American Express, Walmart co-branded Bluebird debit card gets FDIC insured.

T-Mobile finally gets the iPhone.

Abercrombie & Fitch set to open their first Middle Eastern store in Dubai next year. 

Bankrupt Atari plans to auction off gaming empire in May.

Victoria Beckham launches self-branded e-commerce site.

BMW named best overall luxury brand by Kelly Blue Book. 

Danone latest brand to partner with couponing app Shopitize.

GM introduces new Buick LaCrosse in effort to appeal to younger drivers.Continue reading...

Atari once ruled the home video-game console industry. First kids sprinted home after school to play Pong in the mid-’70s and then they threw their books down to grab their joysticks and take all the bricks of Breakout, blow up oncoming Asteroids, or take Activision’s Pitfall Harry through a jungle maze.

These days, of course, digital games are everywhere and Atari has been feeling the financial strain for more than a decade, as hinted on its Facebook page on January 17th (above).

Fast forward to January 21st, when its U.S. division announced it's filing for bankruptcy in order to separate itself from the French-owned Atari S.A. (formerly known as Infogrames), which is deep in debt, and focus on digital and mobile gaming.Continue reading...

Atari files for bankruptcy protection in the U.S.

RIM could license BlackBerry 10 software.

Sony plans to introduce tablet challenging Apple and Samsung.

AIG learns from "Thank You, America" misfire.

Alfa Romeo plans brand return to U.S. late this year.

Boeing sees safety investigators dismiss one potential cause of Dreamliner fires.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola apparently doesn’t hold a grudge against famed director Ridley Scott. The perennial Best Global Brand's logo appeared in his 1982 film, Blade Runner, and then the brand suffered the so-called "Blade Runner curse" with the disastrous introduction of New Coke in 1985. That "curse" saw other brands that popped up in the film (Atari, Bell, Pan-Am) suffer serious financial difficulties soon after the movie debuted.

Since those days, Coke and Scott, who got his directing start in London's advertising world in the early ’70s before decamping to Hollywood, have paired up a few times. In 1986, he directed the brand's famed Max Headroom commercials. Now, the beverage giant has released a short film about its iconic Polar Bears that was directed by Scott and produced by him and his recently deceased brother, Tony Scott.

"The Polar Bears," as the short is called (watch it below), tells the story of the bear family that has appeared in Coke commercials since the company’s “Always Coca-Cola” campaign kicked off in 1993. While polar bears have been part of the print-advertising mix for Coke since 1922, the campaign put the polar bears front and center in consumers’ eyes. Now those who have been curious about just who these bears are will finally have their questions answered.Continue reading...

Asos sets sights on male fashion lovers.

Atari plots its comeback.

Au Bon Pain unveils new redesign.

Avaya plans to go public again.

Benetton readies image overhaul.

Blue Shield of California will cap earnings.

Borders finds another potential bidder.Continue reading...

The NBA and its Players Association are getting ready for major contractual standoff this summer that could end up putting them right where the NFL is right now: With owners locking out players and the fans growing increasingly annoyed by their backroom maneuverings.

If it gets to the point where actual games are missed because of the wrangling, fans will at least have one place to turn: video games.Continue reading...

"Smart technology — really?" Jane Lynch, LG spokeswoman, quipped in a video that the brand brought to last week's Consumer Electronics Show tech confab in Las Vegas. "Just exactly what do you mean by smart technology? Smart like Einstein? Smart like LG products can read my mind? Are you telling me my refrigerator will know things, like what I'm craving right now?"

Yes, Sue — brands and tech just got a whole lot smarter and connected, as was amply in evidence on the show floor at CES 2011.Continue reading...

The realm of brand extensions just became a little more fashionable, as television is taking one of its most popular brands into the world of gaming.

Emerging designers can now create their own collections for a virtual fashion show. A “Project Runway” video game launches today where aspiring fashionistas create their own looks to compete in a runway challenge. Players have the ability to choose makeup and a hairstyle to complete each look. On the Wii Balance Board, players can also strut their stuff.Continue reading...