After the launch of a Manza variant on Tuesday, Tata Motors on Wednesday launched the new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Tata Safari Storme at a starting price of Rs 9.95 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

While the base model 4X2 LX is available at Rs 9.95 lakh, 4X2 EX comes for Rs 10.77 lakh, 4X2 VX for Rs 12.37 lakh and 4x4 VX for Rs 13.66 lakh. Tata Safari Storme was first unveiled at the 2012 Delhi Auto Expo.

With underpinnings and engine from the Aria, the new Tata Safari Storme will kick up a storm in the entry level SUV market in India. The new Safari Storme is a more modern vehicle than its predecessor.

Its Aria-derived chassis and suspension and 2.2-litre DiCOR engine will ensure better drive dynamics and better refinement and response respectively.

The engine churns out 140PS of power and 320Nm of torque. The five-speed gearbox has been tweaked to deliver a better driving experience. Other improvements include a shorter turning radius and disc brakes all round.

The new Tata Safari Storme does not look too different from the current Safari but the bold and rugged look has been swapped for a somewhat more corporate look.

The headlights get a swept back design and a large chrome strip over the front grille stretches partly over the headlights as well.

It gets projector headlamps and a honeycomb front grille that is fairly wide but a tad characterless with its flat contour.

It gets different side cladding and a new side step but the rest of the body structure remains the same.

Styling updates at the rear include a new rear windshield, tail lights and twin chrome-tipped tailpipes. The biggest change is that the spare wheel is no more mounted on the tailgate.

In its place is a silver colour strip just below the rear windshield that is garnished with a strip of chrome, below which is the slot of the rear number plate.

The four-wheel drive system on the Safari Storme is an electronic shift on the fly mechanism complete with a limited-slip differential. The new Tata Safari Storme will be available in seven colours, namely, Urban bronze, Astern black, Pearl champagne, Sardinia red, Pearl white, Arctic white and Arctic silver.

The Safari Storme won't have it easy in the market with competition from the Renault Duster and the Mahindra Scorpio.

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Spectrum smarts: XG Technology demonstrated its cognitive radio technology to FCC officials in Washington, D.C., in September. 

Credit: XG Technology

Early next year in a swath of northern Florida, as many as 8,000 people will be able to get 4G wireless broadband with a twist: the service will beam over a frequency normally used by gadgets like garage-door openers and baby monitors.

The project at Northeast Florida Telephone, using gear from a startup called XG Technology of Sarasota, Florida, appears to be the first commercial use of cognitive radio, which senses available frequencies and switches between them on the fly. Cognitive radios are now used mainly by the military.

The technology is one of many creative approaches that will be needed to forestall a spectrum shortage triggered by the boom in super-fast smartphones. U.S. mobile data traffic quadrupled last year.

Other companies are filling gaps with something called "super Wi-Fi," tapping unused parts of the TV spectrum (also often called white spaces) to deliver service. But those frequencies become available only with advance notice, not on an instant, real-time basis.

The $2.4 million Florida project is different. When it is running, the service will send and receive signals over the 902 to 928 megahertz band—the usual domain of cordless phones, baby monitors, garage-door openers, and similar short-range devices. (Normally, in the United States, cell-phone service is delivered in the 800 megahertz and 1,900 megahertz bands.) Then, using an approach called dynamic spectrum access, the technology divides that range into 18 channels, and uses real-time sensing to detect sudden interference—triggered by someone else using the channel to, say, open the garage—and switch channels within 20 milliseconds. The service should deliver data at six megabits per second, about four times faster than DSL service.

The service provider will install about 130 bread-box sized transmitters on rooftops and light poles in the area, and then give each subscriber a device the size of a deck of cards. The subscriber could use that converter box at home or while mobile. In the future, such a converter could be miniaturized and included within smartphones.

Despite the drawback of having to tote around the converter for now, people in Baker County, Florida, "will have, for the first time, access to pretty good broadband speeds at low prices, and they'll have it for fixed and mobile, and access to mobile voice at very competitive prices," says Ben Dickens, counsel to Northeast Florida Telephone. (Dickens says he doesn't yet know what the monthly pricing will be.)

Craig Partridge, chief scientist for networking research at Raytheon BBN Technologies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, says the Florida deal will mark the first commercial use of cognitive radios and will highlight the fact that the technology has "an important role to play in the commercial sector."

The Florida carrier is one of about 1,300 U.S. carriers serving rural areas that may never get full coverage from giants like AT&T and Verizon. The FCC is subsidizing myriad efforts to fill these gaps. Last week, for example, it announced $300 million in grants to bring mobile broadband to rural areas that include 83,000 miles of roadway (see "635,392 U.S. Road Miles Lack 3G or 4G.")

