Small cars do badly in side crash test

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Of 14 small cars involved in a test of side-impact crash safety, 12 received a rating of "Poor" from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Because of these results, Consumer Reports announced Sunday night that it was removing the Ford Focus as its pick as the best small car for 2005.

Only the Chevrolet Cobalt and Toyota Corolla, when equipped with optional head-protecting side airbags, received ratings of "Acceptable," the second-highest rating on the Institute's four-point scale. "Poor," which the other 12 vehicles received, is the worst possible rating. Both the Cobalt and the Corolla earned a rating of "Poor" when tested without the side airbags.

The Dodge Neon, which performed worst on the test, the Institute said, was singled out for particularly harsh criticism in the Insurance Institute's report. "This car is a disaster," Lund says. "The structure is poor, and both dummies' heads were hit by the barrier during the crash test. High forces were recorded on the head, torso, and pelvis of the driver dummy. If this had been a real driver in a real crash, it's likely it wouldn't have been survivable."

Several of the cars earned "Poor" ratings in spite of having head-protecting side airbags. Although the airbags did protect the crash test dummies' heads, the impact still inflicted severe punishment on the dummies' bodies. "Side airbags can protect the head, but if the vehicle structure doesn't hold up well then serious injuries to other body regions still can occur," said Adrian Lund, chief operating officer of the Institiute. "With better structures along with the side airbags, the performances of these vehicles would improve."

Consumer Reports 'Best Cars'

DETROIT, March 4 (Reuters) - Japanese automobiles are the true kings of the road, judging by the latest annual "Best Cars" issue of Consumer Reports magazine, which hits newsstands next week. All of the vehicles in the magazine's list of "top picks" in 10 different categories for 2005 are Japanese. Japanese vehicles also score a clean sweep on a list of 21 vehicles that Consumer Reports says it can recommend because they earned "very good" or "excellent" scores in all five major ratings areas it tested.

These recommendations are important since the spring auto issue from Consumer Reports, which accepts no paid advertising or free samples of the products its reviews, has long been seen as a trusted shopping guide by many U.S. car buyers.

Japanese and Korean automakers once again produced the most trouble-free models, with an overall problem rate of 12 per 100 for the 2004 model year, the same rate they have had for the last three years, Consumer Reports said.

It said GM, Ford and the Chrysler side of DaimlerChrysler AG inched closer to the Asians with an overall problem rate of 17 per 100, however. That matched the industry average and was down from a combined rate of 18 per 100 last year.

By contrast, the problem rate for European automakers rose slightly to 21 per 100 from 20 last year. "Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and Volvo had more than their fair share of problems. Only Audi came out better than average," the magazine said.

"The most reliable brand overall is now Subaru, which averages eight problems per 100," Consumer Reports said. It noted that Honda Motor Co. Ltd., long a reliability leader, now averaged nine problems per 100.

2006 Civic Si Coupe: The most powerful, fastest and fun-to-drive Si HONDA had ever put on the street

2006 Honda Civic SI Concept Coupe

This Civic Si Concept—a close representation of what you’ll see from this fall’s production model—features a black hood flowing down to blacked-out headlamps; beady, yellow running lights set against a matte-black background; 18-inch cast aluminum wheels revealing cross-drilled rotors hugged by Brembo calipers; and a pronounced rear spoiler perched above a center-exit exhaust. Naturally, the Si concept seeks to recapture the rogue spirit of Si hatchbacks and coupes of the past, an essence that is lacking in the current Si. John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda, says, “The 2006 Civic Si Coupe will be the most powerful, fastest and fun-to-drive Si we've ever put on the street, and the Civic Si Concept sets the direction in terms of its styling, package and performance.” Straight-line oomph comes courtesy of a 200-hp, 16-valve DOHC i-VTEC four-cylinder that redlines at 8000 rpm. Essentially a detuned version of the four-banger in the Acura RSX Type-S, the Si’s motor is mated to a close-ratio six-speed manual transmission that delivers power via a helical limited-slip differential. The LSD, a first for a Civic, keeps the power coming through tight turns, while 225/40R18 high-performance tires handle the road-grabbing. The production Si will debut at SEMA this November.

Source: Car & Driver

New Internet Explorer coming this summer

Althought Microsoft has previously told that it wouldn't ship a new version of IE until the release of its next operating system (codenamed Longhorn in 2006), today Bill Gates made the announcement at the RSA Data Security conference, that Microsoft will release a beta version of the next full release of Internet Explorer this summer.

Internet Explorer 7 will ship with a host of new features that are designed to eliminate or reduce the severity of computer fraud perpetrated by browser vulnerabilities. Gates mentioned that IE7 will be able to defeat scripting and URL masking vulnerabilities that phishers use to fool users into clicking links to fraudulent sites, or where they're asked to provide passwords to sensitive accounts.

Taken from: Today @ PCWorld -

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/000506.html

PSP US Launch Details

SONY PSP

Sony Computer Entertainment America announced on february 3rd the North American launch date and pricing structure for its anticipated PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld. The device, which launched in Japan last year, is set to debut in the US and Canada on March 24 for suggested retail prices of $249 USD and $299.99 CND respectively.
Unlike the Japanese launch, which offered a base PSP package for approximately $185 USD, North American buyers will only be able to get one bundle, the pricier PSP Value Pack. The good news is that the Pack comes standard with a good number of extras that help make the purchase worthwhile, including a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, headphones with remote control, battery pack, AC adaptor, soft case, and cleaning cloth. In addition, the bundle boasts a movie/music/game sampler UMD disc with non-interactive demos. On top of everything else, the first one million people to purchase a PSP in the US will receive a bonus UMD featuring the full feature film Spider-Man 2.

Taken from the article: PSP US Launch Date and Price Revealed by Matt Casamassina at IGN.