Porsche offers a variety of driving modes, which can be toggled between using a switch on the steering wheel. They range from purely electric, which has a range of approximately 18 miles and a 7s 0-62mph time (plus a top speed of 93mph), through to hybrid mode, and then with the V8 kicking in. The hybrid motor running the rear axel can be used on its own, or just the V8, or both together for all-wheel drive.

Keeping the electric motors running is a 7kWh liquid-cooled li-ion battery made up of 312 cells and charging in under 7hrs from a 110V (10A) socket or trimming that to under 2hrs from a 240V (30A) socket. Install Porsche’s industrial-strength Speed Charging Station, and your 918 Spyder will be rejuiced in 25 minutes.

Porsche is particularly keen to stress how usable every day the 918 Spyder can be, and so in regular Hybrid mode it switches between gas and electric motors to maximize fuel economy. Sport Hybrid sees the eco-halo drop somewhat, with both engine and electrics working continuously, but still with an eye on economic driving. Then there’s Race Hybrid, which relies primarily on the gas engine and kicks the electric motors in for short boosts, with the Porsche topping up the batteries from spare power from the V8 when it’s not being used to full capacity.

Finally, there’s Hot Lap mode, which works only in Race Hybrid mode and gushes all the available battery power out to drive the electric motors to their limits. It’s only good for a couple of laps, however.

Inside, there’s one cluster of controls for the core driving data, which are wrapped around the wheel, while the multitouch-touchscreen infotainment stack is in the middle and used to manage the climate control, comms, Burmester sound system, and lighting. Alcantara clads the seats, and other areas of the interior, and there’s less sound insulation and more exposed carbon-fiber. One option is having more of the exterior left unpainted, exposing the carbon sections.

Perhaps the biggest question remaining is how economical it actually is; unfortunately, final fuel consumption figures aren’t available yet. What we do know is that speed and efficiency don’t come cheap: the standard car will be around $845,000 in the US when deliveries begin in Q1 2014. Then, of course, it’ll have to face off challengers like Honda’s 2015 NSX.

The rear axle steering feature is quite unique and rather odd to think about. Essentially, the steering angle of the rear wheels can be adjusted by up to 2.8 degrees, and this changes depending on how fast you’re going. The rear axle consists of “electro-mechanical actuators” that change the degree of the rear wheels, so when you turn the 911 Turbo going under 30 mph, the rear wheels are ever so slightly turned in the opposite direction, which shortens the wheelbase, giving the car better cornering abilities.

At speeds above 50 mph, the steering system steers the rear wheels parallel to the front wheels, which extends the wheelbase and gives the car better stability at high speeds. It’s an interesting concept, and one that allows the car to go under 7:30 at the Nurburgring, according to Porsche. As for the engine, the 911 Turbo sports 520 horsepower, while the Turbo S has 560 horsepower.

Unfortunately, though, the new car won’t come with a manual transmission option, but Porsche claims that the 911 Turbo S can reach 60 mph from a standing position in just 2.9 seconds, which is mighty quick for a production car. As for price, The 911 Turbo will cost $148,300, while the 911 Turbo S begins at $181,100.

Certainly, the most interesting of the new Panamera models is the Panamera S E-Hybrid. While Porsche has offered a hybrid version of this car in the past, the S E-Hybrid is the first plug-in hybrid Porsche has offered. This version has a more powerful electric motor and a better performing battery supplying more energy that can be recharged from home or public vehicle charging stations. The electric drive system in off the vehicle produces 95 hp, which is more than twice the power produced by the previous hybrid electric motor.

That new electric motor is paired with a 9.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, which is significantly larger than the previous 1.7 kWh battery used in the hybrid Panamera previously. Porsche says that the vehicle can completely recharge its battery in 2.5 hours using a 240V power source. EPA fuel economy estimates for the new plug-hybrid are unavailable at this time and the vehicle will be able to operate on electric power alone.

Porsche estimates that the electric only driving range will be about 20 miles. The other new version of the Panamera is a long wheelbase model called the Executive. The Executive models have two full-sized rear bucket seats and the car will be available in naturally aspirated and Turbo models. Both models have a wheelbase that is extended by 5.9-inches providing more rear seat comfort.

The turbo version uses a 3.0-liter twin Turbo V-6 engine which replaces the previous 4.8-liter V8. However, the new turbo engine produces an additional 20 hp and 15 pound-foot of torque compared to the old V-8. The plug-in hybrid will start at $99,000 with the standard Executive model starting at $125,600 and the executive Turbo starting at $161,100.

[via Porsche]

As you expect from a new Porsche, the vehicle has impressive performance with a top speed of 195 mph and the ability to hit 60 mph from a standstill in 3.3 seconds. We already know a bit about the performance and powertrain for the new Porsche, but we didn’t know much about the interior. In previous years, the insides of the Porsche 911 weren’t exactly spectacular looking.

The interiors were particularly spartan in the performance oriented 911 GT3 and GT3 RS versions of the 911. Inside the new GT3, the cockpit looks all business and certainly has the style that should go along with a car costing over $130,000. Porsche is showing off the insides of the new car on video and it looks glorious.

