Karma
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Fisker Karma enters production on March 21st, our future shortly thereafter
It's been a long road for the Karma to reach production, but now it finally has an end in sight: March 21st. That's the date Fisker promises to start rolling its gorgeous PHEV off assembly lines, with deliveries to the first humans to reserve one coming up in April. The price for the 2012 Karma remains a mighty $95,900, though if you ask our brethren over at Autoblog, that's a bunch of pennies well spent. Fisker expects to start producing 1,500 Karmas per month starting in October and to then sell 15,000 a year from 2012 onwards.
Autoblog drives the 2012 Fisker Karma, deems it 'best handling large premium car'
Karma, in a religious sense, is the sort of divine retribution or cause for your deeds or misdeeds. In an automotive sense it's a $95,900 plug-in luxury performance car that Fisker has been teasing since 2007. That machine is finally nearing production and Autoblog was lucky enough to take an early model for a spin around California Speedway, a brief test-drive that left the pilots concluding "the Fisker Karma is a rolling dream machine for anyone who wants something very different that works and drives exceptionally well." For the rest of the impressions on this $100k plug-in hybrid that offers a combined 657hp and 981lb-ft of torque from three motors and will go 50 miles on batteries alone you'll need to click on through the source link below. For the details on what's in store from your own karma you need only look inside yourself.
Fisker Karma now set for production in March, deliveries this spring -- maybe
Still hanging on to your Fisker Karma pre-order slip despite the decidedly sizeable boost in MSRP, up to $95,900? Well, we now have an idea of when you might actually have a chance of getting a car. The most recent estimates we heard indicated deliveries starting in late 2010, but that obviously didn't happen. Now Fisker is indicating that full production is set to begin in March, about two months from now, with people getting their rides "soon after." Initial examples of the car are to be produced in Europe, Finland to be exact, and they'll need the services of a fairly substantial boat to get across the Atlantic before they become available here. But, still, a potential release date just a few months away is a reasonably encouraging thing -- and you can't deny the car is still quite a looker.
Fisker raises Karma plug-in hybrid base price to $95,900, brings that 750i back into consideration
Oh, sure -- gas is bound to hit $4 a gallon before 2020, but you can buy an awful let of petrol with the money you'll save from dodging Fisker's increasingly expensive Karma. 'Course, those looking to blow 100 grand on an eco-friendly automobile are probably doing so just to throw Ma Earth a bone, but still -- money matters. Originally teased way back in the fall of 2007, Fisker's first plug-in hybrid still hasn't ended up anywhere near mass production, but it has managed to see two rather significant upticks in price all the while. Right around two years ago, we saw the $80,000 MSRP boosted by $7,000, and today, prospective customers are being notified via email that the Karma's base price is now sitting at $95,900 before a $950 destination fee. Granted, the company insists that this includes an integrated solar roof panel (valued at $5,000), and it still starts at $1,400 less than a Panamera S. And yeah, that base price does shrink to $88,400 after you include federal tax incentives. That said, we're doubting high-rollers that were dead-set on handing over $73,000 or so after tax breaks are currently stoked about an increase this large, particularly when there's still no definitive ship date. To Fisker's credit, we've seen General Motors go through similar trials and tribulations surrounding the Volt, and even at $95k, you'll be hard pressed to find more sexy than this on four (street legal) wheels.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: Honeycomb skyscrapers, solar funnels, and the Karma PHEV supercar
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. High tech architecture took the spotlight this week as Aedas unveiled a set of photovoltaic crystalline honeycomb skyscrapers for Abu Dhabi and San Francisco unfurled plans for a sail-shaped solar stadium for the America's Cup yacht race. We also took an exclusive look inside a high-tech solar home that actually produces more energy than it consumes, and spotted a new technology that can transform any home's electrical wiring into an information-transmitting antenna. We also showcased some of the world's most efficient vehicles as the winners of the $10 million Automotive X-Prize were announced, and we were excited to hear that the first factory-built Fisker Karma supercar will be rolling up to the Paris Auto Show next month. Finally, we peek inside Jay Leno's envy-inducing green garage in this week's episode of Green Overdrive. In other news, MIT made waves on the renewable energy front as they revealed a new "solar funnel" technology that could increase the efficiency of photovoltaic cells 100 times. We also took a first look at Eddy GT's new streamlined city-friendly wind turbine, and we saw Tesla batteries jump-start residential solar systems by storing excess energy.
