No petrol Supercar

There will be another 5Rs hike in Petrol in India. Don't fret on it. I am talking about the same price hike you read in the papers today. The news made me stop purchasing the Suzuki SX4/ Chevrolet Aveo I was potentially eyeing on. The second logical choice was a diesel. I had a look at Maruti swift/fiat Palio multi jet options along with the likes of Hyundai Getz, Renault Logan and Ford Fiesta/Fusion. The sound from the Common rail were a big put off. So what is the alternative?

Reva is there but it really isn't an alternative. It's.......... just there. So I began my Google quest on which car to potentially wait for until I ran into this awesome beauty. The Tesla electric car. Oh'no! you would say. Not Another electric car!!!!! Wait till I tell ye that it does 0-60 miles in 3.9 (equivalent to 96kms) seconds with a 13000 rpm red line to awaken even the dead at heart. It economical too with the company claiming 220 miles( equivalent to 325kms) per charge. The company also goes on to claim a 2cents per mile (a meager 80 paise)

Ohhh wait! don't run with that cheque book just yet. It still on a limited run in the United States and will take another 3-4 years till it makes to India. Until then run your cars on petrol and let loose that gas pedal to enjoy the last litre of the precious gasoline.

Philips does a phoenix

Not everyday and every time does a company accomplish such a feat. Talk Philips and you come to know that its been on a roll lately. The very mention of a company like Philips doesn't really bring excitement which is similar to Apple IPhone or a Motorola ROKR E8 but nonetheless Philips has been really opening its trump cards.

The first one is a mobile phone that runs on a AAA batteries when the user is out of juice or in a remote place. :D Now why didn't Sonyericsson or Motorola ever think of that (Nokia hasn't done anything since Symbian... yawnnnnn!!!!) Retained here are various features that form the strength of xenium range from Philips. The 9@9J has a fantastic battery life that lasts for a month on standby and all the necessities including mp3 player, FM radio, Stereo bluetooth support and expandable memory. A feat considering the weight at 91grams. Yes there are downsides like the lackluster screen and a lowly 1.3mp camera but I am ready to let go of such things for that looooooooooooooooooong standby.

Their second outing known as the x-connect is what can be considered the boldest move that has the potential to oust IPhone with proper product handling. How does this sound?

624MHz processor
3" touch screen display
Windows Mobile 6.1
3G UMTS/HSDPA
GPS navigation
micro SD memory card slot
Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity
AA/AAA battery backup (yes again :D)

Again while battery life and build quality are retained, wi-fi will be missed by many. Also the camera is rumoured to be not on par.


The third is the x800 that will kick IPhone posterior at a lower price range. The X800 is equipped with a 2.9-inch TFT touch screen with 240 x 400 pixel resolution and 262k colors. It supports external memory via micro SD cards and comes with a 2 mega pixel auto-focus camera. Other features include Bluetooth and handwriting recognition.

Pricing and availability are still unknown but the potential news sure prove Philips have done a triple strike.

Nissan grows a humoungous 216%

When we appreciate a car's engine, one can easily guess we are talking about Jap cars. It is even more clear when we talk about reliability. The Big Jap corporations have not left a single stone unturned when it comes to churning out cars worldwide. Toyota and Honda have had a smooth and upwardly ride since many years now. But the third largest Japanese maker Nissan has only started making waves since its collaboration with Renault. The car maker has made a turnaround and how?

India has recently started emerging as an important automobile market. Toyota has been taking it a tad too seriously with a varied product portfolio including the likes of corolla and Camry. Honda also has not left a stone unturned and given Indians some fantastic and futuristic cars like the civic and accord. How can Nissan be behind. 3 years and 2 models later they are having some decent numbers in the market. “We sold 160 units in the FY05, 250 units in 2006 and 506 units in FY07,” said Neeraj Garg, director, marketing and sales, Nissan Motor India Private Limited. Of the 506 units, 330 were of the Teana luxury sedan model and the rest were of the SUV model X-Trail.

The company forayed into the Indian market with its first product - the Nissan X-Trail - in in 2004 and with the Teana in 2007. “We are looking at having a presence across all segments,” said Simon Sproule, corporate vice-president, global communications, CSR division, Nissan Motor Co. The company has lined up the launch of eight models under different segments in India by 2012.