Bogdan Popa
13,294 ARTICLES
Personal motto:
"Cats are smarter than dogs. You can't get eight cats to pull a sled through snow" - Jeff Valdez, Stand-up Comedian.
He typically carries both an iPhone and Android device because there’s no such thing as the perfect phone, and he drives a car that some say is blue, others say is green.
His guilty pleasure is finding bugs in Android Auto (cc @Google, you’d better keep an eye on his reports, as these could actually help you refine the experience behind the wheel), and he occasionally tries out all kinds of weird gadgets that many people didn’t even know they exist.
His daily tech arsenal also includes a smartwatch and earbuds because that’s how geeks rock, as well as a laptop that has nothing in common with fruit.
Bogdan’s long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space in the trunk for his kid’s toys, as well as convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as the phones that these two companies build.
When he’s not writing about cars, Bogdan’s probably trying to fit a bike in the 375-liter trunk of his car or posting tech stuff for autoevolution’s sister site Softpedia.
2010 Polo Is Already a Hit, VW Gets 13,000 Orders
12 May 2009, 09:26 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The economic recession encouraged new car buyers to migrate towards small cars and the new Volkswagen Polo is the living proof of this. According to data provided by the German manufacturer, it has already received 13,000 orders for the new Polo in...
Opel Buyer to Be Announced by the End of May
12 May 2009, 09:25 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The Opel odyssey is slowly but surely coming to an end. And this end might take place as soon as the end of May, according to Fritz Henderson, the newly-appointed General Motors CEO. During a new conference in Detroit, Henderson said that GM is cur...
Mazda Reports $734M Net Loss in 2008
12 May 2009, 08:40 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Operating losses and reduced sales shouldn't surprise anybody nowadays, especially given the avalanche of reports surrounding the economic chaos and its victims. Mazda for instance today announced the financial results for the fiscal year 2008...
OnStar Upgraded with 911 Location Information Transmission
12 May 2009, 08:38 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The OnStar system, already available on a number of GM models and especially aimed at enhancing safety, was recently upgraded with a new function that automatically submits data related to the position of the car to 911 centers. In case of emergenc...
2009 Holden Cruze Gets Five-Star ANCAP Rating
12 May 2009, 08:00 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Safety is surely one of the main features a new car buyer is looking at so, in order to boost sales as much as possible, automakers around the world struggle to enhance this particular aspect. And Holden pretty much did it, as it mentions in a stat...
Chinese Clone Saga: Bentley Continental Flying Spur Copied
12 May 2009, 07:28 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The group of Chinese companies who are willing to launch shameless copies of European or North American models is quickly expanding, with a new company called Huatai Group reportedly working on a Bentley Continental Flying Spur replica. Details are...
Norwegian Mazda RX-8 Hydrogen RE Launched
11 May 2009, 15:10 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Japanese manufacturer Mazda unveiled the Norwegian-specification RX-8 Hydrogen RE at a ceremony in Oslo and first vehicles are expected to be delivered for leasing in the country as soon as this summer. With this occasion, Mazda emphasizes the comp...
Lorenzo Promises Strong Performance in France
11 May 2009, 14:57 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Following the disappointing result he got in the Spanish Grand Prix, Jorge Lorenzo promises a strong performance in the upcoming France GP this weekend as a way to make up for his error. Furthermore, the Spaniard emphasized that snatching a good re...
Honda Insight Hybrid Tops Japan Sales
11 May 2009, 14:37 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Hybrid sales have adopted a continuously ascending trend ever since the beginning of the crisis and are now even exceeding passenger car sales in certain regions of the world. Such an example is Japan where Honda Insight has become the best-selling...
Chevrolet Drives Forward GM's Sales
11 May 2009, 14:18 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Chevrolet is indeed a core brand for the American car giant and continues to drive the company's total sales forward in every single market. In the UK for example, Chevrolet's sales grew up by 17.84 percent in April over the figures of th...
Chrysler Recalls 37,407 2009 Dodge Ram
11 May 2009, 13:13 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Still under Chapter 11, Chrysler is experiencing tough times in the United States where it has to recall no less than 37,407 model year 2009 Dodge Rams due to a malfunction in the air conditioning system. According to a notification published on th...
PSA Not Afraid of Possible Fiat-Opel Alliance
11 May 2009, 10:52 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / A potential merger between Fiat and Opel doesn't scare the PSA Peugeot Citroen group that might become the main rival in Europe, a PSA board director said. According to a report by La Repubblica, Jean-Philippe Collin, head of the Peugeot brand...
GM to Make Supplier Payments Five Days Sooner
11 May 2009, 10:19 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / General Motors will make monthly payments to suppliers five days earlier this month, the American automaker mentioned in a letter sent a few days ago. The reason? The company is taking action "because of unsettled marketplace and because its f...
Chevrolet Has a Bright Future, Says GM's CEO
11 May 2009, 10:17 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / With the economic turmoil rather keeping the industry under pressure, General Motors' newly-appointed chief executive Fritz Henderson says Chevrolet will become a very competitive brand in the next two years, mostly thanks to the new models th...
2010 Toyota Sienna Pricing Unveiled
11 May 2009, 09:25 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Toyota today unveiled pricing for the 2010 Sienna van which will be mostly the same with the 2009 model year prices. The Japanese manufacturer says the refreshed version is expected to arrive in authorized dealerships later this month and will be o...
Lotus Elise, Esprit Still Due in 2012
11 May 2009, 08:50 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / With the economic recession rather deepening that getting back to the initial sales volume, there are a lot of questions regarding the models expected to be launched in the next few years, with next-year's vehicles in doubt mostly due to high ...
Hyundai Equus to Hit the US This Summer
11 May 2009, 08:03 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / Although some people might consider an expensive luxury sedan is not appropriate for such a difficult market like the one in the United States, especially if taking into account the economic chaos in the country, Hyundai is going to launch its new ...
2010 Opel Astra Official Teasers Rolled Out
11 May 2009, 07:21 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / The new 2010 Opel Astra, which is very likely to be released at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show, has just been teased again, with Astra's Lead Designer Marc van der Haegen and Engineering Coordinator Laszlo Kreth starring in a bunch of new p...
Chevy Volt Still Alive Despite Chapter 11 Threats
10 May 2009, 08:48 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / General Motors is still keen on developing the over-discussed Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and the company should enter production, as scheduled, in 2010. This is what Tom Stephens, the automaker's product development chief, said, hinting tha...
GM Drives Passenger Car Production Overseas
10 May 2009, 08:45 UTC · By: Bogdan Popa / There's no wonder that automakers around the world are seeking ways to reduce costs in every single area but, in GM's case, things are evolving in desperate way. As if the so-many cost-cutting measures weren't enough, General Motors ...