Sports car purists may lament the fact that there is no manual transmission in this car. Porsche developed a special paddle shifted PDK transmission just for the 911 GT3. You can check out the video below and see the insides of the fastest naturally aspirated 911 Porsche offers.

[via Motorward]

The fifth-generation car gets a new engine, transmission, body, and chassis. Porsche says the new vehicle is good from a standstill to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and has a top speed of 195 mph. The vehicle will hit dealers in the United States in late 2013 starting at $130,400.

The 2014 911 GT3 also gets the first active rear-wheel steering ever fitted her production Porsche and optional full LED headlights. The GT3 is the Porsche sports car developed specifically for racetrack driving. The vehicle uses a naturally aspirated 3.8-liter boxer engine producing 475 horsepower and featuring a 9000 RPM redline.

That power goes to the road through a specially developed Porsche dual-clutch PDK transmission driving the rear wheels. The engine uses titanium connecting rods and forged pistons. Porsche says that the special PDK transmission has been developed just for the GT3 and delivers characteristics based directly on the sequential gearbox Porsche uses in racing. The car will make its official world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.

[via Porsche]

One of the interesting things about Porsche and its 911 is that the car has evolved over time getting arguably better with each iteration. Porsche is now celebrating its 50th anniversary of the iconic 911. Porsche says that over 820,000 911s have been built making it one of the most successful sports cars in the world. There have been seven generations of the rear-engine four-seat sports car.

The 911 also has a long and storied race history with approximately 2/3 of all 30,000 Porsche racing victories coming behind the wheel of the 911. Racing is very important to Porsche and the 911 specifically since many of its features for the road were developed on the racetrack. To celebrate the 50th anniversary Porsche is going to be sending a 1967 911 on a world tour.

Over the course of 2013, the car will travel to five different continents where it will be put on display at high-profile automotive events such as Pebble Beach in California and Goodwood in the UK. The Porsche 911 launched in 1963, in 1973, Porsche introduced the G-Series 911, and the 964 version launched in 1988. In 1993, Porsche launched the last of its air-cooled 911 models internally known as the 993. Water-cool 911′s debuted in 1997 with the 996. 2004 saw the Porsche 997 debut and the latest generation of the Porsche 911 is known internally as the 991.

[via Porsche]

While you’re about to see this system working tethered to an iPhone 5, you’ll also be able to use it with Android. What you’re doing here is not just using your smartphone’s app to make this whole system work, you’re tethering with your smartphone for internet as well. This way you’ll only have the one internet bill rather than needing to work with another bill for your vehicle – well played.

Aha’s system allows for the display of Facebook and Twitter statuses and also allows you to interact with your friends on both of those systems in a relatively basic way. You’ll be able to get news updates and tap through to hear podcasts galore as well. This system is an extremely simple extension of the Aha app and ecosystem in a perfectly simple-to-work user interface via Porsche’s Communication Management System.

This system will be available to everyone using a vehicle equipped with the Porsche Communication Management System immediately if not soon, and Aha is pushing to several other similar car systems this week as well – Ford and Chrysler amongst them. In the near future, Aha will be integrating with Subaru, Honda, and Acura too.

Have a peek at our Porsche tag to see all the fabulous red hot vehicle action through our archives, our gigantic Car portal for vehicles of all kinds, and also be sure to catch up with everything CES 2013 through the rest of the week in our CES hub!

For instance, Porsche Design’s very first product – the Chronograph I watch – had a matte black finish so as to reduce reflections for drivers. Now, texting and driving isn’t a good idea, even if you have a matte black phone, but we have to say the P’9981 looks better now than it did in silver.

Unfortunately, inside the same old specs and software mean the functionality isn’t going to be much better than before; in fact, if you’re familiar with the BlackBerry Bold 9900, then you can expect exactly the same experience from the P’9981 Black. OS 7.1 on a 1.2GHz processor, with 8GB of internal storage and a microSD slot, here pre-fitted with a 16GB card.

The new P’9981 Black will go on sale in January 2013, coincidentally at roughly the same time as RIM will officially unveil its BlackBerry 10 plans. It’s expected to be priced at the same $1,500 or thereabouts of its silver predecessor.

[via CrackBerry]

Porsche also promises that the new Cayman is also more efficient and more powerful than ever. Porsche says that the new Cayman is up to 30 kg lighter than the previous model depending on the specific version and how it’s equipped. Porsche also notes that the new Cayman uses 15% less fuel per 100 km and the outgoing version of the Cayman.

Porsche stuck to the formula that has made the Cayman successful with the 2013 being a two-seat mid-engine sports car available as a standard Cayman and the more powerful Cayman S. The base Cayman uses a 2.7-liter flat six-cylinder engine producing 275 HP. The base Cayman is able to hit 100 KMH in 5.4 seconds with a top speed of 266 KMH.

The high-end Cayman S has a larger 3.4-liter flat-six engine producing 325 hp. This version is capable of reaching 100 KMH in 4.7 seconds when properly equipped and boasts a top speed of 283 KMH. The newly designed Cayman also has new optional features available for the first time including adaptive cruise control. Another first-time feature is an optional Burmester sound system. The Cayman also gets a new optional keyless Entry & Drive system. Pricing and availability is unknown at this time.

