NEW YORK (AP) -- Two new Android phones will look and sound familiar to those who have been paying attention to phones. That's because these two devices are replicas of Samsung's Galaxy S4 and HTC's One, except they lack most of the bells and whistles added to the original models.

And that's a good thing.

The modifications Samsung and HTC apply to Google's Android software are meant to be improvements. But I've complained before about how the changes actually make phones more complex to use. The S4 even has an easy mode for first-time smartphone users, an admission that the normal mode is too confounding.

Google worked with both Samsung Electronics Co. and HTC Corp. to come out with "Google Play" editions of the hit phones. Instead of customized software from Samsung and HTC, the Google phones run a pure version of Android, just as it was developed by Google.

Google lets any phone maker use its Android operating system for free. To set themselves apart from competitors, phone makers often add their own touches to devices. They rearrange the menu or load additional apps. Wireless carriers also like to add their own apps. Before you know it, phones are bloated with features and apps you don't want and can't get rid of.

Consider my experience with the original S4 over the weekend. As I tried to adjust the camera's flash setting, I inadvertently made some postage stamp icon pop up. That activated the camera's dual-shot mode, which snaps a shot of you with the front camera to superimpose over whatever you're shooting with the camera on the back of the phone. I didn't want that, but I couldn't figure out how to get rid of it. My friend couldn't either. So we bagged the shot. Taking photos with a phone is supposed to be fun, not a chore.

With Google's version of the S4, I get a no-frills camera that is easy to figure out. It lacks gimmicks such as dual shots and the ability to combine several images of motion into a single shot. It offers about a half-dozen shooting modes, such as night, action and panorama, rather than the dozen or so on the original S4. But a half-dozen is about a half-dozen more than I need and use.

Google's S4 also lacks the original model's ability to pause video automatically when you look away from the screen or to scroll down an article when you tilt your head. Those features may sound cool, but they often don't work properly.

The Google version of the S4 also has alarm sounds that I can actually wake up to. Samsung had substituted those sounds with soft, soothing melodies that I end up incorporating into dreams. I've overslept a few times as a result.

As for Google's version of the HTC One, you don't get a busy home screen filled with news articles and Facebook status updates your phone thinks you want to read. Instead, you get a clean page with few apps. It's up to you to add the ones you want to see and use.

Both Google phones feel spare and minimal, which is great because it makes me feel in control. If I want to constantly know the weather, it's easy to add a weather widget to the home screen of either phone. But it's not forced.

The same goes for apps. I get basic functions such as text messaging and the clock and a range of Google services such as Gmail and YouTube. If I want other apps, I can easily tap the Google Play icon to get them. With the original S4, Samsung tries to steer you into its own app store, as well as its own music and video players. You end up with too many ways to do the same things.

You might think it takes a lot of work to add the apps you want to Google's phones, but it actually takes more work to hide or turn off everything you don't need that is, if you can at all with Samsung's and HTC's versions.

Now for the bad news: The Google edition of the S4 sells for $649, while Google's HTC One goes for $599. You can typically get the original models for $100 to $200 through your wireless carrier with a two-year agreement. And unless you're on T-Mobile, your monthly bill won't go down just because you pay full price for the phone elsewhere.

In addition, both Google phones are compatible only with T-Mobile, AT&T and other carriers that use GSM cellular technology, not the CDMA networks used by Sprint and Verizon Wireless. The Google edition would have been great for Verizon customers who still have unlimited data plans. Verizon no longer lets you stay on that plan if you buy a subsidized phone, so you'd have to pay the full price anyway.

The Google phones are also ideal for people who want the latest Android system that Google has to offer. You'll be able to update your phone as Google releases new versions of Android. Normally, phone makers and wireless carriers delay updates by weeks or months, so you can only read about those new Android features.

There are a few useful Samsung and HTC add-ons that Google does bring to its versions of the phones.

Google's S4 is compatible with Samsung's S-View flip cover. Using a magnetic sensor, the phone detects when the cover is closed and switches to a special mode that gives you the current time and details about who's calling through a small window in the cover. You can answer or reject a call without flipping over the cover.

