Facebook and Twitter are worldwide brands now. They are two of the most popular social networks that are used to send out information to anyone who is interested. Facebook and Twitter are also used for promotional purposes by many organizations. By luring potential followers to its Twitter feed or Facebook page, a company can expand the reach of its brand. That will eventually lead to more money through advertising or other means. France’s broadcasting regulator believes Twitter and Facebook have an unfair advantage over other networks. Therefore, the very mention of either of the two in an unacceptable way is illegal.

According to the latest in the rumor mill, which is coming by way of PreCentral Forum user jerseydevil, HP and Palm are planning to launch the “smallest smartphone ever available” next month in France. Of course, that leads many to believe it is the follow up to the Palm Pixi, which will appropriately be dubbed more »

Recently, the German Federal Office for Security in Information Technology had advised their citizens to stop using Internet Explorer. Whether they had an older version or the latest, the German Federal Office discovered some severe vulnerabilities in the browser security. Now France has taken similar measures and advised their citizens to switch from IE to more »

Sony executives who were being held by workers in France have been released. The workers were upset about the closing of their plant. The head of human resources, Roland Bentz, and CEO of Sony France, Serge Foucher, were being held because the workers were unhappy with Sony’s severance package. The executives have not been able more »

Normal POIs in GPSs can do only so much, such as letting you know when you come near a place that many find interesting. This new Sat Nav software takes basic POIs to the next level. This software will provide audio whenever you travel near a historically famous place in France, and will last about two minutes.

Developed by RoadTour, the software will work with most GPSs, such as GPSs by Garmin. For 19.95 pounds, or only about $27, you can get a concise historical background on nearly 620 French attractions. Many European countries are rich with culture, so a tourist will definitely benefit from something like this. RoadTour spent over 3 years developing accurate historical information for every piece of audio they have. Find out even more after the break.

One of the things in this year’s tour that is really making an impression on me is riders choosing to make their bike heavier. Normally, cyclists (or any endurance athletes) strive to have nothing extra. No cost is too big, no weight savings too small. So when you have more and more Tour riders choosing to put a Garmin GPS and a PowerTap hub, it deserves a closer look.

I had the chance to interview Jake Jacobson, Garmin’s Senior Media Relations Specialist, who was actually in France with the Tour riders, the lucky guy. He was gracious enough to answer my questions despite moving from town to town in the French countryside.

I’ll point out here that saying Garmin’s hundreds of thousands of dollar investment in the Garmin-Chipotle team was a move into a niche market was probably not the wisest of moves for me. Luckily, Jake didn’t hold against me and was gracious enough to answer anyway.

Levi’s is quietly spreading its mobile phone presence out in Europe and they don’t seem to be nearing a stop any time soon, since Orange France has been granted the exclusive privilege to market its tri-band GSM, 3G network connected handset. No other details about the deal have been provided, except to say that there more »