Ferrari keep Massa on for two more seasons

Alonso and Massa formed a new partnership in 2010

Ferrari have given Felipe Massa a new two-year deal that will keep him with the Italian team until the end of 2012.

The announcement comes hard on the heels of Red Bull's retention of Mark Webber, who was regarded as a contender to take over Massa's drive.

"It's a matter of pride to continue working with a team that I regard as my second family," said Massa.

The Brazilian has struggled to match the pace of Fernando Alonso since the Spaniard joined Ferrari this year.

Massa has been associated with Ferrari since he entered Formula 1 at the beginning of the 2002 season with the Sauber team, which was using Petronas-badged Ferrari engines.

"Throughout my entire Formula 1 career, I have always raced with an engine made in Maranello," he said.

Team principal Stefano Domenicali added: "Felipe has been part of Ferrari for almost a decade and, together with us, he has grown as a driver and as a man, going through some very difficult times as well as giving us moments of great happiness.

"We wanted to show proof of stability for the future, believing in the worth of a driver pairing that is without equal in terms of talent, speed and its ability to work together for the good of the team."

Massa, 29, has competed in 69 grands prix for Ferrari since he joined the squad's race-team line-up in 2006. In that time he has achieved 11 wins, 15 pole positions and 12 fastest race laps.

But those statistics pre-date his bad accident in qualifying for last summer's Hungarian Grand Prix, when he was hit on the head by a spring from Rubens Barrichello's Brawn.

Massa was sidelined for the rest of the season, and has been outshone to date in 2010 by Ferrari newcomer Alonso.

Going into this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Alonso and Massa lie fourth and seventh in the drivers' championship, while Ferrari are 26 points behind leaders McLaren in the constructors' championship.

Ferrari brought in Alonso to replace Kimi Raikkonen this season and the Spaniard has quickly established himself as the lead driver.

However, the 28-year-old double champion has also made high-profile errors, including a collision at the start of the Australian Grand Prix, jumping the start in China and missing qualifying in Monaco after crashing during practice.

Despite the errors, Alonso is only 14 points - with 25 for a race win - behind drivers' championship leader Mark Webber, with Massa 26 points adrift of the Red Bull driver.

"I don't want to speak about mistakes," added the team principal.

"We are a group and the team do the best with the car and the drivers do the best with the performance.

Ferrari boss - I convinced Schumacher to return

"I'm very pleased with him. He came into team in a fantastic way and I think that he gave input to the team and I say let's wait until the end of the season. He will be very strong - I have no doubt about that."

The Italian boss also backed Massa to shine.

"Massa was struggling with the hard tyres in certain conditions in the first part of the year, so I think that is the area we need to work with him so he has more confidence in the car," said Domenicali.

"It's easy to criticise a driver when he is not performing well, so we need to make sure the package for him is the best."

Ferrari crossed the landmark of 800 grand prix starts in the Turkish Grand Prix less than two weeks ago - more than any other team in the history of the sport.

SOurce: Bbc.com

READ MORE - Ferrari keep Massa on for two more seasons

Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button expect future F1 battles

Turkish GP in 90 seconds

Lewis Hamilton is anticipating further on-track tussles with McLaren team-mate Jenson Button following their one-two finish at the Turkish Grand Prix.

The 2008 world champion took his first victory of the season, but was passed by Button with eight laps to go before retaking the lead straight afterwards.

"There are 12 races left and I'd be surprised if we weren't racing each other soon," said Hamilton.

"The last laps were fun, proper racing, but fun and fair," added Button.

Defending world champion Button's second-placed finish took him to 88 points in the drivers' championship, just five points behind Red Bull's leader Mark Webber, who finished in third place despite a controversial crash with team-mate Sebastian Vettel on lap 40.

Qualifying pace is still something that we're not entirely satisfied with Jenson Button

Hamilton's win moved him up into third, nine points behind Webber.

With the Red Bulls out of the running at Istanbul Park, it was left to McLaren's English duo to stage an enthralling race for the lead.

Button had briefly taken the lead when he went around the outside of Turn 12 eight laps from the chequered flag, but the two MP4-25s brushed wheels as Hamilton reclaimed the lead as both drivers headed into Turn One.

"It was great to be able to race with Lewis, it's actually the first time in our careers that we've actually been able to do that, and he's a very fair guy on the track," added Button.

"It was tricky in those closing laps, because we knew we were pretty marginal on fuel, but the team lets us race and that's exactly what we did. Lewis and I had a good scrap."

And Hamilton said he is looking forward to competing against his team-mate in the remaining races this season.

"Our eyes are open to the fact that it will happen again, that'll be cool because he's a good guy to race with," said the 25-year-old.

The conclusion of their battle for the lead was very different to that of the Red Bull drivers, whose team have been trying to manage the fall-out from their collision ever since.

On Thursday, the team issued a statement saying Vettel and Webber had had a meeting with team bosses Christian Horner, Adrian Newey and Helmut Marko which "draws a line" under the incident.

But it will inevitably be the major talking point when the teams arrive in Canada for the eighth race of the season on 13 June.

Hamilton has fond memories of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the scene of his maiden grand prix victory in 2007 after taking pole.

"It's such a fast, demanding and unforgiving circuit - I love racing there," said Hamilton.

"It's an incredibly tough track - even if you can avoid the walls, which are really close and exciting at some places, the surface is very treacherous offline because of all the marbles. It's a place where you don't want to make even a tiny mistake."

Despite their second one-two podium finish this season in Istanbul, Button insists McLaren must develop their one-lap pace to compete with Red Bull's superior pace in qualifying.

"Qualifying pace is still something that we're not entirely satisfied with, but we're pleased that we do appear to have closed the gap to Red Bull," said the 30-year-old.

"Certainly, if you look at our relative pace in Barcelona, and compare it with Istanbul, then we do seem to be closer. We're not there yet, but we think we've got a good package for Canada, and we're working hard to bring a series of larger improvements to the car later on in the summer."

Meanwhile, McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh is confident the layout of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will suit the MP4-25 cars.

"It's a low-downforce track where straight-line speed is fundamental to a good lap time," he said.

"Once again, we'll be looking for another strong result before the circus returns to Europe for the rest of the summer."

Source: bbc.com

READ MORE - Lewis Hamilton & Jenson Button expect future F1 battles

Force India designers join Lotus

Gascoyne has made three appointments from his former team

Lotus have recruited three designers from rivals Force India in a bid to continue their progress in Formula 1.

Mark Smith will take over as the team's technical director, Lewis Butler joins as chief designer and Marianne Hinson will be head of aerodynamics.

Team owner Tony Fernandes said: "I am honoured that these fantastic talents have put their faith in Lotus, and see the very bright future we have."

