The successor to the Ferrari Enzo will sport hybrid technology, courtesy of Formula One.

Ferrari just unleashed a teaser trailer of their most powerful car ever, the F620 GT, but the company is already hinting at an even more powerful, more exotic prancing horse. The long awaited replacement for the Enzo (pictured), nicknamed the F70, is coming, and it will be a hybrid.

Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa told Automobile that the F70 will be powered by a gasoline engine combined by an electric motor. Most of the power will come from the same 7.3-liter V12 that will debut in the F620 GT. That gargantuan engine will produce 800 hp, while the electric motor will add 120, for a grand total of 920 hp.

The electric motor will get its juice from a KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) package, derived from Ferrari’s Formula One racers. This system stores energy, recovered during braking, in a spinning flywheel and releases it as the car accelerates. Ferrari claims the electric motor can power the car by itself for some zero emission driving, but with only 120 of the car’s 920 horses available, it seems those zero emission sprints will be short if the F70 is driven with any vigor. The KERS package adds some weight, but probably not as much as a battery pack.

Regardless of the weight of its powertrain, the F70 will be incredibly light. According to Automobile, Ferrari is trying to hit the weight target it set with the 2007 Millechili concept: 1,000 kilograms, or 2,200 pounds. That would not only make the F70 lighter than the Enzo, but also the extreme FXX, which wasn’t even street legal.

Such low weight would also give the F70 a slightly better power-to-weight ratio than the Bugatti Veyron, meaning it could potentially beat the Veyron in acceleration; top speed would be another story. The instantly-available torque from the F70’s electric will certainly help it off the line.

The F70 will be an amazing car when it finally leaves the factory, but it will have plenty of competition for the title of supercar of tomorrow. Porsche is taking orders for the 918 Spider, a mid-engined hybrid roadster that promises a top speed of 200 mph and 94 mpg. Acura’s Superbowl ad star, the NSX, is also headed to production with a hybrid powertrain.

All Ferrari’s are special, but the company only builds a no-holds-barred, mid-engine supercar once every ten years: the ‘80s had the F40, the ‘90s had the F50, and the ‘00s had the Enzo. Each was faster and more technically sophisticated than the last, so it’s fitting that the F70 will embrace hybrid technology to help the breed adapt to the 2010’s.

[via Digital Trends]

Today can be said to be historical in a place that holds a rich legacy of history itself – that is, the National Museum in Krakow. Why so, you ask? For starters, it marks the beginning of NFC (Near Field Communications) technology being implemented in the museum itself, where NFC-enabled Nokia smartphones are able to gain access to additional information concerning an exhibit through the simple touch of the phone against an exhibit tag. Perhaps with a more interactive experience in museums, the younger generation might give Google a miss for once in their lives when they intend to look something up, but rather, spend some time in a museum instead. The key to museums attracting crowds from the new generation would be to ensure visitors are able to interact or engage with their exhibits, and what better way to do it than with a smartphone and NFC technology? You can borrow a Nokia C7 to get the job done, or use your own NFC-enabled smartphone if you so desire.

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[via Ubergizmo]

Sony’s great new portable gaming hope hits the shelves, but at a considerable price…

It’s another big day for handheld gaming as Sony has unleashed its new portable gaming machine on the British public.

Almost a year ago, well eleven months to be precise, we had the launch of Nintendo’s 3DS handheld.

Initial sales fell somewhat short of expectations, but picked up later in 2011, particularly after a sizeable price cut was implemented.

For a time the 3DS could be had for not much more than £100, and it’s still only around the £135 mark today. Initially it launched with an RRP of £230 (and retailers were selling it for around the £200 mark).

Sony’s PlayStation Vita, the basic wi-fi variant that is (it also comes with a 3G option), has the same initial RRP and retailers are again offering it at around £200.

That isn’t cheap in these recession focused times, particularly when you consider stumping up for extras such as memory cards, and the price of the games which are as expensive as their full console brethren. Indeed, costlier in some cases.

So the question is, does the Vita have enough juicy hardware appeal to carry sales at this level, where the 3DS underperformed somewhat?

The Vita certainly has some strong points in its favour. Visually, games look pretty darn impressive on the 5 inch super AMOLED display, driven by a quad-core processor and quad-core GPU which doesn’t completely demolish the battery life (it should last around three to four hours, according to reports, similar to the 3DS).

