Driving Around In A New Prius

Thanks to the folks at Servco, I got to drive the new 2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid for a few days. Most people know the Prius for great gas mileage, but the new 2010 Prius also is loaded with gadgets.

The car came with the advanced technology package, which includes the Navigation Package, Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), Pre-Collision System (PCS), Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and the Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA). The GPS on the Navigation Package was nothing out of the ordinary. It had a Bluetooth kit with voice-command capability, and the ability to load all your contacts in the system for the voice controls. I could stream music from my iPhone, but there was no way to control my iPhone from the steering wheel, so I wouldn’t consider it fully integrated. Additionally, when you’re reversing, the camera on the bumper is very clear, and is good to help spot obstacles or people while you’re backing up.

From all the other features in the tech package, the one I played with the most was the IPA. I lost count of how many times I blocked streets with friends in the car to show them the car automatically park itself! You can use this feature to parallel park on either the left or right side of the street. Using its sonar sensors, the car automatically knows which side you’re going for. The DRCC senses cars in the front and slows down accordingly, and the LKA beeps at you and gently tugs the wheel back if it feels you drifting into the next lane. Also, with or without the tech package, you have the Smart Key - leave the key in your pocket/purse and you can unlock/lock the doors and start the car.


“The all-new 2010 Toyota Prius is a vehicle which is intended for everyone,” says Wes Kimura, vice president of Servco Automotive. “As such, we aren’t seeing a specific type of buyer, but buyers from all segments and demographics who are looking for a vehicle that does it all: great of fuel mileage, very clean emissions, available with industry leading feature - and all available at a very affordable price.”

Hypermilers will love this car. In case you don’t know what hypermiling is, it’s basically using techniques to maximize your fuel economy (i.e. minimizing braking and rapid acceleration, driving with the air conditioner off or shutting the engine down at certain times). I work with a novel hypermiler and he sometimes drives me and my other co-workers nuts on our short drives to lunch. He refuses to turn on the air conditioner, so we’ll wind the windows down so we can breathe, then we rag on him about it.

The Prius’ four driving modes give any hypermiler or regular driver the flexibility to have fun with the car. You can select between NORMAL, EV, ECO or POWER modes. I nicknamed the EV mode the “golf cart mode” - it tells the car to drive with electric power until the car goes above 25 mph or the battery level falls too low. ECO maps down the acceleration curve at mid-throttle, while POWER increases it, especially when you’re accelerating from a full stop, or need to pass a slow bus or truck on the freeway. It was fun to play with the different modes on the road, but I had to be careful to not let it become too distracting while I was driving.

The Prius is currently available in four levels. The Prius II starts at $22,000 and comes standard with keyless ignition, full-power accessories, cruise control, a six-speaker sound system, a tilting and telescoping steering wheel and a hybrid display. The Prius III ($23,000) has all that plus Bluetooth capability and an upgraded sound system. The Prius IV ($25,740) adds leather upholstery, heated front seats, an auto-dimming mirror and driver-adjustable lumbar support. The top-of-the-line Prius V ($27,210) adds 17-inch alloy wheels, fog lamps and LED headlights. Check out www.toyotahawaii.com for complete car specs and thorough information/options on each model.

So the question is: Is it worth it to spend the extra money for a hybrid? The recent hike in gas prices have definitely sparked interest in the Prius. Well, you do see an average of 51 miles per gallon, which means you will probably cut your monthly gas bill in half.

The good news is that the 2010 Prius qualifies for the government’s new “Cash For Clunkers” program featured in this week’s cover story. If you have an old gas-guzzling clunker to trade in, you can have $4,500 instantly knocked off the price. Visit cars.gov for more information and to see if your clunker qualifies.

Confessions Of A Geek At Heart

For MidWeek‘s 25th anniversary, I was asked to share my MidWeek experience, so here it goes:

My MidWeek journey began many moons ago, in 2000, when I was hired on as a sales assistant. That job didn’t last longer than a few months when MidWeek saw potential and moved me into the systems department as an information technology specialist. I guess they could tell I was a geek at heart, and believed I could do the job. That little move changed my life forever.

My Click Chick technology column began in 2005, and I had just left the company to pursue my Air Force career. I remember chuckling at the fact that I had my journalism degree all that time but never wrote for the newspaper until I left. This was yet another great opportunity ... the rest is history.


People often ask me how I come up with my story ideas, and how I keep thinking of new things to write about. The answer is simple. I have a passion for gadgets and following the latest and greatest in the tech world anyway, so it all comes naturally. I seem to always have something at the tip of my brain, and even in the rare instance that I don’t, I receive tons of press releases every day from various companies, so my story pool never dries up. My goal with this column is to share my technology world with you, the readers.

Having this column has opened up so many doors that I almost don’t know where to begin. I’ve had the opportunity to meet many interesting people, attend various events and conferences, and occasionally I am recognized as the “Click Chick.”