No fair: Gizmodo editor leaves his phone in a restaurant, gets it back right away
Stop me if you've heard this one: a geek leaves his phone in a bar, and... oh, you have heard that one? It turns out that Brian Lam, the Gizmodo editor involved in the iPhone 4 "bar heist" saga and one of the biggest tech scandals of 2010, left his cell phone in a restaurant the other day. How did the aftermath play out? Lam, apparently blind to the irony, posted about it on Twitter: "left my phone at lunch, lady turned it in. good thing we were nice, earlier, and gave her the chair she asked for #karma" Lam couldn't have been blind to the irony for long, because he's now locked his Twitter account. And apparently, he also doesn't understand how karma works. This would have been real karma: the lady who found his phone would have realized what she'd got her hands on, then offered his phone to the highest-bidding (and least scrupulous) media outlet willing to pay for it. After the transaction, whoever paid out the most for Lam's phone would have dissected it, then posted photos and videos of the aftermath online. Next, they would have posted all of Lam's contact info on their site, opening him to ridicule and jeopardizing his career. As a final indignity, they then would have sent a letter to Lam's lawyer assuring that he'd get the (now broken) phone back as long as he publicly admitted it was his phone. That would have been karma. P.S. I know at least one person will be tempted to call me out on my use of the word "irony." Please read this Oatmeal comic on irony first, then we'll talk. [via Daring Fireball]
Looking back at six years of Lineage II
Released in South Korea in 2003 and North America a year later, Lineage II came out as an old-school hardcore grind just as MMOs like City of Heroes, World of Warcraft and Guild Wars arrived on the scene and signaled a decisive shift toward more user-friendly, casual-accessible gameplay. Even so, Lineage II charged ahead to capture an impressive amount of players -- a reported 610,000 gamers were playing the title three years after launch -- and the game both endured and grew as time progressed. A six-year anniversary doesn't have quite the gravitas as a five- or ten-year one, yet it's still an accomplishment that many of Lineage II's contemporaries failed to achieve before closing their doors. Travel with us then as we step back in time to an era when MMOs were the equivalent of a dangerous playground, with players leaping about despite rusty swings, harsh death penalties and a never-ending monkey bar grind. Join us as we examine Lineage II's history and seek to understand the secrets of this game's popularity, and what it still has to offer for the contemporary gamer.
Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer answers more questions about dynamic events
"Loot will never be directly given as a reward for an event. [...] All events reward you with experience, gold, and karma, which you can spend at merchants and vendors in the game to purchase rewards." There you have it: the answer to the question asked over and over since the Guild Wars 2 dynamic event system was announced a little over a week ago. Guild Wars players have always enjoyed loot distribution that's different from the need vs. greed or free loot systems that are standard in so many MMOs. Pre-assigned items and equally divided gold skirted the entire issue of arguing over who gets what. Players have been very concerned about the distribution of loot, gold, and XP in Guild Wars 2, but the only hint we received was from Lead Designer Eric Flannum: "[...] each event has its own criteria for determining participation that gauges who actually made a decent effort at participating. It's designed to give no credit or lower credit to players who were AFK during an event or just did a fly-by, using only a few skills and moved on. [...] The intention of the system is to encourage players to participate in fights. We don't define participation as either idling and doing nothing, or using one skill and simply tagging a monster." That was definitely reassuring, but as with most of the Guild Wars 2 news it raises even more questions. Colin Johanson addressed them briefly yesterday when he introduced the concept of karma as a way of acquiring the things you need, promising that Eric Flannum would explain further tomorrow. Tomorrow is here and Eric does tell us more about karma, but he's got much more to say. Follow along after the jump for the next round of questions about dynamic events!
Leading a life of crime in Earthrise
Today's post-holiday Question of the Week for Earthrise concerns the game mechanics of being (and killing) criminals in the post-apocalyptic MMO. Players who opt to become felons will build up "Criminal Karma", what seems to be a sort of quantified notoriety. From what the developers are saying, it seems that going outlaw won't be a trivial choice, given such characters will be kill-on-sight in the more secure regions of Enterra island. Also, it may be difficult to wipe the slate clean if a character has a shady past. According to Moll, the Earthrise Community Manager: "Criminals cannot clear their records, nor do they generate additional Karma by killing other criminals in safe zones." She adds that criminals who hunt down other criminals won't do so to repair their faction standings, rather there may be a good chance of obtaining loot by taking out a fellow wrongdoer. However, beyond such scenarios where 'evil fights evil', Earthrise's law-abiding citizens will have incentives for killing the criminals of Enterra; successfully knocking off criminal players will garner them extra Contribution rewards (faction standing).
