Ford Focus Electric will connect with AT&T

Being a new breed of vehicles in the Ford stables, the Focus electric, the first passenger electric vehicle to be launched by the American manufacturer, needs more than the capability to use electricity to impress possible buyers. On a segment where the competition is increasing by the week, the Focus needs more high-tech features and gadgets.

Ford has chosen communications giant AT&T as the provider of wireless connectivity for the Focus electric. The service will be provided by AT&T through the MyFord Mobile smartphone app and will be used to allow Focus electric owners to send and receive data, voice commands and control of vehicle settings.

The main features of the app provided by Ford to support the wireless feature of the Focus electric are listed below:

• Locate charging stations and get the destination sent to the vehicle
• Know if the vehicle can reach a specific charge station from its current location with the current charge level
• Journey planning with multiple stops, and determine the likelihood that the car has adequate charge for the full journey
• Alerts if the vehicle isn't charging when it's scheduled to, or if charging stops unexpectedly due to a power outage, plug removal or other event
• Receive alerts during recharge when the vehicle has reached a particular preset charge level or has the ability to reach a particular destination
• Engage remote vehicle preconditioning, using grid power to heat or cool the vehicle interior
• Remotely lock/unlock doors
• GPS system.

"Connecting consumers directly to their electric vehicles in this new and innovative way is going to drive innovative and exciting levels of interaction," said Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices, resale and partnerships, AT&T.

HTC's ThunderBolt to be Launched on March 17th

HTC's ThunderBolt, the first Smartphone to function on Verizon Wireless LTE network, will launch this Thursday, according to a document from Verizon received by the online retailer Wirefly.

This device features a 4.3-inch touch screen, Android 2.2, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 768MB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 8GB of built-in storage, microSD slot for 32GB of additional storage.

Wirefly.com has announced that it will begin accepting pre-orders for the HTC Thunderbolt LTE 4G Smartphone for Verizon Wireless starting at 3 a.m. EDT / midnight PDT (Tuesday) morning. The device is set to start shipping on March 17, 2011 - and Wirefly says that it will offer the Android powered Thunderbolt for a "special" price.

RIM plans two additional BlackBerry 4G PlayBook Models

Research in Motion plans to release two more BlackBerry Playbook tablets in the second half of 2011, one with LTE and one with HSPA+ networking technology, the company declared at the Mobile World Congress.

RIM already had announced a Wi-Fi only tablet and one using the WiMax wireless networking technology. LTE and HSPA+, though, are much more broadly accepted in the mobile market, if not necessarily widely installed.

In the ever-hotter tablet market, the competition presently is largely between incumbent power Apple and a number of Android-based challengers such as the Motorola Xoom and the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.4. RIM hopes its BlackBerry models will find a foothold as well.

The biggest hurdle many of these products need to overcome today is shipping, but after that comes sales partnerships with carriers and retailers, application development with programmers.

"We are now building on the BlackBerry PlayBook's many advantages with support for additional 4G networks that will allow enhanced business opportunities for carriers and developers and unparalleled mobile experiences for users," said RIM Co-Chief Executive Mike Lazaridis in a statement.