Filed under: Aftermarket, Tuners, SUVs, Porsche

9ff has established itself as a serious player in the pursuit of toppiling OEM’s top-speed records, but the German tuner’s range of modifications for Porsches spans the spectrum from mild to wild. Wild, in this case, includes the 9ff Vantage GTR. It’s based on the Cayenne SUV and has nothing to do with the 911-rivalling Aston Martin, but the 9ff sport-ute packs a mighty punch. With a whopping 725hp on tap, the Vantage GTR leaves other modified Cayennes in its dust – make that a big cloud of dust – and straight into Gemballa territory, which is an insane place to spend any amount of time.

To match the power output, 9ff has decked out this Cayenne in Tumbler-worthy bodywork and sinister matte black finish, and is apparently even offering a revised front end to replace the stock model’s angular headlights with round 911 units. See for yourself in the gallery below.

[Source: autoblog.nl via Motorpasion]

9ff hits the dusty trail with Cayenne Vantage GTR originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: News

These are tough economic times not just for the little guys like us but for major corporations. Corporations like Microsoft. Fudzilla is reporting that long-standing rumors of Microsoft job cuts have been confirmed. Microsoft, who employs 90,000 workers worldwide, will make substantial cuts to its workforce. Microsoft plans are to cut 15,000 jobs, which equals about 17% of all employees come January 15, 2009.

Microsoft’s Q2 earnings report is due on January 22, 2009, adding more weight to the expected layoffs date. According to the article, rumblings point to most cuts aimed at the MSN division with potentially larger cuts to Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Not expected to see cuts are departments and regions that are doing well. Considering console sales are on the upswing, Fudzilla theorizes Xbox employees are safe. But for how long?

Major Microsoft layoffs incoming, Xbox staff likely unaffected originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Biz

The current economic situation is affecting everyone and now rumors are flying that Microsoft could be making job cuts as well. MarketWatch is reporting that rumors of cutbacks are being fueled partially by a web site created by anonymous person who claims to be a Microsoft employee. According to the site Microsoft plans to lay off as much as 10 percent of their team sometime in mid-January..

However, others have speculated that Microsoft will not lay off anyone but simply reorganize and slow down plans for new products. Microsoft’s game division has already taken cuts in the past two years, shutting down their FASA Interactive studio in 2007 and earlier this year announcing that their Dallas based Ensemble Studios will close their doors in early 2009. Naturally Microsoft would not comment on the rumors.

Rumor: Microsoft layoffs coming? originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sedans/Saloons, Government/Legal, Green, Bentley, Celebrities

Britain’s royal family may not have the power to legislate any new initiatives, green or otherwise, but the heads of state still wield influence over public opinion and have taken up the cause of environmentally-conscious motoring. Following the lead of her son and heir Charles, the Prince of Wales – who had his Aston Martin converted to run on old wine and his Range Rover, Jaguar and Audi to run on discarded cooking oil – Queen Elizabeth II is having her bespoke Bentley limos converted to run on bio-fuels.

The Bentley State Limousine is based on the Arnage, but custom-crafted in-house by the company’s Mulliner coachbuilding division. Only two were ever made, at a reported cost of over $14 million a piece, one of which was presented as a gift to Her Majesty upon her Golden Jubilee in 2002, while the second was commissioned by the crown as a back-up. The four-ton armored vehicles, continuously maintained by Bentley, are powered by the company’s perennial 6.75-liter V8 producing 400 horsepower, and will be converted to run on bio-fuel. Bentley says the royal family are big supporters of Crewe’s initiative to switch to bio-fuels, as Bentley aims to offer all its models with flex-fuel capacity by 2012.