Lotus have established themselves as the leading new team this season.

Lotus were one of three new teams to enter F1 this season, the others being Virgin and Hispania.

The three new recruits have all worked with Lotus chief technical officer Mike Gascoyne at other teams.

Gascoyne said: "I'm exceptionally pleased to welcome Marianne and Lewis to Lotus Racing, and I'm very excited to once again be teaming up with Mark Smith who I have previously worked with at Jordan, Renault and Force India.

"Lewis and I were together at Force India, and Lewis also worked with Mark Smith at Red Bull, and Marianne and I have known each other since 1999 when I gave her her first job in F1 at Jordan, so we all know each other very well."

Meanwhile, Force India have instigated legal action against Lotus, Gascoyne, and the Aerolab windtunnel company for alleged breaches of the team's intellectual property, relating to the design of its current car.

A Force India statement said: "Force India believes that Lotus Racing, via its use of Aerolab and Fondtech facilities and data, has utilised and benefited from the use of Force India F1 Team's intellectual property, including components and tyres exclusively licensed by Bridgestone to the Force India F1 Team, on its wind tunnel model design for the current Lotus T127 chassis without permission from the Force India F1 Team.

"Force India states these are very serious claims and therefore it would not be taking such action if it could not provide supportive evidence."

Lotus responded by stating that the legal action is "principally between Force India and Aerolab/Fondtech.

The statement said: "These proceedings do not allege any wrong doing on the part of Lotus Racing. Aerolab/Fondtech vigorously denies any wrong doing and have provided Lotus Racing with a full indemnity in relation to the claim."

Source: Bbc.com

READ MORE - Force India designers join Lotus

Robert Kubica lukewarm on future with Renault F1 team

Robert Kubica is one of the most highly-rated Formula 1 drivers

In-form Renault driver Robert Kubica has refused to commit himself to the team for next season.

The 25-year-old Pole is sixth in the drivers' standings and has two podium finishes in seven races this season.

That form has seen him linked with a move to Ferrari and when asked about next season, he was non-committal.

"It's not the time to talk about it," he said. "There will be time for me to talk about whether I will be staying with Renault or not."

He added: "For me, for now, it is still too early. It's all about feeling, and once I get a feeling as to what I must decide then I will do it.

"Too many people, when I signed for Renault, told me I was wrong, that it was a bad move.

"But I'm pretty happy with my decision and I hope I can rely on my decision-making for the future."

Kubica joined Renault on a one-year contract in the close-season following three years with BMW Sauber.

His future appeared in doubt in December when the team was taken over by Luxembourg investment company Genii Capital, but he opted to stay after talks with the new owners.

In a superb debut season, he has only once been out of the top 10 and finished on the podium in Australia and Monaco.

He is 26 points behind championship leader Mark Webber, and 61 points ahead of his rookie team-mate Vitaly Petrov, after seven of 19 races.

"We can be happy with the start to the season and the job we are doing," added Kubica.

"The guys in the factory are also doing a good job because for every race they are delivering new bits on the car.

"It's not easy to catch up with the other teams because they are working hard too, but it's good to see the people pushing with the way they are working on the car."

Source: Bbc.om

READ MORE - Robert Kubica lukewarm on future with Renault F1 team

Mark Webber wants unity with Red Bull team-mate Vettel

Vettel and Webber's catastrophic collision

Championship leader Mark Webber has called on Red Bull to be united as they look to recover from the disastrous finale to the Turkish Grand Prix.

The team were on course for a one-two finish when Sebastian Vettel attempted an overtaking move, collided with Webber and crashed out of the race.

The drivers blamed each other for the crash, but Webber is now keen for the team to put the incident behind them.

"We need to bounce back and be united as a team, and keep going," he said.

Sunday's incident occurred on lap 40 and left Webber requiring a new front wing before resuming to finish third behind the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

Vettel emerged from his car pointing his finger to his head in a manner suggesting that he thought Webber had pulled off a crazy move.

The public recriminations continued with team principal Christian Horner criticising both drivers and Red Bull's motorsport adviser Helmut Marko fuelling talk of favouritism by putting the blame firmly at Webber's door.

The Australian, who now leads the standings by only five points, said the team could have dealt with the fallout from the crash better.

"If you look back obviously, after it all happens, you of course want to handle things a lot more differently," he said.

"The team, collectively with the drivers, all of us have to learn how to deal with these situations maybe better in the future."

Webber's comments came as Horner insisted that both drivers will continue to receive equal billing within the team.

Horner said Webber and Vettel had learned a "costly lesson" and plans to sit down with the duo for clear-the-air talks before the Canadian Grand Prix.

"Both drivers, as has always been the case, will continue to be given equal treatment," he said.

"The Turkish Grand Prix has been a costly lesson for both of them and we are confident this situation won't happen again.

"The drivers are both intelligent individuals and this issue will be resolved prior to the Canadian Grand Prix.

Source: Bbc.om

READ MORE - Mark Webber wants unity with Red Bull team-mate Vettel

McLaren admit to communication errors in Turkey

Button and Hamilton were all smiles on the podium after the race at Istanbul Park in Turkey

McLaren have admitted to making errors in communicating with their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at last month's Turkish Grand Prix.

Hamilton led a McLaren one-two in Istanbul but was upset to be overtaken by Button on lap 50 after being told via radio this would not happen.

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "Chief engineer Phil Prew told Lewis that Jenson would not overtake.

"It was an instinctive response but that opinion was clearly wrong."

The McLaren incident came eight laps after Red Bull team-mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel collided.

Championship leader Webber was leading on lap 40 of the 58-lap race, with Red Bull on course for a one-two, when Vettel attempted an overtaking move and the two cars came together.

Vettel span out of the race, while Webber was forced to pit for a new front wing before resuming to finish third.

The crash left Hamilton leading from his English team-mate Button but both McLaren drivers were immediately told to conserve fuel in a race that had seen high consumption.

"Inevitably there is a dilemma as you get to the end of the race about how hard you can race and we had that amply demonstrated to us that a team and its drivers can get it wrong," added Whitmarsh.

"There is no doubt both of our drivers wanted to win, but the race had been quicker than expected in the early part so both drivers had been given the same instruction to save fuel."

Hamilton could see Button closing on him though and, although team orders are banned in Formula 1 if they "interfere with competition", in an official race edit of the Turkish Grand Prix, broadcast on formula1.com, he can be heard asking his team: "If I back off, is Jenson going to pass me or not?"

McLaren's answer was: "No, Lewis. No."

However, when, with 10 laps remaining, Hamilton slowed down in Turn Eight, Button took advantage through Turns 12 and 13.

Hamilton reclaimed the lead from Button at the start of the next lap, with the two MP4-25s brushing wheels coming into Turn One.

