LG posts Q2 profit in spite of $132 million loss from the mobile unit

LG has announced its Q2 2016 earnings, recording an operating profit of $503.1 million (584.6 billion won) over revenues of $12.05 billion (14 trillion won). Strong sales of home appliances and TVs offset the mobile unit’s operating loss of $132 million.

LG’s mobile unit recorded a $170 million loss in the last quarter as well. The LG G5 managed to net a 12% increase in revenue from the previous quarter to $2.86 billion (3.33 trillion won), but the modular phone did not have the impact LG was hoping for. Shipments at 13.9 million units was a modest increase over the 13.5 million recorded in Q1 2016.

The brand noted that it met with “increased marketing expenditures and somewhat slow initial sales of G5 smartphone.” Looking forward to Q3, LG is aiming for the V20 to boost sales in the high-end segment, with the K and X lineup of phones competing in the budget segment.

Elsewhere, the home appliance division posted a profit of $373.24 million (433.7 billion won). The TV segment recorded a $306.97 million (356.7 billion won) operating profit on revenues of $3.58 billion (4.16 trillion won), with LG witnessing a healthy increase in sales of high-end 4K TVs.

Hyundai Ioniq Electric review: Fully charged

Hyundai has opted to launch three different green driving solutions in one with the new Ioniq. The idea is simple: Hyundai offers one platform and you choose whether you want Hybrid, Electric or Plug-in Hybrid. 

Options are few, making this a relatively straight-forward decision-making process. The idea is to create a car that’s accessible to as wide a range of people as possible.

Where the Hybrid squares up to a number of models – namely the Prius, but also Toyota’s wider selection of hybrids – the Ioniq Electric faces less competition. There are e-versions of established models across some car manufacturers – like the Volkswagen e-Golf – but cars designed to be electric from the get-go are rarer. Nissan dominates the UK’s roads with the Leaf, there’s the odd Renault Zoe sighting, while BMW has a healthy following with its i3 and Tesla is creeping in at the top-end. 

So can Hyundai muscle in on the fledgling electric car segment with the Ioniq Electric, an electric car for the mainstream?

Hyundai Ioniq Electric review: Design

The Ioniq comes from the same school of thought as the Toyota Prius and that explains some of the similarity in design. The aim is to make this car as efficient as possible. That doesn’t immediately mean giving it a sports car profile, rather considering how the air passes over and under to keep drag to a minimum.

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As we mentioned in the prologue, thie electric Ioniq is the same design as the hybrid version that we’ve already reviewed, so we won’t dwell too long on repeating the same information – that the doors are a little thin in feel and don’t make that reassuring crunch when you close them.

• Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid review: Hyundai’s happy hybrid

However, we do think that the Ioniq Electric looks slightly better than the Hybrid, because there’s that futuristic silver panel stuffed in the front, rather than the grille of the Hybrid.

As there’s no air needed for an engine, there’s no need to be sucking in air through the front. Sure, Hyundai could have had an entirely different bumper assembly for a seamless look, but manufacturing more parts would push the price up. To highlight this as the electric version, there are highlights to the cabin and exterior in a copper colour.

Having spent some time with the Ioniq (in two of its three forms) we have grown to like the design. It succeeds in offering conventionality, whereas the Prius is getting a little odd; it offers practicality over the Nissan Leaf and range-limited Renault Zoe, with better looks and more space; we’d perhaps say that the BMW i3 is a better looking car with plenty of appeal, but it’s more expensive (although its lease options make it potentially affordable for business owners).

That sees the Ioniq Electric slotting into a space where you get quite a lot of electric car for your money.

Hyundai Ioniq Electric review: On the road

But once you slip into the driving seat, the Ioniq Electric feels a little more like the car you want it to be. The Hybrid is a good car – it’s attractively priced, well loaded with tech and perfectly comfortable – but as soon as you pull away in the Ioniq Electric, the benefits of that instant delivery of electric power becomes apparent.

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There’s a lithium-ion polymer battery sitting under the backseat and boot floor, with a 28kWh capacity, connected to a front electric motor delivering the equivalent of 120bhp, or 295Nm torque. That’s all delivered instantly, meaning you can pull away with pace. This isn’t Tesla’s Insane or Ludicrous speed, but a comfortable and sensible delivery of the power to take you to 62mph in 10.2-seconds. 

That’s not exactly fast, but it can be boosted in Sport mode, which claims a 9.9-second time to 62mph. Again, the Ioniq isn’t a dragster, but it is pacey enough to keep up with average driving.

But all this is delivered in relative silence, the cabin cosseted from the outside and one reduction gear taking the motor’s power and transmitting it to the front wheels smoothly. Like many modern cars, there’s regenerative braking to recoup energy back into the battery.

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One of the fun things the Ioniq Electric offers is different levels of regenerative braking controlled via paddles on the steering column, in the same sort of location you’ll find manual gear shift levers on high-end automatics. In this case, however, you can turn the regeneration up or down, basically by increasing the friction applied when you lift off the power. 