Google's HTC One, meanwhile, shares the original model's front-facing speakers, giving you great sound when you're watching a movie or listening to music. Both models also have cameras with larger sensor pixels for better low-light shots. Our tests show that the HTC One produces low-light images with less distortion than other Android phones, though images aren't particularly crisp because the resolution is lower.

There are a few things I wish Google would have brought to its phones and to Android in general.

In the original S4, the on-screen keyboard has a row of numerals to type in. With the Google S4, you have to hit a button to get another screen with numerals, then toggle back for the letters. The original S4 also has the ability to run two apps side by side in a split window. That's gone in Google's S4.

Meanwhile, the original HTC One has the ability to make calls, send texts and take photos by sliding icons from the lock screen. With the Google version, you have to unlock the screen before getting icons to those functions.

On both phones, Google also adds one feature I could do without: a 360-degree panorama known as Photo Sphere. Neat as it is, it detracts from what is otherwise a just-the-basics camera. It would have been better as a separate app for those who want it.

But that's no reason to shun the Google phones. The minimized feel of Google's versions underscores how busy software can detract from good hardware. Take away that clutter, and you have excellent phones.

It's a bummer that you can't get the simplified phones through regular channels. You can get them only through Google's online Play store for hundreds of dollars more.

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About the Google phones:

The new phones are existing Samsung and HTC phones loaded with Google's version of the Android operating system. That's the version that Google makes, before phone makers and phone carriers load Android up with their own features and apps.

These phones are good options for those who don't like all the bells and whistles in the original models. They are cleaner and easier to use. But they are also more expensive, as you have to pay full price through Google's online Play store rather than a subsidized price that wireless carriers offer with two-year agreements.

These phones aren't compatible with Verizon's or Sprint's CDMA networks. If you're on AT&T, you'll be paying more for the phone without any reduction in monthly phone bills. If you're on T-Mobile, though, expect to save $20 a month, or $480 over two years. You're still paying about $70 more overall for Google's S4 and $20 more for Google's One, but it's not the hundreds of dollars you'd be paying on AT&T.

The one-time, upfront cost is $649 for Google's S4 with 16 gigabytes of storage and $599 for the One with 32 gigabytes. Both phones are available in the U.S. only through Google's online Play store, with shipments expected by July 9.

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Anick Jesdanun, deputy technology editor for The Associated Press, can be reached at njesdanun@ap.org.

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Online:

Google phones: http://play.google.com/store/devices

Samsung Galaxy S4: http://samsung.com/GalaxyS4

HTC One: http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one

The British sprinter relinquished his green jersey to Sagan last year and trails the Slovak again. But by winning the fifth stage, Cavendish closed within 35 points of his rival, who finished third in the crash-marred trek to the southern seaport of Marseille.

''Now the pressure's off and hopefully it has started the ball rolling,'' Cavendish said.

Australian veteran Simon Gerrans kept the overall leader's yellow jersey by avoiding two crashes - the first as riders neared the end of the stage and the second moments after Cavendish had comfortably beaten Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen in their dash to the line.

''I don't think it's a matter of the course being dangerous. Today we huge roads, (a) big wide run-in and there's still crashes,'' Gerrans said. ''I think dangerous finishes cause crashes, but today that wasn't the case whatsoever.''

Cavendish made a poor start to the Tour while he struggled with a cold. He watched his Omega Pharma-QuickStep squad lose the team time trial Tuesday by less than a second to Gerrans' Orica Greenedge squad.

''I'm still suffering a bit. I'm a lot better but still not 100 percent,'' Cavendish said. ''Finally, after the disappointment of the first stage and (losing by) less than a second yesterday, we've got the account open.''

With a few hundred meters to go, Cavendish stayed behind his teammate Gert Steegmans' wheel and got into a perfect position to hold off Boasson Hagen.

''To be fair, today the sprint wasn't too difficult for me,'' Cavendish said. ''If I'd have lost that today, I would have let the guys down.''

The 84-year-old Andre Darrigade, who won 22 Tour stages as a sprinter, warmly greeted Cavendish after his win.

''Really, really a true gent,'' Cavendish said. ''I'm proud to have met him.''