According to the leaked pricing, the car will start at €768,026, which works out to $995,976 in the US. If you opt for something called the Weissach Package, pricing starts at €839,426 or about $1,088,567. That pricing certainly guarantees that only the mega rich will ever get to see the inside of a 918 Spyder.

It’s only the base price the vehicle that’s crazy expensive though, pricing for optional equipment is just insane. The 918 has an option for magnesium wheels costing €29,750 or about $38,500 in the US. The quick charger option will cost another €20,230 or $26,234.

The most expensive option is some sort of special liquid metal paint starting at €47,600. That works out to $61,727 for a special paint color. It’s hard to believe that the paint on your Porsche costs more than a Corvette.

[via Jalopnik]

The P’9223 has a smooth aluminum finish and a thin form factor that LaCie says is meant to match the exteriors of Apple’s MacBook Pro and MacBook Air line of laptops, and the drive is specifically “designed with Apple enthusiasts in mind.” The company says that it’s also their fastest external drive yet, combining USB 3.0 with an optional SSD option to “maximize performance.”

LaCie says the USB 3.0 on their new drive can deliver speeds of up to 400MB/s, and thanks to the USB Attached SCSI Protocol, LaCie claims that the drive gets “even better speeds” on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, as long as you’re either running OS X Lion or Mountain Lion. Whether or not that’s true, we’ll have to wait for benchmark results.

The P’9223 Slim is the thinnest 2.5-inch storage device made by LaCie, and it’s 30% thinner than the previous Porsche edition. The drive comes in two storage capacities. The 500GB model will cost $99, while the 120GB SSD model will be priced at $149. Both models come with a two-year limited warranty.

Porsche claims that the Cayenne Turbo S has advanced active chassis technologies that allow it to surpass the driving performance of many sports cars. At the same time, the SUV still preserves its off-road capability, ride comfort, and towing ability. I can’t see anyone driving one of these off-road, but I have seen people towing with a Cayenne before. Naturally, the guy was towing a 911 GT3.

The Cayenne Turbo S gets a 50 hp bump compared to the normal Cayenne Turbo. The Cayenne Turbo S also gets a extra torque with a rating of 553 pound-feet of torque compared to the normal Cayenne Turbo 516 pound-feet rating. The extra horsepower and torque allows the Turbo S version to accelerate quicker and have a higher top speed.

Porsche claims that the Cayenne Turbo S can hit 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of 175 mph. That is a seriously quick SUV. The Turbo S comes with the Sport Chrono package standard that includes an analog and digital timer in the center of the dash. The package also shows total driving time, lap distance covered, and individual lap times along with latitudinal and longitudinal acceleration. Clearly, Porsche expects people to take this big SUV on the track. Pricing for the Turbo S starts at $146,000.

Compared to the previous Carrera 4 models, the 2013 cars drop fuel consumption and weight. Thirst is down by up to 16-percent, and heft by up to 65kg, though the new 911s keep the fatter-width rear wheel housings that help make them so distinctive on the road: each 22mm wider than those on the rear-wheel drive versions, with 10mm wider tyres.

Under the hood of the most powerful S models there’s a 3.8 litre rear-mounted boxer engine, which can push the 4 S coupe to 62mph in 4.1 seconds and the convertible in 4.3 seconds. Top speed is 186mph in the coupe and 184mph in the convertible. The regular Carrera 4 gets a 350HP engine good for a 4.5s 0-62 dash in the coupe or 4.7s in the convertible, with up to a 177mph top speed. You’ll be wanting one of the (slightly) slower cars if fuel economy is your goal, however, with the 350HP coupe pushing out 203 g/km of CO2; at the other end of the scale, the fastest version gobbles down gas at 26mpg in the auto option.

While the outward looks haven’t changed much, as is Porsche’s usual approach, there’s plenty of new tech for owners to crow about. Most important is the new active all-wheel drive system itself, dubbed Porsche Traction Management (PTM), for sportier driving dynamics along with better on-road stability, and which is paired with optional adaptive cruise control that tracks forward traffic to dynamically adjust speed. If you throw the auto into the mix, the cruise control also supports “Porsche Active Safe” front collision avoidance.

Inside, there’s a new sliding glass sunroof option for the coupe, and if you spec a manual gearbox and the Sport Chrono pack then you get a Sport Plus mode that automatically double-declutches during downshifting. Plenty of leather, aluminum, and a big-screen nav and entertainment system can also be expected.

The new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 will go on sale in early 2013 across North America and Europe. Pricing will be from $91,030/€97,557 for the coupe and from $102,930/€110,290 for the convertible, with the Carrera 4 S coupe coming in at $105,630 and the Carrera 4 S convertible at $117,530.

New rumors are pointing to an official debut for the 2013 Porsche Cayman at the Los Angeles Auto Show kicking off in late November. Details are thin on the 2013 Cayman at this point, but it is expected to look like a hardtop version of the Porsche Boxster convertible. The Cayman is expected to get new bodywork for 13 and to get the new Boxster’s taillight integrated spoiler that pops up when needed.

