Tree huggers, tech nerds and fast-car aficionados stood side by side at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas for the unveiling of the Spark-Renault SRT 01E Formula E car.

F1 driver Lucas di Grassi showed off the car's specs in a demonstration, performing doughnuts, sudden stops and sharp turns in the car.

The car burned some serious rubber but with not a trace of exhaust. That's because the new FIA Formula E Championship car is all electric and is the first of its series, exclusively for electric cars.

The car is capable of reaching speeds of more than 150 miles per hour and has a zero-to-60 time of less than 3 seconds, and it barely makes a sound.

Formula E is slated to begin in September and run through June 2015 on street courses through major world cities, including Beijing, London and Los Angeles.

The series is expected to consist of one-hour races, given that the car batteries last up to 25 minutes at a time. Drivers will have to switch cars during the race while the...

Driving a car is so 20th century. The future of driving is the autonomous vehicle. Or at least that was the biggest high-tech automotive trend on display at CES, the unofficial Las Vegas auto show.

This year, Audi came to the consumer electronics show with a slate-gray A7 self-driving car. We went for a joy ride in Vegas traffic to see what the new piloted technology can do.

We headed to the Cosmopolitan Hotel garage in Las Vegas, where we were greeted by Bjorn Giesler, Audi's project leader of development of piloted driving, two additional Audis and two Nevada state troopers, who followed our car all the way to Interstate 15. In the back of the car was an Audi engineer to monitor the piloted system, in case of a glitch, and to work the radio with the police. This was reassuring.

The prototype Audi A7 test vehicle was equipped with front-facing digital cameras, laser scanner and radar system, all tied to a central computer. The sensors elegantly hidden in the grille enable the self-...

LAS VEGAS -- Samsung is betting big on ultra-high-definition televisions.

So big, in fact, that HS Kim, executive vice president of Samsung's visual display business, is predicting that ultra-HD sets will soon dominate the consumer market, eclipsing HD TVs -- despite high prices and a lack of ultra-HD content.

"I think it's pretty obvious that consumers are going to choose UHD TVs," Kim said during an interview with The Times at International CES in Las Vegas this week. "The only question is how affordable the UHD TVs are going to be; and as technology advances, the prices will drop. So I think it's very highly likely that consumers will choose UHD TVs, and I think this will happen faster than anticipated."

FULL CES 2014 COVERAGE

Ultra-HD, or 4K, television sets are being touted as the next generation in home entertainment, boasting four times the resolution of the HD TV displays found in American households. Manufacturers are hoping to give consumers a reason to replace their current...

Everything is smart at CES -- watches, glasses, shoes, gloves -- so it's not surprising to find intelligent cars.

BMW unveiled the i3, a concept electric vehicle, that communicates with a smartwatch, specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Gear.

In addition to displaying the car's vitals, including battery status and driving range, the smartwatch can be used to navigate.

CES 2014: Full coverage

Users can send addresses from their smartphone contact list directly to the car's built-in navigation system. Imagine how much time users will save not having to type in the address. 

And drivers will also be able to take advantage of an in-car intermodal navigation service that looks at real-time traffic conditions, then lets users know if alternative modes of transportation are faster. The service is available for its new i3 and i8 electric vehicles as part of the BMW ConnectedDrive system.

The feature may be especially useful for Los Angeles drivers, who often get stuck in bumper to bumper traffic...

LAS VEGAS -- 2013 wasn't a great year for BlackBerry, but the company says it is moving forward.

The Canadian tech company sent a slew of executives to CES this week to reassure the public about its prospects and to promote its latest products. But unlike last year, when execs proudly showed off BlackBerry 10 smartphones at the consumer electronics trade show, the focus this year was more on the software side.

Back in October, BlackBerry released its BlackBerry Messaging app for Android and iOS. The instant messaging app quickly amassed 40 million new registered users on those two platforms in the first 60 days.

Now the company is gearing up to release several new BBM features.

FULL CES 2014 COVERAGE

Android and iOS users can soon expect free voice calls to any BBM contact anywhere in the world and the ability to subscribe to and create their own "channels" via the social media networking feature BBM Channels.

All versions of BBM will be getting faster and easier sharing of photos,...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Privacy advocates are raising the alarm about a new feature in Google's email service Gmail that lets Google+ users send you emails even if they don't know your email address.

