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Ryan M

Member since: Nov 26th, 2005

Ryan M's Latest Comments

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Autoblog27 Comments
TUAW.com29 Comments
Engadget59 Comments
DV Guru5 Comments
Switched1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Saab 9-3 Independence Edition sneaks out ahead of Geneva debut (Autoblog)

Feb 20th 2011 11:55AM You can't re-engineer a whole model series in a year. That's part of why it was so difficult to get GM to sell Saab -- they wanted to just sell the name, while cutting off Saab's access to the new 9-5 and the 9-4x. Saab is working on their own platform now called "Pheonix," and they're entering into a number of strategic partnerships...such as partnerships to let other companies use the Phoenix platform, and a partnership that gives them access to BMW engines. Doing lots of smart things and trying hard to become one of the most (financially) efficient car companies in the world, and moving fast, but those GM platforms and parts are not just going to poof away overnight.

Saab 9-3 Independence Edition sneaks out ahead of Geneva debut (Autoblog)

Feb 20th 2011 11:46AM Nope. Actually the convertibles used to be built in Austria, one of the first things that Spyker did was pull convertible construction into Trollhättan.

Saab hatchback concept teased ahead of Geneva (Autoblog)

Feb 11th 2011 6:27PM Actually we'll never really know how much of a "drain" Saab was (or wasn't) on GM. There was all sorts of shady bookkeeping going on. For example, GM Accounting would have Saab pay to develop and build cars, but then GM USA would take the profits for actually selling the cars. Lots of Saab's R&D costs that were part of the "drain" on GM turned into technology that GM is using now, like turbocharging technology for the Cruize. So yes, while Saab was an accounting loss to GM for all those years...that doesn't mean that the company was actually draining GM.

Video: Banned Dacia Duster advert is funny, strange (Autoblog)

Jan 15th 2011 3:10AM remember how you have to leave a commment to get to the page where you can change your password?

Spyker times its arrival with custom watch collection (Autoblog)

Oct 22nd 2010 10:10AM The interesting thing about the Spyker watches: Whereas Ferraris consumer crap (Rebadging cheap laptops, high end cameras, and the like) was probably dreamed up by some well-meaning person in a marketing office, the Spyker watches are a direct result of Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker, who happens to like watches.

Saab Boss Victor Muller: BMW would make "wonderful partner" for chassis development (Autoblog)

Oct 19th 2010 10:11AM Are you serious?

Have you any idea how much it costs to develop things like engines and chassis? For Saab to share with a company like, say, BMW is a big help. Both companies benefit too. BMW benefits because they get to recover some of their development costs by selling intellectual property and/or parts to Saab. Saab gets to benefit from BMWs investment in engineering. BMW wouldn't just hand their hard work over to Saab. The two companies would negotiate a price and terms that were fair to both buyer and seller.

Also, they may get the chassis or engine from BMW, but they're going to implement it in their very own way. For example, BMW -- like most european manufacturers -- uses ECU units from Bosch and Siemens. Saab uses their own in-house developed ECUs. I wouldn't be surprised to see Saab toss out BMWs ECU in favour of their own Trionic.

BMW the latest automaker to showcase Bang & Olufsen sound system (Autoblog)

Sep 22nd 2010 9:45AM I thought the window-switch cover looked like a speaker grille too. Then I went over to the B&O website and saw the same picture at a different angle. I'm about 90% sure this picture is actually a CGI model and they just have the reflectivity of the window switch turned up a little too high.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 gets firmware hack for higher quality HD video recording (Engadget)

Jun 16th 2010 10:30AM @Joao

Does it? Because last time I checked the GH1 had an articulating screen, a viewfinder that that doesn't blackout during recording, and the ability to autofocus while recording using video-optimized lenses with silent focusing. The GH1 (When shooting AVCHD, not MJPEG) will also record until your card is full, and -- via adaptors -- can use almost any lens you throw at it, including lenses that could never be adapted to the T2i because of flange-distance issues.

The T2i is a fantastic camera too, and Canon is currently dominating the v-dSLR world in terms of video quality, but there's still quite a bit of differentiation between different models in terms features and abilities.

-Happy GH1 user. (And 7D user at work)

Video: 24 Hours of Nürburgring in 19,500 glorious HD frames (Autoblog)

Jun 8th 2010 7:53PM sooo...shaky...let's get him a shoulder rig.

Chrysler split over which CAD software to use (Autoblog)

May 4th 2010 6:52PM My knowledge of CAD systems is limited to a semester of working with NX, Pro/E, Catia, and Inventor in school. I personally preferred NX, but agree with others that it's a big and expensive problem to switch from one to another. Good luck Chrysler!