Other companies are making advanced cognitive radios and research platforms, including Cognitive Radio Technologies, a startup out of Virginia Tech, and Radio Technology Systems of Ocean Grove, New Jersey (see "Frequency Hopping Radio Wastes Less Spectrum"). The latter company's research platform, called CogRadio, stretches the approach to new limits. It's able to sense available spectrum and switch between frequencies anywhere from 100 megahertz to 7.5 gigahertz.

Such a radio, if it ever became cheap enough, could ultimately make optimal use of any spectrum all the way from AM and FM bands though television and Wi-Fi and cellular frequencies—even delivering unbroken audio and video streams that might at any given moment be using any piece of that spectrum.

Such technologies will increasingly be needed. A White House report, coauthored by industry leaders including Google chairman Eric Schmidt, earlier this year urged the industry to develop intelligent spectrum-sharing technologies.

And last week in a speech, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski reiterated that "spectrum is finite, at least with current and foreseeable technologies. Just as we must pursue future-oriented energy technologies and policies, we have no choice on our airwaves: we must make better, more efficient use of spectrum." He added: "The sobering fact is that based on today's projections and today's technologies, demand threatens to outpace the supply of spectrum available for mobile broadband in the coming years."

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Finger moves: A Microsoft research project, called Digits, makes gestural commands mobile. 

Credit: Microsoft Research

In a few short years, the technologies found in today's mobile devices—touch screens, gyroscopes, and voice-control software, to name a few—have radically transformed how we access computers. To glimpse what new ideas might have a similar impact in the next few years, you need only to have walked into the Marriott Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this week. There, researchers from around the world demonstrated new ideas for computer interaction at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology. Many were focused on taking mobile devices in directions that today feel strange and new but could before long be as normal as swiping the screen of an iPhone or Android device.

"We see new hardware, like devices activated by tongue movement or muscle-flexing, or prototypes that build on technology we already have in our hands, like Kinect, Wii, or the sensors built into existing phones," said Rob Miller, a professor at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and the chair of the conference.

One of the most eye-catching, and potentially promising, ideas that was on show makes it possible to perform complex tasks with a flick of the wrist or a snap of the fingers.

The interface, called Digits, created by David Kim, a U.K. researcher at both Microsoft Research and Newcastle University, is worn around the wrist and consists of a motion sensor and an infrared light source and camera. Like a portable version of Microsoft's motion-sensing device for the Xbox Kinect, Digits can follow arm and finger movements with enough accuracy to replicate them on screen or allow control of a complex computer game. "We envision a smaller device that could be worn like a watch that allows users to communicate with their surroundings and personal computing devices with simple hand gestures," said Kim (watch a video of Digits in action).

Projects like Kim's could be a glimpse into the future of mobile computing. After all, prior to the iPhone's launch, multi-touch interfaces were found only at this kind of event. Researchers believe that mobile computers are still being held back by the limitations of existing control methods, without which they could become even more powerful.

"We have an increasing desire and need to access and work with our computing devices anywhere and everywhere we are," Kim said. "Productive input and interaction on mobile devices is, however, still challenging due to the trade-offs we have to make regarding a device's form factor and input capacity."

The advance of mobile technology has also given researchers easy ways to experiment. Several groups at the conference showed off modifications of existing mobile interfaces designed to give them new capabilities.

Hong Tan, a professor at Purdue University currently working at Microsoft Research Asia, demonstrated a way to add the feel of buttons and other physical controls to a touch screen: vibrating piezoelectric actuators installed on the side of a normal screen generate friction at the point of contact with a finger. The design, dubbed SlickFeel, can make an ordinary sheet of glass feel as if it has physical buttons or even a physical slider with varying levels of resistance. Such haptic feedback could help users find the right control on compact devices like smartphones, or enable the use of a touch screen without looking at it, for example while driving.

Who's that? A touch screen that recognizes different people's fingers, developed by Chris Harrison and colleagues at Disney Research.

Credit: Chris Harrison

In another effort to make more of the touch screen, Chris Harrison of Disney Research presented a way for devices to recognize the swipes and presses of particular people. His interface, a capacitive touch screen with a resistance sensor attached, identifies the unique "impedance profile" of a person's body through his or her fingers. Users need to hold a finger to the device for few seconds the first time they use it, after which subsequent presses are attributed to them. That could allow apps to do things like track modifications to a document made by different people as a tablet is handed around a table (see a video of the screen). "It's similar to the technology that is already in smartphones," said Harrison. "There are lots of implications for gaming—no more split screens—and for collaborative applications."