It also features dual analogue sticks, a touchscreen display, a rear touchpad, and twin cameras – so there’s undoubtedly some impressive hardware packed on board.

And then there’s the software launch line-up, one of the bigger failings of the 3DS. Sony has at least ensured that some attractive – if not killer – titles are available upon launch, including FIFA, Uncharted and Wipeout.

Initial reaction from critics is that these efforts definitely look gorgeous and fluid on that 5 inch display.

And there has been plenty of raving about the Vita’s social features and online gaming potential.

But the Vita still has to go up against the growing legion of smartphone and tablet owners who are taking their mobile gaming to these devices – where games are way cheaper, or indeed free – rather than traditional handheld consoles.

The truth is, the Vita is likely too expensive to be a consideration for the casual gamer at this price point; but then, it’s really aimed at the serious core gamer.

Courting that audience, however, has seen its sales wane in Japan since it was launched at the end of last year. And we’re wondering if it’s in for a similar fate over here.

Indeed, are many folks going to wait for what they see as the inevitable summer price cut, a la the 3DS? Is the launch line-up really good enough to twist gamers’ arms to buy right now?

While the Vita is clearly a classy device, it still has a great deal to prove. And Sony, which has been struggling financially of late, really can’t afford more red marks on the balance sheet.

[via Techwatch: Tech News]

Overall, we believe that the XPS 13 will be a strong Ultrabook competitor; its high quality and compact design and its 13-inch screen definitely make this laptop unique and is great for those who prefer a smaller footprint for their laptop. However, the lack of an SD card reader and HDMI port might curb some enthusiasts from buying it.

Here’s the list of leaked documentation, so have a read and decide for yourselves!

The XPS 13 owner’s manual has guides on how to disassemble the XPS 13 such as you see in the diagram below that shows how to remove the SSD:

You can reserve the XPS 13 at Dell’s official website, which simply means they’ll send you an email invite to purchase the XPS 13 when it becomes available next week.

[via ]

Asus G51Jx-A1, Intel Core I7-720qm, 6gb ddr3, 500gb 7200rpm, NVIDIA GTS 360M, DVDRW, 15.6″ FHD (1920X1080), Windows 7 home pre 64, www.btotech.com Powerful gaming laptop notebook

In the wake of slow sales of WebOS devices, HP has announced that it is terminating its line of WebOS devices, which includes the TouchPad Tablet and the smartphones. HP has announced this as it revealed its quarterly revenue of $32.2 Billion, up slightly when compared to last year.

If there’s one thing to take away from this announcement, it is this: competing in the hardware space is extremely tough and even giants like HP sometime have to throw the towel. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), procurement and purchasing power is as important as the design and technology behind the product.What happens next will be interesting. HP has the option of using its WebOS operating system on things like printers, or possibly laptops, but these will never replace a smartphone and tablet opportunity. Another option is to license the operating system, and compete directly with Android (a pseudo-free OS) and Windows Phone 7.

The task is daunting, and without a healthy app eco-system (or the prospect of having one), it seems like an uphill battle which is fought on a 90 degree slope. The question is: how much did HP lose on its $1.2B acquisition of Palm, and the investments made on the first generation of HP WebOS products?

In the end, it looked interesting on paper, but all it did was to kick the can down the road for Palm’s downfall. [Press Release]

Ever heard of AppSense before? They are the leading provider of user virtualization technology, and today has just announced AppSense Labs. This research arm of the AppSense global research and development group intend to look at ways on creating new technologies which will push the boundaries of user-centric computing. Their sole focus is to research technologies which comprise cloud, mobile and data, in addition to constructing new prototypes which will deliver a consumer experience to IT. One of their first innovative products would be DataLocker. DataLocker is different from other personal cloud services like Dropbox, as it offers the ability to encrypt sensitive information in one’s account without having to sacrifice the convenience of anywhere access.

The DataLocker suite is unsurprisingly free as a download, and will also include native clients for Windows, Mac, iPhone and iPad. You will be able to pick up the Windows and Mac DataLocker applications here, while a universal DataLocker iOS application for the iPhone and iPad is available over at the App Store.

Related articles:
Samsung S-Cloud service to roll out in August?
Google Drive already enabled?
AT&T introduces “Virtual Private Cloud”

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[via Ubergizmo]