Set to the highest level and this noticeably slows the car; it can make braking fairly jerky, but we can see that with time you’ll learn what level you can use smoothly. Coasting down a hill and we’re sure that you’ll be able to use it to best effect. Other EVs and hybrids offer similar systems, but not always as directly controlled.

Hyundai Ioniq Electric review: Range and charging 

The Ioniq claims a 174 mile range, when using 11.5kWh per 100km. Those are the on-paper figures: we can’t report on the longer-term real-world figures without more time living with the Ioniq, but our model reported 13.4kWh per 100km from its on-board computer. That compares favourably with the Nissan Leaf’s 30kW, which offers a 15kWh per 100km consumption; and the BMW i3, which cites a 12.6kWh per 100km (again, both on paper, not real-world figures).

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When it comes to charging, there are three options, as is usually the case. You can charge from a domestic wall socket, although that’s slow and will take 10-12 hours, but with fast-charging from a wall box coming in at 4-6 hours, and the ability to rapid charge to 80 per cent of the battery in 33-minutes from a 50kW CCS tethered public charging point, you should be able to handle decent length journeys without too much worry about range.

To help you manage your power consumption, there’s a breakdown on what is using power, as accessed via the central display. Here you’ll see what the car’s electric systems are pulling, as well as what the aircon might be using. There are also other clever features, like being able to set the charging times – to take advantage of off-peak tariffs – as well as cabin pre-conditioning, so your car can be cooled (or heated) while it’s still connected to the power supply, rather than only when you’re on the road.

Hyundai Ioniq Electric review: All the tech you could want 

One of the important elements in electric driving is satnav. The idea is that satnav will help you navigate and find those electric charging points so you’re never going to get stuck and this is one of the reasons that the Ioniq Electric only comes at the Premium and Premium SE trim levels.

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Hyundai doesn’t really do options. You buy the car, pick the trim level and that delivers with a huge range of mod cons. And this list is almost silly.

Pick the Ioniq Electric Premium and all this comes as standard: dual-zone aircon, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assistance, rear parking sensors and rear camera, auto headlights and wipers, Bluetooth, 8-inch central touch display with satnav and TomTom Live services, Android Auto nad Apple CarPlay, heated front seats, Infinity sound system with subwoofer, auto dimming rear mirror, wireless phone charging, and keyless entry. Now breathe.

Stepping up to Premium SE gets you leather seats which offer cooling, blind spot detection and more.

In short, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric offers so much technology that you can’t help but see it as good value for money. There’s little that we can think of that’s missing and all of this comes in at a reasonable price point too.

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On the road this all comes together nicely. The driver’s display is mostly digital, switching to a more aggressive red coloured rev counter when you’re in sports mode. We’ve seen similar on the BMW i8 and this is the same idea, even if it’s not quite the same result. The inclusion of range info and satnav details on the driver’s display makes for plenty of info and all easily controlled. 

Verdict

The Hyundai Ioniq Electric is a great addition to the electric options on the UK’s roads. It slices into the middle of the existing pack, offering good value for money, plenty of range and all the technology you could want. 

For us, this is perhaps an easy alternative to cars like the Renault Zoe or Nissan Leaf, although both of those are available for less – but in cheaper forms offer a little less for the money too (and the Zoe has potential issues with battery “loan” terms). The Ioniq Electric looks to present a mid-range electric option and does so well. 

The Ioniq Electric also comes with a 5-year warranty for the car (as is standard for Hyundai) but will offer an additional 8-year 125,000-mile warranty on the battery. This should off-set any doubts, but ultimately, we’re yet to discover exactly what the long-term performance of the Ioniq Electric will be like.

The Hyundai Ioniq is safe and sensible. It’s well positioned, competitively priced and well specced. If you’re looking to go electric without breaking the bank, it’s certainly a car to be considered.

Sky’s ‘Buy & Keep’ store now sells movie and TV box sets

It’s taken a while, but Sky has finally come through on its promise to add TV shows to its “Buy & Keep” service. Just like its film offering, anyone in the UK can pay a single price to get both a physical and digital version of a TV box set. The former is a DVD in the post, while the latter is served through the “digital Box Sets store” available on Sky+HD and Sky Q set-top boxes, as well as the Sky Store mobile app. If you’re not with Sky, you can grab the digital versions through a Now TV, Roku or YouView box instead.

Movie box sets — think the Toy Story trilogy, the Fast & Furious collection and Pitch Perfect one and two — are also being added to the mix. Prices start at £13.99 for a film compilation and £22.99 for a TV box set. That’s a little on the expensive side, although it’s worth stressing that you’re buying both a permanent copy and one stored in the cloud. If you were to buy two versions separately — a physical copy in HMV and a digital one through iTunes, for instance — you would probably pay the same, if not more.

Source: Sky

Samsung posts highest profits in over two years thanks to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

Strong sales of the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge have led to Samsung posting an operating profit of $7.22 billion (8.14 trillion won) in Q2 2016, up 18% from the same period a year ago. Overall revenue was $45.1 billion (50.94 trillion won), a 5% increase from Q2 2015.

