The Porsche Panamera Hybrid has to be one of the most exciting automobiles launched in a very long while.

On its own, the Panamera was exciting enough and pretty much lived up to every expectation you’d have from a Porsche. But with car makers around the world increasingly trying to boost their green credentials, it’s no surprise that Porsche also wanted to jump on the bandwagon and they definitely did it with style.

The combination of a high gas mileage without too much loss (maybe make that any loss…) in performance is what consumers are telling the car makers they want. In other words, we all long for a little thrill in our drives, but we don’t want to get beaten up by the environmental lobby in the bargain.

Let’s face it, so far most hybrid cars have been a little boring. Unsurprisingly, that all changes with the arrival of Porsche’s Panamera Hybrid.

So why choose Porsche?

Quite simply, it’s the quickest hybrid currently on the market. Back in 2008 was when Porsche first said it was going to be developing a parallel hybrid system for the Panamera. It was then unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2011.

It may not deliver the best mpg figures in the hybrid world, but combined with the 3-litre V6; it’s very quick. In fact, it can get from 0–60 in just six seconds, with a top speed of just under 170 mph. And while it’s doing all this, it emits very little CO2 per km, which means it’s the cleanest car Porsche has to offer.

The range you can expect…

The Panamera S Hybrid’s 1.7-kilowatt-hour nickel-metal-hydride battery gives you about a mile and a half of electric-only range. But around town is where it really helps the mpg figures. And there’s an “E-Power” switch that allows you to select electric-only driving for the city – and this works at just over 50mph.

The system also enables drivers to go for the engine-off “sailing mode” – kind of a safer coasting option — which will operate at speeds just over 100mph, which will leave most hybrids trailing behind in your wake!

Taken all in, Panamera S Hybrid should deliver a very respectable 34 mpg, not too bad for a hybrid!

This article was written by motoring enthusiast Lisa. She always does her bit to be environmentally friendly, so it’s no wonder she tends to favour hybrid cars.

When HTC launched the first Desire model last year it was the HTC’s new flagship model. It would prove to be hard for the competitors to beat for a long time, partly because there were so many options in the same class, partly because it seemed to have been successful in striking a balance between price and performance.

But in a year has a lot had happened in the Android world. Not least, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG increased their product portfolios significantly. In addition, there has been a change in the mobile market in terms of what is being demanded by customers. Displays the size of 4 inches have gone from being considered unusually large to be common in the upper segment of the mobile phones sector.

HTC Desire S weighs in at 130 grams

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On paper the HTC Desire S is certainly a modernized version of Desire, and the differences are not just something you notice when you compare the specifications of Desire S and Desire on point by point. The phone has a brand new skin and the usual buttons has been replaced by touch buttons while the optical sensor that served as way key is removed. Because Android 2.3 has improved text editing it is also excellent to select and edit text directly on the touch screen. On the front, there is a camera for video calls or video chats while the camera on the back can be used to record high definition videos with 720p resolution – nothing new compared to its predecessor, but the upgraded software seems to be getting more out of the cameras.

Comparing the HTC Desire and the HTC Desire S,the phone has become smaller in both height the width and length. In this context it should be noted that only the height difference is noticeable, where it is four millimetres less. In length and width differences are only 0.2 and 0.3 millimetres.

The nearest neighbour at the level below is the new base model Wildfire S. Closest above Desire S is the slightly more expensive and larger Incredible S. Anyone who knows their HTC phones have probably already figured out that Desire S simply has become the second-generation Legend. A look at how the shell is designed, one can also see clear similarities with the characteristic metal shell of the Legend.

5 Megapixel Camera

So what do you get for your money when you sign up for a new contract for the HTC Desire S ?. You get a phone that we think many would perceive as the right size. The soft, rounded shape means it fits comfortably in your hand. The shell is mostly metal, but there are also two rubber panels. Many think that this kind of metal shell is beautiful, and I can agree with, but I’d much rather have seen a back full of rubber. It can be found both on the old Desire and the Incredible S and personally I think it gives a much better grip on the phone where you never have to think about whether it will slip out of your hand. When you turn on your phone, you see HTC’s now quite familiar Sense interface. The version number is 2.1, which means that it has been around for a while and that HTC has already had time to launch version 3.0, which feels much fresher. Sense means anyway that HTC are adding a lot of links and widgets that are not in the basic version of Android. A key feature is the Friend Stream, which collects status updates, messages, pictures and videos from Facebook, Twitter and Flickr into one single app. If you want to see information from Friend Stream on the home screen there are a few widgets in different sizes to choose from.

