cnet reports that The Lightning GT, a new electric car, boasts not only four seconds 0 to 60mph acceleration, but also a super-fast charging time:

The Lightning GT has a technological advantage over the Roadster, or so it seems, depending on whether recharge time is an issue for owners. The company says the car takes 10 minutes to recharge, if charged from a three-phase power supply (those found in industrial buildings, compared to the residential single phase). The Tesla Roadster has an estimated 3.5-hour charge time from a residential outlet.

This approach to charging electric batteries might solve a critical problem for the industry. A 10-minute wait is not that much different from the time people usually spend today filling up their cars.

12:32 15 July 2008 New Scientist and Reuters report

Intel, the world's biggest PC chip maker, has launched the next-generation of its Centrino wireless chips for use in laptop computers and other non-PC devices.
The chips combine Wi-Fi capability with a newer wireless technology called WiMax, which allows for high-speed data transmission over much bigger distances, such as across entire cities. The WiMax-enabled version of the chips should be available later this year.

This is an interesting development in the battle between WiMax and 3G. If we do a system, element-by-element, analysis, we discover that 3G has significant advantage because it has service providers, distribution network, and cool client devices, such as iPhone, compared to just PCs on the WiMax side.  Will WiMax follow the WiFi citywide deployment pattern, when services chains, e.g. Starbucks, install access points to attract customers? Unlikely. Coffee shops are local, and so are WiFi configurations. WiMax are WAN-bound, therefore only a citywide business entity would benefit from it.

I should develop a technology battle case study to analyze and forecast possible implications of the announcement.

 As we discussed in class a couple of months ago, iPhone is not a phone. Rather, it is a sophisticated software application platform. Apple is extremely smart in helping its customers to jump over the abyss between mobile voice and mobile computing in two easy steps: (1) iPhone -> (2) iPhone 3G. Neither Windows Mobile, nor Android demonstrate the ability to move seamlessly between the two worlds. 

Here's an early review:

 

Speaking of the App Store, it's easily the best thing about the iPhone 3G—although it also happens to be available on the old iPhone via the firmware 2.0 update. I've already posted my impressions of the App Store, plus a handful of the more than 500 available applications (Gina has also posted some reviews), but I'll say it again—if you're looking for something new to get excited about in iPhoneland, this is it. The 3-D, accelerometer-enabled games like Super Monkey Ball look amazing on the iPhone, the TypePad blogging app lets you post thoughts and photos on the fly, Pandora delivers free, streaming music channels, and Loopt lets you keep track of your pals in real time—and that's just the tip of the iceberg.