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2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA

These are the very first images of the 2011 Chevrolet Aveo U-VA that will surely make it to our shores. The Aveo looks like the best interpretation of Chevrolet’s new design language so far. In fact it looks much more sophisticated that the Beat and the Cruze.



The interim facelifted Aveo U-VA didn’t make it to India. We believe that was a good move by GM as internationally the facelift did more harm than good to the U-VA’s image.

Going by GM India’s frightening (for its rivals) pricing strategy for the Beat, the competition has good reason to be scared. Expect the car to come with modern petrol as well as diesel powerplants and follow in the footsteps of the Aveo sedan after a gap of a couple of months. Stay tuned for more juice on this car.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

GM to build own electric engines from 2013

One does not need an MBA degree to understand that 'Tough times call for tough measures'. To excel during tough times one also needs to indulge in cost-cutting. General Motors, which is currently going through 'tough times' intends to do that by developing their vehicular components in-house rather than sourcing them from others.

General Motors has officially announced that it will be manufacturing electric motors for hybrid vehicles in house from 2013. The American automotive marquee is currently sourcing the engines from various suppliers. The decision to self manufacture the electric engines has been taken to improve their quality, reliability and reduce the costs involved in making them. The manufacturer intends to invest to around $246 million for the purpose. As of now GM has not announced which manufacturing facility will be utilized for building their electric engines. The manufacturer intends to launch a hybrid vehicle in 2013 which will be powered its own electric engines.
During a conference call with reporters, Pete Savagian, Engineering Director for electric and hybrid vehicles, said that the company needs to not only buy the parts but also to really understand them. He also revealed that GM had started work on developing an electric engine in 2003 and will shortly become the first American manufacturer to build its own electric engines. The manufacturer has some prior experience in building these engines. It had developed one to power its electric car EV1 in the mid-90's. In fact, the engineers which had earlier worked on that project have been roped in for developing their new electric engines.

Nano to cost 3 times its price

Tata Motor’s ‘Ultra Low Cost’ creation christened the ‘Nano’ has become famous worldwide as the “cheapest car.” Costing a little more than a lakh INR (base model ex-factory) in India, the Nano indeed is the cheapest car out here. Tata Motors made use of the Detroit Auto Show as a platform to unveil the Nano in North America for the first time. There were rumors that the Americanized Nano would cost as little as $5,000. However, the Detroit News reported that according to a source within the company, the car would be priced at $8,000 which is approximately a whopping Rs 360,000, almost triple of the price prevalent here in India. The car is reported to hit the American streets in the next three years.

See More about Tata Nano Cars:

• View Various Tata Nano Models Here
• Tata Nano On Road Price in India
• Car Reviews on Tata Nano
• Used Second Hand Tata Nano Cars

Free laptops, part of the future

An increasing portion of laptops will now come with embedded SIM to allow customers to instantly access internet wirelessly via mobile service providers without using an unsightly dongle, according to Mobile Today.

Last week, Carphone Warehouse announced that it was in talks with big laptop manufacturers to sell heavily subsidised laptops with wireless internet access.

Likewise, Vodafone and T-Mobile have signed agreements with several laptop manufacturers although numbers are yet to add up as the T-Mobile head of OEM and IT puts it bluntly.

Manufacturers, on the other side, are banking that the future business model will be selling laptops bundled with wireless internet access.

BT could be the biggest loser if more customers move from desktop to laptop and away from landlines and fixed-line revenues still account for £10.3 billion annually, mostly paid to one company, BT, charging each landline owner, more than £130 annually.

New Asus EEE Windows-based Laptops to sell like hot cakes

5 million EEE laptops will be sold this year according to Asus's own estimates; the Taiwanese manufacturer is bullish about the sales figures that its little gadget will generate.

Of those, around 3 million are expected to be XP-based and the rest running on Linux; meaning that Windows XP might undergo an unexpected revival once again.

Windows XP Home has apparently been chosen to power non Linux computers; a surprising decision given that Microsoft's own Windows XP Fundamental for legacy systems would probably be better suited.

The EEE was designed to be compatible with Windows and even the first EEE models had their own Windows XP Drivers.

