American Idol crowns winner with record number of votes.

Apple's newly knighted design head Jony Ives "winces" at some past products.

IBM raises concerns about Apple's Siri voice recognition technology, newly touted by John Malkovich.

BMW plans to triple China output.

Deutsche Telekom sale of T-Mobile USA seen as unlikely.

Facebook's botched NASDAQ IPO turns spotlight to NYSE Euronext.

FCC votes today on opening spectrum for wireless medical devices.

Foursquare teams with London 2012 Olympics.

MIT solves ketchup problem that Heinz made famous.

Pizza Hut tests pre-loaded gift cards in India.

President Obama wants U.S. government agencies to launch more mobile apps.

Uniqlo chooses tennis player Novak Djokovic as a brand ambassador.

United and Continental airline merger turbulence affects elite fliers.

Yahoo aims to make Web browsing more visual with Axis launch.

Airbus parent accuses China of blocking jet sales over emissions scheme.

American Airlines parent retreats on pension-plan termination.

Apple lifts lid on new iPad and faces U.S. warning, along with other publishers, about collusion on e-book pricing.

BMW reports profits surge amid global luxury-car boom.

Continental appeals "absurd" verdict in Concorde crash.

Cracker Barrel uses country-music roots to build Twitter.

Dairy Queen expands in China.

Delta launches in-flight shopping with Amazon.

Facebook beefs up roster of IPO underwriters.Continue reading...

Apple stock price looms large as iPad 3 (aka iPad HD) debut nears, and the company is sued by a firm that has a patent deal with Microsoft.

Boston Beer expands beyond Sam Adams.

BT and TalkTalk lose case against UK's anti-piracy legislation.

Chevy Volt woes may take solace from Toyota Prius.

Dunkin' Donuts brings pork doughnuts and LeBron James to China.

GM and Peugeot cement alliance.

Geneva International Auto Show opens amid slump in European car sales as Volkswagen shows off a Bentley concept SUV.

Jack Daniels opens "drinking school" with Zac Brown Band.Continue reading...

Apple, now worth more than Google and Microsoft combined, is hit with stores protest over Foxconn treatment of workers in China, while fans anticipate new iPad and iPhone models.

Barclays caps bonuses as profit falls.

Beyonce and Jay-Z move to trademark daughter's name.

Bing and Viggle partner for second-screen Grammy effort.

Citibank bill-pay app charged some users twice, bank concedes.

Continental pushes past Southwest in customer loyalty.Continue reading...

Archer-Daniels-Midland to cut 1,000 jobs.

Arby's hires ex-Burger King marketer as CMO.

Bank of America and other U.S. banks struggle with customer service on Twitter.

Bing passes Yahoo for the first time.

CBS sees Ashton Kutcher consider return to Two and a Half Men.

Chrysler nudges up Jeep Wrangler output.

Coca-Cola finds fungicide in orange juice.

Continental could add extra fuel tanks to deal with unscheduled stops.

Downton Abbey frenzy in America creates marketing hook for book industry.Continue reading...

You want to go check out some serious water polo at the Olympic Games this summer in London but don’t feel like ponying up a boatload of cash to make it happen? Well, you just might have the opportunity.

United Continental Holdings has announced that it will let its loyalty-program members use their points to bid on events and experiences, such as tickets to attend the London 2012 Games, entry to concerts, and other hot tickets, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The new auction site, Mileage Plus Headliners, sets minimum bids for experiences, with a ski trip to California’s Mammoth Mountain that includes a private guide starts at 27,000 miles while four tickets to see the Chicago Orchestra starts at just 5,000 miles. Other experiences to bid on include “an opportunity to train like a pilot in United's flight simulator in Denver” and the possibility of being one of the first travelers on the Boeing Dreamliner when United gets delivery of that plane.Continue reading...

Everybody is looking for a deal. And Southwest Airlines would like to give them one. The airline has “launched an enhancement” to its Rapid Rewards loyalty program, expanding its roster of partners to allow the plan’s members to get a few extra points by purchasing from particular online retailers.

"Frequent-flier programs like all other loyalty programs are trying to figure out ways to drive more value for consumers," said Sarah Arvin, vice president of client services for Cartera Commerce, to Reuters. "Consumers are much more deal- and reward-conscious and they are trying to get more out of every dollar they spend."

Earlier this year, Southwest — in tandem with airlines including Continental/United — changed their frequent-flier plans so that the customers who were spending more money would get more points. This latest tweak is another way of providing incentive for fliers to stick with one airline rather than just ditching brand loyalty the way most folks are.

"We are trying to enhance the program in as many ways as we can," Jonathan Clarkson, director of Southwest Rapid Rewards, told Reuters. "As long as there is the proliferation of loyalty programs and enhancements to other airline loyalty programs, it's always going to be a challenge to maintain the loyalty of folks."

In another bid to make the brand more engaging, the airline also announced that it's shooting an original (and still untitled) series for TLC that will air next year.

You’ve watched plenty of movies on it, sent countless emails on it, and gotten hundreds of thousands of Angry Birds points on it, but the iPad is about to become much more useful to the airline industry.

United Airlines is in the process of replacing the 40-pound flight bag each pilot has that contains “copies of charts and handbooks” they need for flying with the 1.5-pound iPad, according to the Denver Post.

Back in August, the airline became the first carrier to start doling out iPads to its pilots, as seen above. Well into its test, United now “estimates the savings will be about 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year and 16 million sheets of paper.”Continue reading...