Welcome to The Next Web’s Weekly Recap!
This week’s news was dominated by Apple’s iPad announcement this past Wednesday. Steve Job’s unveiling of the iPad was well received by some and left others disappointed. Below I recap the speculation at the beginning of the week, a run down of the specs that were announced on Wednesday [...]

Russian police broke up anti-Kremlin protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Sunday, and detained more than 100 demonstrators, …

Google is continuing to kill off support for Internet Explorer 6 in its services; the search giant has announced that two more of its Web properties will stop supporting IE6 as of March 1. “Many other companies have already stopped supporting older browsers like Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers,” a blog post on the Official Google Enterprise Blog begins to explain. “We’re also going to begin phasing out our support, starting with Google Docs and Google Sites. As a result you may find that from March 1 key functionality within these products — as well as new Docs and Sites features — won’t work properly in older browsers.” Older browsers, according to Google, include anything prior to IE7, Firefox 3.0, Chrome 4.0, and Safari 3.0.

Although one might think this is a reaction to the Internet Explorer’s vulnerabilities notably exploited in the recent series of Chinese-based attacks against Google and 30 other tech companies, which Microsoft has since patched, the truth is Google has already done this with many of its other products. Google’s Orkut and YouTube started phasing out IE6 support about six months ago and Google has been using Gmail to convert IE6 users to Chrome for over a year.

Google’s stance on IE6 varies from Microsoft’s because the search giant does not need to support Windows XP, the operating system with which IE6 first shipped, as long as Microsoft (which will support XP and IE6 until April 8, 2014). Google can thus pull IE6 support on its many Web properties and urge users to upgrade. Microsoft, on the other hand, which has stated time and time again that it wants to see IE6 disappear as much as anyone else, won’t force anyone to upgrade (though it’s worth noting that the software giant’s Office Web Apps won’t support IE6 either, just like Google Docs). Instead, it says the decision is ultimately up to the user, touting IE8’s many features over IE6, particularly in the area of security, in an attempt to push users to upgrade. IE6 ended 2009 with a market share of 20.99 percent.

Boldly confronting the breakup rumors without saying a word, Brad and Angie attended the Directors Guild of America Awards together in El Lay on Saturday!
Witnesses eyed Brangelina cuddling and “caressing” each other during the awards, but also saw the two mingling and laughing with the other guests.
Does that sound like a couple mid-break up [...]

Okay, last night’s pre-grammy “Salute To Icons” party in Beverly Hills was ridiculous, and brought together the most amazing people. Katy Perry, Rihanna, Fergie, and Taylor Swift? Yes. All BFF’s now.
And can we please talk about how amazing Jennifer Hudson looks? There’s so much more going on too…see it all in our new gallery! We’ll see you tonight for the Grammys!

Filed under: Motorcycle

The upper-middleweight naked bike segment, which currently has entrants from the likes of BMW, Aprilia and Ducati, is about to get an good ol’ injection of Japanese know-how as Yamaha readies its upcoming new FZ8 for production. Yamaha apparently sees room for a machine that splits the difference between the smaller FZ6 (and FZ6R) and the full FZ1 naked literbike.

As far as we’re aware, Yamaha has confirmed neither the FZ8 nor its fully-faired FZ8R sibling for North America (we’ll keep you posted), but it seems possible the models could make it Stateside if there’s sufficient interest… which is why we’re bringing you this initial official image of the FZ8. So, what do you think?

Judging from the photo, the FZ8 appears to be based on the current FZ1, and internet rumors suggest the 800cc mill will be a downsized version of the former R1 engine with an identical stroke and smaller bore. We’ll know soon enough – the official unveiling is scheduled for March 12 – but in the meantime, enjoy the teaser.

[Source: Yamaha, Asphalt & Rubber]

Yamaha pulls the covers off 2010 FZ8 naked sportbike originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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KABUL (Reuters) – Taliban fighters should drop their demand that U.S. and NATO forces withdraw from Afghanistan before peace talks can be held, President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday, saying talks would make it easier for troops to leave.

Roger Federer put Andy Murray’s bid at British history on ice in the heat of Melbourne.