Asus has also revealed that the cheapest Windows XP model will cost $408, including a 4GB SSD storage, 512MB memory while the more expensive EEE PC 4G XP will come with an additional 4GB SD card, a more powerful battery and a 3mp webcam; all for $473.

Dell starts US Blu-ray war on laptops, UK customers have to wait

The high-definition format wars are over - and you won: Dell customers can now get a Blu-ray laptop for under a $1,000.

Available today on dell.com, movie buffs can pick up the Inspiron 1525 with optional Blu-ray disc playback starting at $899.

UK customers will have to wait a bit more though as only the Inspiron 1720 ships with an optional Blu-Ray drive, in a package that costs a eye-popping £918.99, with the Blu-ray drive accounting for more than a third of the price, more than twice the price.

As retailers and video rental companies expand their high-definition offerings, Blu-ray is the new "must-have" technology to help get the most out of your viewing experience.

The Top 12 UK £299 laptops

Searching for a bargain notebook without cutting too many corners? ITProPortal.com has rounded up twelve of the best sub £300 laptop deals in the UK in this exclusive report.

Laptops have never been so inexpensive and you can now get a cheap, quality laptop for £299 including VAT and delivery or even less. A few years back, a sub-£500 laptop was unheard of.

Back in April 2006, the HP Compaq NX6110 was sold for £600, right now, a HP laptop with a similar configuration and a few bells and whistles is worth less than £270, 55% less.

And it is certainly not a coincidence that popular consumer website Moneysavingexpert has dedicated a recent report on Sub £300 laptop bargains.

There are a few gems amongst the ten listed but you can rest assured that anyone of them will be a capable workstation provided your needs do not go beyond traditional office chores.

Qualcomm Aims At Turning Mobile Phones Into Mini Laptops

Mobile chip manufacturer Qualcomm will be producing key components to power mini laptops, riding on the success of the Asus EEE laptop; however, one big difference will be that the yet-to-be-named laptops will be using ARM processors rather than Intel based ones.

This means that they will resemble blown-up personal digital assistants rather than shrunken laptops and Inventec, rather than Quanta, will be the one manufacturing them.

PC World, who first broke the news, also mentions that the laptops will offer inbuilt 3G internet access although it is yet to be seen whether Wi-Fi will be included or not.

There's also persisting rumours that Windows Mobile 7 could be used to power mobile internet devices like Qualcomm's which means they won't be able to run applications designed for more traditional Windows platforms.

That said, Linux would also be a prime candidate and Android, as well as LiMo platforms, would potentially be the chosen ones.

Maruti reports record profits

The Board of Directors of Maruti Suzuki India Limited recently approved the financial results for the third quarter of 2009-10 (October – December 2009). The firm has claimed to have achieved net sales (net of excise) of Rs 73,338 million during the third quarter of 2009-10. This increase is equivalent to 62.5 per cent as compared to the third quarter of the previous year. The company has registered a net profit of Rs 6,875 million which is an increase of a whopping 221.9 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2009-10.

Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales volume grew by 37.8 per cent to 218,910 units in the October – December 2009 quarter. The cars that led the sales in this period of time were the Alto and WagonR. The firm’s domestic A2 segment and A3 segment sales volume grew by 38.6 per cent and 41.7 per cent respectively as compared to the sales in October – December 2008. The firm’s exports observed a growth of over 167 per cent to 39,116 units as compared to the 14,634 units exported in October – December 2008.

The company stated that favorable conditions in the domestic market supported by the government’s stimulus package and ease of automobile finance facilities helped achieve the good sales during the quarter. Commodity prices too were favorable for a major period of the quarter. However, the last few weeks observed considerable price rise. The firm also cites the successful export figures of its A-Star as a reason for its good sales.

Along with this, the Board of Directors also confirmed the approval of the investment in capacity expansion at the firm’s Manesar plant. Maruti Suzuki has invested a sum of about Rs 1700 Crores for the expansion of the production capacity of its plant. The plant will be able to manufacture 250,000 cars on an annual basis.

Discounts of up to Rs 40,000 on Honda Jazz!

