David Lidsky's Blog, page 4606

Honda CR-Z Could Be the Cheapest Hybrid on the Market

Is the Prius just a little bit too fancy for you? Consider the Honda CR-Z, an ultra-cheap stick-shift gasoline-electric hybrid. Set to be released in August, the CR-Z will cost just $19,950. That makes it the cheapest hybrid on the U.S. market from a major automaker.

The CR-Z doesn't look too cheap, however--it features upholstered seats and an Audi-like gaping mouth grille along with standard features like automatic climate control, USB and MP3 interfaces, automatic curtain air bags...

NBA's Sudden Glut of Retro Logos Explained

Gary Singer, CEO of the marketing neuroscience firm Buyology, theorizes on the NBA's new yen for all things yesteryear.

First it was the Orlando Magic. Then the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors. Now, the Cleveland Cavs have gone and announced they're dusting off an old logo to evoke the "spirit" of the brand's "original expression." (Just different colors.) Suddenly, the NBA is all about nostalgia.

We've come to expect that sort of schmaltzy branding from baseball -- America's...

NASA Chooses Orbital Sciences to Launch Its Carbon Observatory Satellite

In another indication of the increasing importance of the new commercial space industry's importance, NASA's just selected Orbital Sciences to launch its first satellite dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The OCO-2 (Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2) satellite is due to be lofted into space in 2013 by an Orbital managed launch from California's Vandenburg Air Force base. It'll fly on top of a Taurus XL 3110 rocket, which is a four-stage solid-fueled system (a little like the Space...

BP to InnoCentive: Sorry, We Don't Want Your 908 Ideas for Saving the Gulf

As we've noted before, there is no shortage of ideas when it comes to containing the Gulf oil spill. But what if you were BP, and you received almost 1,000 ideas proposed by a massive, global network of people who actually specialize in this kind of thing? You'd at least look at them right? Not a chance. BP has just refused 908 potential solutions provided by InnoCentive, an online crowdsourcing community.

Since 2006--and before that as part of Eli Lilly--InnoCentive has recruited...

Apple's App Store Has Netted $429 Million, a Loss-Leader

Apple touts its app store as being one huge advantage for its iPhone and iPad systems over competitor's offerings. And you'd think a store with 200,000-plus articles on sale would be a screaming financial success, yes? Nope.

Apple Analyst Gene Munster at Piper Jaffray has been trawling through some of the stats revealed by Steve Jobs in his WWDC keynote, and as analysts are wont to do he's managed to infer some interesting little extras from them. The basic figures he worked from are 5...

The Winners of the 2010 International Design Excellence Awards

Read about all of the IDEA winners, from Oxo to Microsoft, at the new FastCoDesign.com.

Innovation & Technology Drive Collaboration in Today's 30 Second MBA

Navarrow Wright, President of Maximum Leverage Solutions discusses this week's question: How Do You Collaborate From Different Locations?

Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime on Motion Controls, Piracy, and the 3DS

At this year's E3 I sat down with Nintendo of America President and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime. What is the strategy behind the Nintendo 3DS? And what does he think about Sony and Microsoft getting into motion controls?

Kevin Ohannessian: What's your favorite thing at E3?

Reggie Fils-Aime: Other than my own products? As we're talking, I really haven't had a chance to walk around the entire show floor. I am looking forward to seeing Halo: Reach. I'm looking forward to spending time with some of our...

2010's Best Designed Products

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The gold-winning OneDown mousetrap swings upright, using a rodent's own weight to keep it trapped. | The Hwaro (Korean for "fire oven") warms, purifies, and humidifies air -- and looks far sexier than the typical space heater. | LaCie's USB flash drives were judged "worthy of being on a keychain."

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Brazil's Guarana Jesus soda got a consumer-driven makeover; this new can was chosen via SMS and online voting.

The winners of the 2010 International Design Excellence Awards can help you ride the...

Two Augmented Reality Soccer Apps--USA 1 Germany 0

Lining up against each other today in the arena of augmented reality football apps are two teams: one from Germany, the other from the U.S. Both sides play mightily different football--while Germany's is a model of teutonic efficiency, a collaboration of three major players: Junaio, Impire, and Vodafone Deutschland, the U.S. model is a cute little banner ad that puts the spectator at the center of the action.

The smartphone app--for iPhone and Android models only--allows users to find the...