While most of us tech journalists huddle together for warmth on the coasts, Engadget Mobile's Chris Ziegler bravely ventures into the nation's heartland to deliver a photo tour of Nokia's new store in Chicago, and it's apparently awesome in every way. The store is full of goodies like the Nokia N80, N90 and Nokia's super-high-end Vertu phones, with interactive displays and "hypnotic color panels." If you're in Chicago, Ziegler says, make sure to stop by. I know I will the next time I'm in the nation's midsection. Check out the pics.

Easy come, easy go. Some of the perks that came with being early to the hybrid party, rebates and access to high occupancy vehicle lanes in some states, are on the wane. That's because a number of the benefits have ceilings that have been reached—or will be, this summer.

The biggest impact is on buyers of Toyota and Lexus hybrids, whose tax credits will decrease this fall. Once an automaker reaches 60,000 hybrid sales within a year, the credit is reduced in two stages and disappears a year later. When the sales mark is reached, as happened with Toyota/Lexus in June, there's a one-quarter respite (July to September), at which point the credit drops to 50 percent of the previous credit. It stays that way for two quarters (October 2006 through March 2007), falls to 25 percent for two quarters (April through September 2007), and then goes away entirely as of Oct. 1, 2007.

The 60,000 sales-per-maker cap affects divisions under the automaker's umbrella, so Lexus sales count, in the case of Toyota. Together, they have five hybrid models: the Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Toyota Highlander; Lexus RX400h, and Lexus GS 450h.

Honda and Ford Unaffected

Honda and Ford have fewer hybrid models and fewer sales than Toyota/Lexus, so they're unaffected for now, assuming the federal legislation remains unchanged. The point of the tax credits was to get as many automakers as possible to get into the hybrid business. But by sometime in 2007, Toyota dealers might cry "foul" when the Prius rebate of $3,150 has been reduced to $1,575, then $788, then $0, making the Prius potentially less competitive, in terms of sales, with the fixed $2,100 rebate of a Honda Civic Hybrid. Notwithstanding, the Prius is a currently a sellout with a waiting list of customers.

The current tax credits according to the Internal Revenue Service (2006 models unless noted) are: the Ford Escape 2 wheel drive, $2,600 (4WD, $1,950 ); Mercury Mariner 4WD, $1,950; Honda Insight CVT (continuously variable transmission), $1,450; Honda 2005 Accord, $650; Honda 2006 Accord (with updated control calibration), $650 and (without updated control calibration) $1,300; Honda 2005 Civic SULEV (super low emissions vehicle), MT (manual transmission), & CVT, $1,700; Honda 2006 Civic CVT, $2,100; Lexus RX400h 2WD, $2,200 (4WD, $2,200); Lexus GS 450h , $1,550; Toyota Prius, $3,150; Toyota Highlander 2WD, $2,600 (4WD, $2,600); and 2007 Toyota Camry, $2,600.

The rebate level derives both from the vehicle's economy and the improvement relative to others in its class, which is why a Lexus SUV carries a higher rebate than the small Honda Civic. The maximum credit possible is $3,400; the Prius comes closest, at $3,150. Roughly speaking, the hybrid price premium at purchase time is about $3,o00, compared with a similar non-hybrid vehicle. And the time it takes to earn back the extra costs in fuel savings is about 6 years, but this varies greatly depending on how much you drive, how much you drive in the city (where the savings are greater), and the cost of fuel.

HOV Freebies Going Away

In addition, two states allowing some hybrid cars to use high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes are backing off. California will likely stop issuing HOV permits this year. The state now has a cap of 75,000 permits; it has sent out 65,000 applications through mid-June, and issued 57,000 permits. Unless the legislation changes, that's it for additional hybrid HOV cars. Existing HOV hybrids will be grandfathered in.

In Virginia, an outcry over hybrids clogging HOV lanes has the state backpedaling. Some reports say hybrids constitute 25 percent of HOV lane traffic despite being less than 1 percent of all 2005 new vehicle sales, and a drop in the bucket compared to the 200 million vehicles on U.S. highways. It's pretty clear Virginia motorists either had HOV access in mind when they bought hybrids or they're exceptionally earth-friendly: The Old Dominion State is the twelfth-largest in population but fifth in hybrid registrations. Hybrids bought after June 30 will no longer be allowed into the HOV lanes with single occupants.