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There is no doubt that HTC by now knows a thing or two about how to build Android phones and Sense is a nice interface. The basic functions that send text messages and making calls are excellent and the sound quality is faultless. This is a great all round phone.

The rubber and metal work well together

Overall Scores
Calls – 9 / 10
Quality – 9 / 10
Usability – 8 / 10
Overall 8 / 10

1. Disinfection Scanner

May appear to the human eye to be a flip phone, but this device is said to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses. To work the device you just simply open up the Nano-UV disinfection Scanner and wave the Nano-UV light for 10 seconds over anything needing to be disinfected. The one inch gadget is powered by two AAA batteries and will retail in the UK around the £50 price point. The disinfection scanner is claimed to be ideal for ridding sleeping areas or carpets from unwanted insects.

2. Beauty and the Geek Jeans

If you are a gadget loving geek then these are the ultimate must have. The jeans designed by young Dutch designer Erik De Nijs, use a wireless USB to your computer or laptop, they have a built in full-size QWERTY keyboard and wireless mouse that is specially designed to fit into a back pocket with built in speakers in the knee. The jeans include printed circuit board themed stitching to enhance the geeky look. The Beauty and the Geek Jeans can be found on the Nieuwe Heren’s website.

3. Robot Lawnmower

Is this the new way of cutting your lawn in style without breaking to much of a sweat? This gadget has the capability of taking care of your lawn without any supervision with it’s remote controlled grass chopper. The Automower 260ACX by Swedish company, Husqvarna has ultrasonic sensors preventing it from crashing into things and when in trouble instantly sends a text message to your phone to let you know, it also automatically will take itself back to it’s charging station when power is low. Expect to pay in the region of £3000 for one.

4. Solar Bikini

The latest in swim wear just got hotter, a new bikini designed by a multimedia designer and performer Andrew Schneider from New York. The solar bikini has been designed not only to show off ladies slender figures but at the same soak up enough sun to solar power your iPod shuffle. It does this by using a 5-volt regulator managing electrical output and photovoltaic film strips. You can charge up anything that uses a USB port. There is no chance of an electronic shock when using the solar bikini. The bikini is not available to buy online – it’s still being developed along with another gadget in the making called the iDrink which will allow solar powered trunks to cool a beer in its own custom-made drink cozy.

3G Gadgets

This technology promised to serve users with broadband-speed internet reception anywhere where there was a cell phone reception. The speed of the connection is not really noticeable on mobile phones yet even though the plan to get 3G is more expensive. Downloading a film for example on 3G can be very time costly and speeds don’t live up to the hype.

Satellite radio Gadgets

Satellite radio was supposed to be a way of listening to over 200 radio channels that all offered different music offerings and entertainment. Yet it seems like there are just too many channels to choose from and the quality of many radio channels are not up to par. Many of them seem to be playing on auto-pilot and provide uninspiring listening; others repeat the same kinds of songs over and over again. You can lose reception often and the sound is perhaps overly digitalized and unnatural. What with Wi-Fi soon to be installed in cars internet radio may become the best next thing and with the opportunities for using the ipod in car the popularity of the satellite radio looks set to wane.

Bluetooth Gadgets

Bluetooth is used to connect devices to each other so they can work in sync. For example you may want to print pictures on a printer by connecting your camera by Bluetooth to the printer. Or you may want to play music on speakers from your computer without connecting them. Bluetooth is the way people connect their headphones to their phone so they can chat to people without phones. Sometimes this syncing goes wrong however making for the ‘pairing’ of the gadgets to become ‘unpaired’. Fixing this can be very frustrating and sometimes the process seems illogical. Using proper cables is the only way to be sure that you will be able to do what you want to do, which kind of negates the whole purpose of Bluetooth in the first place.

iPhone 3G

OK, OK, this is a bit controversial ! The iPhone promised new speeds since it is on a 3G network. However, although it will cost you less to buy a new iphone 3G than the original iphone, monthly phone company charges work out as being more in the long run. Some have described the new iPhone as having unreliable signal strength. Having to restore your iPhone is the only way to fix it if it malfunctions and this is proving to be annoying for users. The App store was said to be one of the great attractions of the new iphone as Apple was allowing third party users to create apps for the first time. However, Apple still controls who is allowed to market on the app store and has shut these new developers out of underlying systems and advanced features, meaning third party apps are often limited in their usefulness.

GPS Gadgets

These satellite navigation systems can be found in standalone portable GPS devices, cell phones and cars with the idea to get you from point A to point B in the fastest most efficient way. Perhaps this boast is a little too much to promise, since GPS can often try to make you turn on a one way street and lead you into obstacles like incoming traffic and train tracks or rivers. It’s always good to watch out for problems like using GPS although it does seem to improve each year.