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As manufacturers figure out how to integrate mobile phone applications with vehicle infotainment systems, Mercedes-Benz decided to cut the middle man out of the picture by opening its own app shop, and let customers download applications directly to their car.

The Mercedes-Benz App Store opened last week, a company spokesperson confirmed in an e-mail. The new online app store will let customers browse for new applications to add to their vehicle's Comand infotainment system. Google Search, Weather, Facebook are standard apps on this system, and Yahoo should be added later this year. Using their phone's Internet connection, they more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google's online app market for Android apps, movies, music, and books is coming to Google TV, the company announced Thursday in a blog post from the Google I/O developer conference here.

Later this summer, Google said, it will make video content that can be purchased or rented through Google Play available to Google TV. On Wednesday the company announced it would be adding TV content to the lineup of content it now offers via Google Play.

Thursday's big headlines still have us basking in the Google gadget glow:

Google co-founder Sergey Brin says he envisions consumers buying Google Glass by 2014, just a year after developers get to experiment with the version called Explorer Edition. Right now only bleeding-edge techies at the Google I/O conference get to preorder the augmented reality glasses for $1,500. But once those models ship next year, it wouldn't surprise me to see some being sold for high prices on eBay.

Already, someone from the conference is selling the attendee freebie Nexus 7 tablet on eBay, if you more

SAN FRANCISCO - Google announced today at it's Google I/O conference here that Google documents is going offline.

The Google word-processing service is a Web-based alternative to programs such as Microsoft Word. Because Google Docs is a Web-based service, people who use the application have not been able to use it unless they more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google announced at its annual developer conference Thursday that its Chrome browser and its Google Drive, a Dropbox-like storage service, are coming to Apple iOS devices.

Adding the Google browser to iOS devices means Google users will be able to get a more consistent experience across multiple devices, including their iPhones and iPads. Brian Rakowski, vice president of Chrome, showed off how the browser will work on iOS devices.

Specifically, he showed how the sync feature that Google recently added to Chrome will work on iOS devices. Sync allows people to share their browser settings across multiple more

Heightening speculation that BMW and Toyota are about to announce an expanded partnership involving fuel cell technology, the German automaker confirmed today that it is no longer talking with General Motors about a similar research arrangement, reported a Bloomberg article.

On Friday, BMW and Toyota will hold a press conference announcing the details of a closer working relationship. Last December the two companies penned an agreement that gave Toyota access to BMW's small diesel engines to sell in its European line up of vehicles, and in return, Toyota would help BMW play catch up in the hybrid market by more

To give online car shoppers a feel for the brick-and-mortar buying experience, eBay is teaming up with AutoNation to sell new vehicles using a modern take on a "tent sale" method.

Starting today at 9 a.m. PT, AutoNation will post a handful of new vehicles each day on eBay that initially bear the MSRP. However, each hour the price of the car will drop until someone clicks the "Buy It Now" button. The drop each hour will be "significant," said eBay in a statement," and there's no bottom floor or reserve price.

A range of brands will be more

Want to know more about Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean? A free 84-page guidebook explains how to use the new tablet and OS.

The guidebook is available for Android, IOS, and PC users via Google Play.

Essentially an early version of the manual for the new tablet, the guidebook is geared more for people who already own the Nexus 7. But those of you thinking of buying the tablet when it debuts in mid-July can learn a lot about its operation and its use of Android 4.1. The document covers just about everything more

To say that Facebook's iPhone app is slow could be considered generous. In truth, it makes the tortoise look like the hare.

It seems almost inconceivable (and yes, I do think that word means what I think it means) that a Web-focused, modern company could produce such a slow rendition of its product on the most popular mobile product on the planet.

But, not to fear, Facebook has heard the crowing (and has seen the one-star reviews) and plans to update its iPhone app, according to The New York Times.

The New York Times managed to get two unnamed engineers to reveal that the Facebook iOS app has been completely retooled and will feature the only thing that really matters in social-networking apps -- speed.