Can the Internet handle big breaking news? (ZDNet Asia)

It's quite obvious at this point that the Internet has muscled its way into the lives of anyone who needs information. And Michael Jackson's death Thursday had as great an impact on the Internet as anything in the history of the medium that didn't involve the World Trade Center. The statistics are amazing: Akamai said worldwide Internet traffic was 11 percent higher than normal during the peak hours between 3 p.m. PDT and 4 p.m., when news of Jackson's death was breaking. That traffic forced even Google to its knees for a brief period of time Thursday afternoon. Can a system that has trouble keeping up with ever-increasing demand for its services be considered a reliable source of information when a true crisis emerges?

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Android gets voice search in Google Maps

Google has updated the version of Google Maps found on its Linux-based Android software platform to include voice search, along with a bug fix and a new feature. The new version of Google Maps, available for download via the Android Market, understands English voice searches in American, Australian and British accents. Transit and walking directions have also been added to the software with public-transport directions available for more than 250 cities, including New York and San Francisco.

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Just click for a century of news (BBC News)

The British Library has put two million digitised pages from 19th century newspapers online, taking research out of its dusty reading rooms into people's homes. The pay-as-you-go service brings a century of history alive from Jack the Ripper to WG Grace. So what was in the news on this day exactly 200 years ago? The Examiner from Sunday, 18 June 1809, carries the story of a boatman who had shown "signs of mental derangement". The same paper has a detailed account of the latest developments in the Napoleonic Wars between France, Britain and other European nations.

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Intel, AMD take battle to ultra-thin laptops (ITNews)

Laptops an inch thick that multitask and edit multimedia content, but cost only USD500? Intel and AMD are betting they aren't too good to be true. The world's thinnest laptops, usually the province of executives and the well-heeled, may this year go mainstream thanks to cheaper but still-powerful processors from the two major chip firms. The flip side? If the less-pricey ultra-thin form takes off, it may eat into revenue and profit for Intel's and AMD's blazing-fast high-end processors, analysts say. Most people would never need the unbridled processing power that advanced, larger processors offer, they say.

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Google to highlight Web's need for speed (Cnet)

Few would disagree that faster is better when it comes to the Web, and Google wants to get Web publishers hooked on speed. Webmasters looking for ways to speed up page loading times will have a host of tips and tricks to peruse later Tuesday when Google launches a new Web site designed to emphasize the importance of speed on the Web, said Richard Rabbat, a product manager at Google. Google has already spent a great deal of time over the last year or so evangelizing technologies such as HTML 5 and JavaScript, pointing toward those improvements as a way of making the Web faster and more enjoyable. Now the company wants to share some of what it's learned with the outside world.

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Faster SD cards could read devices next year (ComputerWorld HK)

Memory cards based on a new specification will boost storage of consumer electronics to as much as 2TB, the SD Association said recently. Secure Digital memory cards based on the new SDXC (extended capacity) specification could be out as early as next year with a capacity of 64GB, with 2TB available at some future point, said Kevin Schader, director of communications at the SDA. The SDXC specification was announced in January, but the SDA couldn't then provide a time frame for the release of products. The specification was released to SDA member companies in April, Schader said.

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OLPC Software To Power Aging PCs (BBC News)

Software originally developed for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project can now be used on any old PC. Sugar on a stick, as it is known, can be run from a USB drive to give aging PCs a new interface and access to collaborative educational software. The software, designed for use by children, was launched at the LinuxTag conference in Berlin. The interface emphasises collaborative learning, allowing children to share material between different machines. For example, they can write documents or make music together. It includes 40 programs, including a word processor, drawing application and games. The software can be downloaded for free from the Sugar Labs website.

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