To differentiate between old and new hybrid cars, Virginia is issuing color-differentiated "clean fuel" license plates to hybrid owners and charging $10 extra; after the first 1,000 plates, the price climbed to $25, to pay for a Virginia HOV enforcement fund. It's not obvious why that was needed, since the state already soaks HOV cheats when they're caught.

Corporate Rebates

What remains in place are the handful of corporate sponsored rebates , mostly offered by California companies. Bank of America has a rebate of up to $3,000 to 21,000 workers in three areas: Los Angeles County, Boston, and Charlotte, N.C. The company may extend this perk to all 175,000 employees around the globe. Google and Hyperion Solutions Corp. offer $5,000, and Integrated Archive Systems offers $10,000.

Drivers thinking of buying a hybrid, especially in California or Virginia, should check carefully before assuming they'll qualify for HOV perks or rebates. Most tax credits appear to be based on date of purchase, while in Virginia the HOV freebie that expires July 1 is based on when the car is actually registered, not when it's purchased.

If you listened to Gearlog Radio last week, then you already know that PC Magazine Editor of Reviews Lance Ulanoff is a Robot nut. (And you missed him say the word, "bum".)

So, it didn't surprise me to learn that Lance is at the third annual RoboBusiness Conference & Expo, held in Pittsburgh's Station Square.

Other Ziff Davis reporters are there, including John Spooner, who notes that several executives at the conference said the market for mobile robots will grow steadily over the next 5 to 10 years.

Here's some interesting things going on in the robotic market:

-Microsoft launched a beta version of Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS)--a software robotics standard for PC-based robots with 3D graphic simulations and a tutorial for robotics programming. You can download the Robotics Studio for free here.

-"Robo Dynamics is launching a series of Roomba interfaces with names like Roo232, to let Roomba work with Mini ITX boards; RooBasic, to add more sensors to Roomba; RooStick, to allow Roomba to connect to laptops that don't have legacy serial ports; and RooTooth, which gives Roomba wireless Bluetooth capabilities."

-"Elements Products, Inc., has created a serial interface (which is pictured here), complete with a built in microcontroller, which is about the size of a fingertip. Using the open-source WinAVR programming environment, Roomba owners can program in C and C++, compile the code and off-load through a USB/Serial interface to the small microcontroller for the price of $79.95. The controller is then plugged into to the Roomba, where it auto-boots, adding some new tricks to its repertoire."

I haven't seen Nacho Libre yet, but I'm sure Jack Black's character Nacho has been entertaining audiences everywhere.

If you have seen the film and can't get enough of it, then you'll get a kick out of the Nacho Libre Special Edition iSkin. It's a silicone casing to protect the iPod nano and iPod with video.

Preorder the Nacho Libre Special Edition iSkin for iPod with video for $39.99 or the iPod nano version for $34.99. The iSkin will ship this Friday June 23rd.

About Nacho Libre (from the Web site):

Jack Black stars as Ignacio (friends call him Nacho), a cook by day in a Mexican orphanage, who moonlights as a lucha libre wrestler to raise money for the orphans in this comedy from the creators of "Napoleon Dynamite" and the writer of "The School of Rock".

[via iLounge]

Lovers of high-speed data, you are now free to roam about the continent. Sprint announced today that they've officially turned on EV-DO high-speed roaming for Canada and Mexico, allowing owners of phones like the Palm Treo 700p and PC Cards like the Novatel S620 to potentially hit speeds of 1 Mbps/sec or higher. Sprint's been experimenting with EV-DO roaming in Canada and Mexico for a few months now, but this is the official launch.

You'll pay a painful $2/MB for the privilege, so frequent travelers should instead get Sprint's unlimited, all-over-North-America data plan, which costs $129.99/month with a one-year contract and $99.99/month with a two-year contract.

In Canada, enjoy blistering speed on the Bell Canada network in the Greater Toronto Area, Greater Montreal Area, Quebec City, Mt. Tremblant, Ottawa, Hamilton, Oakville, Burlington, Muskoka, Halifax, St. John's, Charlottetown, Moncton and Fredericton.

In Mexico, pruebe el sabor de EV-DO on the IUsacell network in Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Comalcalco, Cozumel, Cuidad del Carmen, Guadalajara, Macuspana, Mérida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Playa del Carmen,  San Jose del Cabo, y Tuxtla; many other cities run on the slower, but still usable 1X network.