Author: Shivaank Rana

Ford believes its upcoming sub-4 metre long SUV, Ford Ecosport, will give it a “nimble” edge in the market. Ford India’s President and Managing Director, Michael Boneham is pleased with all the action in the compact SUV segment. Competitor Renault has already launched the Duster SUV; Mahindra is rolling out its mini SUV, Quanto. Maruti and Hyundai are also said to be gearing up for this segment.

Ford plans to launch the Ecosport, which it showcased at the Auto Expo in January, in the first quarter of 2013, in both petrol and diesel versions.

The Ford Ecosport will also be launched in South Africa next year. This seems like a logical step as the South African car market is very similar to the Indian market and the fact that the right-hand drive versions of the Eco-Sport will be manufactured at the American automakers plant outside Chennai. 

While the Indian market is likely to get a 1.5-litre diesel engine variant of the car along with the 1.0-litre 128bhp Ecoboost petrol engine, the South African car market will get only the latter. It will join the Ford Kuga compact SUV, new Ford Fiesta as well as the Transit van as Ford’s offering in South Africa for 2013. 

The Ford Ecosport has already been launched in China, Brazil and Argentina where it has achieved a considerable level of success. It is likely that Ford is banking on the EcoSport to achieve the same level of success that the Figo hatchback and the Ikon sedan achieved when they were launched. 

Boneham said being a sub 4-metre car, Ecosport will enjoy the excise duty benefits of a small car, providing the company “flexibility” in pricing. But the compact SUV category will not cannibalise the market for sedans, said Boneham, adding that it will provide a new choice and address a “white space” in the market. It will create excitement among car buyers, said Boneham. Ecosport will be rolled out of Ford’s plant in Maraimalainagar, Chennai. Ford is investing Rs 750 crore in the plant for the Ecosport launch.

CES 2013 was very fruitful when it came to new chipsets, ST-Ericsson followed the footsteps of Samsung, Qualcomm and NVIDIA to introduce the new NovaThor SoC.

ST-Ericsson confirmed the trend for better, faster, and smaller chipsets, when the manufacturer introduced its brand new NovaThor chipset at CES 2013 – the L8580. The announcement followed the new chipsets by Samsung, Qualcomm and NVIDIA.

[quote]”Building on the architecture of our first generation NovaThor L8540 LTE ModAp announced last year, we believe our new platform represents a real industry breakthrough,” said president and CEO Didier Lamouche in a statement announcing the new NovaThor L8580 LTE ModAp.[/quote]

That’s where the major similarities end, however – and that’s where the L8580 becomes more interesting. For one thing, the L8540 topped out at 1.85GHz, while the new L8580 is capable of speeds up to 2.5GHz.

The company claims that although the L8580’s CPU cores are 35 per cent faster than tha L8540’s and its GPU and multimedia accelerators are 20 per cent faster, it runs runs cooler when running at 2.5GHz and consumes up to 50 per cent less power than what the company coyly refers to as “rival architectures”.

That higher clock rate and cool, low-power performance are not the L8580’s only trick, however. It’s also the first of ST-Ericsson’s chips to employ a technology they call “eQuad,” which enables each core to not only spin at that speedy 2.5GHz, but also step down to a power-miserly 0.6-volt operation. ST-Ericsson didn’t say what clock rate that low-power mode could achieve, but they do claim that it provides “more than enough computing power for the majority of applications in everyday use.”

[The Register UK]

Making phones or tablet waterproof or water resistant is nothing new. Many manufacturers have been including this added feature into their devices for years. Most recently is Sony with the newly announced Xperia Z. At CES this year Liquipel came back with version 2.0 of their self-sealing nano coating that protects your device from water/liquids.

Liquipel is a dry process that once applied, essentially becomes a part of the device. It will last the lifespan of the device and is completely invisible, but the results are anything but. Liquipel’s booth demo is quite convincing, even without showing the water resistance on a phone itself.

Apparently this second generation is 100 times better than the first go-around, plus can survive about 3.3 feet underwater for 30 minutes.

Though Liquipel did not previously offer a warranty for treated electronics and some users had experienced issues with devices treated with original Liquipel formula not surviving liquid exposure, the company announced its Liquipel Performance Guarantee at CES. The new warranty, which currently covers only U.S. customers but should be extended to other countries in the future, offers protection from damage due to accidental liquid exposure on Liquipel-treated devices.

[quote]The coverage excludes intentional submerging of devices in liquid. However, everyday life events that can cause liquid damage will be covered, such as: rain, splashing, sweat, dropping in the sink or toilet and spilled drinks.[/quote]