Google and Yahoo all over ......

Mercedes-Benz USA has an answer to complaints that car navigation
directions don't measure up to those from sites like Yahoo, Google and
Ask.

The automaker has partnered with Google and Yahoo to allow users to send customized Google Maps and Yahoo Local Maps directly from a computer or Web-enabled cell phone to their car computer.

A new "Send to Car" icon that will appear on both companies' mapping
sites will allow you to send customized directions, maps, addresses and
points of interest to your Mercedes' GPS navigation system.

Once you get in your car, pushing the "i" button in your Mercedes
will download the information directly to your car's computer for
either immediate or future use.

Better yet, other people can send directions to your car while you're driving.

The high-tech car tech is called Search & Send and will become part of the current Mercedes roadside and emergency GPS service, Tele Aide.

It will be available on the Mercedes S-class sedan and CL-class coupe as of September 5 and the entire 2008 C-class lineup.

Apple confirms "Special Event" on September 5th

Apple Inc. will use a special media event on September 5th to
introduce a new array of digital media offerings, according to digital
invitations issued to analysts and members of the media Tuesday
afternoon.



The invites, which arrived by e-mail, depict an enlarged CoverFlow
interface with the caption, "The beat goes on." The wording appears to
have been borrowed from the trailing line of The Beatles' final press
release, which was issued by Apple Records on April 10, 1970, following
the band's split.



"Spring is here and Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow and Ringo and John and
George and Paul are alive and well and full of hope. The world is still
spinning and so are we and so are you," read the 1970 Beatles release.
"When the spinning stops -- that'll be the time to worry, not before.
Until then, the Beatles are alive and well and the beat goes on, the
beat goes on."



Apple's event is scheduled to take place at the Moscone West in San Francisco on September 5 at 10:00 a.m.



Apple is widely expected to use the gathering to usher in a new breed of Mac OS X-based iPods. Additional announcements relating to the company's iTunes software and digital media download service are also expected.

From Engadget: Google is working on a mobile OS, and it's due out shortly

Can it be true? Is the Googlephone nigh at hand? Not that we haven't been hearing this time after time (after time after time,
etc.), but we've actually got some hot news from a number of very
trustworthy sources about Google's plans for the mobile space. Namely,
Google's mobile device platform is well on its way, and will be
announced in the very near future.

We understand that the
"Gphone OS" (our name for it, not theirs) began development after
Google's very quiet 2005 acquisition of mobile software company
Android, started by Danger cofounder and former-prez / CEO Andy Rubin.
At Google, Andy's team has developed a Linux-based mobile device OS (no
surprise) which they're currently shopping around to handset makers and
carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, customizable system --
with really great Google integration, of course.

As for the
timeframe on this thing, we keep hearing Google will announce its
mobile plans some time post-Labor Day (September 3rd); from what we've
heard Google isn't necessarily working on hardware of its own, but is
definitely working with OEMs and ODMs to get them to put the Gphone OS
on upcoming devices. Think of it more in terms of Windows Mobile or
Palm OS (in the early days) -- Google wants to supply the platform, but
we don't think they want to sell hardware.
Still, don't entirely rule out the idea. Andy Rubin knows how to make a
device and put it in peoples' hands, so nothing is impossible on the
hardware side. Either way, we're totally stoked to peep the software,
we've been waiting for the Googlephone for years on years.

Still,
we can't help wondering what El Jobso thinks about all this. Apple has
been so buddy-buddy with Google lately, especially on the iPhone
-- and now Apple's mobile team is on the verge of outright competition
with one of its closest partners. We know that's how the industry
works, but it's got to sting a little, you know?

This is where I will go in January ... strange people :-)

Uitmarkt 2007

Yesterday afternoon and evening I strolled the Uitmarkt. The Uitmarkt in Amsterdam is a huge happening showing many cultural events which will happen in th next year in Amsterdam.

I went with my neighbor and visited the new library (which was opened 07-07-07 by our Queen Beatrix), Fifteen restaurant (owned byJamie Oliver) and Lloyd Hotel Amsterdam. For the rest we viewed many spectacular new buildings and one of the big happenings was also the departure of a huge boat from Genoa. There is not a lot of room to navigate so alone turning the boat is a spectacle at is own.

We ended at one of the main stages where Wende Snijders performed.