Department of Energy lends Fisker $528.7 million for Karma and Project Nina
Well, it seems like that sex-on-wheels advert has done its job. Fisker's development of the oh so desirable Karma PHEV and its lower-cost sibling, now known as Project Nina (inspired by Christopher Columbus' escape from the Old World, no less), has been given a significant boost by the US government. Henrik Fisker himself has been quoted as saying that once the conditional loan is in, "it wouldn't take long to get the lower-cost plug-in hybrid on the road." If the company carries over the aggressive styling from the luxury model, it might have a real winner on its hands, though -- we know -- it's got to be cheap enough first. While waiting for that $528.7 million to work its magic, you can gawk at the solar paneled roof on the Karma, to be found after the break.
Motorola QA1 Karma coming to AT&T June 28
We've been hearing about this one since the wee months of the year, so it's good to see Motorola and AT&T come to the table to finally make it happen. The QA1 Karma follows the ever-popular QWERTY route, this time in a portrait slider configuration (a la Samsung Propel) with 3G, support for AT&T Navigator, a 2 megapixel camera, and a 2.5-inch QVGA display. A little like the Hint, ain't it? Find it in stores starting June 28 for $79.99 on contract after a $50 rebate. Follow the break for AT&T's unboxing (and it's even available in HD, if you're into that sort of thing).
Fisker already working on lower-cost vehicle to rival Volt, Model S
While Fisker Automotive isn't making too much of a stir at the New York Auto Show this week, it is scheming to deliver a vehicle that will purportedly compete with Chevrolet's Volt and Tesla's Model S. 'Course, it should probably look to get its Karma onto US streets before it starts looking too far ahead, but you won't find us kvetching about the promise of a lower cost plug-in hybrid. Company spokesman Russell Datz insinuated that the outfit was jonesing to release a model that would be priced somewhere below its Karma ($87,900) and above the Volt (around $40,000) and Model S (somewhere in the $50,000s), though it wasn't close enough to production to hit the show floor of any expos in 2009. Oh, what a tease.[Via AutoblogGreen]
Fisker Karma TV ads hit the LA airwaves
Uh oh, Tesla -- it looks Fisker's joining the battle for the hearts of Californian electric sports-car buyers in style. The carmaker has started running ads for the Karma on LA TV stations, and while the first one out the gate is certainly effective in showing off the coupe's sexy lines, it's not exactly mindblowing -- we're pretty certain this would be equally effective in advertising a local technical college with just a few tweaks. Check it after the break.
Production Fisker Karma gets revealed, shakes that sexy thang
Unlike another automaker out there, Fisker Automotive's eco-friendly vehicle looks a whole lot like the concept, and while the Tesla Roadster is certainly a sexy beast, we're having an exceptionally difficult time taming our fondness for this ride. The $80,000 $87,000 plug-in hybrid has been officially revealed ahead of its "debut" at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show, but sadly, it seems that the '09 ship date has already slipped to "late 2010." We can't say looking at the gorgeous pictures make that fact any less depressing, but they're all there in the read link if you care to indulge.[Via CNET]
Xbox thief thwarted by community & Live idiocy
This story is proof that karma and technology go together like chocolate syrup and vanilla ice-cream. Jesse McPherson, a 26 year-old engineer from Philadelphia, was shocked to find his Halo 3 edition Xbox 360, big-screen television and Apple G4 Powerbook stolen from his home upon returning from the recent SXSW event. After dealing with local authorities, who seemed more interested in taste-testing donuts than helping, Jesse took the matter into his own hands to solve the crime.After booting up a new Xbox 360 Jesse was shocked to find threatening messages from Xbox Live user I iRandom I claiming to be one of the perpetrators of the crime and demanded cash for the safe return of the Xbox console (coupled with ignorant NSFW language, of course!). After submitting his story to digg, which included an image of the second suspect in the theft that was taken from a local pawn shop's security monitor, Jesse was shocked to find over 7000 users had launched the event to the top of digg's main page.After a barrage of threatening messages to the admitted thief's account from random Xbox Live users and dialog with the brave thief's own mother (His mommy got involved? Ultimate bad-ass!), Jesse's Xbox 360 console was returned in working condition (the Powerbook was also returned on a separate occasion). What, you may ask, were the officers of Jesse's local precinct doing in the time he solved the crime? Who knows, but hopefully it was updating their resumes to include sloth as a major skill. [via The Age]
