The Top 10 Most Brilliant Gadgets of 2007

• Breakthrough Awards
• Microsoft
• Surface
• insulation
• Samsung
• hard drive
• Ford
• auto technology
• laptops
• hybrid
• engines
• Wii
• Nintendo
• Hitachi
• saws
• Apple
• iPhone
• LG Electronics
• HD-DVD
• blu-ray

GM, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, BMW Two-Mode Hybrid

Total hybrid sales are projected to be up 35 percent this year. But that’s still only about 345,000 vehicles—a fraction of the 16-plus million vehicles sold overall. GM, BMW and the former DaimlerChrysler joined forces three years ago to develop a scalable hybrid system that brings the fuel-saving technology to the masses of front- and rear-wheel-drive cars (and the trucks) that each manufacturer produces. The fuel savings, over such large volumes of traditionally thirsty vehicles, should be impressive. The system locates two electric motors and four clutches inside the transmission to deliver multiple combinations of gearing and electric propulsion. The first applications in the Chevrolet Tahoe and the GMC Yukon deliver a fuel economy improvement up to 25 percent yet still allow the big SUVs to tow 6000 pounds.

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