Let's Do The News! (January 9, 2013)

River's Diary

Right, what's the news today you spoiler-laden TARDIS journal?

Lotus opens flagship Petaling Jaya showroom, confident on recovering Lotus

Lotus Exige S (V6) Malaysian launch
photo: Paultan.org

Last year, Lotus has been in several bad issues. With issues such as expelling Dany Bahar, some potential buyers, and a dark future for this British sports car maker, we might think that it spells gloom for Lotus but when Malaysia's DRB-Hicom, the new owner of Lotus' parent company, Proton, said that this Lotus brand is not for sale and its their responsibility to improve it, they decided to make things around to keep Lotus afloat. And for that, the flagship Lotus showroom in Petaling Jaya was opened as well as Malaysian launches of the Lotus Exige S V6 and the new Elise S.

Proton is bright about their two-year plan to bring Lotus back afloat and so far, Lotus had received 20 orders for the cars in the local market and had delivered 12 cars. They are targeting a yearly sale of between 100 and 200 units of Lotus cars upon its entry into Malaysia and before the end of fiscal year 2015, Lotus will seek about 3,000 and 4,000 units, most will be sold in big markets such as China, USA, and Japan.

URL: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/1/9/business/12550533&sec=business

Has anyone tried NFSMW's Ultimate Speed DLC?

Back in December 2012, EA's NFSMW (take note, the 2012 version of NFSMW, not the old 2005 with the M3 GTR on it) released their very first DLC pack under the banner of Ultimate Speed Pack. In this DLC Pack, five brutally fast supercars were featured such as the open-top Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, Pagani Zonda R, McLaren F1 LM, the one-of-a-kind Lamborghini Aventador J, and the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder. They are fast enough to break the law, outwit your rivals, and more ways to retain your Most Wanted rankings against your friends. With new milestones and new challenges await in each car, this pack will be more enjoyable for Most Wanted fans. Also, there's a Most Wanted event featuring the Venom GT Spyder. This is a tough challenge, unlike the previous Most Wanted races, but if you are worthy, beat it and take it down to take home the Venom GT Spyder.

My favorite car on this pack was the Pagani Zonda R because this is the best car I have driven in NFSMW thanks to its quickness, its lightness, and the trouble it caused against the cops. I used that car to take down the Venom GT Spyder though...

Documentary about Arabs and their supercars in London

I once watched a documentary from Channel 4 about the invasion of wealthy Arabs and their supercars invading the streets of London. They have plates came from the Middle East, they drive Ferraris, Lambos, Bugattis, or any other exotics the Arab playboys bought and making noise around London, causing complaints from normal residents. It's titled Millionaire Boy Racers and this documentary tackled more on average Londoners enraged by the Arab Supercar invasion in the summer until Ramadan. This documentary does made some points though....

Anyone watched it?

New Dodge Dart grade

Dodge Dart GT

The Dodge Dart sedan was launched last year but they want to make it better by adding a new grade to Dodge's midsize sedan. Headlined as GT, this new grade features a sport-tuned chassis with frequency-sensing damping shocks, 18-inch aluminum wheels and certain styling features such as the sports front grille with black accents, black projector headlamp bezels and dual exhaust tips. It still has the same 2.4L engine on it. It will hit showrooms sometime this year with a $20,995 pricing...

URL: http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2013/01/dodge-presents-faintly-sportier-dart-gt.html

Sony now makes a rival to the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy

As I heard, Sony has revealed a new smartphone that will rival to the likes of the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy. It's called the XPERIA Z and this is the first smartphone to integrate a full high-definition 1080 x 1920p five-inch display and can capture High Dynamic Range video plus 13MP stills photos. Aside from putting so much of high-definition stuff on it, this new XPERIA Z comes with Battery STAMINA technology, which prolongs the phone's life between charges by automatically shutting down power-hungry apps when the phone is on standby and the company also claims the phone is dust- and water-resistant to the point where it could be left to sit submerged in fresh water (to a depth of 1 meter) for up to 30 minutes without any ill effects. It will be launched this year...It makes me MEH....

URL: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/sony-officially-reveals-worlds-first-high-definition-water-101057194.html