Google announced on Wednesday that it has expanded the bicycle mapping feature of Google Maps to include 80 new cities, thanks to an overwhelming response from its community of beta testers.

In March, Google introduced the beta of bike routes in Google Maps, a feature which lets users plan directions optimized for bicycle transportation. When we ran a story about this, it got a tremendous amount of traffic, beating nearly everything else the whole week in terms of unique reads.

Mobile network operator T-Mobile today announced that the first smartphone capable of fully utilizing the company's HSPA+ network upgrade will be called the G2. Unfortunately, there were few details about the device, and the site announcing the G2 is currently unavailable.

The brief announcement on the vanity site said, "The T-Mobile G2 will deliver tight integration with Google services and break new ground as the first smartphone designed to run at 4G speeds on our new HSPA+ network. In the coming weeks, we'll share more details about the G2 and offer exclusive first access to current T-Mobile customers." instead of a photograph of the device, there is simply a white block suggesting the shape of a smartphone.

At Gamescom, the annual video game tradeshow in Cologne, Germany, Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled a new PlayStation 3 bundle that includes not only the new PlayStation Move motion controller, but also the Playstation 3 with the largest hard drive ever.

In conjunction with the launch of Sony's PlayStation Move motion controller, the new 320GB PlayStation 3 slim will launch on September 19 for $399.99, and will include the PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye camera, and a motion-based game entitled Sports Champions.

Yahoo said Tuesday that it would begin to switch over its search backend to the Microsoft platform in the US and Canada, the cornerstone of an agreement reached between the two companies last July. A "Powered by Bing" graphic would appear at the bottom of its search pages after the transition, the company said.

It would still be some time yet before other markets worldwide transition to Bing, for which Yahoo gave no timeline, although it's expected the full transition wouldn't be complete until 2012. Of course, one notable example would be Japan: that division is switching to a Google backend pending regulatory approval and any legal challenges.

Analysts and pundits have fiercely debated whether or not iPad would cannibalize Mac sales. Or netbooks, or Windows PCs or iPods. Or nothing at all. Cannibalization will happen now, if at all, which is what I predicted in April. Based on NPD July US retail sales data, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty asserted in a report yesterday: "iPad momentum is likely contributing to the moderation of both broader PC and Mac unit growth."

Oh yeah? I'm skeptical about iPad sapping PC growth, except for perhaps netbooks, but Macs make sense. It's about time a Wall Street analyst finally acknowledged the inevitable. In April I asked "Will iPad cannibalize Mac sales?" and answered: "The question isn't if iPad will cannibalize Mac sales but when. If the cannibals are coming, they'll first strike during back-to-school buying season."

Citing manufacturer demand, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said Monday that Ubuntu 10.10 would include the beginnings of the company's UTouch multitouch framework.

"Rather than single, magic gestures, we're making it possible for basic gestures to be chained, or composed, into more sophisticated 'sentences,'" he said in a blog post. "The basic gestures, or primitives, are like individual verbs, and stringing them together allows for richer interactions."

The music industry is looking for a way to save broadcast radio, and may have found it: a legislative mandate to carry FM radio in personal electronics. Like the net neutrality debate, this idea was born out of two sides disagreeing and attempting to come to a compromise.

RIAA and broadcasters are at odds over the payment for the right to play songs on the radio. While satellite and Internet broadcasts must pay this fee, radio is exempt under current copyright law. The labels want this changed, obviously the broadcasters do not.

At MIX '10 Last March, Microsoft gave an impressive look at Xbox Live integration with the Windows Phone 7 platform. Today, it got even more impressive as Microsoft announced the upcoming lineup of more than 60 Xbox Live games on Windows Phone coming for the Holiday 2010 season.

"Windows Phone 7 is the launch of a major gaming platform for Microsoft," said Matt Booty, general manager of mobile gaming for MGS. "Just like we've done with Xbox 360, our charter is to push the envelope and deliver definitive games that maximize the platform. We will have an incredible lineup of MGS titles, and that's just the beginning."

AT&T and Verizon's net neutrality deal became a political issue on Monday as four House Democrats voiced their opposition to the plan with the Federal Communications Commission. In a letter to the regulatory agency, the lawmakers said the proposal 'reinforces the need for resolution' to the debate.

"Formal FCC action is needed," they wrote. "The public interest is served by a free and open Internet than continues to be an indispensable platform for innovation, investment, entrepreneurship, and free speech." The four lawmakers calling for the changes were Reps. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Anna Eschoo of California, Jay Inslee of Washington, and Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania.

A federal grand jury has indicted an Apple supply manager and an individual involved in the company's supply chain on 23 counts including money laundering, fraud, and kickbacks. The two individuals set up an elaborate scheme involving several of Apple's suppliers.

Paul Shin Devine used his clearances within Apple to obtain information that was then shared with suppliers. This information was then used to negotiate contracts, and upon their awarding a kickback was paid to Devine.

Former HP CEO Mark Hurd's move to settle with Jodie Fisher contributed to his firing, those close to the company's board told the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Sources say Hurd was told several times in the three weeks proceeding his ouster to settle Fisher's claims.

Board members felt that Hurd was not fully cooperating with their attempts to investigate the matter, and the settlement stopped their investigation prematurely. Fisher has said that there was no intimate relationship, however at the same time what exactly she had accused Hurd of has never been fully disclosed.

Intel today announced its low-power Atom processor line has two new models designed to be used in network attached storage in the home or small business setting: the 1.8GHz single core D425, and and dual-core D525.

We first began seeing network storage devices built on Intel Atom chips in early 2009 with solutions like Asus' D200 mini-server/router/nettop, which utilized the Atom N270, a member of the first generation "Diamondville" platform.

Dell on Monday announced it will be acquiring virtualized storage company 3PAR for $1.5 billion to grow its storage portfolio and complement its PowerVault, EqualLogic, and EMC-licensed solutions.

3PAR's claim to fame is its unique approach to storage architecture. The company provides what it claims is the hypervisor of storage utilization, or "the only virtualized storage platform built to overcome the limitations of traditional monolithic and modular arrays." 3PAR's technology will round out Dell's offerings for enterprise storage to include directly attached storage or clustered storage area network solutions.

The enterprise telecommunications joint venture formerly known as Edgecore Networks today officially launched in the United States under the new name, LG-Ericsson USA. The joint venture is made up of South Korean electronics maker LG, Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson, and Taiwanese networking solutions provider Accton Technology Corp.

The rebranding is a part of Ericsson's increased stake in its joint ventures with LG, after it bought Nortel's portion of LG-Nortel for $242 million in cash less than two months ago. Nortel agreed to sell its CDMA business to Ericsson the year before in a massive restructuring effort by the Canadian telecommunications company.

Enterprise computer company Oracle has filed a lawsuit against Google for patent and copyright infringement related to Java and Android.

"In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement," Oracle spokesperson Karen Tillman said in a brief statement Thursday evening.