One of the more memorable individuals I was able to meet was Kaz Hirai (one of the top execs of Sony Corporation) at the time of the PlayStation 3 (PS3) launch in 2006. Shortly after that, thanks to Sony, I had the first PS3 in the state of Hawaii. I remember driving home with that thing in the trunk - it felt as if I had a million bucks in the back of my car! Keep in mind this was a few days before the mad rush when people were standing in long lines to buy a PS3.


Additionally, that PS3 gave me the opportunity in November 2006 to be on my first MidWeek cover. Kaz Hirai was the main focus on the cover, and I was shown from the back holding a PS3 controller. The second MidWeek cover I was on was published in October 2007, and it was extremely close to my heart. I was pictured with three fellow survivors of domestic violence, and we were given the opportunity to share our survival stories. After that story published, it was amazing how many supportive reader e-mails and verbal comments I received. Even to this day, I still receive comments about that story, and it published nearly two years ago!

Much mahalo for reading MidWeek and my column! I look forward to many more years of providing you with the latest and greatest from my world of technology.

All The Buzz About ‘The Conduit’

The Conduit was one of the most popular Nintendo Wii games at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Exclusively for the Wii from High Voltage Software and published by Sega, it has been generating lots of buzz over the past few months in the gaming community. What’s the big appeal? It’s something that works for both hardcore and casual gamers.

You go through the game as Michael Ford, a Secret Service agent with a knack for hunting down hostile aliens after saving the life of the U.S. president from an assassination attempt and witnessing terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C. All this activity has U.S. agencies in an overly paranoid state as they scramble for answers.

The big appeal of The Conduit is the control functionality. You run around the game using your nunchuk’s stick, aim your guns with the remote, toss your grenades by doing a throwing motion with the nunchuk, and make various other moves by hitting buttons or performing specific motions. I enjoy the capability to aim with precision to do headshots or shoot accurately at far-away targets.


Throughout the game you’ll see a few different environments that include subway stations, underground government bases, war-torn streets and smelly sewers. The only problem I had is even though you see that change in scenery, each level seems to play the same way. At each level you’ll end up seeing narrow corridors that could potentially make you lost if you’re not paying attention, and you go from one alien battle to another. Your bug-like/robot-looking enemies hatch from eggs, and you need to hunt down the nests they come from while you’re taking shots from above and things are sneaking up behind you.

Overall I can say The Conduit is definitely a great success for the Wii. Before this game came out, there was never a good first-person shooter designed specifically for the Wii. The controls are fine-tuned to make gunning down your enemies while sprinting around the battlefield easy and fun. The visuals fill your screen with enemies, explosions and lighting effects without making your frame rate drop.Most of all, playing the game is enjoyable.

The Conduit is rated “T” for Teen and retails for $49.99. Find it at your nearest GameStop (gamestop.com), Toys N Joys (toysnjoys.com) or Walmart (walmart.com). Visit conduitgame.com for more information on the game or to watch some footage.


Click Chick’s iPhone App of the Week: Cheap Gas!
I’ve been using the Cheap Gas! app on my iPhone since it came out back in September of last year, but now is a good time to mention it since gas prices are creeping back up. Cheap Gas! uses station pricing from GasBuddy.com and finds the cheapest gas nearest you.

I find this app helpful to quickly spot how much gas is going for nearby. Once the gas stations around you are located, it automatically sorts your results by the cheapest first. Click on the station you’re interested in and it will show you the prices of all the station’s gas grades, and if you need to know where it is, the Map button will show you. It even shows the gas prices on military bases (i.e. AAFES).

Note for the iPod touch: Cheap Gas! only supports postal code searches. Find it for free at the iTunes App Store.

Earning Extra Income Online

Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed a few people fall victim to online scams that promised great wealth from working at home and investments. In this economy, with many job losses and furloughs, anything to generate extra income can sound extremely attractive. Some websites advertised on pop-up ads or spam e-mails may sound tempting to those desperately seeking work or hurting for money, but don’t take the bait!

Realistically, you’re not going to earn thousands of dollars a week for stuffing envelopes, payment processing/billing from home, or an undisclosed vague “secret method” the company won’t reveal to you unless you pay a fee. These are things the companies tell you so that you’ll likely buy into the scam, such as a product assembly kit. Then, once you have the “product” in-hand, there’s no reason for them to give you a return on investment since they already swallowed your money.

But we do know that there are actual legitimate ways to earn some extra cash online.

Here are a few examples:
* Freelancing: If you have a special talent (i.e. software programmer, web designer, illustrator, foreign language abilities, etc.) you could find a freelance job with elance.com or guru.com. Both sites have a variety of desired trades, and you can post your job for free.

* Transcription services: This is for an extremely fast typist (minimum 75 words per minute) who has a good ear and an excellent command of the English language. Transcription involves listening to recorded speech and putting it into written form. The material you produce can range from interviews, focus groups, corporate research projects and police interrogations to documentary film footage. Here are two reputable companies to check out: productiontranscripts.com/jobs and tigerfish.com/employment. If you don’t already have it, both require Start-Stop’s Power Play for Windows Media software (fairly pricey investment at around $250).

