Month: October 2017

Enlarge (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

Porsche might be known for sports cars like the 911, but today it makes its money selling SUVs. Four doors and voluminous cargo space may not be attributes we traditionally associated with the brand, but the Cayenne has proven it can hold its own in a segment that's extremely important to the car industry. The third-generation Cayenne is due before too long, but before it arrives on these shores, we thought we should take a look at the current model, in particular the 2017 Cayenne S E-Hybrid. Starting at just under $80,0000, this plug-in hybrid is not cheap, but it turns out you do get a heck of a lot of vehicle for your money.

Porsche probably owes its existence to the Cayenne. Adding an SUV to its line-up in 2002 opened the brand up to a far wider range of customers than its usual fare of mid- and rear-engined sports cars. And for all the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the purists, it's hard to dispute the model's success in the showroom. And because it doesn't have the same cult-like following as the nimble little sports cars, the company can use the platform for experiments, like a hybrid option.

Just add electrons

When the first hybrid Cayenne arrived in the US in 2010, it was a relatively tame example of electrification. Its nickel-metal hydride batteries were only rated for 1.7kWh, and its electric motor generated just 47hp (35kW). More recently, it got a significant upgrade. Under the hood is the same 333hp (248kW), 325ft-lb (441Nm) 3.0L supercharged direct-injection gasoline V6 engine borrowed from Audi, but now it gets much more help: the electric motor now provides 95hp (70kW) and 229ft-lbs (310Nm).

Droid Life

On October 4 at noon ET (9am Pacific, 5pm UK), Google is having a major hardware event in San Francisco.

Just like last year, the event will be headlined by a flagship smartphone launch—this year, it's the Google Pixel 2. This is an event for the whole Google Hardware division, though, so we should also see the launch of the Google Home Mini, a revision to the smartphone-powered Daydream VR goggles, and a new flagship Chromebook called the "Google Pixelbook."

CBS

Last night's episode of Star Trek: Discovery was in some ways the true beginning of the series. We finally boarded the USS Discovery and met some of our series regulars, including the cynical Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs), sunny Cadet Tilly (Mary Wiseman), and tough-as-nails security chief Landry (Rekha Sharma). We also found out what the Star Trek universe looks like when we leave the comfy world of the Enterprise and plunge headlong into war.

Spoilers ahead for ST: Discovery episode "Context is for Kings."

Enlarge / The Model 3 has a more rounded front than the Model S. (credit: Tesla)

On Monday afternoon Tesla sent out a press release detailing vehicle deliveries for the quarter, and the missive carried mixed news. The company only delivered 220 of its new, lower-priced Model 3 in the third quarter of 2017, a far cry from the 1,500 Model 3 deliveries the company projected for Q3 in August, according to the Wall Street Journal. Tesla, however, highlighted deliveries of its more time-tested models—in Q3, the company delivered 25,930 model S and X vehicles, which is a record for the electric vehicle startup.

Production ramp-up has always been a weak spot for the company, and, in 2015, the Model X exposed Tesla’s struggles with quality control most clearly. A slow ramp-up invited criticism from investors, and in response Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company was focusing on building the “machine that builds the machine,” that is, automating the production process to improve deliveries.

Although X deliveries have improved throughout 2017, the Model 3 was supposed to enjoy some of the fruits of that learning process. During a May financial call, Musk said he hoped for "5,000 vehicles per week at some point in 2017, and... 10,000 vehicles per week at some point in 2018." Musk said that the company designed the 3 to be much less complicated than the X, with fewer features and less wiring to make the car not only cheaper but faster to produce.

Enlarge / The North Korean border post for the Friendship Bridge, the rail link connecting North Korea to Russia. It now carries an Internet connection for North Korea to the rest of the world as well. (credit: DPRK KCNA)

As the US reportedly conducts a denial-of-service attack against North Korea's access to the Internet, the regime of Kim Jong Un has gained another connection to help a select few North Koreans stay connected to the wider world—thanks to a Russian telecommunications provider. Despite UN sanctions and US unilateral moves to punish companies that do business with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, 38 North's Martyn Williams reports that Russian telecommunications provider TransTelekom (ТрансТелеКо́m) began routing North Korean Internet traffic at 5:38 PM Pyongyang time on Sunday.

The connection, Williams reported, offers a second route for traffic from North Korea's Byol ("Star") Internet service provider, which also runs North Korea's cellular phone network. Byol offers foreigners in North Korea 1 Mbps Internet access for 600 euro (US$660) a month (with no data caps).

Up until now, all Byol's traffic passed through a single link provided by China Unicom. But the new connection uses a telecommunications cable link that passes over the Friendship Bridge railway bridge—the only connection between North Korea and Russia. According to Dyn Research data, the new connection is now providing more than half of the route requests to North Korea's networks. TransTelekom (sometimes spelled TransTeleComm) is owned by Russia's railroad operator, Russian Railways.