of, the communities it serves, has earned its right to
be among the top mobile operators on ...
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The Buzz 101: How's Your Mobile Brand?
Even small business owners and direct sellers have started to realize the
importance of mobile branding in their campaigns. But how exactly can
personal ...
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What is the best Mobile brand? - Yahoo! Answers
BlackBerry Curve 3G 9330 is the best. I am still using this one. ...
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2013 Subaru BRZ First Drive: Rear-Drive Subaru Driven, Loved

2013 Subaru BRZ First Drive: Rear-Drive Subaru Driven, Loved:

Hype, validated: This rear-drive Subaru has the goods.

Some things just don’t make sense. Why is the food at Outback Steakhouse mostly Cajun-style? Why can’t Jennifer Aniston find true love? And why would Subaru and Toyota, two companies whose fortunes are built on mainstream sedan sales, collaborate on a rear-drive sports car?

Keep Reading: 2013 Subaru BRZ – First Drive Review

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2012 10Best Cars, Test Day 4: The Reckoning

2012 10Best Cars, Test Day 4: The Reckoning:

This is the fourth and final behind-the-scenes look at our 2012 10Best Cars competition; you can read the rest of the posts here. Don’t forget to come back next Tuesday, December 6, to see the full list of this year’s winners.

As we begin the final day, a staffer holds up his thumb and forefinger an inch or so apart and says, “There’s about that much difference between most of these cars [in terms of general competence and quality].” That said, by now, a few cars have clearly been eliminated from contention, including Honda’s disappointing new Civic and the woefully bad Nissan Versa.

With the weather mild and the roads dry, it’s time for a second or even third look at some of the cars on the list, particularly the current 10Best titleholders. Do they still measure up, or have they been bested by new stuff? Three in particular appear to have retained their places—we won’t know for sure until the ballots are tallied—the BMW 3-series models (shocker), the Cadillac CTS-V, and Porsche’s Boxster/Cayman. On the other end of the price scale, we’re impressed with the obvious value of sub-$20K cars like the Chevy Sonic, VW Golf, and Honda Fit.

And then there are the cars we like but that are somehow flawed. The Lotus Evora S addresses the base car’s power deficit and balky shifter, and it delivers incredible handling and the most visceral experience of the bunch, but its fit and finish, refinement, and ergonomics fall short. The Mini coupe drives as well as or better than its brethren, but its punishing ride, compromised practicality, and goofy styling are demerits. And the Hyundai Veloster simply doesn’t drive as interestingly as it looks.

By lunchtime on the last day, our numbers begin to dwindle as the out-of-towners head for the airport and the tech department heads for the track to get hard numbers on some of the cars in the field. The ballots are handed in and another 10Best session is in the books.

Day 4 Standouts: Cadillac CTS-V, Honda Fit, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG coupe, Volkswagen GTI

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Prime Cuts: Cutting a Hemi Head in Half

Prime Cuts: Cutting a Hemi Head in Half:

The word “Hemi” has become synonymous with horsepower and muscle cars. It’s a point of pride to Mopar aficionados who gladly pop their cars’ hoods to show off those four letters atop the engine. But what, exactly, makes a Hemi a Hemi? We decided to slice into Chrysler’s 21st-century Hemi head and poke around.

Click to download the illustration as it appeared in the magazine.

Chamber of Secrets

“Hemi” is short for “hemispherical,” which describes the shape of the combustion chamber—imagine a tennis ball sliced in two. But from the beginning, Chrysler’s automotive Hemis have been just shy of half a tennis ball, with a section taken closer to the top than the middle. The result is a shallower bowl shape that allows for lighter pistons; a “full” Hemi would require massively domed pistons to fill the larger chamber. Chrysler has never been secretive about this new Hemi’s inspiration: It’s less a riff on the old 426-cubic-inch V-8 and more closely based on the two-valve Porsche 911 head from the 1995–98 model, a.k.a. the 993.

Twin Plugs

The new Hemi has two spark plugs instead of one because the valvesare too large to accommodate a single plug positioned near the chamber’s center. Two remote plugs met Chrysler’s combustion, efficiency, and emissions goals.

Size Matters

Exhaust valves are smaller than the intake valves because forcing out spent gasses is easier than drawing in fuel and air.

Filled in

Unlike the classic Hemi, the new Hemi has part of the bowl shape filled in near the spark plugs. According to Chrysler, these filled areas aid the flow of gasses into and out of the head. And these areas make the new Hemi’s shape much less hemispherical than the original’s.