The motion and touch sensors in current phones were another target for experimentation. Mayank Goel, a PhD student the University of Washington, and colleagues, modified the software on an Android phone to automatically determine in which hand a person is holding it. The software figures this out by monitoring the angle at which the device is tilted, as revealed by its motion sensor, and the precise shape of pressure on its touch screen. Goel says this can allow a keyboard to automatically adjust to whether a person is using the left or right hand, an adjustment that cut typos by 30 percent in his experiments.

Touchy feely: A malleable interface made by Sean Follmer and colleagues at MIT's Media Lab.

Credit: Sean Follmer

Other prototypes on display were less obviously connected with the gadgets in your pocket today. One was a malleable interface that can be shaped somewhat the way clay can, developed by a team at MIT's Media Lab. Sean Follmer, a PhD student in the lab of Professor Hiroshi Ishii, demonstrated several versions, including a translucent bendable touch screen laid flat on a table. This was made from a plastic material containing glass beads and oil, with a projector and a 3-D sensor positioned below. Pinches and twists made to the pliable screen changed the colors displayed on it, which were also shown on a 3-D model of the material on a computer screen nearby.

It's hard to imagine such an interface in your pocket. However, Desney Tan, a who manages Microsoft's Computational User Experiences group in Redmond, Washington, and the company's Human-Computer Interaction group in Beijing, China, believes that being able to choose from multiple modes of interaction will be an important part of the future of computing. "We will stop thinking about mobile devices, and instead focus on mobile computing," said Tan, who was winner of Technology Review's 35 Innovators under 35 Award in 2011. "As I see it, no one input or output modality will dominate quite in the same way as visual display and mouse and keyboard has so far."

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We take the new offering from Bajaj, the Boxer 150 for a spin

After a successful stint with the CT Boxer motorcycle which went on to become one of the best-selling products to roll out of the Bajaj factory, the Pune-based bike maker is back again into the commuter game with the new Boxer 150 which aims to lure the Splendor-crazy populace of rural India with its capacity hike and long-standing legacy of the Boxer brand. We got our hands on the latest offering from Bajaj Auto, the Boxer 150 and took it for spin around the countryside. Here is how comfortable it was and our first impression of the Boxer 150!

Style Quotient:

Practical and functional are the first words that come to the mind looking at the new Bajaj Boxer 150. No frills styling with a mishmash of the previous generation Boxer and the Splendor overtones are clearly visible on this new budget Bajaj. The large-ish fairing upfront keeps the air out of the rider’s way while the curvy tank is neatly drawn to accommodate short or lanky riders alike. The centre panel is bulbous yet does not look out of place flaunting the ‘BM 150’ moniker. The only eyesore that we found on the new Boxer was the chrome-doused rear carrier but then it certainly makes up with its utility for the lack of flamboyance. For the rural public the utility of the carrier is of significant value than the need for something that looks good but doesn’t serve much purpose. Although the round and neatly drawn indicators do add some sort of pizzazz to the simplicity of the Boxer 150 and so does the tastefully done saree-guard.

Ergonomically Friendly:

The raised commuter-friendly handlebars make no fuss and offer decent comfort and feel especially when riding over bad roads. As soon as you swing a leg over the bike, the striking bit on the Boxer 150 is the XXXL-sized saddle that can comfortably accommodate two large adults and still has room for a third one to fit on the seat before the fourth one spills over the steel cradle on the back. Not that we condone such law-breaking practices, it is just a indication of how spacious the Boxer’s saddle is. Also it is soft, cushy and suggests that spending hours on it won’t really transform into fatigue or exhaustion. Of the few days that we had a go with the Boxer 150 exploring the Indian countryside, it was quite a revelation to see how many village folk actually noticed and showed interest in the new motorcycle. No fancy tit-bits on this one to lure them but just a very approachable and familiar set of wheels that they have grown with and known for years.

Motor-Mouth:

The idea behind plonking a 150cc mill into a hardcore efficiency friendly commuter is to not only offer added value but also a better ride and power delivery thanks to increased capacity. And this is what sets apart the bigger Boxer from its competition of 100cc commuters. The 144.8cc motor borrowed from the Discover 150 comes minus the twin-sparkplug head unit and replaces it for a single spark plug setup. Pumping out 12.01PS of power at 7,500rpm and an impressive torque output of 12.26Nm peaking at 5,000rpm, the engine is mated to a conventional all-down shift-pattern 4-speed transmission which has been a favourite trend amongst the rural markets for generations. 

