Technology & Digital Life

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

What it means to own something in the digital age is being re-negotiated. Few of us own the music we listen or the movies we watch, in the same way as we did a decade ago. And today, if you get a smartphone from a cell phone company what you can legally do with it - how and where you can use it - may be restricted, even if that phone is fully bought and paid for.

NPR's Steve Henn explains. And we'll also find out a little bit about his music taste.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "INVINCIBLE")

Lithium-ion batteries sparked a crisis for Boeing's Dreamliner 787 — but the crisis is not an unprecedented one. Four decades ago, a very similar transition to new battery technology in airplanes yielded similar problems. Audie Cornish describes what happened then — and what lessons might be learned as lithium-ion batteries become the next generation that power planes.

Federal stimulus money has helped cut the high cost of lithium-ion batteries, but not nearly enough to make electric cars affordable. Now there's an abundance of advanced battery manufacturers and not enough major companies to buy them. Many plants in the United States, South Korean, Japan and China that got government subsidies aren't producing many batteries, if at all. Three years ago Michigan's governor touted the state as the new battery capital of the world. There were five new advanced battery plants in the works, all of which were to get major tax breaks and some federal grants.

At the Geneva Motor Show on Tuesday, Volkswagen introduced a futuristic-looking car that the company says is the "world's most efficient."

VW's XL1 is a two seater, plug-in, diesel hybrid that the company says gets 261 miles per gallon "with an all-electric driving range of a little over 30 miles," CNN reports.

CNN adds:

Kansas City, Mo., is looking to boost its health-tech cred.

So the city that's home to Cerner Corp. and other health information firms seemed a natural to host something called the Hackovate Health Innovation Competition.

A mashup of innovation and old-school hacking (though none of the participants was bent on doing harm, we're assured), the goal of the competition was to improve the nation's health system and help people navigate the complexities of the Affordable Care Act.

Allegations that the Chinese military has been hacking U.S. corporations are raising tensions. But in the case of a full-fledged cyberwar, things would look very different.

Thorin Klosowski, of the blog Lifehacker, tells Audie Cornish about some smartphone apps that motivate you to get out of bed or go to the gym with a special dose of punishment.

Audie Cornish talks with Laura Sydell for a preview of South by Southwest Interactive. The tech event, one of the most popular showcases for tech startups and emerging technologies, starts later this week in Austin.