Heavy Breather

As in the original, the new Hemi has its two valves arranged on opposite sides of the head. The hemispherical shape of the combustion chamber allows for larger valves than are possible with other designs. And bigger valves permit maximum flow into and out of the combustion chamber. The shallower head of the new Hemi has a 34.5-degree angle between the intake- and exhaust-valve stems.

Compared with the new design, both the second-gen (right) and original Hemi have a larger, 58.5-degree angle between the valves, resulting in a deeper combustion chamber.

Hemi Times

1903: The Welch Tourist runabout is the first known production car powered by an engine equipped with hemispherical combustion chambers (in a 20-hp, two-cylinder configuration).

1941: Chrysler develops the XIV-2220 aircraft engine—a turbocharged and supercharged SOHC V-16 making 2500 horsepower at 3400 rpm from 36.4 liters. Although hemispherical head designs are common to aircraft engines of the era, this is Chrysler’s first application.

1951: In response to the ’49 OHV V-8s from GM, Chrysler introduces the 180-hp, 331-cubic-inch FirePower Hemi V-8. This engine makes 20 more horses than Cadillac’s V-8. (Cadillac bumps output to 190 the following year.)

1955: Chrysler introduces the 300-hp C-300, boasting a 0-to-60 time of 10.0 seconds. Carl Kiekhaefer’s team wins the NASCAR championship and 22 races with Hemi-equipped Chrysler C-300 coupes.

1964: Chrysler creates a new 426 Hemi V-8 for NASCAR competition. Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500, and Hemis take the first three positions. NASCAR forces Chrysler to homologate the engine.

1965: Goldenrod, a land-speed-record car powered by four fuel-injected Hemis, goes 409.3 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats and sets a record for wheel-driven cars that lasts 27 years.

1966: A two-four-barrel version of the 426 Hemi debuts. The street Hemi makes 425 horsepower and 490 pound-feet of torque in the Plymouth Belvedere and Dodge Coronet and Charger.

1971: The Hemi goes out of production but lives on in Top Fuel dragsters, Funny Cars, monster trucks, and offshore powerboats.

2003: A new 5.7-liter V-8 arrives in Dodge Ram pickups and brings back the Hemi name.

2004: Mopar Performance resurrects the 426 street Hemi in crate form for muscle-car and hot-rod applications.

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BMW and Toyota Announce Collaboration on Battery Technology and Diesel Engines

BMW and Toyota Announce Collaboration on Battery Technology and Diesel Engines:

BMW and Toyota announced a collaboration on engines and technology during an offsite press conference on the second press day of the Tokyo Motor Show. The mid- to long-term deal will cover, according to the companies, technologies that are—what else?—”environmentally friendly.”

Toyota president Akio Toyoda described the cooperation as a “great joy and a thrill,” while BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer acknowledged Toyota as being the “leading provider of environment-friendly series technology in the volume segment”—he really knows how to make a CEO blush—and boldly proclaimed the BMW Group to be “the most innovative and sustainable manufacturer of premium automobiles.”

One driver for the deal was BMW’s desire to leverage Toyota’s vast expertise in automotive batteries; “BMW showed interest in our battery technology,” said Takeshi Uchiyamada, executive VP at Toyota. As part of the agreement, the two companies will undertake basic research to accelerate the development of cheaper and more advanced lithium-ion battery cells. On the flipside, BMW will offer Toyota access to its portfolio of diesel engines. While Toyota offers its own 1.4-, 2.0-, and 2.2-liter diesel engines in the European Yaris, Auris, and Avensis models, BMW’s 2.0-liter four and its 1.6-liter offspring are more sophisticated and much better overall. The upshot: The contract will help generate additional economies of scale for BMW, and it will enable Toyota to drastically scale back its development of diesel engines in order to focus on hybrids and battery development.

BMW engines will appear in Toyota products starting in 2014, although they will be limited to only those that are “locally produced.” No Lexus is produced in Europe, so BMW needn’t worry about directly competitive products fitted with its own engines. In fact, the Lexus IS220d is such a slow seller that future Lexus models powered by any diesel engine aren’t likely for the foreseeable future. For the moment, BMW diesels probably won’t be fitted to U.S-market Toyota or Lexuses, but if our appetite for diesel-y torque and efficiency grows, it is a possibility.