The minimalist attitude of having least plastics and trashing all unnecessary junk around the bike has helped the maker to limit the weight of the Boxer to just 123kg, which transforms into a killer power-to-weight ratio of 97.64PS/Tonne. Lesser weight to lug around combined with added disposable torque from the 144.8cc motor means overall improvement in the vehicle’s performance with regards to fuel consumption as well as pick up. Also the increase in capacity and bumped up torque with 4-speed gearbox means torque is well-spread and freely available across the rev-range with the Boxer 150 effortlessly pulling from 20km/h in 4th gear. The 12PS of power and short gear ratios means the bike is quick off the line for good initial pick up but it certainly hampers its top-end performance, but then that is something not many of its target customers will really explore.

Handling and dynamics:

What they will explore is the comfort and ease of riding the Boxer 150 on the bumpy – bouncy village roads in the country. And in that department, I can say with conviction that it won’t let anyone down. The steering is light and easy, swiftly responding to minor inputs from the rider without any twitches or drama. The upright sitting posture makes it very comfortable for quick and effective maneuvering without having to fight the handlebars and the rider finding himself in control of the machine at any given point. The front suspension duties are managed by 125mm travel telescopic forks while Bajaj-patented SNS suspension looks after the rear end. Benefits of keeping the weight low also add to better suspension setup on the Boxer 150 that offers a good mix of ride quality and handling without any sort of compromise with either of it. 

The underpinnings are more than enough for the speeds the Boxer 150 is capable of doing and won’t let out a hiccup even when taken over some really demanding roads at a respectable pace. But when it comes to stopping, the 130mm drum brakes on both ends lack bite and suffer from wear when bringing the 150cc motorcycle to a halt. Cutting costs is important to keep the pricing competitive in the Indian two-wheeler space, but the budget brakes on the Boxer 150 surely have some scope for improvement and especially considering it’s a quicker motorcycle it is even more critical to have good stopping power. Although, the wide MRF tyres on the 17-inch spoke wheels offer excellent grip and hugely aid in braking as well as handling. Good choice over the rather scary TVS Srichakra found on most commuter motorcycles in the market. 

Living with it:

With the Boxer, Bajaj Auto has certainly pulled a fast one but even more important is the company’s straightforward attitude to correctly position the brand in a segment where no-nonsense and no-frills products make the cut above all the unnecessary jazz. The switchgear quality is bare-basic but well-made while the twin-pod instrument console upfront houses the speedometer, fuel gauge and the usual tell-tale lights. Practical and functional – quite like its design, its engine and also its character, the Bajaj Boxer 150 has everything going for it. Although know for inventing and entering unconventional products like the Pulsar and the Avenger, thanks to the brand’s positioning, Bajaj Auto has stuck to conventionalism by applying tried and tested fundamentals with the Boxer 150. For instance, metal body work, a sturdy carrier, large seat and commuter-friendly ergonomics. But being Bajaj Auto, the new Boxer has been radically priced at Rs. 42,000 (ex-showroom, Pune), which is cheaper than most of the 100cc commuters on offer in the Indian market.

India’s second largest two-wheeler company, Bajaj Auto, has taken the challenge to claim the number one spot in the market and the key for it to achieve this goal is to infiltrate the colossal rural India which has been Hero MotoCorp’s (formerly known as Hero Honda) playground for over sixteen long years with its 100cc offering, the Splendor ruling the roost in all of the villages and small towns handing its maker the crown of manufacturing the highest number of two-wheelers in the world over and over again! That said, Bajaj Auto’s top boss, Rajiv Bajaj recently made a very interesting statement when he said that the numbers are not as important as profitability. That is a very interesting way of looking at the Indian two-wheeler space where most companies’ battle on units sold than profits earned. He also added that for a product, especially a motorcycle, to be doing well in our markets it is important to create a brand and correctly position it. A clear example being the Splendor motorcycle which established itself as an icon of reliable commuting and efficiency especially in the price-conscious rural India. Is Bajaj Auto trying to re-do a Splendor with the new Boxer 150? And will it be successful with it? Only time shall tell.

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With the Bajaj Avenger being the only bike to have firmly held its ground in the Indian cruiser segment over the years, Varad More now looks at the new Avenger DTSi in its latest 220 avatar

There is a keen sense of freedom that reflects each time one straddles a motorcycle. The joy of cruising over inviting open roads is unfathomable. And what better tool than a comfy powerful cruiser motorcycle for laidback rides on the highway? Unfortunately, Indian cruiser lovers have been left wanting as there have traditionally been very few models to choose from. Over the past decade however, the only bike to have firmly held its ground in the cruiser segment is the Bajaj Avenger, which has successfully withstood the test of time. Introduced in January 2001 as the Kawasaki-Bajaj Eliminator powered by a 175cc Kawasaki engine, back then it was one of the most expensive set of 2-wheels on sale in India. How things change though - in its latest avatar, Avenger 220 DTSi is one of the most affordable and powerful Indian motorcycles available in the market today.