The Cayman is expected to get the same 2.7-liter F-6 engine used in the Boxster expected to produce 275 hp. The 2013 Cayman S is expected to keep the current 3.4-liter F-6 with a bump in output to 330 hp. Expected transmission offerings for the 2013 Cayman are expected to include a six speed manual and seven speed dual clutch PDK shifted with paddles. The car is expected to be longer and wider than the 2012 model.

[via Motor Trend]

The company has announced that it has invented the paint color, which appears to be metallic silver. Rather than using tiny glass beads, metallic flakes, or crystals the paint actually uses ground-up diamonds. The paint can be used to coat the exterior or interior of the vehicle.

There are a few key facts about the paint that are unknown at this point. For instance, it’s not clear how many carats of diamonds it takes to paint an entire car. It’s also not clear exactly how much the paint will cost. However, I can guarantee you that this diamond finish is one of those if you have to ask you can’t afford it types of things.

[via Jalopnik]

The first model 911 Porsche sold for $5,500 back in 1964 – fast forward 48 years later and the newest model is the line’s seventh generation and will cost you somewhere around $115,000 brand new. This model – and of course subsequent models and designs for the company, lead Porsche to be a world-renowned designer. As one Porsche dealer Mike Sullivan from Torrance, California noted to the LA Times upon hearing the news:

“There has not been a single individual whose contribution to the Porsche brand over the decades since the ’60′s has been greater than that of Ferdinand ‘Butzi’ Porsche. His iconic design of the original 911 has elevated Porsche to the top of the automotive world. [The Porsche 911] has singularly dominated sports car racing for most of the last 40 years as well as making Porsche the world’s most profitable auto manufacturer.” – Sullivan

In honor of Porsche’s legacy, we offer you this quote from the man himself:

“A product that is coherent in form requires no embellishment. It is enhanced by the purity of its form. Good design should be honest.” – Porsche

Thanks for the cars, Butzi!

[via LA Times]

We’re still a ways off before the 918 production cars are ready to be sold, but Porsche is offered up a very early look at what appears to be Frankenstein’s 918 with pieced together 911 body panels and missing engine covers. Despite admittedly horrible looks, this is one extremely awesome hybrid supercar. This is a very early development vehicle as evidenced by the pieced together bodywork, but the powertrain is ready to give us a look at just how well this plug-in hybrid supercar will perform. The 918 has of mid-mounted V8 engine displacing 4.6-liters with 570 HP before you label in the dual electric motor output.

The 918 has a 90kW electric motor between the engine and the seven-speed transmission and an additional 80kw electric motor mounted to the front axle powering the two-front wheels. The electric motors and battery system can drive the vehicle for 16 miles on electric power alone. Combining the V8 power with the electric motor output gives a total of 770 HP along with 553 pound-feet of torque. When the driver is running hot laps at the track, the car has a special mode to deliver 700 pound-feet of torque. The top speed for the vehicle is 202 mph, 60 mph can be reached in less than three seconds, and the car can hit 90 mph without touching the gasoline engine. Production versions of this car expected to go on sale on September 18, 2013.

[via Wired]

What we’re seeing here is a an application platform, the QNX CAR 2 application platform which isn’t necessarily going to be brought out to the real world, but is certainly an awesome project to be working on and sitting in. You’ve got the entire BlackBerry PlayBook software stack including HTML5 and a a handful of consumer technologies, this meaning BlackBerry isn’t necessarily going to bring this setup exactly to the market, but that groups including Porsche.

This vehicle had the Porsche smartphone we’ve had a review of here [courtesy of Chris Davies] as well, proving that Porsche is certainly dedicated to BlackBerry and RIM for the long run. Have a peek at the photos above and below and stick with us this whole week for all the Mobile World Congress 2012 news you can handle – and be sure to drop us a line if there’s anything you’ve heard about and want us to check out! That portal again is [MWC 2012] for all the action this whole week!

Details on powertrain, performance and other fundamental elements are also unclear, with Porsche playing details on the Macan close to its chest. However, what the company will say is that Macan production is going to be a big deal: Porsche is turning its Saxony site into a full assembly line and paint shop, with the addition of 1,000 new jobs.

The Macan is Porsche’s fifth model line, following in the tyre marks of the 911, the Boxster, the Cayman, the Cayenne and the Panamera. The latter two models have been somewhat divisive among Porsche enthusiasts, with the Cayenne SUV prompting questions as to whether an off-road vehicle is something that fits in with the company’s DNA, and the Panamera’s distinctive four-door styling not meeting with universal approval.

Still, we’ll be happy just as long as the Macan performs better than the Porsche Design BlackBerry P’9981 we reviewed earlier in the week.

Hardware

Porsche Design starts as it means to go on, with an oversized box first presenting the P’9981 and its desk-stand in one dense foam layer, before revealing different chargers for near-global use, USB cable and headphones, various documentation and your exclusive technical support card, complete with PIN, to access freephone assistance. It’s not quite Vertu’s Concierge, mind; the team will help you set up your P’9981 and figure out its quirks, but not book you theater tickets.