Cavendish needs one more stage win to tie Andre Leducq for third on the all-time list of stage winners at the 110-year-old race - which is celebrating its 100th edition - and he could do that on Thursday as stage six again favors sprinters.

That would put him within range of Bernard Hinault's 28 wins, the second-highest total after Eddie Merckx's imperious record of 34.

''You have to show the Tour de France the respect it deserves. One stage (win) on the Tour de France makes a rider's career, let alone one stage every year,'' Cavendish said. ''But to set any goals, it does one of two things: It sets you up to fail or puts a limit on what you want to achieve.''

While Cavendish was raising his arms in triumph, behind him about a dozen riders hit the tarmac on the day's second crash.

American rider Tejay van Garderen was one of those involved in the pileup.

''I was grabbing a bottle from (BMC teammate) Steve (Morabito) and then we hit this left corner and people hit the brakes pretty hard,'' van Garderen said. ''I had one hand on the bars (and) lost control. Completely my fault, just a lack of focus, but nothing bad. Just a couple more cuts, but no broken bones.''

The mostly flat 142-mile route started from the sea port of Cagnes-sur-Mer. The riders maintained a slow pace until crash No. 1 downed 15-to-20 riders.

BMC rider Brent Bookwalter, sitting in the middle left of the pack, was the first to fall after clipping Steegmans' wheel and others tumbled around him. American veteran Christian Vande Velde was among them and received treatment on the side of the road.

''I saw the doctor and checked it out,'' said Bookwalter, who had cuts and bruises. ''It's a high-stake environment for cycling. Everyone has a lot to gain and a lot to lose, everyone is pushing to the front all the time and there's never a calm moment.''

Gerrans is only the sixth Australian to wear the yellow jersey - the first was Phil Anderson in 1981 - and his Orica Greenedge took the start line with yellow helmets on to mark the occasion.

Gerrans will hope to keep it after the sixth stage on Thursday. It's a flat 110-mile route from Aix-en-Provence to Montpellier. The race heads into the high mountains for the first time in the eighth stage on Saturday from Castres to Ax 3 Domaines in the Pyrenees.

Clapper apologized in a letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein. His agency posted the letter Tuesday on its website.

Leaks by former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden have revealed the NSA's sweeping data collection of U.S. phone records and some Internet traffic every day, though U.S. intelligence officials have said the programs are aimed at targeting foreigners and terrorist suspects mostly overseas.

Clapper was asked during a hearing in March by Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, if the NSA gathered "any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans."

At first, Clapper answered definitively: "No."

Pressed by Wyden, Clapper changed his answer. "Not wittingly," he said. "There are cases where they could inadvertently perhaps collect, but not wittingly."

Last month, in an interview with NBC News after revelations about the program, Clapper said: "I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful, manner" because the program was classified.

In his letter to Feinstein, Clapper wrote that he was thinking about whether the NSA gathered the content of emails, rather than the metadata of the phone records the record of calls to and from U.S. citizens and the length of those phone calls.

"I realized later Sen. Wyden was asking about ... metadata collection, rather than content collection," Clapper wrote. "Thus, my response was clearly erroneous, for which I apologize."

Feinstein said in a statement Tuesday: "I have received Director Clapper's letter and believe it speaks for itself. I have no further comment at this time."

Wyden spokesman Tom Caiazza said Tuesday that when Wyden staffers contacted Clapper's office shortly after the hearing, his staffers "acknowledged that the statement was inaccurate but refused to correct the public record when given the opportunity."

"Sen. Wyden is deeply troubled by a number of misleading statements senior officials have made about domestic surveillance in the past several years. He will continue pushing for an open and honest debate," Caiazza said.

In the letter, Clapper said he could now publicly correct the record, because the existence of the metadata collection program has been declassified since the deluge of leaks from Snowden. A copy of the letter posted on the DNI website was stamped June 21 but made public on Tuesday.

Snowden is believed to be in a Moscow airport transit area, seeking asylum from one of more than a dozen countries.

Since the revelations, the Obama administration has said the leaks have caused damage to national security, including tipping off al-Qaida and other terrorist groups to specific types of U.S. electronic surveillance.