When most car manufacturers are presently busy with the price rise trend, Honda Siel seems to be doing exactly the opposite for its Honda Jazz. The Honda Jazz features a 1.2-litre petrol engine and is priced at around Rs 7 lakh (Ex-Showroom Delhi) which is almost equivalent to the price of Honda’s very own City. However, the City features a much powerful 1.5-litre petrol engine along with a more spacious boot and many more goodies which are absent in the Jazz.

Honda Siel had produced as much as 1000 units of the Jazz in December 2009. But, the firm only managed to sell 300 units of the car that month. As a measure to boost the sales of the Jazz, Honda dealers are reportedly offering a discount of almost Rs 40,000 and interest rates of less than 6% on loans for the Honda Jazz. Even though dealers are said to be providing discounts on the car, Honda Siel has not announced any plans to reduce the cost of the Jazz yet.

Nissan launching Micra in July

Nissan yesterday confirmed that it will launch it's much awaited global city car, the Micra/March in India in July. The car, based on the V-Platform, will begin production in India in May 2010. Nissan-Renault's Chennai plant will be up and running by March this year and the Micra will be the first car to roll out of the factory. The Japanese carmaker will start exporting the small car from end of 2010 to European markets. While speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, Kiminobu Tokuyama, Nissan India's managing director, "We are well on track to open the new factory in March. Production will start in May and the first hatchback... will be sold from July."

Nissan aims to make a strong hold in the Indian market with a mass production vehicle like the Micra, as compared to small volume players like the Teana and the X-Trail. With a competitive price tag for the Micra, Nissan aims to take on its Japanese competitors like Suzuki, Toyota and Honda along with other players like VW, Tata and FIAT. Kiminobu Tokuyama concluded saying, "It's not too late, we are ready to challenge. We have come here to become a major player..."

Tata and M&M join the Price Hike bandwagon!

Joining the recent list of car manufacturers who have increased prices of their vehicles are Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra. Tata Motors has increased prices of its Indica and Indigo variants by around Rs.5000-8000. While M&M has increased the prices of its Xylo variants by around Rs.4,500, Scorpio variants by around Rs.6000-9,000, and Bolero variants by around Rs.5,000.

According to Arun Malhotra, Senior Vice President of Automotive Sector, Mahindra and Mahindra, the Primary reason for price hike across all vehicles is the rise in prices of the inputs required to make them.


BMW and Honda Siel Cars India have recently increased prices of their cars with Maruti Suzuki following suit. The main reason for the above manufacturers in increasing prices was also the rise in input costs along with the appreciation of foreign currency Yen. Hyundai is also expected to announce a price hike shortly.

According to Jnaneshwar Sen, Vice President Marketing, Honda Siel Cars India, the value of Yen has appreciated in the last few months along with the import content in their cars ranging from 24% in the City to 100% in the CRV which has increased the costs of manufacturing.

Volkswagen Phaeton will be launched in March

VW announced that their luxury saloon is slated for an official launch in March this year. The VW Pheaton will retail for around Rs.75 lakhs. The luxury saloon is offered with two engine options namely a 3.0 litre TDi V6 one developing 240Ps and the 6.0 litre W12 petrol one which produces 450PS.

Every Phaeton is hand-built at VW's glass factory located at Dresden in Germany. A buyer has the option of seeing his Phaeton being assembled from the intial stage when a chasis is selected. Onc e the luxury saloon goes on sale in the country, even our desi buyers will have the option of going to the factory and seeing their Phaeton being assembled or customised.

Speaking to the media after the unveiling , Neeraj Garg, Member of Board of Directors, Volkswagen Group Sales India, said that once the Phaeton is launched in March it would mark the manufacturer's foray into the high-end luxury segment.

Sony Vaio VGN-TZ17GN/B, Laptop Price Rs. 114,900

This laptop comes with Intel 1.2GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable upto 2GB and 100GB HDD. It has a DVD Writer, 11.1-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1366x768 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video card, integrated sound card

Sony Vaio VGN-CR14GN/B, Laptop-Price Rs. 59,390

This laptop comes with Intel 1.8GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable upto 2GB and 100GB HDD. It has a DVD Writer, 14.1-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1280x800 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated ATI Mobility Radeon X2300 video card, integrated sound card

Another UK Agency Loses FOUR Laptops With Sensitive Data

Continuing their characteristic sluggishness with IT data handling and management, another UK government agency, Insolvency Service has confirmed the theft of four laptop computers from its Manchester office on 27 August 2008.