"It wasn't expected that Lewis would lift off as much as he did in Turn Eight and Jenson, when he saw that, thought it was an opportunity and subsequently made the pass," said Whitmarsh.

"But Lewis wasn't about to give up first place easily and made a fairly robust overtake to ensure he remained in the lead.

"Thereafter, the two of them decided there was a reasonably fair and equitable equilibrium as they had to ensure they finished comfortably with fuel and car intact."

McLaren go into this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix with a few modifications to their car and the team are hopeful of a decent chance of building on the win in Istanbul.

They believe their car is suited to the layout of Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where straight-line speed is crucial, and Whitmarsh continued: "It would be nice to win, it ought to be where we are quick and it's where Lewis won his first grand prix three years ago.

"Red Bull are strong in high speed corners, but the next two grands prix (Montreal and Valencia) don't feature those so we hope to be strong there.

"But while we're developing our car you never know what Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes will turn up with.

"We've got a new front wing as the one in Istanbul didn't work and a new rear wing lower element so we have a reasonable aerodynamic package.

"But predicting the outcome is impossible and that's how the sport should be. It's possible we could win, but I'm not that confident."

Source: Bbc.com

READ MORE - McLaren admit to communication errors in Turkey

Ferrari sign 11-year-old prodigy Lance Stroll

The Ferrari team is the most successful in Grand Prix racing

Ferrari have signed up 11-year-old Lance Stroll as the youngest member of their driver academy.

Ferrari set up the academy last year to help young drivers progress from karting through to Formula 1.

Stroll, from Montreal, has twice won the Canadian national championship in the Rotax Mini Max category.

"He is very young but he has already shown in karting he is exceptionally talented," said Ferrari's academy head Luca Baldisserri.

"We will follow him step by step in his forthcoming events in North America and he will soon also take part in our courses at Maranello."

Last year, Stroll finished sixth in the World Finals at Lonato in the Mini Roc category and second in the Rotax Micro Max Florida Winter Tour.

In 2008 he was nominated by the Federation Sport Automobile du Quebec as Rookie of the Year and Driver of the Year the following year.

Source: Bbc.com

READ MORE - Ferrari sign 11-year-old prodigy Lance Stroll

Red Bull extend Mark Webber contract by one year

Webber is currently top of the drivers' championship with 93 points

Formula 1 world championship leader Mark Webber has signed a one-year contract extension with Red Bull.

The new deal means the Australian, 33, will line up alongside Germany's Sebastian Vettel for the third successive season in 2011.

The two drivers controversially collided when Webber was leading the Turkish Grand Prix last week.

"At this stage of my career, I'm happy to take one year at a time," Webber said in a statement.

"The decision to extend for a further year was a mutual one; it's widely known that I'm not interested in hanging around in Formula 1 just for the sake of it."

Webber has been in excellent form this season, claiming successive victories in the Spanish and Monaco Grands Prix in May, as well as a third-place podium finish in Istanbul, a race won by McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.

Webber had been leading the race, with Vettel in pursuit in second place, when the two drivers collided on lap 40 of 58 as the German attempted to overtake on the straight before Turn 12.

The accident took Vettel out of the race, while Webber was forced to return to the pits to change his damaged front wing.

However, the former Williams driver retained his composure to finish behind the McLarens of Hamilton and Jenson Button, allowing him to extend his lead at the top of the drivers' championship to five points.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said the decision to retain Webber had been "straightforward".

"He is an important member of our team and is currently in the best form of his career," said the Englishman, whose team are second behind McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.

"The team is extremely happy that the driver pairing of Mark and Sebastian will remain unchanged for a third season in 2011."

Vettel is one of the rising stars in Formula 1 and the 22-year-old is contracted until 2011 with the Milton Keynes-based team.

Between the two drivers, Red Bull have won three grands prix this season, the same number as McLaren, while Fernando Alonso's season-opening victory in Bahrain remains Ferrari's only top podium finish in 2010.

Hamilton had hinted Webber could retire at the end of the season before the Australian Grand Prix in March, but the New South Wales-born driver dismissed suggestions he was ready to quit.

"I'm very motivated, enjoying my job and looking forward to a great season. I've no intention of retiring," he said.

Webber became the first Australian since Alan Jones in 1981 to win a Grand Prix when he won at Nurburgring in Germany last July and he went on to record a second F1 victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

He finished fourth in the drivers' championship last season.

Source: bbc.com

READ MORE - Red Bull extend Mark Webber contract by one year

No favourite at Red Bull - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel has insisted he is not favoured by Red Bull over team-mate Mark Webber in the aftermath of their crash at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Red Bull team bosses have appeared to pin most of the blame for the crash on Webber, despite the vast majority of pundits believing Vettel was at fault.

Vettel told BBC Sport: "What we have been discussing internally is neither driver is favoured in any way.

"We go out and try to find out who is the better one, like it should be."

Vettel's remarks came in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport as Red Bull try to manage the fall-out from the crash while their drivers were disputing the lead at Istanbul Park.

In the interview, Vettel insisted he had done nothing wrong, despite many former F1 drivers - including BBC analysts Martin Brundle and David Coulthard saying the German caused the crash by turning towards his team-mate while still alongside.

Horner implies Webber was to blame for crash

"It all happened fairly quick," Vettel said.

"I got a very good run out of corner leading on to back straight, got a good tow. Then I was going on the inside.

"I had already passed Mark and then tried to come slowly back to the right.

"At that time I was the leading car and then usually the leader dictates when to go. We made contact and that was the end of the race for me."

Asked why he had given the 'crazy sign' to Webber - circling his finger at his forehead - after the incident, Vettel said: "I think it was pretty clear at the time. I don't think it was a crazy sign. I think it's very common. I think everyone understood."

Vettel denied either driver had been given any instructions from the team and he added he would do nothing differently if the two men were in the same situation again.

"It's always the question - you never know what is going to happen," he said.

"You do at the time what you think is right, and in that case you would do it again because you thought it was right. No matter how is the outcome, you will always learn something."

And he denied he had made the move because he was under pressure to score points after a string of problems had cost him three potential victories earlier in the season.

"Any racing driver who finds himself in second and thinks he is faster and stronger than the guy in the lead and gets the chance - it's not like you get a million chances - [would do the same].

Webber explains Vettel incident

"I used my chance and unfortunately I didn't see the chequered flag.

"I lost a lot of points. It's not a good thing to have a DNF down in the championship.

"But with the new system it sounds lot of points you are behind but one result can make a big difference."

Red Bull announced on Monday that Webber had signed a new contract that will keep him at the team until the end of 2011.