The Avenger has seen a host of engine transplants through its tenure. In 2005 Bajaj Auto plonked the indigenously conceived 178cc DTSi motor from the Pulsar 180 DTSi into the Eliminator albeit in a different tune and re-badged it as the Avenger. Two years later, the 198cc DTSi engine from the Pulsar 200 also made its way onto the Avenger. These strategic developments allowed the Pune-based bike-maker to price the new Avenger competitively and bring it into the affordable price-band but without letting the Avenger brand lose its lustre. While demand for the sportier Pulsars and Karizmas sky-rocketed amongst the masses, those looking for a comfortable, stylish and laid-back motorcycle took to the Avenger without any qualms.

In its newest iteration armed with an all-new 220cc motor borrowed from Bajaj Auto’s flagship, Pulsar 220 DTSi, the Avenger packs in more grunt and thrust to cover distances with lesser efforts but more thrills. Since its inception, the Avenger has turned heads and it has been one of most gorgeous bikes to have rolled out of the Bajaj factory. In its newest form, there are no amends made to the new Avenger’s exterior design apart from fresh graphics but it still retains its confident poise and low-rider persona. The ergonomic triangle of handlebar-footpegs-seat is perfectly designed which makes for a very relaxed and laidback riding position without the rider having to stretch his arms to reach the handlebars. The lightweight aluminium footpegs too are placed correctly to accommodate lanky fellows as well as shorties like yours truly – ideal for the Avenger’s intended use to cover distances without exhausting the rider over long hauls. A different aspect of the Avenger is also its versatile nature that is often seen missing in big, burly cruisers. For instance, despite its stretched wheelbase and extended rake with a bulk of 154kg, the Avenger is still one of the easiest bikes to ride in crowded city traffic. This underlines the all-around performance of the Avenger as an everyday bike as well as a trusty set of wheels for long distance touring.  Ergonomically, the Avenger has always had the right ingredients – low saddle, wide and raised handlebars and feet-forward peg positioning together give it a true-blue cruiser-like riding posture along with oodles of style.

Cruiser motorcycles are very different in their behaviour to the usual sporty street-bikes and everything about these low-slung machines built to leisurely traverse across boundaries is significantly different than their sportier counterparts. The powerful new engine and its throaty groan from the re-configured exhaust system throw light on the bike’s new-found vigour and zeal. Residing inside the Avenger’s dual cradle frame, the 220cc DTSi engine borrowed from the biggest Pulsar yet, also sports a different engine setup to suit the Avenger’s cruiser character. Thanks to this, the 17Nm of torque peaking at 8,500rpm is evenly spread out over a flat curve and it is available on tap from lower down the rev-range as the engine comfortably pulls into triple digit figures without feeling stressed. Slotted in fifth gear, the seamless power delivery from the 220cc engine provides smooth acceleration right from 40km/h all the way upto its top-speed of over 120km/h. This vastly helps in minimizing the gear changes required during riding in bumper-to-bumper traffic and allows the rider to stay in a higher gear for smooth riding experience without having to worry about knocking or stalling the engine.

Albeit its cruiser-like tune and meaty mid-range pull, the Avenger 220 DTSI is by no means a slouch in straight-line acceleration. Minus any aerodynamic aid or light-weight components, the Avenger still posted a commanding 0-60km/h time of 4.5 seconds while the 100km/h mark came in just under 16 seconds. Couple that to a top-speed of over 120km/h and we have a very able and potent cruiser that can swiftly reach the tonne mark and then effortlessly cruise at it. The power delivery is creamy smooth devoid of any jerks or lag. Power is put down via a 5-speed transmission that offers silky smooth gear shifts without a clunky feel or any unwanted false neutrals. But considering the bike’s cruiser character and easy-going nature, we would have loved to see a sixth cog on the Avenger for a more stress-free high-speed cruising. And the bike would have also benefitted from a better fuel efficiency with a cruising gear.

Not like the Avenger 220 DTSi falters in the fuel efficiency department. With an overall efficiency figure of over 45kmpl under mixed riding conditions, the Avenger is a great tool for those who want to go touring on a budget. Even in the cityscape, the Avenger comfortably covered over 40km on one litre of petrol while on the highway run it ran over an impressive 55km on same quantum of fuel. And factor in the 14 litres of tank capacity coupled to the fuel efficient nature of the 220cc Bajaj powerplant and the Avenger 220 DTSi can comfortably take you over 600km on a single tank full.