One of those four stolen laptops contained detailed information including - names, addresses, date of births and National Insurance numbers of about 486 directors and employees of UK’s 122 bankrupt companies.

Insolvency Service has informed the people affected from the theft and has opened dedicated phone lines to provide any sort of further assistance to them.

Lorna Dennis, spokeswoman of the agency said, “Today the Insolvency Service has written to the companies who have been affected by the theft of the laptop.”

In addition to the infamous loss of details of 25 million beneficiaries of child benefit scheme, the UK’s Ministry of Defense had admitted the loss of a USB stick containing crucial movements and locations of soldiers last month

Asus To Introduce Touchscreen EEE PC in 2009 Plus Cheaper Laptops

Reports indicate that Asus is all set to launch a touch enabled Eee PC sometime next year.

According to DigiTimes, rumours regarding the upcoming launch of touchscreen based offering from Asus was confirmed by none other than Samson Hu; the General Manager at the Taiwanese consumer electronic major Asus.

However very little is known about the actual specification of the proposed system and one can only hope that Asus releases some details in near future.

In a related development Asus has also mentioned that it plans to launch a new model equipped with a dual core Intel processor; though it is unlikely to make an appearance anytime before next summer.

Apple Charges Customers Up to £800 Extra For New Macbooks When Compared To Windows Laptops

Apple has just updated its whole range of Macbooks with the aluminium Brick models likely to create the most buzz on the market.

However, Steve Jobs has also decided to up the price of its entry level white Apple Macbook from £699 to £719, a sure sign that the company is uber confident during those troubled times

We've carried out our own research in the wake of Apple's new releases and found out that prospective buyers will be paying nearly £800 more to get the MacOSX and Apple's trademark stylish treatments (backlit keyboard et al); given the current economic conditions, going Apple might not be beneficial to your bank account.

And before Apple fanboys start sending us hatemails and death threats, we've tried to match the Macbooks with whatever laptops were readily available on the market with the nearest specification.

So, how much are you paying for Apple's Style

Nissan 370z to be launched on 20th January

Expected Price: 45 Lakh (On-Road).
Specs: 3.7-litre V6, 332 bhp @ 7000 rpm, 366 Nm @ 5200 rpm


Just 2 days remain to the ‘Z’ cars launch in India. One of Japan’s most popular coupes will soon be landing up in Nissan showrooms across the metros. Known as one of the most entertaining coupes to drive, the 370Z stands in stark contrast to its clinical German adversaries. Elsewhere in the world it is also priced a good couple of lakh rupees cheaper than its rivals. It also debuts with a clever gizmo which automatically blips the throttle and matches the revs to the engine speed on downshifts, even with the manual gearbox!



But as the 370Z is coming through the CBU route, India will get only the top of the line versions, just like the Boxster. Sadly, the real ‘value for money’, variants won’t make it to our shores thanks to the 40,000$ minimum price limit enforced by our government on CBU imports. The Z car might not be anywhere in the league of its big brother GT-R but it will be a worthy adversary to German coupes be it the Porsche Boxster, Audi TT, BMW Z4 or the Mercedes SLK.
 

 

Maruti Suzuki Cars are now costlier!

Maruti Suzuki follows suit after Honda Siel Cars India and BMW recently increased the prices of their cars owing to rise in input costs, including that of steel. Most of the models will observe a rise in its price tag from the range of a few hundred rupees to as high as Rs 10,000 per car. The prices may vary as per on-road prices of various cities.

The company stated that the average increase in prices would be around 0.6 per cent. But, the Ritz VDi and the Swift Dzire LXi models will witness a rise of 0.12 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively. However, the firm did not comment about the hike in terms of Rupees.

Maruti Suzuki also confirmed that it’s recently launched multi-purpose vehicle Eeco and the petrol engine powered Swift and Gypsy models will be spared from the price hikes.

