GM to shut down Saturn after Penske walks away
General Motors Co. said Wednesday it would shut down its Saturn brand after an agreement with Penske Automotive Group Inc. to acquire it fell apart.
Penske, citing concerns of whether it could continue to supply vehicles after a manufacturing contract with GM ran out, ended talks with GM Wednesday to acquire the brand.
GM CEO Fritz Henderson said in statement that Saturn and its dealership network will be phased out.
"This is very disappointing news and comes after months of hard work by hundreds of dedicated employees and Saturn retailers who tried to make the new Saturn a reality," Henderson said in a written statement. "PAG’s announcement explained that their decision was not based on interactions with GM or Saturn retailers."
In a statement, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based auto retailer says an agreement with another manufacturer to continue producing Saturn vehicles after GM stopped making them fell through, leading Penske to terminate talks with GM.
Penske said it negotiated terms and conditions to make Saturn cars with another manufacturer, but that company’s board of directors rejected the agreement. Penske spokesman Anthony Pordon would not identify the other manufacturer.
In June, GM and Penske agreed to take over the Saturn brand and related dealerships, although GM would produce the vehicles for a limited period of time.
It was expected that GM would announce the completion of Saturn’s sale to Penske in the coming days.
See the full article at Yahoo News.
Blood Energy Potion, authentic looking synthetic blood drink in a transfusion bag
Thirsty at twilight – or after reading or watching Twilight? Slake your blood-lust by grabbing a transfusion bag of Blood Energy Potion, the best bloody drink around!
Vampires, zombies, witches and more – the culture of horror seems to have been given a shot in the arm. Speaking of which, Urban Collector’s Blood Energy Potion looks frighteningly like a fresh transfusion bag of people juice, so much so that we’re sure some overzealous Goth will attempt to infuse it IV style.
That would be unwise, because although Blood Energy Potion looks like blood, has the same viscosity as blood, has the same nutritional composition as blood and comes in a resealable plastic bag designed to emulate a Red Cross blood transfusion bag, it’s NOT blood.
Blood Energy Potion does, in a similar vein (sorry), provide 4 hours of energy, protein and electrolytes plus it’s a "delectable source of iron" and doesn’t contain garlic.
See the full article at Inventor Spot.
Trent Reznor: classic gaming, indie marketing and more
The blog site Joystiq has a really great interview with Trent Reznor – probably better known as the life behind Nine Inch Nails. Trent has been a forward thinker in the music and new media space for a long time now and certainly hasn’t been afraid to ruffle some feathers along the way. The interview is gaming-heavy (as can be expected) but a lot of the vibe can apply to other areas of media and marketing as well.
See the article at Joystiq.
Augmented Reality Goes 3D, Gets Even More Awesome
Remember Layar and their augmented reality app for Android devices? It uses your phone’s camera to display a layer of real time meta data on top of the physical world around you.
Until now, that reality was just a bunch of 2D tags, but with Layar3D it also includes virtual 3D objects. If you have trouble imagining what those might be, just look at the video below. That’s right, it’s Pacman, and it happens in the real world! Of course, the potential uses for this technology go far beyond gaming, but in our geeky eyes, it all boils down to awesomeness (and, potentially, looking very strange as you roam around, looking at the world through your Android phone).
Here’s a bit on how it works: the 3D goodness is created with the help of OpenGL, while the positioning is calculated with the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. The application will support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. These objects will be active, in the sense that you’ll be able to assign actions such as “open link” or “play music” to them.
See the article at Mashable.