We suspect BMW would be happy to expand the deal. It has a history of selling powerplants to many different automakers, and that covers not just supercars like the McLaren F1, but also rather pedestrian vehicles like the 1990s Opel Omega. An expanded Toyota deal makes sense for BMW, because it’s with a stable, global automaker that should be able to pay its bills. Many of BMW’s other recent engine deals have been with boutique automakers, and at least a few of them have been outright flops. Last year, for example, BMW announced that it would be supplying 1.6-liter turbo engines to Saab from 2012 on. Given Saab’s woes, that seems increasingly unlikely to happen. The same goes for the sale of 240,000 diesel units to the flailing startup Carbon Motors for its bespoke cop car; that agreement was announced with much fanfare in early 2010. Clearly, the Toyota deal stands a better chance of becoming, in the words of Reithofer, “another important step in the planned expansion of our sales activities for engines and powertrain systems.”

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Jeep Wrangler Nautic Concepts: Twin Tenders for Power Yachts and Sailboats

Jeep Wrangler Nautic Concepts: Twin Tenders for Power Yachts and Sailboats:

Jeep is well known for producing special editions of its go-anywhere, do-anything Wrangler, although these might be the first created specifically for France. As an automotive marketing partner for Salon Nautique de Paris—the Paris Boat Show—Jeep enlisted the help of design firm Style & Design of Maurepas, France, to create this pair of “Nautic” concept vehicles based on the four-door Wrangler Unlimited. Both feature a 200-hp, 302-lb-ft, 2.8-liter turbo-diesel mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

Leather, Leather, Everywhere

The Wrangler Nautic White is inspired by the world of sailing, and offers “all the comfort, design, and elegance of a sailing boat,” according to Jeep’s ever-so-slightly hyperbolic press release. The Nautic White edition features bright-white leather on the seating surfaces, steering wheel, manual shift boot, and passenger grab handle, and is fitted with “deck-finish” (read: teak-look) faux wood trim on the steering wheel spokes, dash and door trim, center console, and floor mats. On the outside, the Nautic White edition gets a chrome grille, white taillight surrounds, white bumpers, and more teak-style “deck finish” trim for the running boards and cargo cover. Open the cargo cover, and you’ll find more decking on the cargo floor. Gleaming chrome is slathered on the door handles, mirrors, fuel-filler ring, and the outer rim of the spare-tire cover. The face of the spare cover and even the fenders are covered in white leather, thereby ensuring that the concept’s gleaming 20-inch wheels will never, ever slog through mud, negotiate a boulder, or ford any water deeper than the beads of condensation that fall from bystanders’ chilled martini glasses. Once they arrive at the boating club, occupants can lounge on the pair of included white canvas chairs under a matching canvas awning that affixes to the cargo area posts. The only thing missing? An actual sail.

The Wrangler Nautic Black concept is intended to evoke a more motorized, yachting lifestyle, and is essentially a photo negative of the Nautic White with more or less the same modifications rendered in “navy black”—save the wood-grained appliqués, which are the same natural hue.

You Didn’t Expect French-Designed Jeeps to be Butch, Did You?

We know what you’re thinking: Only in France could a vehicle as rugged as a Jeep Wrangler be ninnified to this extent. Still, while we won’t get the chance to see them up close—our credentials for the Paris Boat Show were, uh, lost in le poste— we have to admit that they look pretty stunning. We can even think of a few marinas on our side of the pond where they would fit right in, but Jeep firmly asserts that the pair will remain concepts.

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Nissan Launching Revised Xtronic CVT Next Year; We Drive It and Don’t Totally Hate It

Nissan Launching Revised Xtronic CVT Next Year; We Drive It and Don’t Totally Hate It:

The continuously variable transmission (CVT) isn’t popular around these parts; we hate their attendant rubbery acceleration feel and the engine droning they cause. Still, their use is spreading wider than perhaps ever, with many automakers adopting them to increase their fuel-efficiency numbers in a hurry. (Whether CVTs are actually more efficient, well . . .) Nissan is one company that’s slurped from the CVT well most often, having offered them in nearly all of its vehicles for some time. We learned at the Tokyo auto show that it plans to debut its latest CVT in a front-wheel-drive vehicle next year. (We know that vehicle will be the 2013 Altima, although the company won’t officially admit it.)