A Maruti Suzuki official confirmed, “The price increase is to partly recover the increase in the input costs arising out of raw material costs over the past one year. For some models the increase in the costs are being absorbed by the company.”

Along with this, the company also confirmed that the introductory prices introduced in August last year for its refreshed Estilo has been withdrawn. As a result of this, the Estilo will now be costlier by Rs 1,234 to Rs 2,486 as per variants.

Maruti’s Swift and Swift Dzire get a more efficient engine

The cars within the stable of Maruti Suzuki which feature the K series engine will witness the addition of the Swift and the Swift Dzire within its family. Both the Swift hatchback as well as the Swift Dzire sedan will finally come with a K-series engine almost 7 long months after the same engine made its debut in the Ritz hatchback. This engine will be a 1.2-litre Bharat Stage – IV (BS – IV) compliant petrol engine, the BS-IV norms being the reason why Maruti finally had no choice left but to drop the archiac 1.3 litre unit. Maruti claims that the new engine along with a revised five-speed transmission system will boost the fuel efficiency to a whooping 17.9kmpl up from the old 1.3 litres 15.8 kpl. The diesel variants of both the cars also feature an upgraded engine which is compliant to the BS-IV norms. Ritz and A-Star are amongst the other models which are powered by the new K-series all-aluminium engines.

The new K12 Engine that powers the Ritz and A-Star will now be fitted to the Swift and Swift Dzire. This change has brought about an increase of Rs 10,000 to the price tag of Swift Dzire. However, the Swift's price remains unchanged.

Sony Vaio VGN-CR11GH/L, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 1.8GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable upto 2GB and 80GB HDD. It has a DVD Writer, 14.1-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1280x800 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X1300 video card, integrated sound card,

Price Range : Rs. 54,990

Sony Vaio VGN-C31GH/W, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 1.6GHz Dual Core Processor, 512MB DDR2 RAM which is upgradeable upto 2GB and 80GB HDD. It has a DVD Writer, 13.3-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1280x800 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 video card, integrated sound card

Price Range : Rs. 44,990

Sony SZ 58, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 2.4GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 160GB HDD. It has a DVD Writer, 13.3-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1280x800 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS video card, integrated sound card, Wifi, Touchpad mouse, In-Built Speake

Price Range : Rs. 124,000 to 124,900

Laptops Sony Vaio VGN-AR69GU

Sony Vaio VGN-AR69GU laptop comes with Intel 2.4GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 500GB HDD. It has a Blu-Ray Disc Writer, 17-inch widescreen display with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 dpi. The laptop also has an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT video card, integrated sound card, Wifi, Touch

Price Range : Rs. 167,500 to 169,900

Stephen Fry Lambasts Vista and Sony Laptops, Become Biggest Twitter Outside US

One of UK's favourite comedians, Stephen Fry, demonstrated once again that he's as witty in real life as he is in movies thanks to the power of Twitter (where he's about to reach 29.000 followers) and that's he's actually a very savvy geek.

He spent $4000 on a Sony Vaio laptop (probably purchased in the US) with Windows Vista (I guess it was a Vista Business model) and blasted it as the most useless $4000 he ever spent (ed: Someone at ITproportal also spent £1750 on a Sony Vaio laptop last week and we're waiting for his feedback).

Fry was asked to review a PC-only application by the Guardian and the idiosyncrasies that marred Vista during its short life, made Fry's blood boil after which he apologised for being less than temperate.

He later explained on his "posterous" blog - which has now been viewed 16,000 times - that he was not trying to set up a new network, merely trying to connect a new computer to an existing network that had already got a G1 phone, 2 Blackberry smartphones, a few iPhones, an iPod touch and two Macs on it

Intel Targets Schools With Classmate Tablet Laptops

Intel has launched a new convertible "Classmate" laptop that can double as a tablet PC in the UK as from next month which will be sold directly to schools and through Amazon and Argos. It is likely that the Classmate will be sold through Education tech specialists like Elonex.

The Classmate design first came to light as a direct response to the $100 laptop, originally called OLPC and later XO. Classmate version 2 is build by Computer Technology Link and comes with a rotating screen that easily converts from a traditional laptop format to a resistive touchscreen tablet.

