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BMW, Porsche, others announce support for HomePlug's EV networking spec
The HomePlug Powerline Alliance already wants to tether your entire household to the Internet, and it may soon extend its reach to your garage, as well. At Computex today, the company announced that Audi, BMW, Daimler, Porsche and Volkswagen have all agreed to support its HomePlug Green PHY (GP) technology as their EV charging interface of choice. The networking specification would allow electric car owners to link their plug-ins to the Smart Grid via the same ports used to charge their batteries, opening up new, Powerline-based possibilities. Once your EV hooks up to the network, it may be able to conduct system checks in real-time, for instance, or provide instant feedback on performance or the condition of your battery. The low power GP spec will also be interoperable with HomePlug's forthcoming AV2 spec, though it's still not clear when we can expect to see Germany's automakers incorporate it into production. Zip past the break for the full PR.
HTC EVO 4G suffering occasional micro-USB port issues?
A quick glance of forums about the interwebs suggests that the EVO 4G has another potential defect that seems to be affecting a notable (though probably still very, very small) number of devices: problems with the micro-USB port, an issue that bit Nokia not long ago on the N900. The main symptom here seems to be that the phone will no longer charge or charges intermittently -- and considering that your phone amounts to little more than a paperweight if it's not properly juiced, we'd say it's a big issue for affected folks. People returning their devices to Sprint have apparently have mixed luck getting reps to agree that the phone should be replaced, but for what it's worth, we've just heard back from an HTC spokesperson who -- in addition to emphasizing that the number of affected units seems to be small -- says that the problem will be covered under the one-year warranty as long as "it is determined that the issue was not caused by customer misuse." Anyone out there seeing this? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