The smartphone itself is certainly distinctive. RIM basically handed over the key parts of its Bold 9900 flagship, and Porsche Design dressed them up in a Dynasty-era suit, shoulderpads and all. It’s a resolutely aggressive, blunt design, all sharp edges and squared-off corners, with plenty of metal and metal-effect plastic, and it’s heavy too, feeling twice its actual 155g weight in the hand.

Porsche Design itself gets top billing, its name engraved into the brushed stainless-steel bar above the display; RIM’s BlackBerry logo is relegated to just below the earpiece, above the 2.8-inch 640 x 480 touchscreen. The display is bright and crisp, though lacks the color saturation of an AMOLED, while the touch response is good. The metal bar continues around the edge of the P’9981 – though with a polished mirror finish, rather than brushed – though the keyboard itself is plastic.

Porsche Design P’9981 hands-on:

BlackBerry devices are famed for their keyboards, in fact you could construct a reasonable argument that it’s QWERTY text-entry that has kept the company afloat the past few years. Porsche Design does away with the 9900′s ‘board – one, we decided, of the best on the market – and replaces it with a heavily-stylized version with pronounced ridges. It’s not a bad keyboard – the spacing is good, as it spreads across the entire 67mm width of the phone, and the keys are clicky and responsive – but it’s definitely a step back from what the donor BlackBerry offers.

It’s also unevenly illuminated, with the backlighting focused in two patches that leave the center column of letters dimmer than the rest. No great functional issue, and you can still see them in low-light conditions, but it’s a noticeable flaw and one – since the backlighting is often active when the P’9981 is docked in its charger-cradle – you’re presented with all the time.

Sandwiched in-between the keyboard and the touchscreen is the usual row of call, menu and navigation buttons. They’re large and plasticky, and rock somewhat unnervingly under your finger. In their midst is the optical trackpad, which doubles as a select button, and is swiftly responsive. The left edge of the phone offers the 3.5mm headphones socket and a microUSB port, while the right has volume keys flanking a mute button (that doubles as a play/pause button in the media app) and a camera shortcut (that can be reprogrammed). On the top there’s a lock button.

If the front of the P’9981 is Terminator sturdy, the back is oddly unreassuring. An ingot of metal bears the 5-megapixel camera – which supports 720p but uses EDoF fixed-focus rather than auto-focus – and single LED flash, but the rest is a plastic panel that, despite being covered with leather, feels unduly cheap in comparison to the rest of the phone. There’s a little flex around the camera section, and the panel itself doesn’t click reassuringly into place as we might’ve hoped.

Peel it off, and you can see the antenna stuck to the back – connected with two discrete pins just above the Porsche Design branded 1,230 mAh battery – as well as the microSD card slot to augment the 8GB of internal memory. You’ll need to pull out the battery to swap the SIM card. This European unit has dualband 3G/UMTS (for up to 14.4 Mbps downloads and up to 5.76 Mbps uploads, network depending), quadband GSM/EDGE, WiFI a/b/g/n (with 2.4/5GHz support), Bluetooth and NFC, along with GPS, a digital compass, accelerometer and twin microphones for noise cancellation. Like the Bold 9900, the Porsche Design P’9981 runs BlackBerry 7 on a single-core Qualcomm MSM8655 1.2GHz processor, paired with 768MB of RAM.

Software

RIM has hung its long-term hopes on BlackBerry 10, the QNX-based OS for phones and tablets expected to debut by the end of this year. Unfortunately, that leaves the P’9981 running BlackBerry 7, just as on the Bold 9900, and it’s a platform that’s seriously showing its age compared to iOS and Android.

Porsche Design, as the name might predict, makes no modifications to the software itself beyond an ill-advised icon redesign. The paired down iconography is certainly in keeping with the rest of the P’9981, but it also leaves app menus confusing: you have to make a conscious effort to tell the difference between each icon. It’s something you’ll no doubt get more adroit at handling, the longer you live with the handset, or indeed you can change the skin altogether.

Beyond that, our primary frustration with BlackBerry 7 is its general sense of being a patchwork platform: some aspects feel relatively fresh, but other areas feel like they’ve been dragged over from RIM’s OS several years back. The text-based elements of the UI are generally the swiftest but also the points that feel most dated in comparison to rival software; in contrast, BlackBerry App World is sluggish and the BlackBerry Maps app is a lesson in frustration compared to Google Maps or Nokia Maps.

RIM has worked hard on the internet experience in BlackBerry 7, and it’s certainly improved from earlier iterations. You still get a throwback mouse cursor, though we came to appreciate it more after finding how much finger-navigation obscures the touchscreen. Pinch-zooming in the browser works, but that compact display also makes it feel clumsy.

As always, the email experience is the primary reason for using a BlackBerry, though it’s at its best if you’re an enterprise customer with a BlackBerry Exchange Server. If you’re on the Gmail train then you’ll have to use IMAP – Google discontinued its Gmail for BlackBerry app late last year – though there’s the Enhanced Google Mail Plug-in from RIM itself that adds spam and archive support, integrates Gmail inbox searches with BlackBerry 7′s universal search, and imports your contacts. Still, the best Gmail experience continues to be on Android in our opinion, with iOS following behind that.