The device is built around an Intel Atom CPU and comes with 1GB RAM, a 60GB hard disk drive, a card reader and a 8.9-inch LCD screen capable of displaying 1024x600 pixels. CTL offers a choice of either Windows XP Home or Linux with one year warranty on parts and labour.

Nokia Will Make Laptops By 2011

Nokia's CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has confirmed that the company will be manufacturing and selling mobile computers but failed to confirm whether they will be netbooks or traditional laptops (or something in between).

Kallasvuo, who was appearing in a television interview with Finnish TC Channel YLE, said that Nokia could be looking at a device that merge the functionalities of a PC and a mobile handset.

The timing of the news, just one week after the Mobile World Congress, shows that Nokia is reacting to the invasion of traditional PC manufacturers like Acer which have announced eight new smartphones.

Others like Lenovo and HP have also injected fresh new blood in their (almost) defunct PDA range while Dell and a few others could be going in the market sooner than expected.

Back in August 2008, we suggested that Nokia could join LG in launching a rebadged Netbook by exploiting its powerful relationship with mobile networks to push its model

Orange Adds HP and Toshiba Laptops To Its Broadband Range

France Telecom owned mobile phone provider, Orange, has announced that it will be adding two new laptops to its mobile broadband offer including a HP Compaq Mini 700 which reminds us of the old (very old) Contura Aero series.

The Mini 700 is on offer at Orange for £30 a month while the Toshiba L300 which is a proper traditional full size laptop is available for £35 per month. Both of them come with 3GB worth of data allowance per month for a 24 month contract.

The Compaq netbook has a 10-inch display with a thinner than usual bezel, a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB memory and a 60GB hard disk drive. It seems to be designed for right hand users as the touchpad is situated to the left of the palm rest.

As for the L300, it is a rather old (6 month) bog standard, 15.4-inch laptop powered by an Intel Dual Core 1.73GHz CPU, 1GB memory, a webcam and a 160GB hard disk drive. Orange also sells the Asus 901 EE PC for under £25 a month but it is currently out of stock

5 Reasons Why Nokia's Laptops Will Rule

The announcement that Nokia will be launching its own range of laptops has sent shock waves across the tech sector and could cause a (much) bigger revolution than Asus' Netbooks.

We gaze at our Crystal ball in the high towers at ITProPortal.com to find out that the future is bright for Nokia if they choose to go down that way and here's why.

(1) Bargaining Power

Nokia accounts for around 450 million mobile phones every year and although the global economic downturn may dent this, the Finnish manufacturer still produces roughly 1 in every 3 phones on the planet. This gives the Finnish manufacturer a formidable bargaining power that can drive prices down, computer or anything else.

(2) Experience

Nokia has far more experience selling worldwide than most players out there. The handset manufacturer is uniquely placed to sell mobile computers to people on all five continents. The Nokia 1100 for example is testament of the company's fantastic ability to adapt to local requirements. More than 200 million Nokia 1100 were sold since 2003, more than the PS2 or the iPod

Security App Makes Stolen Laptops Cry For Help

A new security device that allows laptops to literally cry for help if they have been taken without authorisation, has appeared on the market, courtesy of a US company, Front Door Software.

The product called Retriever inserts a new virtual security ownership label that will appear as soon as anyone turns on the stolen laptop but its hidden secret is its ability to utter a spoken message, even a recorded voice clip of the owner.

Users will be able to display messages on the missing laptop's screen and this can only be stopped by logging onto a website and disabling it over there.

There's actually a big yellow and red banner that flashes on the screen stating that the laptop has been lost or stolen.

The voice message is apparently set to appear every 30 seconds with the default text being “Help, this laptop is reported lost or stolen. If you are not my owner, please report me now.”

It is not known whether disabling the sound card is possible. The £21 package is available on trial and allows owners to remotely access the stolen laptop to change their login details

New Chevrolet Aveo unveiled in China

Contrary to everyone’s expectations, the new Chevrolet Aveo did not make it to the 2010 Auto Expo. It was unveiled today in China by Shanghai GM as the Chevrolet Sail. The small sedan has been co developed by Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC) and Shanghai GM, both of which belong to the GM-SIAC group, which now owns a 50% stake in GM India as well. The modern lines and overall turn-out are way ahead of its predecessor. Even the interiors seem to be more in line with its newest rivals.