Source: Bbc.com

READ MORE - No favourite at Red Bull - Vettel

Lewis Hamilton says more to come from McLaren after win

Hamilton pleased to win eventful race

Lewis Hamilton believes there is more to come from his McLaren team after they clinched a one-two finish in an incident-packed Turkish Grand Prix.

Hamilton took advantage of a collision between the two Red Bull drivers to secure his first win of the season at Istanbul Park on Sunday.

"We have closed the gap and we have good things coming in the next few races," said the 25-year-old.

"It is not the win I would have dreamed of but I am very happy for the team."

Hamilton's victory in Turkey was his first since Singapore last season and came in a race that looked out of reach for his team at one point.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were seemingly on their way to securing Red Bull's third one-two finish of the season, only for the cars to collide on the 40th lap.

The incident put Webber down to third while Vettel was forced to retire.

It left Hamilton and Button out in front on their own but despite seeing what had happened to their rivals, the two Englishmen got involved in their own battle with only 10 laps to go.

Button took the lead in the chicane at the end of the back straight only for the two cars to make contact as Hamilton overtook in Turn One.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted afterwards that the manoeuvres were "heart-stopping" but Hamilton said it was a "great battle".

"Towards the end we were trying to look after the tyres, the car and the fuel," added Hamilton.

"The target they gave me was a little bit slower than perhaps they had really meant for me and all of a sudden Jenson was on my tail.

"I had a great battle with him and I was happy to get past him because it was a surprise to see him go past me.

Highights - Turkish Grand Prix

"We are allowed to race but we have to be sensible as we are a team - we both want to win the constructors' championship and the world [drivers'] championship but we're not stupid.

"I wouldn't do anything dangerous to touch him and vice versa. That's the great thing, when we are battling we know we have that respect for each other so we do not have that problem but clearly it's not the same for the guys ahead!

"Jenson was very fair. We have a huge amount of respect for each other, he is the best team-mate I have had."

Hamilton was questioned as to why he was a little subdued on the podium and he replied: "I have mixed emotions but I am very happy. I was a little bit confused the last few laps.

"I am very blessed that I was able to get back out in front and stay ahead.

"I love to overtake the guys, that's what I was trying to achieve but unfortunately I was not able to do that. I hope there are many one-twos to follow."

For his part, Button - who has won twice this season in Australia and China - said the fight with Hamilton was "good fun".

I was told to conserve fuel - Button

"I got into Turn 12 on the outside and had to have a go," said the defending world champion.

"We were wheel to wheel for five corners and it was good fun but I made a mistake on the entry into Turn One and allowed Lewis back in.

"But when Lewis got back in front, I was back into fuel save mode as we were a little worried because the race was faster than we thought.

"I hope it was fun for the British fans."

Button was delighted that McLaren, who now lead the constructors' championship by one point, have closed the gap on the pacesetting Red Bulls.

"What happened with the Red Bulls opened the door for us and it was nice to be battling up the front which is where the car should be," he added.

"We are so much closer to the Red Bulls now and three weeks ago you wouldn't have thought that would have happened.

"McLaren have got potential and a good car in race trim. We owe a lot of credit to the team."

Whitmarsh said he was nervous as his drivers battled on the track but expressed relief that they got home in one piece.

"We are a racing team and we want to let them race to a certain degree but I wasn't comfortable for a few moments," he said.

"You have got to get your own ego behind the team and if you have a one-two don't do anything to jeopardise that.

"Their engineers talked to them. We had a fuel problem that we had to manage and we did that well.

"In the race we were quicker than [the Red Bulls] and we had two great drivers that brought home one and two."

Source: Bbc.com

READ MORE - Lewis Hamilton says more to come from McLaren after win

Notion Ink Adam 'on track' for Q3 after all, may have 'more aggressive price'

Thought the Notion Ink Adam was delayed yet again? So did we, but founder Rohan Shravan just cleared up all that nonsense with a new update. If you've been pining for a Pixel Qi screen, you'll be happy to know the Tegra 2 tablet is still on track for Q3, and will be joined by a cheaper LCD version around the same period. Celebrating his good fortune at securing investment, Shravan teased lower prices and a third, more battery efficient Notion Ink as well, but on this last point even he agrees he might be getting ahead of himself. Honestly, at this point we'd be happy to see even a single retail unit -- we're already getting distracted by alternatives.

READ MORE - Notion Ink Adam 'on track' for Q3 after all, may have 'more aggressive price'

Volkswagen 2011 Phaeton can read street signs using windshield mounted camera

Volkswagen's showing off its 2011 Phaeton all over the place, and it's boasting some pretty interesting features if you're the nerdy type. In addition to regular navigational systems, the Phaeton will be the first to integrate a new system which can download Google maps satellite images and points of interest info over a mobile phone, and then laid over existing maps within the GPS, providing a far superior, up to date database of information to the driver. And then there's the camera installed behind the windshield, which can read street sign information such as posted speed limits, no passing zones and the like. It also boasts Dynamic Light Assist, which makes use of the camera to scan the surrounding area for other cars that might suffer from the glare of the headlights, and responds by masking a portion of the lamp to cut said glare. Ah, fahrvergnügen.

READ MORE - Volkswagen 2011 Phaeton can read street signs using windshield mounted camera

MotoCzysz E1pc claims to be the world's most advanced electric motorcycle, we don't argue

We've seen quite a few electric motorcycles, and even driven some ourselves, but none quite like the MotoCzysz E1pc, which is touted to be the "world's most advanced." As Popular Science discovered in an exclusive look at the bike, there seems to be little doubt about that fact -- for starters, the bike packs ten times the battery capacity of a Toyota Prius and two and half times the torque of a Ducati 119 motorcycle and, well, look at it. Other standout features include ten 19.5 pound lithium polymer batteries that don't have wires so they can be swapped out easily, an oil-cooled electric motor that's been "developed from the ground up to win races," and a top speed (so far) of 140 MPH -- nearly 40 MPH better than its nearest competitor. Most impressively, however, is the simple fact that the E1pc is indeed built for racing -- it'll take on the Isle of Man TT tomorrow, which is described as the "toughest motorcycle race in the world." Dare we say it might now also be the most electric?

READ MORE - MotoCzysz E1pc claims to be the world's most advanced electric motorcycle, we don't argue

MSI rolls out GT660 gaming laptop with Dynaudio sound system

We caught sight of this one back around CeBIT time, but MSI's just officially dropped some fuller details on the GT660. The HD16-incher will be powered by a quad core Intel i7 CPU, a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M chipset, up to 12GB of RAM and a standard 500GB hard drive. It also boasts two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, plus a 9-cell battery and a Dynaudio sound system. There's no word on pricing or availability yet but we'll let you know when we do.