Equaling the Avenger’s performance is its sure-footed handling and plush ride quality. On a particular occasion, while riding down to Pune from Mumbai the Avenger’s sorted out dynamic ability really showed its prowess when the bike firmly held its place on the road as I went through some massive crater-size potholes and was almost in two minds about whether I will be able to keep the rubber side down or not. But thankfully, the longest in-class wheelbase of 1475mm along with the chunky box-section swing-arm and 154.5kg of mass made sure that the Avenger took all those bumps without upsetting its balance or scaring the rider.

 The suspension is definitely more pliant at tackling bumps and other road undulations when compared to its predecessor, and the bike also feels more planted when tackling fast twisty corners. The Avenger effortlessly tips into fast corners and holds onto the desired line without any drama. Although the new dual-density saddle works wonders for the rider, the pillion ride quality isn’t upto the mark and during long distance riding, it starts to show up with the pillion feeling uncomfortable. Maybe a slightly bigger pillion saddle with ample cushioning and a little softer rear suspension settings will help in improving things if one plans to go touring with a companion. Another missing bit is a big fly-screen to keep away the wind-blasts – although Bajaj Auto is offering it as an accessory. During my highway bouts, I really missed having a big fly-screen upfront, as not only would have kept the wind-blasts from hitting me but it would have also helped in not plastering my face with dead bugs!

Cycle part quality of this Bajaj has not only gotten better but it has also improved in terms of design and functionality.  The gear-shift lever with a heel-shifter has a chunky feel to it and one doesn’t have to go looking for the gear-lever like on some of the large capacity cruisers we have ridden before. But we do miss having a large foot-board for that quintessential cruiser spirit. Besides these small niggles there is little to complain about the Avenger. Bajaj Auto has taken due care that the cruising experience aboard the Avenger is a pleasurable one for the rider minus any vibes or discomfort. The aluminium footpegs are equipped with rubber damping to prevent engine vibes from reaching to the rider’s feet. The new Avenger also boasts of DC lighting setup, which has allowed Bajaj Auto to plonk in a 60/55W headlight bulb, giving the Avenger the brightest illumination seen on any current Indian motorcycle.  These subtle changes on paper go a long way in enriching the experience on the saddle, especially if you are going to travel regardless of day or night.

Add to that the fact that there is very little to choose from if you want to buy a good cruiser motorcycle in India, can only help the Bajaj Avenger 220’s case. Currently, apart from the Royal Enfield Thunderbird there is no real competitor to the Avenger in the market. While the Thunderbird has its own breed of Royal Enfield patrons, the stylish yet practical charm of the Avenger explains why despite onslaughts from other bike-makers over the years, it still remains a hot-favourite set of wheels amongst the Indian cruiser-fans. And with Bajaj Auto’s prowess at competitively pricing its motorcycles, it is apparent why the Avenger makes perfect sense, especially now with added grunt and an alluring price-tag of Rs. 69,930 (Ex-showroom, Delhi). Although, more enticing than the Avenger’s price is the thought that since Bajaj Auto is gearing up to unleash its new breed of Pulsars into the market sometime by 2011, we wonder what the next generation Avenger will look like. Tracing Bajaj Auto’s business models and its aptitude to successfully combine technology with low-cost manufacturing and its approach of bringing power to the people, can we expect a full-blown 400cc liquid-cooled 60-degree V-twin? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

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The turbinator: GE's new turbine, shown here in a rendering, could be attractive in Europe as way to efficiently integrate renewable energy into the grid. 

With the abundance of cheap natural gas propelling a shift away from coal for generating electricity, new gas turbine technology that GE announced yesterday could make it even more difficult for coal to compete. The technology could also help utilities integrate more renewable energy sources into their electricity mix.

Conventional natural-gas power plants are generally either flexible or efficient. That is, some can quickly increase and decrease power output to meet spikes or lulls in electricity demand, while others are able to hum along steadily without using much natural gas but take hours to bring up to speed. GE's gas turbines are meant to be efficient without sacrificing the ability to adjust power output in a hurry. Last year the company announced a version designed for use in Europe as well as China and other countries with power grids that operate at 50 hertz. Yesterday it announced a version for countries that use 60-hertz power, such as the United States, Japan, and nations in the Middle East. GE says it has $1.2 billion worth of orders for its new flexible gas turbines from Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

In the U.S., customers are installing the gas turbines to replace coal power. Japan is shifting to natural gas from nuclear power following the Fukushima power plant disaster last year. In Europe, much of the motivation for adopting GE's new turbines could come from the promise of integrating renewable energy more efficiently into the grid. GE had previously announced a project that will combine the turbines with solar and wind power at a plant in Turkey.