But under pressure from lawmakers and privacy activists, the administration took the extraordinary step of declassifying many of the details surrounding the surveillance programs and how they work, to explain to Americans that NSA is not spying directly on them, which would violate its charter.

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Online: http://www.dni.gov

Follow Kimberly Dozier on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kimberlydozier

The Austrian parachutist known as "Fearless Felix" reached 843.6 mph, according to the official numbers released Monday. That's equivalent to Mach 1.25, or 1.25 times the speed of sound.

His top speed initially was estimated last October at 834 mph, or Mach 1.24.

Either way, he became the first human to break the sound barrier with only his body. He wore a pressurized suit and jumped from a capsule hoisted by a giant helium balloon over New Mexico.

Baumgartner was supersonic for a half-minute "quite remarkable," according to Brian Utley, the official record-keeping official who was present for the Oct. 14 feat. His heart rate remained below 185 beats a minute, and his breathing was fairly steady.

The leap was from an altitude of 127,852 feet. That's 248 feet lower than original estimates.

"He jumped from a little bit lower, but he actually went a little bit faster, which was pretty exciting," said Art Thompson, technical project director for the Red Bull-sponsored project.

"It's fun for us to see reaching Mach speeds and proving out a lot of the safety systems," Thompson said in a phone interview from his aerospace company in Lancaster, Calif.

Thompson said everything pretty much unfolded as anticipated, with no surprises in the final report. The updated records were provided by Utley, official observer for the National Aeronautic Association's contest and records board. Utley was in Roswell, N.M., for Baumgartner's grand finale jump.

In the foreword of the 71-page report, Baumgartner said he never imagined how many people would share in his dream to make a supersonic free fall from so high.

Some 52 million people watched You Tube's live stream of the exploit.

The scientific and engineering experts who helped bring him back alive "broke boundaries in their own fields just as surely as I broke the sound barrier," Baumgartner wrote.

Baumgartner shattered the previous record for a free fall plunge, made by Joe Kittinger, an Air Force officer, in 1960. Kittinger did not quite reach supersonic speed during his jump from 19.5 miles up.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Broken arms, baseball bat beat-downs, bugged hotel rooms, and a drag queen prostitute blackmailing the star of an upcoming blockbuster action film.

That is a typical week for Ray Donovan, a Hollywood "fixer" and latest anti-hero persona to land on U.S. cable television in Showtime drama "Ray Donovan" that debuts on Sunday after the final season premiere of popular serial killer drama "Dexter."

Like antecedents Tony Soprano from HBO's mob drama, "The Sopranos," and Don Draper from AMC's ad world series, "Mad Men," Ray Donovan, played by Tony-winner Liev Schreiber, is a man of countless dilemmas, ensnared by work and family.

The series follows Ray as he serves as Hollywood's go-to enforcer, helping movie stars, film studios and athletes "fix" their private problems before they turn into public relations disasters.

But a thunderbolt upends Ray's already unpredictable life when Mickey, his mafia father played by Jon Voight, is suddenly released from prison.

"That exploration of men in particular, fathers and sons, is something that was very compelling to me," Schreiber, 45, told Reuters. "The thing I like about Ray is, as horrible as he behaves, he seems to have a very moral epicenter."

"Ray Donovan" creator, Emmy-winning writer Ann Biderman, said that she had always been interested in Hollywood's dark side.

She pointed to past real-life fixers Fred Otash, a private investigator from Hollywood's 1950s golden age, and Howard Strickland, MGM studio's publicity chief in the 1930s, both of whom notoriously shielded high-profile figures from public scandal.

"I'm interested in crime," said Biderman, 61, also the creator of cable TV police drama "Southland." "These figures have been around since the beginning, where there is a lot of money and the stakes are very high."

But Ray, who can get his A-list clients out of the worst circumstances, has little recourse for his insidious father who is looking to reconnect with his family in Los Angeles.

'DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF MASCULINITY'

The series is a tangle of plots and personal moral codes in which characters try to make things right in the wrong ways.

