Latest news with #Overview
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Toyota Prius Generations Overview: Evolution Of A Hybrid Pioneer
Toyota Prius Generations Overview: Evolution Of A Hybrid Pioneer originally appeared on Autoblog. Toyota's thrifty hybrid has come a long way While hybrid sales are soaring today, that wasn't always the case. Early hybrids often had gawky styling and were woefully underpowered, whereas today, you can find any number of stylish, affordable hybrids. The Toyota Prius was the first mass-produced hybrid, and its evolution is a microcosm of the hybrid segment in general. Once little more than a statement for eco-consciousness, it has flourished into a genuinely desirable compact. Here's a closer look at all five Prius generations, with a focus on the normal Prius, not the smaller Prius C hatchback or larger Prius V that used to be on sale. First-Generation (NHW11) Toyota Prius View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article A few years after launching in Japan, the first Toyota Prius arrived in the United States and was produced between the 2001 and 2003 model years. Unlike later Prius models, this first-gen model was a small sedan. Power was derived from a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine producing just 70 horsepower, and the electric motor added another 44 hp, but quick the original Prius was certainly not. From the start, though, it was extremely efficient, managing 42/41/41 city/highway/combined. Digital readouts for the speed and infotainment gave the interior a high-tech look back in the day, while build quality was typically Toyota solid. At just under $20k, the first Prius followed the Honda Insight as an economical hybrid for the masses. It didn't attempt to set new standards for style or performance, but its efficiency was unbeatable. Second-Generation (XW20) Toyota Prius View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article The second-generation Prius was produced between the 2004 and 2009 model years. Improved in every aspect, it became a liftback design positioned between the Corolla and Camry. Under the skin, the XW20 introduced a new 1.5L four-pot and electric motor that produced 110 combined horsepower, paired with a CVT. Efficiency was up to 48/45/46 mpg, and it had an impressive range of 547 miles. Performance was better but still meek, with over 11 seconds required to get from zero to 60 mph. A spacious interior that looked futuristic for the period was another plus point for this Prius generation, which underwent a light facelift for the 2006 model year. Sales of the XW20 were much better than the first version, and it's this Prius that became a status symbol for the environmentally-conscious group - or, quite simply, those who wanted to appear environmentally-conscious. Third-Generation (XW30) Toyota Prius View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article Produced between the 2010 and 2015 model years, the third-gen Prius continued with the liftback body style of its predecessor. It still looks quite odd, but the unique body did help give the car a low drag coefficient of just 0.25 Cd, which obviously came with efficiency benefits. A new 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor duo combined for 134 hp, while a CVT and front-wheel drive were still standard. Efficiency once again dominated, with the 2010 Prius capable of returning 51/48/50 mpg, and its range was now almost 600 miles. Toyota also sold the smaller, reliable Prius C hatchback from the 2012 model year, which could manage 53/46/50 mpg. For the 2012 model year, a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius was introduced. This one could hit 95 MPGe/50 mpg combined, but the all-electric range was only 11 miles. And, whereas today's plug-ins are almost always more powerful than normal hybrids, the original Prius PHEV still made just 134 hp. Inside, Toyota freed up more cargo space, materials used were nicer, and advanced options like radar cruise control and a solar roof became (XW50) Toyota Prius View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article On sale between the 2016 and 2022 model years, the fourth-gen Prius saw further advances to the car's battery and electric motor technologies, all aimed at setting new standards for efficiency. The standard model's 1.8L four-pot and electric motor combine for 121 hp, which is actually less than the outgoing model, so it still needs well over 10 seconds to reach 60. Power went to the front wheels via a CVT as usual, but the XW50 eventually introduced the first AWD Prius in late 2018, with an electric motor powering the rear wheels but still failing to turn the Toyota into an exciting performer in any way. In Eco guise, this Prius managed 58/53/56 mpg, while the AWD variant got up to 50 mpg combined. The updated Prius Prime plug-in hybrid really began to distance itself from the normal Prius with this generation, as its all-electric range was now up to 25 miles. Efficiency was up to 133 MPGe/54 mpg combined. For 2019, Toyota introduced a facelifted model that toned down the original XW50's gawky styling. As we'll see in our next entry, this was the last of the Toyota Prius generations with awkward