We’ve covered BlackBerry 7 more in our Bold 9900 review, but the long and short of it is that the OS feels dated and is well overdue a replacement. BlackBerry 10 can’t come soon enough.

Camera

5-megapixels is midrange but acceptable for a smartphone, particularly one with business aspirations like the P’9981, but the fixed-focus is a disappointment. Not a surprising one – the Bold 9900 used EDoF after all – but still another black mark against the Porsche phone.

It means you’re limited in how close you can get with your macro shots, and in general images lack crispness in comparison to auto-focus cameras. Color balance is solid, and there’s a nice amount of detail in shots from the P’9981, but unlike, say, the iPhone 4S or Galaxy S II, you wouldn’t want to rely on the BlackBerry for all of your photography needs.

As for video, 720p is your high-definition maximum but the ensuing clips are good. Colors are accurate, if a little muted, and the digital image stabilization is neither ineffectual nor over-aggressive and helps smooth out a shaky hand. We found the sheer heft of the P’9981 also helped on that front too. Recorded clips can be sent via Bluetooth or WhatsApp, or uploaded to YouTube, though not emailed directly from the camcorder app.

Porsche Design P’9981 720p HD Video Sample:

Phone and Battery

Just behind email performance in the Big BlackBerry Book of Achievements is traditionally voice call quality and battery life: on this, the P’9981 drops one of the balls. Calling quality is great, with a loud earpiece and speaker for hands-free use, crisp – but not overly-processed – background noise reduction, and tenacious grip on a mobile signal. We also like how both your mobile network and current WiFi SSID are shown in the status bar.

Unfortunately, whereas at one time BlackBerry devices could be expected to run for days, the P’9981 follows in the Bold 9900′s metaphorical footsteps and tarnishes the family tradition. The 1,230 mAh battery may be Porsche Design branded but it’s otherwise exactly the same powerpack as the 9900 uses, and it’s simply not up to the challenge of the 1.2GHz processor.

RIM does its best to hide that fact, underclocking the chip most of the time so that you’re running on a fraction of those cycles, but step beyond simple email and you’ll find calls, web browsing, photography and third-party apps all take their toll. Left to its own devices and the P’9981 will run for a couple of days, even with email updating in the background, but actually use it as you might a rival smartphone and you’ll struggle to finish a day. The desk charger cradle does at least make topping up the juice more straightforward.

Wrap-Up

It’s hard to imagine the Porsche Design P’9981 convincing the everyman: its severe styling is too divisive, BlackBerry 7 OS questionable, and general specifications uncompetitive in places. Then again, the everyman isn’t the limited edition BlackBerry’s target audience. Like Vertu and “luxury” editions of other manufacturers’ phones, the appeal of the P’9981 is more about who hasn’t got it than who wants it.

$2,350 is a ridiculous amount of money for a smartphone. A quarter of that gets you an iPhone 4S or a Galaxy Nexus, either of which outclass the P’9981 on functionality, usability and – many would argue – style. However, just as Porsche Design borrowed the Dynasty shoulderpads, the P’9981 is the cellular equivalent of Alexis Carrington: brash and unforgivingly blunt, an unapologetic backhanded slap to the face of anybody who thinks their mainstream handset makes them special.

The rest of us will continue to buy iPhones, and Android phones, perhaps even some Windows Phones, and wait to see whether RIM can relaunch itself in Q4 with BlackBerry 10. The biggest problem with the P’9981 isn’t its love-it-or-hate-it design, or its mediocre camera, or even its insane price tag: it’s the fact that it highlights just how tired BlackBerry 7 is. In the end, even $2,350-worth of metal and leather and Porsche branding can’t hide that.

We’re used to seeing larger displays as in the Galaxy S II or iPhone 4S when it comes to the latest and greatest. But the Porsche Design, like the other BlackBerry QWERTYs out there, offers a 2.8″ touch screen with a 640×480 resolution. If you were to spend $2,400 on a smartphone, wouldn’t it make sense to ensure it has a decent camera? Its 5MP rear shooter most definitely can’t compete with a few others currently in production. People have even started bragging about a possible 12MP camera included in the Galaxy S III.

So what it boils down to is brand name. After all, someone that plans on purchasing a smartphone at such a price isn’t in it for the specs, but rather its uniqueness. It’s bound to turn some heads with the built-in leather battery cover and custom theme. The Porsche Design P’9981 is only available in the UK and Middle East for the time being, but should make its way to the US soon enough.

[via Yahoo! Tech]

Porsche also notes that the car weighs less than previous generations and has a wider track and a longer wheelbase. Less weight will up performance and wider track and longer wheelbase should help handling as well. The new cars also get electromechanical power steering to improve driving dynamics. The base Boxster gets more power with a 2.7L displacement engine that has 265hp, ten more than the hp rating for the previous version. The Boxster S gains 5hp to 315.