"I think that (morality) drives Ray and he's got a distorted but intact sense of what is just and what is right," Schreiber said. "He's trying to understand how to coexist with that in a society that doesn't necessarily value it, and still make a living and be a good father to his children."

The pilot episode begins with Ray receiving a panicked call: the male star of an upcoming action film was caught with a transvestite prostitute and a pro football player woke up in a hotel room with a woman dead from a drug overdose.

It is a easy switch for Ray, putting the actor in place of the athlete - after all, as one of Ray's clients says, it is easier for an action movie star to rebound from a trip to rehab than getting pushed out of the closet.

The series also takes a dip into deep end of the male psyche as Ray's brother, Terry, struggles to get by as a boxing instructor with Parkinson's disease and his other brother, Bunchy, uses booze to cope with childhood sexual abuse by a priest.

"I think Ann has a really deep understanding of masculinity and the facade of machismo," Schreiber said.

"It's almost like the models most men are working off of are antiquated in terms of how to behave and what to expect from relationships and how to interact socially with women," Schreiber added.

"It may be Ann's point that at some level all men are difficult," the actor explained. "So many people ask how a woman could have such deep insight into male behavior - they're sort of the experts, aren't they?"

Showtime is owned by CBS Corp.

(Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Jackie Frank)

After being challenged by a fan on Twitter to take on Williams, Murray said in his column for BBC Sport that such a matchup could create interest among tennis fans.

"I've never hit with her but she's obviously an incredible player and I think people would be interested to see the men play against the women to see how the styles match up," said Murray, who is bidding to become the first British player to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Williams joked about the idea after beating Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round of the grass-court tournament.

"Really? He wants to play me? Is he sure? That would be fun," she said. "I doubt I'd win a point, but that would be fun."

There have been several high profile matches between stars from the men and women's game. The most famous of them was held in 1973, with Billie Jean King humbling Bobby Riggs in straight sets.

"He's probably one of the top three people I definitely don't want to play," Williams said about Murray. "But, yeah, maybe we can have a little bit of a showdown. That would be fine. I get alleys. He gets no serves. I get alleys on my serves, too. He gets no legs, yeah."

In his column, Murray suggested Las Vegas as a possible host city for the exhibition. Williams said the match would have to be played on clay if she was to stand a chance.

Now they both have a trophy to show for it and, perhaps, the foundation of a rebuilt racing career.

Allmendinger took the lead from Justin Allgaier with seven laps to go in regulation, then didn't get rattled through a late restart and two nerve-testing green-white-checkered overtime finishes, holding on to win Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America.

Afterward, he expressed appreciation for Penske, the team owner who originally let him go last season after he was suspended for violating NASCAR's substance abuse policy.

"It's just meant the world to me," Allmendinger said. "This was the only way I could repay him. I was trying so hard out there and, at times, probably over-trying."

Allgaier finished second, followed by Parker Kligerman, Owen Kelly and Sam Hornish Jr.

Allgaier won a road course race at Montreal last season but still tipped his cap to Allmendinger's road racing skills.

"I'm still not a road racer, I can assure you of that," Allgaier said. "Just watching AJ in front of me and seeing some of the places he was able to get away from me on that last green-white-checkered, I still have some stuff to learn."

It's Allmendinger's first win in NASCAR, but not his first at Road America. He won at the four-mile road course in Central Wisconsin in 2006, racing in the Champ Car Series.

"It's my favorite track now," Allmendinger said.

Billy Johnson led on a restart with eight to go, but he slid wide in Turn 5 and was passed by Allgaier and Allmendinger. Allmendinger then made the decisive move one lap later, snatching the lead from Allgaier at the top of the hill in Turn 6.

He'd have to defend his lead on three more restarts, fending off a charge from Allgaier with three laps to go and then facing two green-white-checkered finishes NASCAR's version of overtime.

Allmendinger once again took the lead, only to watch another caution come out for Michael Annett's accident to trigger a second overtime.

With drivers facing concerns about having enough fuel left on the second green-white-checkered restart, Allmendinger held on again to take the checkered flag and stop in Turn 5 to celebrate in front of the fans. Allmendinger even had enough fuel left to do a celebratory burnout.

