General Motors has announced a partnership with a leading carbon fiber producer in an effort to research the possibility of widespread use of the material in its vehicles. Teijin Limited has pioneered a new manufacturing process for carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic that allows for cycle times of under one minute. Typically, creating carbon fiber parts from molds requires the use of slow-setting resin that simply takes too long to be practical for use on a large scale. As part of the tie-up with GM, Teijin will set up a new technical centre in the northern United States to support development.

Carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastics have the benefit of being up to 10 times stronger than conventional steel while offering one quarter of the weight. Of course, carbon fiber can also come with a suitably steep price tag, though Teijin’s techniques will likely help curb costs significantly. As manufacturers continue to push for ever more efficient vehicles, ditching the weight will become increasingly important.

Google, which commands the mobile market with its open-source Android operating system, now has a similar competitor lurking on the horizon: HP and its now not-so-doomed webOS.

After a brief meeting on Friday afternoon, HP president and CEO Meg Whitman revealed the company’s plans to contribute its webOS mobile operating system to the open source community. She said that HP will continue to play an active role in the development and financial support of the software while also contributing ENYO, the application framework for webOS, in the near future. Read more…

Ever wonder why ebooks have gotten so expensive? For a time it seemed cheaper to purchase a virtual copy of a book rather than buy the paperback edition or the more expensive hardback edition. For those who thrive on collecting novels and shoving them into a library, the $30 price for a hardback may be worth every penny. The cheaper paperback version could be deemed collectible, but typically these are purchased, read, and then traded in at a used book store for something else. Paperbacks aren’t expensive, but they’re not cheap either… at least, not anymore.

Yet for those wanting to read on the go — those who’d rather flip through virtual pages on their smartphone or tablet — shelling out $15 just seems ridiculous. After all, there’s no paper or printing involved, so what gives? Why have ebooks gotten even more expensive than a paperback? That’s a question European regulators and now the U.S. Justice Department are trying to determine.

On Wednesday European Union antitrust regulators announced an investigation into Apple and several international book publishers including French publisher Hachette Livre, News Corp.-owned Harper Collins, CBS’ Simon & Schuster, Britain-based Pearson Group’s Penguin and the German-owned Macmillan. They are suspected of price fixing after switching to a new pricing system called the “agency model” which essentially pulled ebook pricing away from “retailers” like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

According to the LA Times, the publishers didn’t want Amazon to control the ebook market by selling virtual books at a $9.99 or less price point. Publishers viewed their ebooks to be worth a lot more, and decided as a collective — along with Apple — to agree on a model once the iPad tablet hit the market. This agreement would leave publishers in control of pricing while providing retailers like Amazon and Apple a fixed commission on each sale.

Once the agreement was set in place, ebook prices began to rise. Suspecting foul play, EU officials raided a handful of publishers back in March, seizing computers, contracts and executive smartphones. Then on Tuesday they announced that the Commission “will in particular investigate whether these publishing groups and Apple have engaged in illegal agreements or practices that would have the object or the effect of restricting competition.”

Now the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust arm has gotten involved based on claims of unfair pricing practices by the said publishers. Details are scarce at this point, but Sharis Pozen, the acting assistant attorney general in the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said the agency was “investigating the electronic book industry” over the possibility of “anti-competitive practices involving e-book sales.”

Additionally, Attorneys general in Connecticut and Texas are now reportedly investigating electronic booksellers and how they price their virtual goods. They are also looking to see if Apple and Amazon have set up pricing practices that are “ultimately harmful to consumers.”

SOURCE via LA Times

Despite earlier talk about not competing directly with Intel starting 2012, AMD is reportedly going after its rival anyway with the possible introduction of the “Ultrathin,” a super-thin MacBook Air and Ultrabook clone that uses AMD processors instead of ones supplied by Intel. Even more, Brian Slattery from AMD Australia reports that the new form factor just might become available locally next month.

AMD is reportedly taking a different approach than Intel, refraining from commanding specific configurations and aesthetics. There’s speculation that AMD will be using the Brazos 2.0 platform sporting an updated Zacate APU and a Radeon HD 7000 series GPU. Slattery said that it was up to the Ultrathin manufacturers to decide how they adopt the platform.

“They can do what they want with them,” Slattery said.

He also added that AMD had conducted talks with a number of manufacturers about ultrathins and one of them was “particularly advanced.” Unfortunately, Slattery didn’t go into further detail about AMD’s ultrathin form factor, only stating that Apple had previously prepared a version of its MacBook Air running on an AMD processor, but decided to discontinue the project before its release.

Given that AMD’s Ultrathin may be introduced in Australia next month, there’s a good chance we’ll see a few working demo units running at CES 2012 next month. We’re also hoping AMD will choose an alternative name to differentiate its own design from rival Intel’s ultrabook now appearing on store shelves.

HP saw huge demand for its TouchPad tablet when it announced the decision to scrap the line and drop the price to $99. The tablet sold out in stores and at online retailers in a matter of hours and, ever since then, those that weren’t quick enough or lucky enough to snag one have been wondering if the $99 TouchPad might return at some point.

Well, if you didn’t cave a snap up a PlayBook after that device’s recent price plummet, you’ll be pleased to know that the $99 TouchPad is apparently going to return this weekend. TechCrunch cites an internal HP mail that says starting Sunday, December 11 at 6:00 p.m. Central time, 16GB and 32GB Touchpads will be available via HP’s ebay store (under ‘laptops’). However, there is one catch: They’re not brand new devices. Instead, HP is selling refurbs to those willing to shell out either $99 or $149 for the tablet.

Of course, supplies are limited, so when they’re gone, they’re gone. To that end, HP is restricting customers to two units each. There will also be an optional three-piece accessory bundle that includes a case, charging dock and wireless keyboard for $79 (estimated value is $199.97).

It’s been quite a week for Xbox already, with the launch of the hotly anticipated update to the Xbox Dashboard having just been released. However, Microsoft isn’t resting on its laurels — the company also released a companion app for Windows Phone 7 users and, yesterday, an official iOS Xbox Live application for Apple users.

Its arrival comes almost immediately after the Windows Phone 7 companion app, but the application for iPad, iPod and iPhone users is no where near as packed with features. Users of the Windows Phone 7 app can read up on whatever movie, TV show, music or game that is playing on their console; navigate through their console; play, pause, fast forward, or rewind content; initiate purchases; retrieve friend activity, achievements and related items; and launch a movie, TV show, game or app on the connected console simply by selecting a search result. Unfortunately, iOS users aren’t nearly as spoiled for features.

Microsoft’s Major Nelson says the free app will allow you to read and send messages to friends, manage your friends list, invite new friends, read and edit your full Live profile, change your avatar features, and view and compare your achievements with friends. Not quite as cool, but better than nothing.

You can download either app for free. Click here for Windows Phone 7, or here for iOS.