READ MORE - MSI rolls out GT660 gaming laptop with Dynaudio sound system

Sony 3DTVs go on pre-sale at Sony Style stores immediately, 'Cloudy' hits Blu-ray 3D June 22

After getting price and release date information in the UK, Japan and even Canada, Sony has finally seen fit to announce US details for the latest and greatest additions to the BRAVIA LCD lineup. Additionally, the software update to turn on Blu-ray 3D playback and DLNA streaming in its latest players (the out of the box 3D ready BDP-S770 ships next month) is going out today, provided you can find a disc to slip in them -- which you can't until Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs arrives at retail June 22. Just like the other launches, buyers of the new TVs can expect a copy of that movie, Deep Sea, and vouchers for 3D games on the PlayStation Network (once it comes back up.) Oh, and how much will you be spending on the new televisions? Check after the break for all the details, but MSRPs (expect much lower prices in reality, as revealed by JR.com) range from $2,100 for the KDL-40HX800 to $5,000 for a 60-inch BR-60LX900. No word yet on when you'll be able to pick up these displays at any other retailers, but if Sony is your preferred brand for 3D, you'll need to run by a Sony Style store to have a chance of sticking one on the wall in time for the 2010 World Cup.

READ MORE - Sony 3DTVs go on pre-sale at Sony Style stores immediately, 'Cloudy' hits Blu-ray 3D June 22

How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally

It's a harsh reality that every avid traveler faces, and unless you're fortunate enough to have been born in a generation where you're not expected to check your inbox every half-hour, glance over Twitter updates every 7.23 minutes seconds and tell the world where you're at this very moment via Foursquare, you've probably found yourself wondering how on Earth you're going to remain connected once your swipe that passport and leave the comfy confines of a native network. Staying connected while traveling abroad is no easy task, and while the internet may feel ubiquitous to tech-savvy smartphone owners who remain planted within the borders of their home nation, the world wide web suddenly becomes a whole lot less easy to track down once you plop down on foreign soil. Looking to splurge on a little international travel this summer, but can't figure out how you're going to (affordably) upload those Twitpics and YouTube videos once you get there? Fret not, young jetsetter -- we've got the keys to keeping you connected whilst overseas just beyond the break.

Obviously, staying connected primarily consists of two things: having access to voice communication (we'll bundle SMS into this) and having access to the internet at large (WiFi, mobile broadband, WWAN, you catch our drift). We'll start with a few basics on keeping a lock on voice communications while heading overseas, and while every situation has their own nuances, we're hoping to hit the high points here that'll at least aid everyone in some way or another.

First, a factoid: America and Canada are just two of an extremely small group of nations that support CDMA. For those unaware, Sprint (and it's MVNOs Boost Mobile, Assurance Wireless, Common Cents Mobile and Virgin Mobile), Verizon Wireless, US Cellular and pretty much every other regional carrier not named AT&T, T-Mobile USA or Suncom uses CDMA. Frankly, it works great, and VZW / Sprint have the subscribers to prove it. Unfortunately for those headed far, far away from North America, there's an overwhelming chance that your CDMA phone won't even get a signal in the nation you're landing in.

When it comes to global communications, GSM / W-CDMA is the surefire winner; there's not a semi-developed nation on the planet that doesn't support GSM (or iterations of it), so if you're looking to talk on your mobile while in a foreign land, we'd highly recommend toting an AT&T or T-Mobile handset with 3G support. We say "with 3G support" because a great many nations (Japan comes to mind) have moved well beyond EDGE, and their mobile towers won't support any technology that's older than what we know as 3G. To make a long story longer, if your device has a SIM card (which looks like this), and you can get a 3G signal in America, you're good to go.

Not an AT&T or T-Mobile subscriber? Not all hope is lost... yet. Select phones on Sprint and Verizon Wireless can be used internationally, even in GSM-only nations. If you've got a "worldphone" (enterprise BlackBerry customers would know best), there's a good chance that your CDMA handset has a SIM card in there as well specifically for times when you head somewhere that requires a jaunt through immigration. We'd suggest calling your carrier and having them double check to see if your handset is suited for international usage, and if so, you can continue right along reading. If not, we'll toss you a bone in just a few paragraphs.

Let's assume that your current mobile is equipped for voice communication overseas. Great. One hurdle crossed. If you think it's absolutely imperative that you be able to make and receive calls on your exact mobile number, you're going to be paying dearly for the privilege, no matter how you slice it. International voice minutes on a cellphone are absurdly expensive, even with prepaid global minute packs from your carrier. Here's a quick breakdown of what it'll cost you to make a minute-long call in France and Canda, just to give you a general idea of how bad an idea it is to use your existing mobile number to make / receive calls outside of the country. We also threw texting and pay-per-use data rates in as well. Mind you, all of these values can shrink (oftentimes dramatically so) if you purchase a monthly global calling plan or pre-pay for global data, but it's never "cheap" to roam.

AT&T

Sprint

T-Mobile

Verizon

1 min. call from France	$1.29	$1.29	$1.29	$1.29
1 min. call from Canada	$0.79	$0.59	$0.49 to $0.69	$0.69
1 SMS to French carrier	$0.50 (sent); $0.50 (received)	$0.50 (sent); $0.05 (received)	$0.35 (sent); $0.20 (received)	$0.25 (sent); $0.20 (received)
1 MMS to French carrier	$1.30 (sent); $1.30 (received)	$0.50 (sent); $0.05 (received)	$0.35 (sent); $0.20 (received)	$0.25 (sent); $0.20 (received)
1 SMS to Canadian carrier	$0.50 (sent); $0.50 (received)	Same as US plan rates	$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received)	$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received)
1 MMS to Canadian carrier	$1.30 (sent); $1.30 (received)	Same as US plan rates	$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received)	$0.20 (sent); $0.20 (received)
Data price in France	$19.97 per MB	$16.38 per MB	$15 per MB	$20.48 per MB
Data price in Canada	$15.36 per MB	$2.05 per MB	$10 per MB	$2.05 per MB

So, you're essentially hosed if you need to make voice calls from your mobile while outside of the country, right? Hold up a second, vaquero -- don't go killing that Kayak.com window just yet. Thanks to a magnificent invention by the name of Skype, there's an infinitely more affordable way to make and receive calls when you're away from home soil. If you fully expect to be making and taking a slew of calls to your mobile, we'd buy up a pool of discounted global minutes before leaving the States (or your homeland, wherever that may be), and using those only as informational minutes. Allow us to explain.

Let's say you get a call while trekking through Kenya on your standard mobile number -- the one that all 1,842 of your clients has embedded in their contact list. There's a smart way and a dumb way to handle this situation. The latter would involve you yakking away for an hour, while the former would be for you to take the call, inform him / her of your whereabouts and then tell them when you'll be able to return their call. Unless it's a dire emergency, the other caller can afford to wait an hour or two to chat, during which time you'll be finding yourself a WiFi hotspot.