The handset business accounted for half of Samsung’s bottom line, with the division netting $3.83 billion (4.32 trillion won) in profit on a revenue of $23.5 billion (26.56 trillion won). Samsung noted that the larger and more expensive S7 edge model made up over half of the sales of its flagship series, with the Galaxy A series and J series also seeing an uptick in sales in the mid-range and low-end segments.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Samsung says that the launch of a new large-screen flagship phone (the Galaxy Note 7, if you’re wondering) “will help to maintain solid sales of high-end smartphones led by the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge:”

Samsung will focus on increasing smartphone sales under strong seasonality with the launch of a new model, while expecting marketing expenses to increase QOQ due to seasonality.

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BigScreen adds audio sharing to fulfill its ‘Virtual LAN’ promise

BigScreen launched in beta back in April as a software solution to run conventional apps or films on a “screen” within VR for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. But one of its coolest features, sharing your digital monitor with friends, was hampered by the program’s inability to send along any accompanying audio. Today, BigScreen is fixing that, adding the ability to hear exactly what your friend is listening to in a setup the team calls “Desktop Audio Streaming.”

Essentially, this lets you share audio exactly as you’re hearing it from every source you have open — except BigScreen itself, which would create a horrific echo loop. Multiple people can tune in to hear the same thing, but only the room’s host can broadcast sound. It’s a minor limitation, but it also prevents random folks from dropping into the room and blasting music. Counter-Strike and Call of Duty players know that pain.

For details on how to set up BigScreen to finally achieve the “VR LAN party” they promised, check out this Reddit post by the company’s CEO. You’ll need to install a separate audio driver, a temporary fix that the team hopes to replace with an internal one in the future while they clean up the other bugs. Sure, the software’s a little rough, but it’s difficult to complain when they’re offering it free on Steam.

Via: Upload VR

Source: BigScreen subreddit

Mercedes unveils world’s first completely electric semi truck

European car companies are starting to invest more heavily in green vehicles. Audi unveiled three more electric cars on Monday and Porsche added 400 jobs to how many it estimates it will create to make its electric Model E come to life. Today, Daimler revealed its milestone that wasn’t in the consumer space: The first non-fossil-fuel big rig, the Mercedes-Benz Urban eTruck.

Like most electric vehicles, the eTruck is relatively whisper-quiet, especially compared to a typical diesel truck. With a weight capacity of 29 US tons (26 metric tonnes), it’s the first electric big rig concept to hit the road, beating out the semi Tesla has been working on that it announced last week.

Of course, big rigs move freight across long distances, so the eTruck’s current 124-mile maximum range likely won’t be adequate for long hauls. But the “Urban” prefix denotes its use case: As a clean, quiet load-bearing vehicle ideal for cities. Daimler has already heavily tested the utility of close-range hauling with its Fuso Canter E-Cell pilot program, sending the all-electric 4.8-tonne capacity light trucks around Portugal last fall. The eTruck scales that concept up to the loads and conditions typically endured by semis.

Daimler envisions that its electric truck won’t roll off the assembly lines until early in the next decade, according to their press release. By then, technological improvements will drive battery costs down by a factor of 2.5 and efficiency up by the same metric, the truck company estimates.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Daimler Trucks press release

Researchers believe Jupiter’s Red Spot is heated by thunder

Despite its distance from the sun, Jupiter is a surprisingly hot planet with temperatures ranging around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle latitudes. According to new findings published today in the journal Nature, temperatures over the planet’s Great Red Spot can range even higher — up to about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1,300 degrees Celsius. And the researchers behind the new study believe they may have finally figured what’s feeding the extreme temperatures around the 10,000-mile-wide storm.

The first temperature readings of Jupiter were made by NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft in the seventies, but this latest discovery was made by Boston University researcher James O’Donoghue using NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii. According to the New York Times, scientists originally suspected Jupiter’s massive polar auroras might have something to do with it. Although the temperatures around the poles are about 1,700 degrees, researchers couldn’t figure out how all that energy was reaching the equator where the Great Red Spot has been churning for hundreds of years.

Now, O’Donoghue’s research suggests that the heat is actually rising up from within the storm itself, rather than from the surrounding atmosphere. To explain this, the researchers suggest the energy is rising up in the form of sound waves emanating from the turbulence below. The waves ripple upwards and then create energy when they crash into the upper atmosphere. According to Science News, a similar effect has been observed on a much smaller scale over the Andes mountains here on Earth. Likewise, smaller ripples like this could be occurring all over Jupiter, which would explain how the planet heats itself.

While plausible, O’Donoghue’s theory is still unconfirmed and, as one NASA scientist who studies planetary atmospheres pointed out, a Methane glow could be interfering with the Infrared Telescope’s readings. Either way, researchers will get a closer look at the Great Red Spot later this year when Juno passes over its western side in November, followed by another pass next August.