styling. Fifth-Generation (XW60) Toyota Prius View the 3 images of this gallery on the original article After four generations of highly efficient but slow and oddly-styled Prius models, Toyota changed everything when the all-new, current iteration arrived for the 2023 model year. Although still a hatchback, the current Prius is considered one of the best makeovers in modern car design history. It's still a hatchback, but there's a cohesion and Lexus-like premium aura to the new look that no previous Prius came close to. Inside, it's still a high-tech affair with dual screens and the latest infotainment, but rearward visibility is still not great, and the sleeker roofline eats into headroom somewhat. The powertrain is a revelation compared to the older Prius. A new 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor combination makes 194 hp in FWD models and 196 hp in AWD versions. Despite being so much more powerful, efficiency is still exemplary at up to 57/56/57 mpg. The new Prius plug-in hybrid is properly quick, courtesy of a new 220-hp powertrain. It can also go up to 45 miles on electric power alone, while efficiency is 127 MPGe/52 mpg combined. In fifth-gen form, the Prius is a perfect representation of how far hybrids have come. They no longer appeal to a niche audience or require futuristic styling to let everyone know what it is you're driving. Rather, hybrids are now considered as commonplace as any other gas car, just with superior efficiency. And the Prius is finally a car you won't buy for its efficiency What generation Prius is the most reliable? Being a Toyota, any Prius has the potential to last for many years. However, the fourth-gen model has good ratings and fewer recalls than earlier Prius models. What model year is a gen-4 Prius? The fourth-gen Prius was manufactured between the 2016 and 2022 model years. What year of the Prius is one to stay away from? The 2010 Toyota Prius from the third generation looks like a troublesome one, as it has the most issues on Car Complaints. Excessive oil consumption was the leading problem faced by owners of this particular model. Toyota Prius Generations Overview: Evolution Of A Hybrid Pioneer first appeared on Autoblog on Jul 19, 2025 This story was originally reported by Autoblog on Jul 19, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
How to turn off Google's AI Overviews in web searches
Google's AI Overviews do not save me time. For one, I work for a tech blog and am therefore professionally curious as to whether or not the generated answers are correct, so I spend a few ticks figuring that out. (Answer: Sometimes, but not always!) Then things get existential as I contemplate how long a self-cannibalizing system can sustain itself — if the AI gives answers pulled from websites that survive on visits from readers, what happens when no one visits those sites because AI cribbed the answer? Will I still get to write for websites if websites die from traffic starvation? It's a lot to think about when all I want is TSA's latest lithium-ion battery regulations. Curiously (and unhelpfully) the first result when you Google 'How to turn off AI Overviews in Chrome' doesn't actually answer the question. The entry, from Google Support, discusses turning the feature off back when AI Overviews were experimental and handled through Google Labs. Navigate a little further down that page and you'll see: Note: Turning off 'AI Overviews and more' in Search Labs will not disable all AI Overviews in Search. AI Overviews are part of Google Search like other features, such as knowledge panels, and can't be turned off. Thankfully, I work with intelligent people and one of them supplied me with a simple method of ensuring each search performed in a Chrome browser bypasses the AI Overview and uses results from the Web tab only. Here's how you too can avoid wasted time (and energy) so you can search like it's 2024. Click the three dots in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser Go to Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines and search Under Site search, click the Add button Enter Name: Google/Web Enter Shortcut: Enter URL: {google:baseURL}search?udm=14&q=%s Click Add Then, (hat tip to Tom's Hardware for helping me figure this bit out) set the search type to default by clicking the three dots next to the shortcut you just created and clicking Make default. Now, go Google 'the best laptop power banks' and click on the Engadget entry (usually one to four results down) and spend a few moments looking at the ads (and the picture of my desk) before you move on so I can still have a job in 2026. In that same Tom's Hardware article, Avram Piltch links to the extension he built, which is a super easy way to hide the AI Overviews from sight. It'll still generate the response, you just won't see it. I prefer the Web method above, to avoid any unnecessary machine processing on my behalf, but the extension is easier and keeps you on the familiar 'All' search results tab with knowledge panels, video results and the like. To turn off the AI Overview for Chrome on your phone, I'll direct you to the fine folks at tenbluelinks. Just open the link in your phone's browser and follow the steps for Android or iOS.
