Lexus is the automaker with the most satisfied customers, according to nearly every survey. The company also has the best Web site, says researcher J.D. Power & Associates. On Power's semiannual Manufacturers Web Site Evaluation Survey, Lexus moved from sixth place to first, with a score of 864 out of a possible 1,000. Pontiac and Suzuki tied for second, Hummer was third, and Kia moved from first place to tie with BMW for fifth.
For the survey, Power queried 11,800 Internet users who said they'd be likely to buy a car in the next two years. The Lexus site got good marks for its simple navigation and for being easy to load using broadband or dial-up connections—a nice touch, even though its upscale customers are more likely to be using high-speed Web access.
Although Lexus rated number one in just about everything that can be surveyed, the rest of the top 10 automakers are all over the map on other Power surveys—particularly the influential Initial Quality Survey, which measures problems in the first 90 days of ownership. Only three of the top 10 were also in the top 10 on IQS, and five were in the bottom 10 of 36 brands rated. But Power also said that respondents found even the lowest-ranked sites to be acceptable.
Power says it rates only the parts of a site that a prospective buyer would use. At TechnoRide, we've found most sites more than adequate for the would-be buyer. But unfortunately, the owner sections are almost uniformly weak on useful content.
The list below details the Web site rankings and, for the top 10, their comparative rankings on IQS.
Best Automaker Web Sites (Survey rank, automaker rank, score, (rank of initial quality survey. "T23, 36)" means Pontiac tied for 23, Suzuki was 36 on IQS.)
Cruising Cingular's site today, I noticed an excellent deal: the beloved, Editor's Choice Audiovox SMT-5600 smartphone for only $50 with contract. This little black phone is a big winner. It syncs easily with Outlook, plays games, reads Microsoft Office documents, and plays music and video synced over with Windows Media Player 10. So why is it going so cheaply? The SMT-5600 runs last year's OS, Windows Mobile 2003, and won't support Microsoft's upcoming push email solution. It's been replaced by the Cingular 2125, which has a newer OS. Also, apparently the $50 phones are used and refurbished. At that price, the SMT-5600 is a truly terrific deal. I wish I could link directly to the purchase page, but Cingular has some cookies which prevent you from doing that.
Fine Art Reproduction is nothing new to HP. In fact, they started with reproducing Thomas KinKade's famous artwork.
Now, HP is working with Kyoto International Culture Foundation to preserve 800-year old fine art from 3,500 temples and shrines in Japan. The Kyoto Foundation selected HP to help them create digitized prints of the deteriorating artwork.
If you're in the NYC area, you can check out the first digitally created prints at the ART Expo in the Jacob Javits Center, March 2-6. On display will be "The Five Great Guardian Gods of Buddhism" from the Daigo-ji Temple; "Tigers," (shown here) including "Tiger Drinking Water," from the Nanzenji Temple; and "Landscape of Katata" from the Zuihouin House, Daitokuji Temple.
I had the chance to meet with several HP executives today who told us about the long and tedious process of creating digital prints. It involves capturing the image with a special camera; reproducing the image on Japanese Washi paper made from the inner bark of mulberry and other trees; printing the image using HP's designjet 5500 UV 60-inch large-format printer; applying gold leafs; and mounting and framing for public display.
This wasn't an easy task, however. Color matching, especially with the color black, was difficult to match. But HP worked closely with the Kyoto Foundation, developing color profiles. Their efforts worked, because these reproductions look exactly like the originals. Now HP is wondering if this process should be commercialized.
Other HP products used during the process are: HP xw4300 Workstation, HP Compaq nx7200 Notebook, HP mp2210 Digital Projector, HP Officejet 6210 All-in-One printer, ProCurve Networking by HP Switch 2724, and HP ProLiant ML100 server.
So if you're in Japan, visit the World Heritage Site in Kyoto to witness firsthand these beautiful reproductions. For more info on HP's art reproduction methods, visit their page on the Spirit of Kyoto.
In terms of technology, the star of the 76th International Motor Show in Geneva was Blue&Me, the Microsoft-Fiat joint venture that will offer a low-cost telematics box with Bluetooth hands-free talk, voice recognition, music-player connections for MP3 and WMA files, remote diagnostics, and the potential for turn-by-turn navigation downloads via cell phone.
Sales-ready cars were on display this year along with concept cars, all with technologies for more efficiency, lower emissions, and new use of materials. Diesels are big in Europe because of their great fuel economy and relatively clean emissions; they are due for a big-time return to the U.S. over the next year.
If you shop for fashion rather than function, then set your eyes on this $3,500 gold-plated, diamond-encrusted USB memory stick.
The Tech company White Lake will introduce this exclusive USB stick at the CeBIT show on March 9 in Hannover, Germany. Hand made and designed by the Dutch goldsmith Erwin de VroomeIt, it's made of 14-carat gold and five polished diamonds, and comes in 128MB, 256MB, 512MB and 1,024MB capacities.
I'm sure Paris Hilton will be trying to get a free one.
Online retailer Dynamism snagged a bunch of awesome phones recently, including the VK2100: a credit-card-sized phone with 2GB of internal flash memory, an MP3 player and Bluetooth that weighs under two ounces. It'll probably cost a pretty penny, so cheapskates can get the VK2000, a $279 credit-card phone without the MP3 and Bluetooth, but with the super-thin, super-light form factor. Both phones slip easily into a wallet (there's a photo on the Dynamism site) and both come unlocked and ready to roll on the T-Mobile network.
I generally don't recommend that people buy from independent importers, because you might be left in the lurch if your gray-market phone breaks. But I make an exception for Dynamism because they offer their own warranties, service, and high-quality tech support, so you can buy from them with confidence.
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