"Have you ever started typing an email to someone only to realize halfway through the draft that you haven't actually exchanged email addresses? If you are nodding your head 'yes' and already have a Google+ profile, then you're in luck, because now it's easier for people using Gmail and Google+ to connect over email," Google product manager David Nachum wrote in a blog post. "As an extension of some earlier improvements that keep Gmail contacts automatically up to date using Google+, Gmail will suggest your Google+ connections as recipients when you are composing a new email."

Your email address isn't visible to a Google+ connection unless you send that person an email, and that person's email address isn't...

LAS VEGAS -- Even though 3D printing is all the rage at the Consumer Electronics Show, many people outside the industry are still puzzled by all the fuss.

"Explain 3D printers to me. Why are they useful?" one non-techie friend of mine tweeted me this week, after I posted a picture of a 3D printer at the show.

By the way, there are 28 3D printing exhibitors at the show, up from just eight in 2013, according to Gary Shapiro, the president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Assn., which organizes the show.

PHOTOS: 10 Tech gadgets we want to see in 2014

"It puts the power to make an object or manufacture an object in anyone's hands. You no longer need to go to a factory," said Daniel Cowen, co-founder of 3Doodler, a 3D printing pen.

Cowen's product, the 3Doodler, lets users sketch out their ideas like any other pen, but unlike...

Target this year will be testing a new layout for the electronics section of its stores at more than a dozen locations across the U.S. in hopes that the redesign will boost its sales of tech products.

Currently, the electronics sections at Target stores use tall racks lined up in rows to display items. For the new design, Target will distinguish the electronics department by using carpeted areas with small tables that showcase items and let shoppers play with smartphones and tablets before purchasing them.

The new floor plan can be seen in the video above.

PHOTOS: 10 Tech gadgets we want to see in 2014

Besides the new look, Target also said it will train its electronics employees so they are more knowledgeable about the products they sell.

The remodeled look and electronic sales training is new for Target, but consumers will be familiar with the approach.

Apple has been successfully selling its products this way for years. The approach has been emulated by other tech giants, including...

Can Apple and Samsung at long last put aside years of animosity and patent litigation and hold hands and make nice?

Don't hold your breath, but the companies have at least agreed to try. Again. 

The smartphone and tablet rivals will work with a mediator in an effort to settle their patent disputes in advance of a second trial on the issues scheduled for this spring, according to Bloomberg News.

PHOTOS: 10 Tech gadgets we want to see in 2014 

The two companies have been in and out of U.S. District Court in San Jose as they duel over two related patent lawsuits filed by Apple. 

Apple won the first one in August 2012, though appeals of the original $1-billion award in the case have kept it bouncing around. At the same time, the two companies are sharpening their swords in advance of a second trial, scheduled for March, over more recent Samsung products that Apple claims violated its patents. 

Last fall, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh requested that both sides give mediation another shot.

In...

A week after 4.6 million Snapchat users' personal information was exposed by hackers, the company has issued an update to improve its app security and it has apologized for the incident.

"We are sorry for any problems this issue may have caused you and we really appreciate your patience and support," the company said in a blog post Thursday morning.

The app update lets users opt out of having their personal phone numbers included in a feature called "Find Friends." That feature was what hackers used to expose so many users one week ago.

PHOTOS: 10 Tech gadgets we want to see in 2014

To opt out of the feature, Snapchat said users must go into the app settings and then tap where it says "Mobile #." In there is a setting that says "Link username to mobile #." Users must turn that option off to opt out.

The app update and the apology may help Snapchat stem user anger about the security breach.

Many criticized the company about how it initially handled the breach, specifically because co-...

T-Mobile loves to pick on AT&T.

T-Mobile Chief Executive John Legere, who crashed and was kicked out of an AT&T party Monday, took the stage at the Venetian on Wednesday with some choice words for the rival carrier.

In an appearance laced with language too colorful to print here, Legere explained his party-crashing by saying, "I just love Macklemore" -- AT&T's guest performer that night.

He added that AT&T is "a continual source of amusement to me."

"These are fat cats that can't move."

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Dressed in a hot pink T-Mobile T-shirt and clutching a can of Red Bull, Legere also took aim at the wireless landscape as a whole.

"This industry blows. It needs change," he said.

T-Mobile has been aggressively working to uproot wireless plans, last year announcing that it would get rid of contracts and phone subsidies.

Those efforts have so far been working, and T-Mobile has eaten into AT&T's market share.

At Wednesday's event, the No. 4 carrier took another big step,...