Engadget
13-06-2025
- Engadget
How to turn off Google's AI Overviews in web searches
Google's AI Overviews do not save me time. For one, I work for a tech blog and am therefore professionally curious as to whether or not the generated answers are correct, so I spend a few ticks figuring that out. (Answer: Sometimes, but not always!) Then things get existential as I contemplate how long a self-cannibalizing system can sustain itself — if the AI gives answers pulled from websites that survive on visits from readers, what happens when no one visits those sites because AI cribbed the answer? Will I still get to write for websites if websites die from traffic starvation? It's a lot to think about when all I want is TSA's latest lithium-ion battery regulations. Curiously (and unhelpfully) the first result when you Google 'How to turn off AI Overviews in Chrome' doesn't actually answer the question. The entry, from Google Support, discusses turning the feature off back when AI Overviews were experimental and handled through Google Labs. Navigate a little further down that page and you'll see: Note: Turning off 'AI Overviews and more' in Search Labs will not disable all AI Overviews in Search. AI Overviews are part of Google Search like other features, such as knowledge panels, and can't be turned off. Thankfully, I work with intelligent people and one of them supplied me with a simple method of ensuring each search performed in a Chrome browser bypasses the AI Overview and uses results from the Web tab only. Here's how you too can avoid wasted time (and energy) so you can search like it's 2024. Click the three dots in the upper right corner of your Chrome browser Go to Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines and search Under Site search, click the Add button Enter Name: Google/Web Enter Shortcut: Enter URL: {google:baseURL}search?udm=14&q=%s Click Add Then, (hat tip to Tom's Hardware for helping me figure this bit out) set the search type to default by clicking the three dots next to the shortcut you just created and clicking Make default. Now, go Google 'the best laptop power banks' and click on the Engadget entry (usually one to four results down) and spend a few moments looking at the ads (and the picture of my desk) before you move on so I can still have a job in 2026. In that same Tom's Hardware article, Avram Piltch links to the extension he built, which is a super easy way to hide the AI Overviews from sight. It'll still generate the response, you just won't see it. I prefer the Web method above, to avoid any unnecessary machine processing on my behalf, but the extension is easier and keeps you on the familiar 'All' search results tab with knowledge panels, video results and the like. To turn off the AI Overview for Chrome on your phone, I'll direct you to the fine folks at tenbluelinks. Just open the link in your phone's browser and follow the steps for Android or iOS.