The Uitmarkt was for the first time in "Het Oostelijk Havengebied", the completely renovated old shipping area near the central station in Amsterdam.

The harbour function of the Eastern Docklands in Amsterdam existed only for some 100 years. In the last decade of the 20th century the district became available for housing. A big portion of the architectonic talent in the Netherlands, together with renowned foreign colleagues, was mobilized to create a waterfront that is almost matchlessly.

Amsterdamdocklands.com is about this new architecture
and urban design. The area is also an excellent example of how you can
mix the past with the present time. The harbour structure with its
quays and deep basins was preserved, many old buildings got a new
function.

After the decline of the harbour many artists came to the district. This era of wild culture is already history, but from it a culture belt arose on the banks of  the IJ. Now, for music and theatre, museums and expositions, but also for going out or accommodation, you'll easily  find your way in the Eastern Docklands.

And for
walking. By its history, contemporary architecture and harbour
landscape it is a fantastic area for walks. There are always guided
tours, also by the editors of this website. See Stadswandelkantoor.

Small towns, but expensive houses .....

Once in a while I am touring to towns in the neighborhood of Amsterdam
to search for nice houses. Result is always that I will stay in
Amsterdam, at least for now :-).



Yesterday I visited, Baarn, Spakenburg/Bunschoten, Eemnes, Naarden Vesting, Weesp and Loenen aan de Vecht.

Info from Wikipedia.



Baarn

Baarn, the main town of the municipality, received city rights in 1391. The town lies about 8 km east of Hilversum.

In 2001, the town of Baarn counted 22871 inhabitants. The urban area
of the town was 4.66 km² wide, and contained 10076 residences.^[1]

The royal family owns several houses around Baarn. The Soestdijk Palace in Baarn was the home of Queen Emma, Queen Juliana and Juliana's husband prince Bernard. Crown prince Willem Alexander and his brothers attended school (Nieuwe Baarnse School and Baarnsch Lyceum) in Baarn when Queen Beatrix (then princess) and her family lived at Castle Drakesteijn in the village of Lage Vuursche, before they moved to The Hague in 1980.

Baarn has nice shopping facilities, mainly located in the
Laanstraat. Other places worth visiting include 'het Cantonspark' (a
botanic Garden) and Kasteel (=castle) Groeneveld. In the north and west
there are polders, and the river Eem.
The woodlands south-west of Baarn, connecting Baarn to Soestdijk, are
called 'Het Baarnsche Bos', have good possibilities for recreation.

To the south lay the connecting road towards the city of Amersfoort,
called 'Breemeentje'. This, approx. 10km long strecht of polder road,
connects the town of Baarn to various roads in Soest and the industrial
area of Amersfoort.

It has a railroad station, with trains going every half hour to Utrecht (38 minutes) Amersfoort (7 minutes) and Amsterdam (about 45 minutes). The A1 highway runs close to Baarn.

Spakenburg

Spakenburg is a village north of Bunschoten on the IJsselmeer
in the municipality Bunschoten, Utrecht province, the Netherlands. It
is one of the few places left in The Netherlands where some women still
wear local traditional clothes.

In the 20th century, the two villages have grown quickly, and since
about 1965 they form one single town, officially named Bunschoten.

Eemnes

Eemnes formerly consisted of two villages, Eemnes-Binnen ("Inner
Eemnes") and Eemnes-Buiten ("Outer Eemnes"). These names referred to
the location of the villages with respect to the dyke of the river Eem.

Eemnes-Buiten received city rights in 1345; Eemnes-Binnen was granted city rights in 1439.

Naarden Vesting

Naarden is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Naarden received city rights around 1300. The town is fortified with walls and a moat, which are, quite remarkably, both complete and in a very good state. More specifically, Naarden is an example of a star fort.

Weesp

Weesp lies next to the rivers de Vecht and Smal Weesp and also next to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. The small city has a population of 17.533 inhabitants as of the year 2006. Weesp is famous for Van Houten-chocolate, windmills, the historical centre with its ditches, its Weesper porcelain and the Weesper Mop cookie. The bastion and fortifications are also famous, because they are a part of the Defense line of Amsterdam and the Dutch Water Line. They were never used, though.

