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OnStar tests Facebook updates, text-message reading services

General Motors' OnStar service is launching new features with the latest generation of its technology and is testing applications such as reading text messages and updating social-networking Web sites via voice command. The ninth generation of OnStar's software will let GM car owners use their smartphone to remotely start the engine and lock or unlock their cars. The service is called OnStar MyLink.

NHTSA opens investigation into Ford Taurus throttle issue

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched a preliminary investigation into claims of the throttle sticking open on the Ford Taurus from the 2005-06 model years. NHSTA says there are 14 claims of a stuck throttle in the Taurus, possibly because of the cruise-control cable becoming detached. No injuries have been reported.

First Sight: Mercedes-AMG GT

“If I was to buy any sports car that wasn't a Mercedes, it'd be a Porsche 911,” says Mercedes' head of design, Gorden Wagener. “But when you see the two cars together, we think ours has the edge.” He's talking about the new Mercedes-AMG GT, a front-mid engined, two-seater sports car that's unashamedly aimed at higher-end 911s, and we've come to see it at Mercedes' Sindelfingen studio.  The GT replaces the larger SLS, and is seen by Wagener as the best example yet of his 'sensual purity' design philosophy: “The SLS is very much [he gestures] line, line with a surface in between. With the GT we started with the surface and worked to refine and reduce the number of lines.” Elements of the SLS's platform have been carried over, so the GT measures the same 1,939mm wide.