* Customer service: Patience, a computer and fairly quiet surroundings are required for this one. Working Solutions (workingsol.com) offers work-at-home opportunities for various projects that could include order processing, reservations, customer service, sales or market research. The calls are routed to your home office, and you’ll need a computer. No fees are charged to apply or work for Working Solutions.

* Tutor: Are you an academic who enjoys helping others? Online tutoring could be for you. You’ll have to go through an extensive screening process to become a certified online tutor. Subjects range from high-level math and science to social studies and foreign languages. Two websites that offer this opportunity are tutor.com and smarthinking.com.

There are countless other legitimate online opportunities out there, but these probably are the easier ones at which to succeed.

Click Chick’s iPhone App of the Week: Flight Control

Flight Control is an action/strategy game for your iPhone/iPod touch. You touch and drag aircraft to their landing zones as you avoid midair collisions. It sounds simple, but you need to do this with great skill as planes seem to pop up out of nowhere.

The game features a peer-to-peer multiplayer mode, where you can play together with your favorite iPhone/iPod touch buddy. The aircraft appear as usual, but one controller is in charge of the pink plane, and the other handles the yellow and blue ones. Additionally, you can save/resume your games (i.e. when you receive a phone call) and fast-forward the game if you want it to move along quicker.

Flight Control is so much fun and addicting, it’s one of those games that will stay on your iPhone forever. It’s perfect to keep you occupied for either a short wait in the doctor’s office or that long plane ride that will last hours and hours. Find it at the iTunes App Store on for 99 cents or visit www.fire.mint.com/flightcontrol for more information.

Hands-free Options For Your Cell

With the new “hands-free” cell phone law going into effect this week, I’ve been bombarded with the same question from family, friends, co-workers and readers: “What is the best hands-free device I can use with my cell phone?”

As I’ve been telling everyone, that’s a loaded question with multiple answers. Over the past few years, while the cell phone market grew, so did the variety of hands-free devices. Bluetooth/hands-free devices are available just about everywhere, and there’s no way I can mention everything, but here are some ideas for you to ponder.

I use and enjoy the Jawbone PRIME, which came out in May. I think it’s the best Bluetooth headset for noise reduction. My biggest problem with noise is being outside in the wind. We all know how annoying it is when you’re talking to someone and all you hear from the other side is the wind blowing and not their voice. The PRIME solves this, as it can handle up to 10 mph of wind with its proprietary sensor coupled with its new Digital Signal Processing algorithms.


With this headset I can have a normal conversation without worrying about covering the mouthpiece or getting out of the blowing wind. Also note the PRIME gives you a 6- to 9-decibel improvement in almost any other noisy environment, as it extracts noises and keeps your voice natural. It will last about four-and-a-half hours on a single charge for talk time/eight days standby, and will fully charge in about 45 minutes.

The Jawbone PRIME is a little pricey for a headset, but it’s well worth it. The retail price is $129.99 and it comes in four fun “EARCANDY” colors - lime, scarlet, yellow and lilac - as well as boring black, brown and gray. Find it at your nearest Apple Store (or www.apple.com) or from Jawbone (www.jawbone.com).

If you’re on a budget or just want something reasonable that does the job so you can be in compliance with the new law, Hawaiian Telcom has a few solutions at its stores (Bishop Street, Kapiolani Boulevard or Pearlridge Uptown). The best thing is, all of them are on sale:

* Ear Bud (wired headset): extremely affordable, $7.50 (regular $15)
* foneGear Mini Blu (fG976): four hours talk time/three days standby, $39.99 (regular $49.99)
* BlueAnt X3: seven hours talk time/7.5 days standby, multi-function button for headset control, $39.99 (regular $50)
* BlueAnt Supertooth 3 Bluetooth Speakerphone: If you don’t already have a cell phone that you can control with your voice, the Supertooth 3 allows you to use voice prompts to connect the device with your phone and upload your address book. It announces the name or ID of the caller when your phone rings - just say OK to accept the call. It installs in seconds for an alternate hands-free experience. $99 (regular $125)


If you’re willing to spend a little more and don’t want to deal with a headset, another alternative is installing an entire kit in your car. In addition to my headset, my car came with a Bluetooth kit, and it worked great with my previous iPhones and now my iPhone 3G S. If your car didn’t come loaded with a kit, there are companies that can install one for you. Hands Free Hawaii has been around since 1989 and installs hard-wired Bluetooth car kits that range approximately from $200 to $400 (plus $200 average labor charge). These kits enable you to make and take calls without touching your phone (usually the controls are on the steering wheel).

Talking on your cell phone can be helpful passing the time in heavy traffic, but if you must, please call safely! Remember that the first offense for using your phone without a hands-free device is $67. After that, a judge can impose a higher fine for repeat offenses.

A reminder: Under this new law, mobile electronic devices include cell phones, text-messaging devices, pagers, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, video game players (i.e. PlayStation Portable or Nintendo DS) and digital cameras.