Todd quoted Ballmer, in a webcast, saying exactly this:

Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction...The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment—same piece of hardware—paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.

Say what you will about the merits of Windows vs Mac OS, but it is kinda funny for a software guy to suggest that it's the hardware that makes the computer.

We've heard similar Ballmerisms before, but my favorite part of the discussion was something Ballmer said later, when asked if he owned any Apple products:

I don't, my sons don't, my wife doesn't...You're talking to a guy, though, whose dad worked for Ford, and once Ford sold Land Rover and Jaguar, we're selling the cars to get Fords, so you may have a weird outlier in me.

At least there's still Volvo, right, Steve? [TechFlash]

It's a bit like measuring the aerodynamic properties of a car that is standing still in a car park during a powerful storm. Our new wind tunnel, on the other hand, has been designed to exactly replicate the flow of air around and underneath the car when driving on a real road at speeds of up to 155kph. Our wind tunnel uses sophisticated techniques at the forefront of aerodynamic technology

This means that they have been able to reduce the air resistance in their new Volvo C30 DRIVe by 10%. That's 11.88 gallons of gas per 9,300 miles, an average driving year. Not too shabby. [Gizmag]

Is this death-proof car a good thing for everybody? It's definitely good for the people riding in the car, but if you drove around in a vehicle that you knew would protect you from accidents, would you be more cautious or less cautious? That's one of the complaints we've heard about big SUVs—it's supposedly more safe for you, but completely ruptures the person you hit who's driving a small car. [Wired]

Volvo's Collision Warning System with brake support was launched recently in its S80, where a red light flashes and a buzzer sounds if you're about to run into something. It even goes a step further and applies more brake pressure if you're not stopping fast enough.

Now, the company is working on the next generation of the Collision Warning System which actually does all the braking for you. Take a look at it working in this video, where Volvo researchers set up an inflatable obstacle and the brakes stop the car just in time. Put this real-word research together with the DARPA self-driving vehicles, and soon we'll all be sitting in the back seat, putting our feet up as machines become our limo drivers. – Charlie White

Volvo previews new generation collision warning system [AutoMotoPortal, via Sagags]