Dispute the power and size gains of the car, the new Boxsters are more fuel-efficient than past models as well. The 2013 Boxster is claimed to be 15% more fuel efficient in the European cycle. The larger size gives more space inside the car and the interior is all new as well. The car will come with a 6-speed manual or the 7-speed Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) gearbox. The PDK is the most fuel efficient of the two. The 0-60 time for the standard Boxster is 5.4 seconds and the Boxster S can hit the same speed in 4.7 seconds. The cars will hit the US in early summer 2012 at $49,500 base for the Boxster and $60,900 base for the Boxster S.

The P’9981 is passing through the FCC with support for AT&T’s GSM 850/1900 and WCDMA bands II and V. The filing also reveals that it supports Bluetooth, WiFi, and NFC. Previous announcements have confirmed that the P’9981 will sport a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording, 24-bit graphics, and advanced sensors for augmented reality technology.

Love it or hate it, the industrial angular design of the P’9981 is quite striking and will certainly be an attention-grabbing device in your hands. And if that’s what you’re going for, you’ll have to fork over about $2,000 for it. However, an exact date of availability has not been announced yet.

[via Wireless Goodness]

Although the angular sharp look hasn’t generated very positive reactions so far, the device is intended to be a luxury edition BlackBerry, so for those who do like the look, you’ll probably have to pay dearly for the unique chassis. The device, otherwise, looks to be built similar to the 9900/9930 handset and features BlackBerry 7 OS, WiFi, 3G, and NFC.

The full details on the BlackBerry 9980 should be available in about a week as Porsche Design has issued invitations today to an unveiling event on October 27. The VIP event will take place in Dubai to preview an “exclusive collaboration between Porsche Design and BlackBerry.”

[via PocketNow]

To reiterate, this device has had more than a couple names since it first appeared: 9900 prototype 9980, BlackBerry Knight, R47, and Porsche Proceeding. This device appears to be running BlackBerry 7 OS, has Wi-fi, 3G connection, NFC, and a rather unique chassis. Sources for the video and the images say that this is a luxury edition BlackBerry device but have been less definitive with specs, release date, price, and everything else on this mystery handset.

Have a look at the video in this post as well as the images, then decide for yourself. While we’re on the subject, have a look at Vincent’s BlackBerry 9930 and see if you think such a device could use a shaved-down flat and blocked remix. The photos should let you know instantly that this is no ordinary phone, square buttons having lost quite a bit of their appeal over the past couple of years on mobile devices without a doubt. So what is it?

Porsche, that’s what your humble narrator is betting on. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time the high-class car brand had thrown their hat into the mobile device world. As it is at the moment, the folks at Porsche have created such minimal tech gadgets as the LaCie / Porsche external hard drive, the Fanatec Porsche 911 GT3 Racing Wheel for video games, and if you go all the way back to 2007, you’ll see one of their more heavily covered cellphone device designs in the Sagem P’9521 flip-phone which, as you can see all the way back in time, they’ve always been prone to choosing squareness and heftiness over smooth light curves.

Look over what we’ve got here and let us know: is this your scene?

Interesting to note: the photos and the video in this post appear to come from two different sources based on their watermarks, however if you take a look at the video you’ll see the same heart-shaped basket that you see in the photos quite plainly. Wacky!

[via BerryCN and via MAXpda]

This watch has very clean and classic lines with little to bling it up. The watch has a black band and face with white markings and hands with a red second hand. It shows the date as well. The face of the watch flips up to reveal a compass underneath. The case is made from titanium and the crystal is AR-coated sapphire.

That liquid compass in the bottom is removable, will work in both hemispheres, and has mirrors to make it viewable. Those mirrors click into place to let you see the compass from the side when the watch is on your wrist. It is water resistant to 50-meters. Pricing on the watch is unannounced, but it won’t be cheap.

[via Uncrate]

The lineup includes the LaCie Porsche Design Mobile Hard Drive (P’9220) and the LaCie Porsche Design Desktop Hard Drive (P’9230). They each feature a sleek aluminum frame design that is modern and purist for a very elegant piece of hardware that packs in all the performance under the hood, optimally regulates heat, and is 100 percent recyclable. The workmanship and aesthetic reflects the Porsche Design signature.

Performance-wise, the USB 3.0 hard drives are touted as the fastest on the market, clocking speeds three times faster than USB 2.0. Software comes with the drive for both PC and Mac that includes backup utilities, eco mode for power savings, password protection, and 10GB of Wuala secure online storage.

The LaCie Porche Design Mobile Hard Drive comes in 500GB and 1TB capacities with a 750GB model available exclusively through the worldwide Porsche Design Stores. However, only the 500GB model has pricing listed, currently at $104.99. The LaCie Porsche Design Desktop Hard Drive comes in 1TB for $119.99 and 2TB for $159.99. Both models will be available through the LaCie Online Store.

The picture you see here is a shot of that Porsche racecar steering wheel. It appears to be covered in alcantra, which is a great material for grip and comfort during long races or driving. This is one of the strangest looking steering wheels ever though with all the buttons and knobs on the thing. I’m not going to pretend to know what all of those buttons and knobs are for, but I can see a few labels I recognize.