At this point, we're going to assume you've equipped yourself with a smartphone capable of running Skype; the app is currently available for Android, iPhone OS, BlackBerry OS and Windows Mobile, so the vast majority of existing smartphone owners should be taken care of (webOS users notwithstanding). Before heading out on your journey, we'd suggest throwing a $10 or $20 (or more, if you're a heavy talker) credit onto your Skype account, which will allow you to make calls back to your homeland from $0.021 per minute (full rates are here). Notice how much cheaper that is than calling on a foreign cellular network? Oh, and just because some carriers will allow you to make a Skype call over 3G, doesn't mean you should. You don't want to pay Skype and data roaming charges for a single call, now do you?

Where this really gets useful is when you bring Google Voice into the equation. Skype users can already assign a dedicated number to their account so that their WiFi-connected smartphone will ring should someone dial in, but Google Voice enables calls to be accurately routed and voicemails left in a centralized location. Simply direct your Google Voice number to forward onto your Skype account, and your clients back home may never know you've stepped away from the office. We will say, however, that you'll want to think this over and get it sorted one way or another before leaving home.

If you've got yourself a CDMA phone that won't roam on a GSM network (hint: most won't), at least your options are narrowed to one. You'll be renting a phone once your reach your destination airport, but thankfully, most major airports in foreign lands make this surprisingly easy. Obviously, every airport is different, but most have a number of phone rental shops just before you head outside and hail a taxi. Aside from running into language barriers (though if you speak English, chances are there will be instructions there for you), the biggest pain here is communicating your temporary phone number to your loved ones back home, while simultaneously telling them that it'll cost them dearly if they need to dial up that international number. But hey, that's the price you pay for having the ability to make mobile calls on a whim while visiting somewhat far, far away from Kansas. One thing to be mindful of here, however, is that some nations do not allow for inter-carrier texting; for example, an NTT DoCoMo phone in Japan cannot text someone on SoftBank. If you and your buds are heading over someplace, it's smart to all rent mobiles / SIM cards from the same carrier. Here's an video explanation of how to rent a SIM card overseas from our good pal Nicole Scott at Netbook News.

Wrap-up

We know, that's a lot to digest, and most of it may seem like common sense to the technophile. If you're looking for the quick and dirty recommendation list for getting connected overseas, you've landed in the right section.

• Almost always, it's cheapest to simply rent a SIM card or entire cellphone from the country you're landing in. It's not hard. In most cases, you don't even have to leave the airport. It's uncommon to pay more than $200 per week for unlimited local calls, text and data.
• If you must use your own phone internationally, buy a global roaming plan before leaving, and attempt to use Skype whenever possible. Just ring your carrier and ask about global roaming packs -- they'll be happy to oblige.
• Do not ever, under any circumstance, roam with your American mobile broadband card. You'll never pay off the roaming bill. Just rent an unlimited MiFi, SIM card, or entire WWAN card for around $20 to $30 per day in most places. Proactive users can rent one ahead of time to avoid the hassle post-landing.
• Don't be shocked if your CDMA phone won't work overseas. Consider it a blessing in disguise and follow the steps above.
• Stay in a hotel, hostel, resort or tent with gratis internet access, preferably WiFi so your Skype-enabled mobile can connect easily.
• Believe it or not, an old school calling card is also a great way to phone home so long as your hotel doesn't ding you for calling out to a toll-free number.

Most of all, we'd encourage you to get off the grid and have a little fun. But when it comes time to connect, do your homework before dialing / connecting. Psst... please do us all a favor and drop your hottest tips for staying connected while abroad down in comments below!

AT&T international roaming details: click here
Sprint international roaming details: click here
T-Mobile USA international roaming details: click here
Verizon Wireless international roaming details: click here

READ MORE - How-to: stay connected while traveling internationally

Google Maps Navigation comes to Canada and mainland Europe, remains free as a bird

23diggsdiggPatience has had to be your foremost virtue if you were eager to use Google Maps Navigation outside the US or UK, but you might be in luck today as a sizable new batch of countries is getting the free turn-by-turn nav service activated. Googleites in Canada and most of mainland Europe will now be able to hear their Android (version 1.6 and above) giving them voice directions, and as an extra bonus, some nations are also seeing voice search activated, with Canada and German-speaking countries among them. Google's clearly not sitting on its laurels here, so why not power up your phone and let us know how well it finds its way around De Wallen?

Update: The full list of countries has been made official now:

"Today we're launching Google Maps Navigation version 4.2 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland for Android devices 1.6 and higher."

Google Search by Voice has also been confirmed, it's rolling out in French, German, Italian, and Spanish versions today -- with iPhone and BlackBerry compatibility to boot!

READ MORE - Google Maps Navigation comes to Canada and mainland Europe, remains free as a bird

Google, Verizon, Comcast, and more band together to form tech (and policy) advisory group

BITAG doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, as far as spoken acronyms go, but the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group (also goes by TAG, for short) is looking to make (radio) waves. Facilitated by former FCC Chief Technologist (and University of Colorado at Boulder Adjunct Professor) Dale Hatfield, the group aims to "develop consensus on broadband network management practices and other related technical issues that can affect users' experience," which largely leads to addressing technical issues and making suggestions to policymakers. The group runs the gamut of major players in the broadband industry, including AT&T, Cisco, Comcast, DISH, EchoStar, Google, Intel, Level 3, Microsoft, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon.

Naturally, the aforementioned companies already on board are lauding the move, and for its part the NCTA is happy to see a forum for tech and engineering experts to openly discuss issues and policies. Providing the counterargument would be the folks at DSL Reports, who show reserve that this may end up being nothing more than "policy dog and pony show" to avoid stricter government regulations on network neutrality. At this point that remains to be seen, as this organization doesn't seem to have even hit infancy yet. Expect more in the coming weeks as it continues to form and attempts to organize. We submit for your perusal the press release, just after the break.

READ MORE - Google, Verizon, Comcast, and more band together to form tech (and policy) advisory group

AT&T breach reveals 114,000 iPad owners' email addresses, including some elite customers

Uh oh. According to Valleywag, an AT&T security breach led to the exposure of 114,000 email addresses (and associated SIM / ICC identifiers) belonging to Apple iPad owners. A group of hackers calling themselves Goatse Security (be careful looking that one up) figured out a number of ICC-IDs and ran a script on AT&T's site through a faked iPad UserAgent, which would then return the associated addresses. Some of those affected were actually quite big names, including the CEOs of The New York Times and Time Inc., some higher-ups and Google and Microsoft, and even a number of employees from NASA, FAA, FCC, and the US military.