Fisker Karma hybrid sports car to generate motor noise through external speakers
You know how we love the electric cars around here, but internal combustion sure does sound sexy -- a big V-8 literally brings the noise in a way the nearly-silent whir of an electric motor can't hope to match. Well, it looks like the mad geniuses behind the $80,000 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid have hit upon an appropriately high-tech solution: speakers placed inside and out that allow drivers to give their rides any sound they want, including one described as "like something between a Formula One car and a jet plane." Interesting, to be sure -- but seeing as the Karma can hit 125mph and go from 0-60 in six seconds, we'd be happier if that rig just screamed at people to get out of the left lane.[Via Autoblog]
The "eco-chic" Fisker Karma and 150mpg XH-150 hybrids revealed
Hybrids are the rage at this year's Detroit Auto Show. Center stage then is the $100,000 $80,000 Fisker Automotive plug-in hybrid set for delivery in 2009. California-based Fisker is the namesake of Danish-born Henrik Fisker, CEO and former BMW and Aston Martin designer. The Fisker Karma (pictured), can go up to 50 miles before the gas engine kicks in to charge the lithium-ion batteries. It features a 150mph top speed capable of reaching 60mph from a standstill in 5.8 seconds. Sharing the stage with Fisker is AFS Trinity Power Corporation and their 150mpg plug-in hybrid XH-150 SUV -- that "XH" stands for Extreme Hybrid. Unlike traditional hybrids, the XH-150's powertrain uses ultra-capacitors, not gas, for "fast" acceleration. The XH-150 goes from 0 to 60 in 6.9 seconds with a top highway speed of just 87mph. Instead of bringing the XH-150 to market, however, AFS Trinity is more focused on licensing their ultra-capacitor technology. Good idea too, after checking the ho-hum XH-150 just beyond the break. [Via c|net News] Read -- Fisker Karma Read -- AFT Trinity unveils 150 MG XH SUV
Readers pick best webcomic: Karma
There were no standout webcomics in this week's wrapup, with almost everyone in a virtual tie (sorry, ActionTrip). MadiArt's "Karma" managed to take first place, however, beating its closest competitor by a margin of 30 votes.Second place goes to Dueling Analogs, 20 votes ahead of Penny Arcade's sweeter, more subtle entry. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week![Image credit: Imperial Doughnut]
Japanese residents to win free rent in Second Life
Steve Mahfouz of Ecstacy Realty has offered free rent for a year on his sim in Second Life, which includes the use of a parcel sized 2048 square meters, to any Japanese resident who was born in and currently lives in Japan. Why has he done this? From his press release: "I like good karma. I do something good for you, and *maybe* eventually something good will happen for me. All you have to do is obey the Land Covenants on the parcel you live (or work) on, and that's all. No hidden strings. No hidden expectations. No fees. No tricks. No games. Free rent for one year. In one year, you can either pay the market rental price for the parcel or leave. Very simple."Not so fast -- this is actually a contest. To enter, one must send an email to steve at ecstasyrealty.com, detailing why exactly you're the most qualified resident to receive a year's free rent. He'll choose the winner in 2 week's time, and will announce the winner on his blog. Good luck, Nippon!(Thanks, Steve!)
Breakfast Topic: Karma comes around
Elizabeth talked about karma in that fun little guild drama story last week, but karma is even better when it comes not from other players, but from the game itself. Case in point: the_pr0letariat on WoW LJ got laughed at by a Hordie while almost dying to a Hellfire boar, so it made things doubly sweet when a Fel Reaver stomped by a few minutes later and sent the Horde on a corpse run.Likewise, I was almost ganked a long while back while grinding on my rogue in front of Blackrock Mountain-- a gnome rogue tried to take me out while I was fighting with a Lava Spider, but I'd recently pickpocketed a few potions, so I kept the fight going for a little while, long enough to swing the gnome around near the Dark Iron mobs there. Just as he was about to finish me off, three Dark Iron mobs latched onto him, I vanished, and I got to /laugh at him as they beat him down.Have you seen karma come around in the game? Or maybe it's come around on you...