The new version is said to improve fuel economy by up to 10 percent versus the previous generation, in part due to a claimed 40-percent reduction in friction. Its exterior casing is smaller by about 10 percent, and internal improvements include a new pulleys and a smaller oil pump that now uses lower-viscosity oil. Two variations of this Xtronic box will be made, including one for 2.0- to 2.5-liter applications and the other for engines ranging in displacement from 2.5- to 3.5 liters. Differences between the versions are limited to ratio spreads (7.0 in the smaller application, 6.3 in the larger) and a more robust belt in the 2.5-to-3.5-liter application to better handle the additional torque.

We briefly sampled the new CVT at Nissan’s Grandrive R&D track at the Oppama plant, outside Tokyo, Japan, and walked away with higher hopes for the future of rubber-band boxes. Installed in a current-gen Altima with a 270-hp, 3.5-liter V-6, the new CVT was significantly less irritating than usual, and we noticed a marked drop in engine noise. As an example, at 50 mph, the old transmission would hold 1500 rpm, while the new ‘box settled the V-6 in at just 1100 rpm. Off-the-line throttle response is quick thanks to a swifter torque-converter lockup (although that hurts smoothness and overall acceleration performance), and power seemed to be delivered upon request during at-speed passing maneuvers, without a drastic delay or a quick spike in engine rpm.

While we still prefer the feel of a traditional automatic to a CVT—and the control of a manual above all—we’re going to have to get used to seeing more of this type of transmission. If most new-generation CVTs can display the kind of advances we saw from this Nissan piece, we might even learn to tolerate them.

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2012 Toyota Prius C Revealed in Tokyo: Smaller, Cheaper, More Efficient

2012 Toyota Prius C Revealed in Tokyo: Smaller, Cheaper, More Efficient:

The smallest and least-expensive Prius is also the most attractive and efficient.

The 2012 Toyota Prius C has landed at the Tokyo auto show. Well, not our Prius C; it was the Japanese-market version, called the Aqua, that made its first public appearance at the show. Our C will be essentially the same car excepting left-hand drive and different badges. The U.S.-spec version of the smallest member of the Prius family will be unveiled at the Detroit show in January.

Keep Reading: 2012 Toyota Prius C – Auto Shows

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2012 10Best Cars, Test Day 3: Rain, Rain, Go Away

2012 10Best Cars, Test Day 3: Rain, Rain, Go Away:

This is the third of four behind-the-scenes looks at our 2012 10Best Cars competition; you can read the rest of the posts here. Don’t forget to come back next Tuesday, December 6, to see the full list of this year’s winners.

A steady drizzle greets us as we begin the third day. Driving in the rain isn’t much fun, and it makes evaluating the higher-horsepower cars slightly more difficult, since we have to be more cautious when approaching their limits. (Coffee and doughnut update, because it’s seriously important: Joe was on time, but we were woefully short on cake doughnuts.)

We stand under the eaves of the cabin HQ, watching the lot where we park the 10Best fleet slowly morph from packed dirt to slippery mud. Car after car departs for test loops, and every one returns with a fine coating of brown paste from beltline to rocker. The compact hatchbacks get especially nailed, as the low-pressure area behind their square tails sucks up road grime and deposits it on the rear window. Good thing they have rear wipers.

We mention the small hatches in particular because they received the most attention this day; we’re all impressed by how interesting and genuinely enjoyable many of them have become. Over a lunch of sandwiches trucked in from a local deli, we discuss the highly impressive Ford Focus and Chevrolet Sonic five-doors. “Compared to the Aveo, the Sonic is a quantum leap, and it’s genuinely good on its own merits,” one of us says. Good enough to move the original hot hatch, VW’s GTI, off the list? Maybe, maybe not.

In the afternoon, once the school buses roll out and the locals start arriving home from work, we break for a little lock and load. There’s a firing range on the grounds of our encampment and, following a tradition established by our late friend and original master road warrior, André Idzikowski, we fire off a few hundred rounds. There’s no better way to relieve the tension than to atomize a fake beaver and perforate a few targets. As the smoke clears from the muzzles, conversation settles on the marvelous turns we all took over the past three days in the BMW 1-series M coupe and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG coupe. The former impresses with its razor-edged focus, the latter with its sledgehammer brutality. They’re limited-run showroom candy, though—can we justify either a spot on the list?

