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It’s crazy, we know. Just hours after hearing shockingly believable whispers that Apple’s white-hot iPhone 3G could be sashaying over to Verizon Wireless, in flies a Wall Street Journal report asserting that the suits in Redmond are (also?) in talks with America’s largest carrier. ‘Course, we’ve heard rumors that Microsoft was banging out a smartphone behind closed doors for centuries now, but much to our chagrin, there’s no mention of “Zune” in “Project Pink.” Instead, we’re told that said handset is a touchscreen-based multimedia phone that will aim to extend the Windows Mobile OS while “adding new software capabilities.” Not surprisingly, the article also mentions that Windows Marketplace would be front and center on the phone, and potentially most interesting is this tidbit: “a third-party is expected to make the device.” Hey HTC — seen any strange calls originating from the 425?

Sure, the cold metal exterior looks like a regular old car, but the 2010 S-Class from Mercedes-Benz has a fuzzy technological heart, including an abundance of readout displays and a Splitview screen. Quite like it sounds, the Splitview display offers up one view to the driver (like a map), while the passenger sees a completely different image (like a movie, or a picture of somebody looking at a map), and after hearing all about it for the past while, Mercedes is actually giving us a glimpse of it in an overly-dramatic promo video for the latest S-Class to clutter up the roads. Check it out after the break.

BMW has already clearly shown that it wants to make its cars as smart as possible, and it looks like that extends right down to the doors, which have now been smartened up with a little help from the Technical University of Munich. According to New Scientist, the pair have developed a prototype door that uses a range of sensors to detect any oncoming dangers, and work in concert with an accelerometer in the door to prevent it from being opened. What’s more, the sensors are apparently also able to detect the proximity of the object and adjust the resistance of the door accordingly — for instance, slowing the door down if you’re about to slam it into a lamp post. The current prototype does apparently have a bit of a problem when it comes to field of view, however, although BMW says that can be remedied with some added cameras in future versions, which could possibly be in actual cars in as little as a year — though it’s quick to point out that it hasn’t made a final decision just yet.