[Source: The Daily Mail via Luxist]

From Royal Blue to Green: the Queen retrofits her Bentleys to run on bio-fuel originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For all of you Zune 30 owners who woke up this morning to find your PMP frozen in despair at the thought of spending another year alone, Microsoft has finally acknowledged their boo-boo and explains it thusly: There is a bug in the internal clock driver causing the device to choke on the last day of a leap year. Rest assured, however — although they may not be releasing an update for the device any time soon, the issue should resolve itself whenever January 1, 2009 rolls around. So have a safe and happy New Year, and let’s hope they do something about this by 2012.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Zune 30GB brickification acknowledged, Microsoft says to wait it out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Fan stuff

A new commercial promoting the release of BioShock in Japan on that other system is sweeping YouTube. The commercial features a little girl holding a fishbowl with a model of, what we assume is, the City of Rapture from the game submerged in water. It wouldn’t be anything special if it weren’t so creepy. The little girl, the background, the music and the voice who whispers something all send chills down our spine. Strange marketing from other countries is strange, we suppose. Oh, top it all off the commercial ends with the girl dropping the bowl, spilling water everywhere! We don’t know what the Japanese voice says to her but we venture a guess it was something like, “Simon Says” or “Be a creepy jerk.”

Hold us! Creepy Japanese BioShock commercial is creepy originally appeared on Xbox 360 Fanboy on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Spy Photos, Crossovers/CUVs, Hatchbacks, Suzuki

Following in the footsteps of its European twin, the Fiat Sedici, Suzuki is slightly reworking its SX4 Crossover for next year. You’d be forgiven if you didn’t notice – all of the revisions are quite subtle – but the whole front fascia has been slightly remodeled. The most obvious change is to the grille area, which now has a slightly smaller opening that’s flanked by new concave recesses for the fog lights. Apparently, the faux rear skid-plate has been redone as well. Like we said: minor, discreet changes.

Inside, the Sedici has been upgraded with dual zone climate controls, so it would make sense that the SX4 would benefit from this new feature as well. We don’t expect any powertrain changes, which is just fine with us. We thought that the SX4 was plenty peppy with its standard 2.0-liter DOHC engine’s 143 horsepower and 136 lb-ft of torque when we had the sedan model in our garage earlier this year.

[Source: Carscoop]

Spy Shots: Suzuki SX4 getting facelift too originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: PC, RPGs, MMO

A 17-year-old Ohio gamer was arrested Monday after he allegedly threatened to commit suicide to a Blizzard customer service rep, presumably over World of Warcraft. The rep called 911 and the boy was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. The police report says the juvenile’s excuse was that it was a joke to get “what he wanted” in the game. He’ll appear in court Jan. 6.

Although some might find Blizzard’s response in calling 911 a bit extreme, just imagine the mess that would have resulted had the kid gone through with it. Regardless, we’ve learned that telling your MMO’s customer support rep about your impending suicide is a bad idea (much like suicide, kids!). They have your account information and know where you live.

[Via GamePolitics]

PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Coming soon,” huh? Soon, indeed. Optoma’s DLP-based pico projector, which is formally known as the EP-PK-101 (or PK101 in some circles), is now up for pre-order at Amazon. So, just how much will you pay for a 4-ounce beamer that you can carry in your left front pocket? If your answer is anything less than $399.99, you’re out of luck here.

[Via I4U News]

Filed under: Displays

Optoma’s DLP PK101 pico projector up for pre-order at $399.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Trends, Etc., Euro, Porsche, Lifestyle

Remember the 80′s? Frankly, we’d rather not, what with all the neon colors and fifth-grader graphics. But some people just won’t leave it alone. Like sneaker freaks, who need to have those Nike high-tops they had (or didn’t) as a child. Or Porsche, with their obscenely bright-colored 911 GT3 RS. The two may seem at diametrically opposite ends of the spectrum, but it was only a matter of time before someone brought them together.

That someone is Purchaze, a German retro clothing company. Upon opening its newest location in Holland, a nearby Porsche dealership hooked them up with a Cayman S for promotional purposes. (We would have figured some neon-colored slant-nose would have served better, but what do we know.) As a thanks for the loan, Purchaze whipped up the series of sneakers you see above. Inspired, supposedly, by the GT3, each pair of kicks features the Porsche badge on the tongue and are colored in the shades of the GT3 palette: one pair in orange, one in green, another in black and a fourth in silver. The sneakers were presented to the team at the Porsche dealership, who are wishing they had irregularly-sized feet to use wear them in the pits at an upcoming race. If you want to get your hands on a pair of these, you may have less taste than boiled chicken you can’t, because they were made exclusively for the dealership, but Adidas offers a line of Porsche Design shoes that may not, you know, be a cause of embarrassment when worn in public.

[Source: High Snobiety via Jalopnik]

Nike outlet puts the “RS” in “sneakers” originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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