Day 3 Standouts: Audi A6, Chevrolet Sonic hatchback, Infiniti M35h, Porsche Boxster

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U.S.-spec 2013 Audi A4 Allroad Comes Into Slightly Better Focus

U.S.-spec 2013 Audi A4 Allroad Comes Into Slightly Better Focus:

We’ve known the Allroad brand will return to the U.S. in the shape of an A4, and now we have some more information on what will be inside. The A4 Allroad—which has been sold in other markets since the 2010 model year—is scheduled to arrive here as part of the refreshed 2013 A4 lineup.

Rugged, But Not Too Rugged

Like the first-generation A6 Allroad (sold here from 1999 through 2005), as well as the second-gen A6 Allroad that Audi cruelly kept from us, the A4 Allroad features rugged-though-not-too-rugged styling and more ground clearance (a total of 7.1 inches) than its Avant counterpart. Flared wheel arches once again accommodate wider front and rear tracks (0.7 inch wider up front and 0.9 inch wider in back), this time highlighted by stainless-steel—behold, the automotive equivalent of shoulder pads! There’s more brightwork in the form of front and rear underbody guards, shiny aluminum roof rails, and a chrome grille. Rounding out the Avant-to-Allroad styling changes are a contrasting lower body treatment, round fog lamps versus the standard A4’s rectangular units, and some unique wheel designs. The photos you see here are of the 2012 European-spec model, but the one we get for 2013 should look nearly identical.

While our insiders say that much remains to be decided in terms of feature content, the Allroad will be priced and positioned a bit higher than the A4 to reach a more exclusive customer. “It’s safe to assume that [the U.S. model] will come with some higher level of specification,” an Audi representative tells us. This means that while super-premium features like Audi Connect—with its cool Google Earth and search features and 3G WiFi hotspot technology—will remain optional, U.S. models may offer items like the new MMI touchpad interface and angular LED headlights as standard.

One Engine, One Transmission, Four Driven Wheels

Don’t expect any choice under the hood, though. The A4 Allroad likely will be powered solely by Audi’s 211-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine mated to an automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive, with Audi’s brake-based front-axle torque-vectoring system and “Offroad Detection” system standard. It’s the only engine currently offered in U.S. A4s and will be until a diesel is added when the new model arrives. We drove a pre-refresh A4 Allroad Quattro 2.0T in Europe when it launched and have wanted one ever since.

The only possible downside to all of this is that the addition of the A4 Allroad may spell the end of the A4 Avant in our market. The low-slung wagon has been a slow seller for Audi in the States, which explains the switch to a pricier Allroad that goes after a different clientele.

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Toyota Fun-Vii Concept Debuts in Tokyo, Looks Like a Rolling Electronic Nose

Toyota Fun-Vii Concept Debuts in Tokyo, Looks Like a Rolling Electronic Nose:

When Toyota previewed the Fun-Vii concept a few weeks ago, we weren’t sure what to make of the oddball wedge-shaped car. Now that the concept has debuted at the Tokyo auto show, we have a better picture of what it’s all about.

Toyota initially described the Fun-Vii—“Fun Vehicle interactive internet”—as its vision for the future of motoring, in which “people, cars, and society are linked.” It appears that in the future smartphones will be the ties that bind us, as seemingly everything on the car can be accessed or controlled by a mobile device. The Fun-Vii’s body is one giant display that users can manipulate; everything from colors to graphics to messages can be swapped onto the exterior. Toyota may be onto something here. While renderings of the car show Facebook-like messages adorning the body, we think the functionality could be put to better use as a way of communicating with tailgaters—politely, of course.

The three-seat interior is dominated by a display that runs the length of the cabin. The driver gets an augmented-reality view out the windshield, with navigation and vehicle information projected onto the forward view rather than merely shown on a screen. There’s also a “navigation concierge,” which can verbally relay navigation and driving information to passengers. The Fun-Vii can communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure equipped with peer-to-peer tech, and can also update its own software via a network connection. What are the Fun-Vii’s production prospects? Probably close to nil, but we’d like to see some of its augmented-reality and display tech trickle into a production vehicle.

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Gearbox: Track Day Accessories Tested

Gearbox: Track Day Accessories Tested:

Track Home: These items bring the comfort of your crib—and garage—to the circuit.

A good track day will take you out of your comfort zone, but that can also mean going without certain conveniences. Spend a little money, and the products featured here can ease track days’ discomforts—if not, alas, their humiliations.

Keep Reading: Track Day Accessories Tested – Gearbox

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