AMD's VP of Consumer Business, Joe Menard, said that these living room PCs "may come out next year" and might even include quiet running, fanless designs if we read into his comments just a bit.

ENGADGET: AMD unveils living room PC reference design: world squints in wonder

However, separate research by the institute, which was consistent with results from similar studies by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), showed increased risks for pedestrians from quiet hybrids running on electricity at low speeds.

FORBES: Hybrids: Two New Reports Reveal Good and Bad News

It offers up to 50 miles of all-electric driving, and then another 250 miles with the (very quiet) gas motor running.

FORBES: Electric Cars Most Likely To Succeed In 2011

"Those phones running on the subway, the quiet end is the end that suffers, " West says.

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The Finn was pretty quiet in qualifying but is likely to be running with more fuel on board than Massa.

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The cool-running, lower-power Barracuda Green hard drive delivers whisper-quiet acoustics and helps reduce system costs associated with the fans and power supply devices often required for power-hungry systems.

ENGADGET: Seagate ships 3.5-inch Barracuda Green internal hard drive, leaves and all