For its part, AT&T tells AllThingsD that it was informed of the issue on Monday, that only the addresses and associated ICC-IDs were revealed, and that by Tuesday the "feature" that allowed addresses to be seen had been turned off. And as Security Watch's Larry Seltzer cautions in a statement to PC Mag, the impact of this breach -- just email addresses -- is probably somewhat exaggerated. Still, regardless of the magnitude, this can't be making AT&T's day at all bright, and you best believe a number of folks in Cupertino have fire in their eyes over this bad press.

READ MORE - AT&T breach reveals 114,000 iPad owners' email addresses, including some elite customers

Acclaim Android slider revealed by Samsung's own site

We know you've been kept awake at night by this question: just what does the Samsung Acclaim look like? Well, thanks to one of our awesome readers, we now the first official pic of the handset. This was discovered on Samsung's site without too much effort, which might indicate just how excited the Korean manufacturer is about the whole thing. Clearly running Android as its OS, this slider offers a full QWERTY keypad with a dedicated number row and quite the curious coloration. Assuming Sammy didn't run out of dark navy paint halfway through, the cross pattern highlighted on the left may be indicative of some gaming inclinations to the R880. Earlier rumors peg the Acclaim's US Cellular-exclusive release at some time in July and also indicate a 3.2-inch screen gracing its visage. Can't wait.

READ MORE - Acclaim Android slider revealed by Samsung's own site

Sprint says it overstated EVO launch day sales

Sprint said on Tuesday the total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on the launch day was in line with the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over their first three days on the market combined.

"We originally reported that the total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on launch day was three times the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over their first three days on the market combined.

"We inadvertently erred in the comparison," Sprint said in a statement on Tuesday.

BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk said he was cutting his estimate for EVO sales in the first weekend to 150,000 from his prior estimate of 250,000 to 300,000.

"Furthermore, our calls to 20 plus stores today indicate that the phone is in short supply, so we do not expect that number to rise significantly in the first week of sales," Piecyk said.

The No. 3 U.S. wireless service provider said it sold six times more EVO phones on the launch date than it did Instinct phones from Samsung Electronics.

Sprint is hoping EVO will help it stem customer losses and give it a head start in selling 4G services. Its biggest rival, Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications Inc and Vodafone Group Plc, plans to launch 4G services later this year.

READ MORE - Sprint says it overstated EVO launch day sales

The Ultimate 3D Experience: Stereoscopic 3D Gaming on PlayStation 3 Available Tomorrow

Hi everyone! The moment is here — starting tomorrow, high-definition stereoscopic 3D gaming will be available in your very own living rooms! As you already know, all PlayStation 3 systems are already equipped with everything they need to play stereoscopic 3D games. Thanks to a free firmware update released this past April, the PS3 system is the only console on the market that can support full stereoscopic 3D gaming — right from your living room, and with no additional charge.

Today, our sister company Sony Electronics announced its 3D capable BRAVIA HDTVs are now available for pre-sale and will ship to retailers later this month. There are a broad range of models available in different screen sizes, some packaged with active glasses and others without, giving consumers the option to choose which 3D entertainment solution works for them. For more information, click here.

We’re extremely excited to be at the helm of a whole new gaming experience unlike anything offered before. Starting tomorrow, the following games and demos will be available in stereoscopic 3D for anyone who owns a PS3 system and 3D television:

• WipEout HD (full game): Experience the adrenalin rush of navigating the twists and turns of futuristic racetracks at breathtaking speeds like never before.
• Super Stardust HD (full game): Experience asteroids fly past you as you navigate the deadly battleground — only a battle on a cosmic level will save the indigenous life below from destruction.
• PAIN: The stereoscopic 3D content will include the Downtown area and tutorial along with three modes, including two new modes created specifically with stereoscopic 3D in mind, Alien Toss and Ice Breaker.
• MotorStorm Pacific Rift (demo): MotorStorm Pacific Rift in stereoscopic 3D puts you in the driver’s seat of a buggy for a one track, single player race around the deadly Kanaloa Bay for a dangerously real battle against ruthless opponents.

To give PS3 and new 3D capable BRAVIA owners a sample of 3D entertainment at its best, 3D capable BRAVIA HDTVs will come with PlayStation Network vouchers to download these four stereoscopic 3D game experiences, which total more than 100 hours of gameplay.

We’re also announcing that The Fight: Lights Out will be available in stereoscopic 3D, combining PlayStation Move with 3D to deliver an immersive and realistic gaming experience unlike anything you’ve played before. This is only a small taste of the 3D experiences you can expect with the new 3D capable BRAVIA HDTVs and PS3. With new gaming experiences coming this year in the form of stereoscopic 3D gaming and PlayStation Move, as well as an expansive software line-up, the PS3 system truly does everything and continues to be at the forefront of innovation. In addition, 3D Blu-ray movie playback is coming to the PS3 this year via firmware update. Stay tuned for even more 3D news and announcements coming in the near future!

READ MORE - The Ultimate 3D Experience: Stereoscopic 3D Gaming on PlayStation 3 Available Tomorrow

Speeding Fine Provokes Man To Purchase Expired Police Domain

Getting a speeding fine is enough to drive anyone to road-rage, but Brian McCrary decided to do something entirely different with his rage. While browsing the local police department's website, he saw the domain was close to expiring...

Pity the police chief at Bluff City, who saw his website turn into a shrine for speeding fine contesters, hellbent on complaining about their unfair tickets. Police chief David Nelson excused it away, commenting that "It just slipped my mind. If you open up a Web site and let it go down, somebody can buy it – I did not know that."

READ MORE - Speeding Fine Provokes Man To Purchase Expired Police Domain

Links and Twitter: Length Shouldn’t Matter

Since early March, we have been routing links within Direct Messages through our link service to detect, intercept, and prevent the spread of malware, phishing, and other dangers. Any link shared in a Direct Message has been wrapped with a twt.tl URL. Links reported to us as malicious are blacklisted, and we present users with a page that warns them of potentially malicious content if they click blacklisted links. We want users to have this benefit on all tweets.

Additionally, as we mentioned at our Chirp developer conference in April, if you want to share a link through Twitter, there currently isn't a way to automatically shorten it and we want to fix this. It should be easy for people to share shortened links from the Tweet box on Twitter.com.

To meet both of these goals, we're taking small steps to expand the link service currently available in Direct Messages to links shared through all Tweets. We're testing this link service now with a few Twitter employee accounts.

User Experience, Safety, and Value

When this is rolled out more broadly to users this summer, all links shared on Twitter.com or third-party apps will be wrapped with a t.co URL. A really long link such as http://www.amazon.com/Delivering-Happiness-Profits-Passion-Purpose/dp/0446563048 might be wrapped as http://t.co/DRo0trj for display on SMS, but it could be displayed to web or application users as amazon.com/Delivering- or as the whole URL or page title. Ultimately, we want to display links in a way that removes the obscurity of shortened link and lets you know where a link will take you.

