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CES: It's a digital experience

The night before the Consumer Electronics Show opens its portals to the world’s technogeeks, there is a sort of preshow called the Digital Experience! (They added that exclamation mark to the name, not us.) Still, the relatively small, ancillary consumer-technology show does set the stage for the massive CES juggernaut the next day. This year, as always, we wandered the aisles of Digital Experience looking for car-related tech.

Audi R5, Porsche 550, VW Bluesport 'on hold'

Numerous indications are pointing to the exciting mid-engined VW, Porsche and Audi sports cars being on ice. The group had been collaborating to develop the VW Bluesport, Porsche 550 and Audi R5 - some observers had hailed the new roadsters as the Elise from Germany. Porsche doubts over the 550 But at the weekend Porsche CEO Matthias Muller told German business rag Wirtschaftswoche that he was worried a cheaper Porsche may dilute the brand's image.

2010 LA Design Challenge entrants revealed

Entries for the 2010 Los Angeles Design Challenge have now been revealed. The futuristic proposals, which called for designers to envision a 1000lbs (454kg) 2+2 vehicle that delivers comfort, safety and satisfactory driving performance without sacrificing the emotional connection today's consumers demand from their vehicles, come from the west coast design studios of seven automakers – General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota and Volvo. For the first time since the Challenge's inception, studios outside California have also been allowed to enter the competition.