Until the early Middle Ages this region was an uninhabited peat bog. Weesp was granted city rights in 1355 and celebrated its 650th anniversary as a city in 2005.

From the late Middle Ages, the Vecht was a defensive line for the
County of Holland and it remained a military defensive line until the Second World War. Weesp was strongly fortified, more than its size would justify - for most of its history it had a few thousand inhabitants.

The defensive lines consisted of inundation zones, which would be
flooded in wartime. Behind them were fortified towns, forts, barracks
and other military structures. The most comprehensive was the Defence
Line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam), a circular inundation zone
around Amsterdam, which belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After the Second World War, new housing was built in the west and an
industrial zone with a harbour at the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal was
constructed. In the 1970's a suburb was built on the south. Since then
the town has not expanded.

Loenen aan de Vecht (Loenen with Loenerslot)

Located in Loenersloot, close to town
Loenen, on the Vecht, surrounded by lakes, woods and charming villages,
between Amsterdam and Utrecht. The castle is located on the left bank
of the river Angstel, accesible via a wooden lifting bridge.

Although the Van Loenersloot family is mentioned already in 1156, the
existence of this castle is first mentioned in 1258. The Loenersloot
family, who played a rather important part in the life of the village
in the 12th century, built the oldest parts of the castle.
In 1516
the castle was bought by Amelis van Amstel van Mijnden, who already
owned the Mijnden Castle and the Kronenburg Castle. After his death the
Loenersloot Castle was left to his second son, also named Amelis.

The castle stayed in the possession of this family until the 17th
century. That was when the last male descendant of the family died.
There were three heiresses, only one of whom married. Maria Johanna van
Amstel van Mijnded married Pieter Reinier, baron of Stepraedt. Their
son Diederik Johan inherited Loenersloot, but also the estates of
Doddeldael and Ewijk. Due to the number of castles the family owned,
they no longer lived at Loenersloot, but rented the castle out to
different people.

Finally, the castle was bought in 1766 by Hendrik Willem van Hoorn.
These were not good times for the castle, since van Hoorn began to tear
the castle down. Four years later, however, he went bankrupt and
therefore sold the castle to Andries Jan Strick van Lindschoten.
Andries Jan conserved the castle's medieval appearance. The last owner,
M.F.M. baroness van Nagell, created a Foundation for the castle.

Because every family added something to the building, the appearance of
the castle stems mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries, with only the
round defence towers dating from the 13th century.

From Rediff News: Forget iPhone, the Gphone is here

Google, the nearly $13.5 billion search engine
major, is believed to be a fortnight away from the worldwide launch of
its much-awaited Google Phone (Gphone) and has started talks with
service providers in India for an exclusive launch on one of their
networks.

Talks are believed to be taking place with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar, respectively India's first and third largest mobile
telephony operators, and state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Sources
close to the development said a simultaneous launch across the US and
Europe is expected, and announcements would be sent to media firms in
India and other parts of the world. US regulatory approval, which is
expected soon, is the only hurdle that Google is waiting to cross, they
added. Google plans to invest $7-8 billion for its global telephony
foray.

In India, it is also believed to be in talks with Indian
providers to offer data and content and platforms including Instant
Messaging (IM) and Search functions. However, these could not be
confirmed.

A Google spokesperson said, "We don't comment on
market rumour or speculation. However, Google is committed to providing
users with access to the world's information, and mobile becomes more
important to those efforts every day. We're collaborating with partners
worldwide to bring Google search and applications to mobile users
everywhere. However, we have nothing to announce at this time."

Reports
of the Internet major getting into handset manufacturing as an answer
to Apple's iPhone has been doing rounds in cyberspace and international
media for some time. These reports suggest that Google has developed a
prototype that will hit the markets in a year's time. The US-based
company has neither confirmed nor denied these reports. The Wall Street
Journal too had reported that Google had invested "hundreds of millions
of dollars" in the project and was involved in discussions with
US-based T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

Globally, Google is
likely to participate in the upcoming auction for 700 MHz spectrum for
which it is prepared to spend up to $4.6 billion. The firm is also
introducing ads to YouTube videos which could be replicated on mobile
phones. Ironically, Google recently partnered Apple to produce services
such as e-mail and maps for its iPhone handset. And Eric Schmidt,
Google's chief executive, said recently that more Google services for
the iPhone would be rolled out.