GE's turbines are efficient enough to help shave $3.5 million off the cost of operating a natural-gas combined-cycle power plant each year, says Eric Gebhardt, GE Energy's vice president of thermal engineering. And because they are also far more flexible than conventional gas turbines in the way they can operate, they could help utilities that want to incorporate intermittent power sources like wind and solar tackle the problem of balancing electricity demand with supply (see "Improving demand forecasting for electric power to save fuel and reduce emissions").

GE has adapted materials it uses in its jet engines to help enable the gas turbines to get up to speed in less than half an hour. It's also improved its ability to precisely control temperatures within the turbine. Narrow channels cut into the materials deliver cooling gases to exactly where they're needed to control the expansion rates of parts and ensure good seals. GE has also added ports for injecting fuel into different parts of the combustion chamber. That, along with new computer models describing the physics of combustion, makes it possible to optimize combustion temperatures.

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Siri, the virtual assistant built into iPhones, launched to great fanfare last October and soon inspired a crowd of copycat apps, heated online arguments about its effectiveness, and an Apple ad campaign in which it played the starring role. It also inspired speculation that Google's ad revenue was in jeopardy (see "Does Apple's Siri Threaten Google's Search Monopoly?") and that the search and ads company would be forced to invent its own personal assistant.

Almost a year later, Google's vision of how a smartphone can become a trusted, all-knowing assistant is rolling out to consumers in the form of Google Now. It's a feature of the newest iteration of Android, Jelly Bean, which is so far available on only a handful of smartphones, and suggests that Google has ambitions to go well beyond what Siri has shown so far.

Google Now doesn't have a pretend personality like Apple's sassy assistant, instead just appearing as a familiar search box. But just like Siri, it can take voice commands related to phone functions such as setting reminders or sending messages, and field requests for information such as "How old is the Eiffel Tower?" and "Where can I find a good Chinese restaurant?"

Also like Siri, Google Now responds with speech. However, rather than passing along queries to third-party services such as Yelp for answers, Google's helper makes use of the company's recently launched Knowledge Graph, a database that categorizes information in useful ways (see "Google's New Brain Could Have a Big Impact").

Google Now also introduces a new trick. It combines the constant stream of data a smartphone collects on its owner with clues about the person's life that Google can sift from Web searches and e-mails to guess what he or she would ask it for next. This enables Google Now not only to meet a user's needs but also, in some cases, to preëmpt them. Virtual index cards appear offering information it thinks you need to know at a particular time.

"That's actually been a goal for us with Android from the beginning," says Hugo Barra, director of product management for Android, when asked why Google has moved to position a souped-up version of search at the heart of Android. The desire to offer useful information without a person even asking "comes from Larry [Page, Google's cofounder]," adds Barra, "if you read the [2012] founders' letter, he said that one of the company goals is to get out of the way of the user."

Barra adds that the intimacy of people's relationships with their smartphones makes Android one of the best places to take that to an extreme—by pulling together everything Google knows about the world, and you. "The best thing about Google Now is that it uses every system that Google has built in the last 10 years. It touches almost every back-end system at Google," says Barra, and hides that power behind a simple, automatic interface. The result, he says, is an "increase in a person's tranquility, as opposed to having to install an app or do a search or open the browser to navigate to a webpage."

Most of us rely heavily on Google's search capability, whatever smartphone we own. But having the search engine come to you, rather than vice versa, can be uncanny. Thanks to Google Now, as I stroll around San Francisco, live bus times are offered to me whenever I pull my phone from my pocket at a bus stop. And when I get up in the morning, Google Now presents a panel summarizing my optimum transit journey to work along with specific buses and an estimate of the time the trip will take. (If I drove to work, it would show a driving route and traffic conditions.) Google Now will show the status of a flight if an airline confirmation e-mail in my inbox shows I'll be taking it or if I did a Google Web search for a flight number from my work computer—providing I've logged into my Google account. The search history trick is also used to guess which sports results you want to know about. I searched for "Giants playoffs" once. Combined with my location, this means I now automatically see a live score for San Francisco Giants games and the final score once they're over.

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Dream machine: This year Korea's ambitious auto upstart, Hyundai, plans to start leasing a fuel-cell version of its ix35 SUV. 