The Sail/Aveo is available with a choice of two petrol engines, a 1.2 litre S-TECH II and a 1.4 litre S-TECH III. The base 1.2 litre variant retails for just 3.9 lakh rupees in China. However, don’t expect it to cost anywhere below 6 lakh rupees in India. If priced competitively in India, this car can easily take on the might of established rivals like the City, SX4, Fiesta, Linea and even the upcoming Etios Sedan.

Laptops Sony Vaio VGN-N37GH/B Rs. 49,990

Product Name : Sony Vaio VGN-N37GH/B, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 1.73GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM which is ...
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Category : Laptops, Sony-Laptops [ Read Buying guide ]
Brand : Sony
Price Range : Rs. 49,990

Laptop Sony Vaio VGN-SZ453N/B Rs. 89,090 to 89,990

Product Name : Sony Vaio VGN-SZ453N/B, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 2GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM which is upg ...
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Category : Laptops, Sony-Laptops [ Read Buying guide ]
Brand : Sony
Price Range : Rs. 89,090 to 89,990

Sony Vaio VGN-SZ483N/C-Rs, Rs. 98,499 to 114,900

Product Name : Sony Vaio VGN-SZ483N/C, Laptop

This laptop comes with Intel 2.16GHz Core2 Duo Processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM and 160GB ...
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Category : Laptops, Sony-Laptops [ Read Buying guide ]
Brand : Sony
Price Range : Rs. 98,499 to 114,900

Mahindra receives awards from the automotive media

Mahindra seems to be starting the New Year by filling up its bag of awards at a very high rate. To start with, India’s first ‘Sedan Plus’ from the Mahindra stable christened XYLO recently bagged three awards from the automotive media namely, MUV of the Year from the NDTV Profit Car and Bike Awards, UV of the Year from the CNBC TV 18 Overdrive Awards and MPV of the Year from the Zigwheels Car and Bike Awards!

NDTV Profit Car and Bike Awards also declared the recently launched Mahindra Duro Power Scooter as the Scooter of the Year.



M&M’s path-breaking FuelSmart system with Micro Hybrid technology also bagged the Auto Bild India Golden Steering Wheel for Technology of the Year award. The environment friendly and economic technology was developed by the Mahindra Research & Development team along with the assistance of M/S BOSCH.

HP mini laptops Rs.13,566- Rs.14,930

HP seems to be ensuring that those wishing to buy a laptop are spoilt for choice. After the TouchSmart tm2 and Mini 5102, HP has unleashed the Mini 210 and Mini 2102 PCs. They sport 10.1” standard or alternately, Brightview Infinity HD LED widescreens and island-style keyboards.

The laptops hold 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 processors, incorporate 1GB of RAM and up to 320GB HDD capacity. The optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Accelerator enables viewing of 1080p HD video content. Other features include optional GPS, five-in-one digital media slot and integrated VGA port. Connectivity options comprise of 3G broadband, in-built WLN, as well as embedded webcam and microphone.

CloudDrive courtesy of ZumoDrive provides access to synchronized content from the cloud. MediaStream lets owners stream multimedia content from one PC to another via the internet. QuickWeb supplies access to the internet without requiring users to boot up the notebook. QuickSync synchronizes files created or edited on the move with a home or business PC to another over a wireless connection in the same network. Apart from the last mentioned application, the other software come with the Mini 210 only.

The 2.69lbs and 1” thin HP Mini 210 is out in the colors black crystal, pacific blue, silver crystal and Sonoma red HP Imprint finishes. HP Mini 2102 is available black. They are priced at $299 (approx. Rs.13,566) and $329 (approx. Rs.14,930), correspondingly and are out across the U.S. Suggested accessories include an HP USB Media Dock and HP Mini W40 Vehicle Power Adapter, the latter of which cost $49.95 (approx. Rs.2,266).