"They weren't fun," Allmendinger said of all the restarts. "I had a lot of thoughts in my head about how bad that (stunk) having to do that. But it's part of the rules."

Regan Smith finished 32nd and leads the Nationwide Series standings by 28 points over Allgaier.

Defending race winner Nelson Piquet Jr. then had a rough moment before the race's halfway point, plowing into the back of Brian Scott's car. Piquet's hood crumpled in the crash, costing him any chance of contention.

Allmendinger then retook the lead on lap 26, bumping his way past Kelly on the exit of Turn 5. Allmendinger pulled away and quickly built a lead of more than two seconds and then Kelly lost second place when he came to a stop on the back side of the track, apparently out of fuel. After getting a push back to the pits from a safety vehicle, Kelly was able to get back in the race.

Most of the leaders then pitted with 19 laps to go right at the outer edge of most teams' fuel windows, making it unclear whether they had enough to make it to the end.

Meanwhile, Kenny Habul caused a moment of levity when he veered off course on the restart and collected a large advertising sign, which stuck to his nose for the better part of a lap before another caution came out.

The win was a big step for Allmendinger, whose racing career took a wrong turn last year when he failed a NASCAR drug test, resulting in a suspension and the loss of his ride at Penske Racing.

Allmendinger, who said he took a pill offered by a friend that turned out to be Adderall, was reinstated after completing a NASCAR-affiliated recovery program, and now is getting a limited second chance with the Penske team this year.

"I wouldn't have thought twice if he would have just kind of wrote it off and not called and went on," Allmendinger said of Penske. "He's got so much going on in his life. But he just kept checking up on me. I didn't expect anything from it. It was just nice to have a friend, somebody that I could bounce ideas off of."

Kilgerman, a friend of Allmendinger's off the track, is impressed by his resiliency.

"Once you've lost it all, I think you see a lot of times, you come back and you're better at what you do. I think we're seeing that right now with AJ."

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A Martian rock analyzed by NASA's rover Opportunity contains clays formed in non-acidic water, an environment potentially suitable for the chemistry of ancient life to brew.

The solar-powered Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004 for what was expected to be a 90-day mission to look for signs there was once water. It, and a twin rover, Spirit, which succumbed to the harsh Martian environment three years ago, had both found rocks altered by highly acidic water.

While acid-loving microbes exist on Earth, scientists suspect the chemical building blocks for life need more neutral conditions to evolve into life.

"The tough thing about an acid environment is that it's very, very hard, we believe, to get pre-biotic chemistry, the kind of chemistry that can lead to the origin of life," Cornell University's Steve Squyres, lead scientist for the Opportunity and Spirit missions, told reporters during a conference call on Friday.

"What's exciting about this discovery is that it points to a neutral pH at a time very, very early in Martian history," he added.

"What we have here is a very different chemistry. This is water you can drink," Squyres said. "This is the most powerful evidence for neutral (non-acidic) chemistry water that has been found by Opportunity," he added.

Opportunity took three years to reach the rim of a large impact basin called Endeavour Crater, where it examined, among other objects, a small rock called Esperance.

It took seven tries before Opportunity got itself positioned properly to scratch the rock's surface and see what lies beneath. Unlike NASA's follow-on Mars rover Curiosity, which landed on the opposite side of Mars in August, Opportunity has no drill or onboard chemistry lab to obtain and analyze samples.

Instead, it uses its instruments to determine basic mineralogy. Esperance, scientists determined, contains aluminum-rich clays, a telltale sign that neutral water flowed through the rock.

Likewise, Curiosity's first analysis of powder drilled from an ancient mudstone showed signs of neutral water, plus elements needed to support microbial life. Results from the rover's second sample analysis are pending.

Opportunity now is making its way south along the Endeavour Crater rim toward an exposed stack of rock that may provide more clues about Mars' transition from a warm and wet world to the cold, dry, acidic desert that exists today.

Scientists are hopeful Opportunity will make it there by August 1, before the start of Martian winter in the southern hemisphere.

"We've been on borrowed time for a while," said project manager John Callas, with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "How long Opportunity lasts is anyone's guess."

(Editing by David Adams and Peter Cooney)