In addition to a better user experience and increased safety, routing links through this service will eventually contribute to the metrics behind our Promoted Tweets platform and provide an important quality signal for our Resonance algorithm—the way we determine if a Tweet is relevant and interesting to users. We are also looking to provide services that make use of this data, an example would be analytics within our eventual commercial accounts service.

Early Developer Preview Comes First
As a first step, developers who create applications on the Twitter platform can now begin to prepare for this service. They will be able to choose how to display the wrapped links in a manner that is most useful, informative and appropriate for a given device or application. Our first step is a small one. We're rolling out wrapped links on a handful of accounts, including @TwitterAPI, @rsarver, and @raffi, to help developers test their code. Ultimately, every link on Twitter will be wrapped.

If you are already partial to a particular shortener when you tweet, you can continue to use it for link shortening and analytics as you normally would, and we'll wrap the shortened links you submit. We’d like to thank our friends at .CO Internet SAS, the registry for the new .CO extension, for helping us secure t.co for use with this service. Links shared on Twitter will be safer, clearer, and more valuable.

READ MORE - Links and Twitter: Length Shouldn’t Matter

Our new search index: Caffeine

Today, we're announcing the completion of a new web indexing system called Caffeine. Caffeine provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it's the largest collection of web content we've offered. Whether it's a news story, a blog or a forum post, you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before.

Some background for those of you who don't build search engines for a living like us: when you search Google, you're not searching the live web. Instead you're searching Google's index of the web which, like the list in the back of a book, helps you pinpoint exactly the information you need. (Here's a good explanation of how it all works.)

So why did we build a new search indexing system? Content on the web is blossoming. It's growing not just in size and numbers but with the advent of video, images, news and real-time updates, the average webpage is richer and more complex. In addition, people's expectations for search are higher than they used to be. Searchers want to find the latest relevant content and publishers expect to be found the instant they publish.

To keep up with the evolution of the web and to meet rising user expectations, we've built Caffeine. The image below illustrates how our old indexing system worked compared to Caffeine:

Our old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available to you.

With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second. Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day. You would need 625,000 of the largest iPods to store that much information; if these were stacked end-to-end they would go for more than 40 miles.

We've built Caffeine with the future in mind. Not only is it fresher, it's a robust foundation that makes it possible for us to build an even faster and comprehensive search engine that scales with the growth of information online, and delivers even more relevant search results to you. So stay tuned, and look for more improvements in the months to come.

READ MORE - Our new search index: Caffeine

Samsung: iPhone 4's retina display is nice, but it's no AMOLED

Samsung seems to have taken exception to a little sidenote made by Steve Jobs during his iPhone 4 announcement at WWDC10 this Monday. While waxing poetic on the virtues of IPS, Jobs let us know that he considers it an entirely superior display technology to OLED, and now the world's biggest display maker has a few words to say about it. According to a Samsung spokesperson, the high-res retina display on the iPhone 4 offers only a 3 to 5 percent advantage in sharpness over its own Galaxy S Super AMOLED screen, but sucks down a wasteful 30 percent more power. Moreover, Samsung believes its screens offer better viewing angles and contrast, and concludes by saying that "structurally, IPS LCD technology cannot catch up with AM-OLED display technology." And here we thought Samsung and Apple were getting along so well.

READ MORE - Samsung: iPhone 4's retina display is nice, but it's no AMOLED

Fun on the Autobahn: Google Maps Navigation in 11 more Countries

There’s nothing quite like driving through Europe in the summer. In the past week, I’ve seen the beautiful Val d’Aosta, the Swiss Alps, the Cathedral in Chartres, and travelled through the Channel Tunnel as I road-tripped from Milan to Geneva, Zürich to Stuttgart, and on through Paris to London. Why the burst of mileage? Well, I’ve been testing Google Maps Navigation version 4.2. Yes, road-testing it around Europe was a grueling process, but somebody had to do it :)
Today we’re launching Google Maps Navigation version 4.2 in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland for Android devices 1.6 and higher. Google Maps Navigation is an Internet-connected GPS navigation or ‘satnav’ system that provides turn-by-turn voice guidance as a free feature of Google Maps.

On my test trip, I found a number of Navigation features useful:

• While driving through the Loire Valley, I put my French language skills to the test by finding my destination with Search by voice (now launched in French, German, Italian, and Spanish for Android 2.0 and higher);
• I previewed a typical British roundabout with Street View to see exactly where I’d need to exit before getting there in person;
• I satisfied my craving for moules frites by searching for it along my route;
• I kept the gas stations layer on to ensure I’d always know where the nearest petrol station was, just in case;
• And, of course, the turn-by-turn voice guidance kept me on-track to my destination -- despite my sometimes spotty connection in mountain tunnels -- thanks to the way Maps Navigation saves the route on your device when you start.

Google Maps Navigation (beta) with Search by voice is available in version 4.2 of Google Maps, on Android devices 1.6 and higher. To download Google Maps version 4.2, search for Google Maps in Android Market.

Try Google Maps Navigation in your local country and language today -- and have a great time touring around the Continent this summer if you get the chance!

READ MORE - Fun on the Autobahn: Google Maps Navigation in 11 more Countries

Mobile advertising and the iPhone

Apple proposed new developer terms on Monday that, if enforced as written, would prohibit app developers from using AdMob and Google’s advertising solutions on the iPhone. These advertising related terms both target companies with competitive mobile technologies (such as Google), as well as any company whose primary business is not serving mobile ads. This change threatens to decrease – or even eliminate – revenue that helps to support tens of thousands of developers. The terms hurt both large and small developers by severely limiting their choice of how best to make money. And because advertising funds a huge number of free and low cost apps, these terms are bad for consumers as well.

Let’s be clear. This change is not in the best interests of users or developers. In the history of technology and innovation, it’s clear that competition delivers the best outcome. Artificial barriers to competition hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress.

Since I started AdMob in 2006, I have watched competition in mobile advertising help drive incredible growth and innovation in the overall ecosystem. We’ve worked to help developers make money, regardless of platform – iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, Blackberry, Windows, and others. In the past four years, AdMob has helped tens of thousands of developers make money and build real businesses across multiple operating systems.

I’ve personally worked with many iPhone app developers around the world, including one who created a fun and simple game in the early days of the App Store. He built the app because he was interested in the challenge. He built this single app into a multi-million dollar advertising revenue stream with AdMob, hired a whole team, and turned a hobby into a real business.

We see these stories all the time. We want to help make more of them, so we’ll be speaking to Apple to express our concerns about the impact of these terms.

READ MORE - Mobile advertising and the iPhone