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Idiom or idiot? Google's AI Overview is trying its best
Fine words butter no parsnips. A ludicrous phrase, though it's true. Or real at least, listed in the Oxford and elsewhere. Maybe you've met the proverb before, hiding in a PG Wodehouse novel. Yet imagine you haven't. What does it mean? Fancy speech is all very well, perhaps, but it fails to deliver material benefits. Talk is cheap, in other words. Elegant waffle won't moisten your greens. Facing fresh idiom, humans play this mental game, speculating what a lip-sticked pig connotes, a milkshake duck, a rat with a gold tooth. We base our guesswork on kindred expressions or meld the idiom's disparate ingredients into a cogent whole. Ethiopians say, 'The smaller the lizard, the greater its hope of becoming a crocodile.' I don't know the aphorism, but I reckon I could fumble my way towards an answer. Google's AI Overview thinks likewise. Rather than admit ignorance, the software gives any mystery phrase a go, be that a Chinese wisdom or a make-believe badger like Crab Man's prank in April. Crab Man is a Bluesky avatar who learnt that AI Overview is up for defining any guff. 'You can't lick a badger twice.' That was a beta test, a fabrication tapped into Google's window with 'meaning' added to the tail. According to Overview, the proverb means 'you can't trick or deceive someone a second time after they've been tricked once'. Bingo: the machine translation as feasible as the input idiom despite both being phony. Once social media caught wind, fake phrases proliferated, fed into Overview to see what bunkum came back. Allegedly, 'a shower a day keeps the ventriloquist away' means hygiene deters discouragement. While 'you can take your dog to the beach, but you can't sail it to Switzerland' suggests some tasks are manageable, while others are complex. Which is true-ish, for all the gaslighting going on. Kyle Orland, senior gaming editor at Ars Technica, argues in Overview's defence, admitting 'I've come away impressed with the model's almost poetic attempts to glean meaning from gibberish, to make sense out of the senseless'. A perfect example lies in one exchange. For starters, 'dream makes the steam' deserves to be a motto. Just as the proposed translation – how imagination powers innovation – is faultless. Compare that to the claptrap the dad offers in the Telstra ad, telling his son they built the Great Wall of China 'during the time of the Emperor Nasi Goreng, to keep the rabbits out'. If you don't know, say so.
The Age
21-05-2025
- General
- The Age
Idiom or idiot? Google's AI Overview is trying its best
Fine words butter no parsnips. A ludicrous phrase, though it's true. Or real at least, listed in the Oxford and elsewhere. Maybe you've met the proverb before, hiding in a PG Wodehouse novel. Yet imagine you haven't. What does it mean? Fancy speech is all very well, perhaps, but it fails to deliver material benefits. Talk is cheap, in other words. Elegant waffle won't moisten your greens. Facing fresh idiom, humans play this mental game, speculating what a lip-sticked pig connotes, a milkshake duck, a rat with a gold tooth. We base our guesswork on kindred expressions or meld the idiom's disparate ingredients into a cogent whole. Ethiopians say, 'The smaller the lizard, the greater its hope of becoming a crocodile.' I don't know the aphorism, but I reckon I could fumble my way towards an answer. Google's AI Overview thinks likewise. Rather than admit ignorance, the software gives any mystery phrase a go, be that a Chinese wisdom or a make-believe badger like Crab Man's prank in April. Crab Man is a Bluesky avatar who learnt that AI Overview is up for defining any guff. 'You can't lick a badger twice.' That was a beta test, a fabrication tapped into Google's window with 'meaning' added to the tail. According to Overview, the proverb means 'you can't trick or deceive someone a second time after they've been tricked once'. Bingo: the machine translation as feasible as the input idiom despite both being phony. Once social media caught wind, fake phrases proliferated, fed into Overview to see what bunkum came back. Allegedly, 'a shower a day keeps the ventriloquist away' means hygiene deters discouragement. While 'you can take your dog to the beach, but you can't sail it to Switzerland' suggests some tasks are manageable, while others are complex. Which is true-ish, for all the gaslighting going on. Kyle Orland, senior gaming editor at Ars Technica, argues in Overview's defence, admitting 'I've come away impressed with the model's almost poetic attempts to glean meaning from gibberish, to make sense out of the senseless'. A perfect example lies in one exchange. For starters, 'dream makes the steam' deserves to be a motto. Just as the proposed translation – how imagination powers innovation – is faultless. Compare that to the claptrap the dad offers in the Telstra ad, telling his son they built the Great Wall of China 'during the time of the Emperor Nasi Goreng, to keep the rabbits out'. If you don't know, say so.
