LUSARAP

Brazil: the country of carnivals, indescribable beauty adjacent to abject poverty, Ayrton Senna and old Volkswagen models. Only theyre not old â€" theyre new, theyre just based on old designs. The original Beetle continued production there long after it had been phased out elsewhere, but the original Kombi van has lasted much longer. That ends today, however, with the iconic VW Microbus ambling out of production on the last day of 2013.

VW kept making the van in Brazil with the original air-cooled 1.2-liter boxer four until 2005, after which the original design was updated with a 1.4-liter water-cooled engine. Today, however, it ultimately falls prey to safety regulations that mandate that all vehicles â€" no matter how old their design â€" need to have airbags and ABS, forcing Volkswagen do Brasil to cease production of the Microbus after a 56-year production run. But the latest word is that the Kombi (as its presently known) could get a stay of execution â€" or at least a resurrection in short order.

According to reports, the Brazilian government is looking into granting the Type 2 Microbus an exemption from said safety regulations, reasoning that the van was designed long before the advent of airbags and ABS. If the measure goes through, the Kombi Last Edition (pictured above) could prove not to be the last at all. So what do you think, should the Microbus get an exemption from Brazilian safety regulations for nostalgias sake? Vote in our poll below, then have your say in Comments.

Instagram has added a new share option to its desktop website, allowing users to embed photos and videos around the web for the first time.


The company announced the update on Wednesday afternoon, and in doing so hopes to make content more visible beyond the standalone mobile app, Instagram.com website and Facebook and Tumblr where photos can already be shared easily.

The new Share button, which appears to the right of single photo pages (not within the timeline), beneath the like and comment buttons. Clicking it serves up an embed code which can be posted to blogs like Tumblr (beyond direct uploads) and on websites with content publishing software that allow media embedding.

Users arent limited to sharing their own photos, they can also publish those belonging to other users of the service.

In a blog post, Instagram says privacy settings still apply so if your photos are private then no-one will be able to post them around the web. However, if youre happy for your photos to be viewed within the app and not happy for them to potentially be plastered all over the web, you may want to think about setting that profile to private.

Unfortunately theres no middle ground. Your posts are either completely private and viewable onto to those you wish to see them, or theyre totally open to all and sundry.

The company wrote: "As always, you own your photos and videos, and we want to make sure that’s understood no matter where your content appears. Whether you want to embed your video on your blog or a friend wants to feature your photo on a website, everyone will clearly see that your content belongs to you. Your embedded photo or video appears with your Instagram username, and clicking on the Instagram logo will take people to your page on Instagram.com where they can discover more of your photos and videos."

The embed option has been present within Twitter and the newer Vine video app for some time, allowing content curators to showcase interesting items to their audience in a native form.

It seems the Facebook-owned Instagram is determined that there are no features offered by Vine that it cannot.

A ‘Glamour Red’ HTC One has gone on sale in the UK, with retailer Phones 4u exclusively offering the brightly hued handset.


Formally unveiled last month, the red HTC One joins the original black and silver toned renditions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 rival and features the same high-end array of specs just in a new, more vibrant brushed aluminium shell.

“Phones 4u has a proven track record of securing colour handsets exclusives for our customers and we’re extremely excited to be working with HTC to offer them this exclusive opportunity to own the HTC One in Red,” Scott Hooton, CCO at Phones 4u said in announcing the UK exclusive last month.

Philip Blair, President of EMEA at HTC added: “The new HTC One in Glamour Red showcases the power of our flagship model in a colour that demands attention, whilst maintaining the high standard set for sophisticated design and build quality.”

Offering the eye-catching phone on a variety of networks and tariffs, Phones 4u has confirmed that the red HTC One will be available on EE, Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Orange.

Available for free on a £38 per month, two year contract, the red HTC One will come paired with 2GB of monthly data, unlimited calls and unlimited texts.

A true powerhouse of the smartphone scene, the HTC One runs a 4.7-inch, 1080p Full HD display alongside a speedy 1.7GHz quad-core CPU and Google’s Android Jelly Bean OS. With a 4-UltraPixel rear-mounted camera, the HTC One specs sheet is rounded off by the HTC Sense 5.0 UI and a second, 2-megapixel snapper up front.