The coolest of all the buttons though is the boost one you see near the thumb. Press that and the hybrid system kicks in to shoot the 911 racer around a competitor when needed. The thing that scares me about this wheel and the thought of me actually using it is all the buttons. I would totally hit one of those and blow the car up. I am constantly hitting the buttons on my Logitech racing wheel accidentally when playing Gran Turismo 5.

[via Wired]

Porsche also makes a SUV that is popular around the world called the Cayenne and the latest version of the Cayenne dubbed the S Hybrid has around for a while. The SUV may be a hybrid, but anything with the Porsche crest has to perform, and the Cayenne S does. The big SUV can hit 60mph in 6.1 seconds and has a top speed of 150 mph. The vehicle is rated for 20mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway by the EPA.

Those fuel efficiency figures might not sound that great when compared to other hybrids, but when you consider this is a performance vehicle it’s pretty impressive. The Cayenne S Hybrid has a combined power output of 380hp from a supercharged V6 combined with an electric motor. Porsche has announced that the Cayenne S Hybrid has qualified for a one-time federal tax credit of $1,800. The vehicle stickers for $67,700 before that credit is taken off the price. I’m not sure the sort of folks that can afford to spend nearly $70,000 on a SUV really need a tax credit.

SlashNEUTRALITY
You know that pesky little thing called Net Neutrality – aka the principal that service providers and governments should not be allowed to restrict content, sites, platforms, equipment and modes of communication through the internet? Well the UK Communications Minister Ed Vaizey is against that, saying today at a London telecommunications conference organized by the Financial Times: “the market should decide the extent to which service providers can charge for preferential content delivery and slow down other traffic.”

Enough said?

[Via Reddit]

R3 Media Network

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Samsung Galaxy Tab for Bell Now Available, Costs $599.95 [ANOTHER TAB]
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Cooliris Liveshare Application for Android Deployed Today, Special Events Around the Globe This Week
Conceptual Design for Porsche Smartphone is Sleek, Hot, Amazing [CONCEPT]
Honeycomb equipped Motorola MOTOPAD expected February/March 2011 [HONEYCOMB]
Giorgio Armani Samsung Galaxy S Announced from Seoul [REAL DEAL]
HTC and Samsung believe Android will dominate future smartphone market
PocketBook IQ EBookReader Hands-On and Video Review
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To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

Porsche has been showing off a hybrid 911 race car that uses the battery power as a sort of boost for extra speed when needed. Porsche also showed off a sweet 918 Spyder hybrid car in Geneva this year. The sports car marker has stated that the 918 Spyder is going into production.

The concept had a 500hp V8 engine and a pair of electric motors good for 109hp each. Those electric motors were fed by lithium-ion batteries and the car could run 16 miles on electricity alone. Overall fuel economy for the supercar was 78mpg. Porsche hasn’t offered up any official pricing, but the car could be as much as $650,000 though you can offset $7500 of that thanks to Obama tax credits.

But inside each of those dials is a 1.5-inch cone that is actually a speaker. Then there is the piano black glass finish on the front complemented by the brushed aluminum covering the remainder of the product.

In the back there is a 3-inch active subwoofer which makes this a 3.1 unit in all. I presume that since it has the Porsche name on it the audio quality is at least mediocre if not fairly good for a shelf stereo unit. If you want on it will cost you £409 or a little over $800 USD, so it had better sound simply amazing, or have one of those boxer engines tucked away inside, wait, is that the wrong Porsche?

[via RedFerret]

However, it’s not all slick tires and agile roadholding: the dual-LED flash is still underpowered compared to the latest xenon technology found on rivals, and if you’ve got weak wrists then you may want to do some exercise before picking the P’9521 up since it weighs in at a hefty 137g (thanks to all that aluminium and mineral glass).

Most shocking, though, is the price – Sagem are saying £800 ($1,627) without contract – and while you couldn’t get the keys to a new Porsche for that, you could get a decent PC.  I think I’ll stick to the shoelaces.

Hands on with the Porsche P’9521 [Crave UK]

There is a 3.2MP cam built into the back of the phone, which appears to have either 2 LED lights or two flash bulbs or a combination of the two. The camera also has auto focus and digital zoom.

There is a freakin’ fingerprint reader built into this phone, that’s crazy. The talk time is 3 hours and some change, music playing time is closer to 7 hours, standby time is 240 hours. There are tons of media formats supported and A2DP Bluetooth profiles so your media needs should be covered. So what could be the downside? It is in very limited production, and as such, it will cost you roughly 1200 euros, and you thought the iPhone was pricey.

Sagem Porsche P9521 preview | Introduction [via letsgomobile]

The set is all wireless and comes with a steering wheel, set of pedals, gear shifter, and USB dongle all officially licensed from Porsche with logos on the USB dongle and steering wheel. Really it looks pretty nice, and may well be worth it cost.

The cost, since you’re wondering, is $350 for the set. Whereas the cheapest Porsche car you can get your hands on is the Boxter for a little more than $45,000 you can get your hands on the wheel for the cost of a PS3, a racing game, and $350 for this set.

Porsche licenses gear for PS3 [via Crave]