Credit: Peter Fairley

By the mid-2000s, the dream of hydrogen-powered cars had faded in the face of stubborn practicalities like the lack of charging stations and the inefficiency of fuel cells. But as the auto industry wrestles with the limitations of battery-powered electric vehicles, the dream lives on. That is apparent at the Paris Auto Show.

When the show opened last month, battery-driven electric vehicles stood front and center (see "Renault and Others Debut Electric Cars at Paris Show"). But hydrogen-fuel-cell vehicles were also omnipresent. Show visitors could test-drive seven fuel-cell cars from leading automakers (including an SUV that Hyundai plans to begin leasing this winter), and a bevy of snazzy concept cars conjured up visions of a hydrogen-fueled future.

Automakers are showing new interest because key problems with fuel cells—their limited capacity to convert hydrogen to electricity and their susceptibility to freezing—have largely been overcome in recent years. At the same time, the first mass-produced electric vehicles based on batteries—the fuel cell's technological rival for the zero-emissions mantle—have seen sales slow because their range remains disappointing and their prices high.

Even Nissan, which leads the global electric-vehicle market with its Leaf subcompact and has vowed to sell 1.5 million battery-powered vehicles by 2016 with corporate partner Renault, is showing a powerful fuel-cell SUV as a concept car in Paris. The company's strategy reflects widely held views in the automotive industry, according to consultancy KPMG. Of the 200 executives polled in its 2012 Global Auto Executive Survey, those predicting that electric-car buyers of 2025 will prefer a fuel cell outnumbered those backing battery technology by 25 percent.

"Automakers believe in the capability of the fuel-cell vehicle," says Kevin See, a senior analyst for Boston-based consultancy Lux Research. "There are no issues with range anxiety, making it a zero-emission option with the requisite performance to serve a broader consumer base."

The fuel-cell cars at the Paris show deliver many times the Nissan Leaf's 73-mile EPA-rated range. Hydrogen gas crammed into a carbon-fiber tank at 700-bar pressure—the current industry standard—can take Hyundai's ix35 fuel-cell EV 365 miles. And Toyota boasts 435 miles of driving for its FCV-R fuel-cell EV concept sedan.

Nissan has not posted a range estimate for its TeRRA fuel-cell concept SUV. But in the face of public complaints from Leaf buyers disappointed by deteriorating mileage, it's easy to see why fuel-cell technology would appeal (see "Don't Drive Your Leaf Too Much").

Renewed enthusiasm for hydrogen-powered cars is not just related to range, according to Gerald Killmann, Toyota's director for powertrain R&D in Europe. In addition to settling real concerns over crucial issues such as cold-weather driving and rapid fueling, Toyota has greatly reduced the size of its fuel-cell system in recent years.

The fuel-cell stack in the FCV-R is approximately half the size and weight of the previous-generation stack developed in 2008 per kilowatt of output. Killmann says the fuel-cell sedan that Toyota plans to begin marketing in 2015 in Japan, North America, and Europe will be technically similar to the FCV-R. Similarly, Hyundai has downsized its drivetrain by running its fuel-cell stack on ambient air, thus eliminating the need for noisy, bulky, power-sapping compressors.

What is not yet ready for prime time is the fuel-cell EVs' cost. Killmann says the FCV-R would cost close to 100,000 euros ($130,000) to produce today. Toyota hopes to cut costs at least in half by 2015 by developing all the components in-house—as it did with its hybrid drive.

See notes that fuel-cell vehicles have another crucial hurdle to overcome: the dearth of hydrogen fueling stations. There are currently no more than 280 worldwide, and many are not publicly accessible, according to Ulrich Buenger, coördinator for H2Moves, a 20-million-euro fuel-cell demonstration project funded by the European Union. Boosting their numbers will be pricey, since hydrogen filling stations cost around a million euros to install.

Buenger predicts that the cost of hydrogen stations will decline towards 300,000 euros, the price of a natural-gas pump, with each one installed—a process that is accelerating in Europe. Germany has 14 hydrogen stations open to the public, and a public-private collaboration announced early this year aims to roll out 36 more by 2015—enough to link most cities. Denmark laid out a comparable plan this spring. And on Friday, global chemicals producer Air Products announced plans to build two hydrogen filling stations in London, which would give the city a total of five.

Such plans are missing in the United States, though, where a U.S. Department of Energy website lists just seven public stations nationwide—all of them in California.

There is one big reason to be optimistic that this could change, says Buenger—an abundant supply of natural gas flowing from hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) wells, which provides a ready source of hydrogen. "There is already more and more interest in fuel-cell technology because of the new natural-gas resources," he says. 

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