Section B


‘Hey, where’d you park?’


Ever found yourself in a situation


where you wanted to share a vacant parking space with a friend when meeting them somewhere?


Short of parking you car and


racing to go stand in the spot until they arrive, your options in situations like this have pretty much been lim- ited — until now.


Google recently released a free


Android app called Open Spot, an experimental mobile program that enables drivers to locate and share free parking spots in their vicinity.


The app


renders a map of your current location with colored pins


denoting parking spots within ap- proximately a 0.9 mile (1.5 kilometer) radius of your current location. As you’re driving around the lots, the application automatically refreshes parking data. Red pins denote newly vacated spots, orange pins mean spots marked over five minutes ago, and yellow pins are spots marked over ten minutes ago.


Open Spot relies heavily on drivers


regularly using it and marking free spots when they leave them by tap- ping the “Mark a Spot” button.


Engine and relies on crowdsourced data.


The app’s built on Google App In other words, Open Spot


users are expected to mark free parking spots rather than Google. No worries though — your parking data entries are anonymous so nobody can track the spots you’ve marked or figure out your identity.


There are, however, a few draw-


backs. One, the app is currently only available for Android phones and not for iPhone or BlackBerry users. And because the application relies on crowdsourcing, if there aren’t enough Open Spot users in your vicinity you might still miss a lot of parking spots in your area.


Considering that the Open Spot


relies on crowdsourcing, there’s also the hope that people won’t misuse the application and mark a parking spot available when it’s actually not.


imagine being sent on a wild goose chase for a parking spot would be as frustrating as not being able to find one at all. —M. Amick


THE INGREEN


Infiniti M35 Hybrid featured at Pebble Beach


While Infiniti will formally in-


troduce its much talked about M- class hybrid at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, the auto- maker quietly rolled out the sedan at the 60th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance — a premier event cel- ebrating luxury, performance and fine automobiles.


The M35 Hybrid offers the luxury


sedan profile of the popular newly redesigned sedan (definitely don’t want to compromise that) with the fuel economy and CO2 emissions of a smaller car.


THE NEW KIA Sportage fea- tures a number of new design elements. – Marcus Amick photos


AVAILABLE FEATUERS in the new 2011 KIA Sportage include UVO, an advanced version of Microsoft’s hands –free technol- ogy.


I


RATING ★★★★★


(Based on Scale of 1 to 5)


highlights evolution of the brand


New KIA Sportage By Marcus Amick


SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Yep, in case you’ve been out of the loop, Kia has


been completely reshaping its brand. No longer is it one of those car companies you’d only


consider if low on cash and just needed a cheap new ride to get around. And that message doesn’t ring any clearer than


with the new 2011 Kia Sportage. The redesigned crossover is as impres-


sive as you’ll find in its segment. No, seriously, it’s that good.


‘CONTEMPORARY COOL’ The most obvious appeal of the new


Sportage is its exterior design. While a def- inite contrast from the previous model and much sportier, the styling isn’t too over the top. Some carmak- ers that have built their brands on value push the design envelope too far


Marcus Amick


when aiming for more appeal, and that vehicle seems kinda out of place in its segment.


Sort of like hitting a hot after-hours spot in Chicago that


plays house in a tuxedo you’d wear to a high school prom, rented shoes and all. Yeah, you might be able to do it, but you’re going to look odd considering the vibe.


See Kia Sportage page B-2 Join Marcus Amick on test drives and events at Twitter (http://twitter.com/MarcusAmick). Hankook Tire gives away Camaro WHAT YOU GOT SHOW ’EM Los Angeles native Debra Jackson


might not play baseball, but she definite- ly made one of the biggest catches of her life recently.


The retired machine operator of 28 Infinity M35 Hybrid The hybrid system used in the


M35 Hybrid, developed solely within Infiniti’s parent group, is a single electric motor/twin clutch arrange- ment. The first clutch is installed between the naturally aspirated 3.5- liter V6 and the electric motor.


The system, notes Infiniti, fea-


tures a configuration, where all components act on a single prop shaft to the rear differential, provid- ing a consistent driving feel under all conditions with linear perfor- mance and the “direct responses” that the engineers sought.


The electric motor acts as both propulsion unit, boosting the V6


See In the Green page B-2


years, who enters contests and sweep- stakes daily, was recently handed the keys to a silver Chevrolet Camaro as the national winner of Hankook Tire’s base- ball-themed Great Catch Giveaway.


Soo Il Lee, president of Hankook Tire


America Corp., presented Jackson with the keys to a silver Camaro at southern California’s landmark restaurant Mel’s Drive-In on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.


Jackson’s family and friends and Han-


kook representatives attended the event. “Our Great Catch Giveaway program


was definitely a success but being able to present Ms. Jackson with a new Camaro is a home run for us,” said Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications, Han- kook Tire America Corp. “The rebates and giveaway were an added incentive to entice buyers.”


Upon receiving the phone call from Bainbridge, Jackson thought it was a


TODD HERSHBERGER (left), Hankook Tire America Corp. senior vice president of sales and marketing; Soo II Lee, Hankook Tire America Corp. president; and Han- kook Great Catch program winner Debra Jackson.


hoax. She recalls asking repeatedly if the whole thing was a joke, but was reas- sured she had won. She says winning the Camaro is “a gift from God.”


“Since I retired, I get up in the morn- ing looking for contests to enter, but this


See Hankook Tire page B-2


Got a cool car or just love the one that you drive? E-mail us your best photo of you with your vehicle and it just might be featured in theMY WHEELS sec- tion. E-mail the photo along with your first and last name, city and state, and a tele- phone number where you can be reached to MYWHEELS@ wheelside.com.


Photos Courtesy of Chrysler LLC


SHOP TALK SHOP TALK


New Google app helps drivers locate parking spaces


August 25-31, 2010 BUILDING ON A LEGEND Chrysler LLC releases images of 2011 Jeep Wrangler When there’s talk of updating


an icon like the Jeep Wrangler, the question that immediately comes to mind is, “What do you improve on?”


Chrysler’s answer? An all-new


interior with significantly upgraded touch surfaces, occu- pant comfort and ver- satility, and a premium appearance courtesy


WATCH AUTO


of an all-new body-color hard top for the popular Sahara model.


Oh, and many new colors for 2011,


including Detonator Yellow, Deep Cherry Red, Sahara Tan, Cosmos Blue and Bright White.


“The iconic Jeep Wrangler keeps


getting better,” said Mike Manley, president and CEO, Jeep Brand,


Chrysler Group LLC. “While retain- ing unmatched, legendary capabil- ity, the 2011 Jeep Wrangler boasts an all-new interior that delivers a host of comfort, convenience and versatility features. In addition, Sahara models now feature a stun-


See Jeep Wrangler page B-2 ‘ALL GROWN UP’


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