DETROIT: It's winter, but Detroit is turning green. Although the audacious concept cars turn heads, hybrids are becoming part of the mainstream. Hybrid technology was a hit at the North American International Auto Show. One of the most important hybrids shown was the 2007 Toyota Camry, the leading seller in the U.S. the past several years.

The 2007 Camry, unveiled here and slated to be on sale in the spring, will be available with a gasoline-electric hybrid engine. In hybrid form, the Camry should get 43 mpg in the city, 37 mpg on the highway. About 15 percent of Camry sales will come from hybrids. The outside dimensions are virtually unchanged in this fifth-generation Camry, but it's a bit sportier looking, and the passenger compartment is slightly roomier.

Some of the hybrids are a bit more outrageous, such as the Ford Super Chief (F250 pickup) prototype. Despite being almost as long as a locomotive (the name is railroad-inspired), it's a tri-flex fuel vehicle: The supercharged V10 engine can run on hydrogen (if and when you can find it), gasoline, or B85 ethanol (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline).

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More than half a dozen subcompacts debuted in Detroit. Not all of them are hybrids, but they sip whatever fuel they burn. These include the Chevy Aveo (167 inches long), the Honda Fit (157 inches), the Nissan Versa (176 inches), and the Toyota Yaris (169 inches). None fit the rubber-mats-on-the-floor econo-box model of the 1980s energy-crisis era. The Fit and the Versa are both described as hatchbacks, a feature that died in the U.S. a decade ago -- but this time around they look more like station wagons.

Bigger cars, such as the Chrysler Aspen, economize in other ways. The Aspen's Hemi V8 has displacement on demand and can throttle back to four cylinders when the car isn't accelerating. And GM showed the Tahoe Dual-Mode hybrid SUV. The V8 engine combines active fuel management (GM-speak for displacement on demand) and a hybrid-electric drivetrain developed in partnership among BMW, DaimlerChrysler, and GM.

The Ford Reflex, a sporty concept car -- concept means a less dramatic version might get into production in a couple years -- has a diesel-electric engine that can get up to 65 mpg. And Mercedes-Benz announced what it says is the world's cleanest diesel-engine technology, called BlueTec. A Bluetec E320 (a mid-size sedan) will get about 35 mpg; Bluetec may come to Mercedes SUVs by year's end. BMW has powerful, clean diesel engines in Europe (one has two turbochangers); the leading seller of luxury sedans in the U.S. says it will wait until it can emissions-certify them for sale in all 50 states. (California, New York, and other New England states have more stringent rules.)

As if the CES wasn't enough for the West Coast, the MacWorld Expo is taking place in San Francisco until Jan 13th. We just received word of Apple's announcement of a remote control for the video iPod with an integrated FM tuner.

All I have to say is, it's about time! Of course, it would be nice if Apple actually integrated the FM tuner into the iPod, but hey, I'm sure it will be in the works eventually. It will be available from Apple for $49.

And that's not all. Now you can purchase Saturday Night Live "Best of" collections from iTunes for $11.99 each. I own the Best of Molly Shannon and Best of Will Ferrell, and they're both hilarious!!

More details in PC Magazine's report.

Samsung Electronics is cooking up something big for media fans out there. At CES, the company unveiled its new line of handheld digital media players.

The first is the HDD YM-P1—a 20GB portable media player that lets you listen to music, watch movies and record TV programming. It offers six hours video or 15 hours audio playback. In fact, the device was awarded Best of Innovations at CES. The YM-P1 is slated to ship in Feb. 2006 and can be purchased through the Samsung Web site for $449.99.

The other is an MP3 player dubbed YP-D1 that features a 1.8-inch color screen, FM radio, 2-megapixel camera, voice recording, video shooting, and doubles as a USB host. It will be available in 1 or 2 GB storage capacity and supports MP3, WMA, OGG, JPEG and text files. In addition, the device features DNSe sound technology, which means you'll get a much richer sound through those headphones. The YP-D1 will be available for purchase in Feb. 2006, through the Samsung Web site. The 1 GB model retails for $249 and the 2-GB version will be available for $299.

For more details, read PC Magazine's report.

With Apple's announcements coming in about two hours, I wanted to pitch in on the slim possibility of an iPhone.

The problem with the ROKR E1 was that it had too many cooks working at cross purposes, at least two of whom are used to getting their own ways in all things: Apple and the cellular carrier. Apple doesn't play well with others, as everyone should have learned from the pathetic tale of the HP iPod. So for there to be a successful iPhone, Apple will have to become a cellular carrier. Essentially, they'd private-label either Cingular or Verizon service. Apple already has a relationship with Cingular, and Verizon would otherwise be a good fit: they focus on quality irrespective of price, which sounds like Apple to me.

An iPhone would be great because it would advance the cause of phone/PC/home integration by several leaps at once. Presumably, it would sync with .Mac and iSync, run iTunes and maybe even have a full Web browser; I can't see Steve Jobs being satisfied with WAP. Any hundred-song limit would be ameliorated by truly breathtaking integration with the rest of the Mac ecosystem.

But this simply isn't going to happen. There hasn't been a peep out of the FCC or the Chinese device makers about an iPhone, and Motorola's announcement of iTunes on the new SLVR L7 promises a new era of mediocre compromises. Perhaps Apple will get moving when Verizon and Microsoft start eating their lunch with the new PlaysForSure phones on the V CAST Music service.