Blame it on our Rust Belt sensibilities, but we can’t think of anything cooler than rally cars racing full-bore around a steel mill. The video after the jump is about as heavy metal as it gets, and the gritty action is coming to your television in a new Speed TV series called Battle Cross. The steel mill pilot shown here – airs on November 17 at 10 pm Eastern. That’s this Thursday, kids, so set your DVR now, or ask your parents for permission to stay up late.

This first episode features 2011 Rally America Champion David Higgins driving against Subaru Rally Team USA teammate Dave Mirra. The competition is a two-round affair, the first a standard fastest-time-wins, autocross-style challenge, while the second is a judged “freestyle session.” Think: figure skating – but with sequins and feathers replaced by popping wastegates and two-foot wings.

A whole host of other names are attached to the series. Rally driver Andrew Comrie-Picard and Stacy Keibler, she of WWE and girlfriend of George Clooney fame, will co-host the show. Drifting star Samuel Hubinette and rally driver Stephan Verdier will serve as judges. Battle Cross is produced by The Fast and the Furious director Rob Cohen, so if nothing else, we can at least expect it to look great.

If you miss the premiere, Battle Cross will be rebroadcast on Nov. 18 at 1:00 am EST and 10:00 am EST, and Nov. 20 at 2:30 pm EST. Click through the jump to see the trailer.

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If you’ve been getting bored with that stale version of DoubleTwist you’re sporting, get ready for a breath of fresh air. The company has announced the next major version of its music player now awaits Android faithul in the Marketplace — and will hit the Amazon Appstore later in the week. New features include a new grid view for album art, premium EQ (if you’re running Android 2.3 or higher), an AirSync storage location option and a new playback screen which enables sliding to see previous / upcoming tracks. If you’re still not impressed, DoubleTwist promises another update in December that will be similar in stature. Take a look after the break for a few more screen shots, should you need more convincing and get ready to show off all of those Ben Folds album covers.

SOURCE via DoubletWist

Last month, Sony (no more Sony Ericsson, huhue…) hinted, via Facebook, that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich would soon be making its way to its entire lineup of Xperia handsets. Today, this forthcoming upgrade has become officially official, though details remain equally fuzzy. “We can today confirm that we plan to upgrade the entire 2011 Xperia portfolio to the next version of Android known as Android 4.0 or Ice Cream Sandwich,” the company wrote in a blog post this morning. “We are working on merging our current Xperia experience with the new features in Android 4.0.” The update will encompass all Xperia Arc, Play and Pro handsets, as well as the company’s Live with Walkman device, though we’ll have to wait a little longer for details on release and availability.

SOURCE via Sony

Say hello to Spar — a newcomer to the land of wireless audio. Today, the company is officially accepting pre-orders for its Zephyr lineup of rechargeable Bluetooth speakers. The portable units are similar to others such as Jawone’s Jambox, offering wireless music streaming, speakerphone functionality and portability, but also feature the ability to juice up your smartphone over USB. In total, you’ll have your pick of three Zephyrs, priced from $99 to a moderate $160 (including cables, a case and a charger). First up is the “pocketable” 300 model, which has a 12-hour battery and a black paint scheme (along with red and blue for a limited time). If that won’t cut it, the slightly larger 500 variant packs 18-hours of battery life and comes in choice of white or black. Rounding out the bunch is the aluminum-housed 550; it features a massive 28-hour battery and comes in a either silver or black. If you’re willing to give this new kid on the Bluetooth-block a try, the Zephyrs are set to ship by year’s end and you’ll find more info at the source link below.

SOURCE via Spar

We’ve officially entered the silly season of pre-CES rumors, so take this with a grain of salt, but the Wall Street Journal reports Sony has approached “several big media companies” about distributing their channels over the internet. This comes on the heels of its report on comments by CEO Howard Stringer about significant R&D efforts going into a “different kind of TV”, and the four screen strategy Sony would like to implement. According to the report, Sony’s idea is to offer small bundles of channels over the internet to its TVs, Blu-ray players, and the PS3. Still, cutting deals with companies like CBS, that doesn’t want to jeopardize its cable and satellite TV-based revenue, could be difficult. As for the competition, similar rumors about Microsoft turned into an effort that mostly works with partners like Comcast, U-verse, and FiOS, while Google is also pursuing a route of adding to, but not necessarily replacing, cable TV. Sony has positioned itself well, adding IPTV services including sports to the PS3 and live TV tuning capability, and its tested the waters of going over the top before, but so far whether it will actually pursue this new plan is unknown.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

The Tokyo stampede is well and truly on now, with Toyota being the next to announce its debutants at the show. The company will be showcasing three concepts, led by the FT-EV III concept, which offers a take of how the near future will shape up.

The third incarnation of the Future Toyota – Electric Vehicle is based on the iQ, and the company says it plans to introduce a production version of the four-seater concept sometime in 2012. The EV III’s lithium-ion battery offers it an esitmated cruising range of 105 km, a slight improvement over the 90 km offered by its FT-EV II predecessor, which was a show debutant in 2009.

Also set for its world premiere will be the Fun-Vii, or Fun-Vehicle interactive internet, to give the concept its full designation. The company isn’t saying anything about this one, save that it’s pretty ‘far out’ as things go and that the design heralds Toyota’s vision of a future where people, cars and society are linked. Whatever it is, there’s a lot of flower power imagery in this one, quite literally!