Arthur Frommer buys back travel book brand from Google, which acquired it with big plans last August.

Facebook readies for rumored phone event today.

Apple's futuristic campus project runs late and $2 billion overbudget.

BlackBerry turns mobile website into "test drive" of new Z10 phone, kills off BBM music service.

CVS and Rite-Aid target allergy season.

ConAgra boosts ad spending as commodity costs drop.

Detroit Electric launches Tesla rival.Continue reading...

Apple and Android dominate mobile-platform impressions while Apple reports strong sales of iPhone 5 in China and talks with Foursquare about data-sharing deal.

GE plans to buy Avio Italian aerospace group as CEO perceives an "investment pause" in some industries over economy.

Walmart takedown by New York Times continues with searing update on Mexican bribery scandal.

Freedom Group, parent of Bushmaster rifle used to kill Connecticut kids, will be sold by owner Cerberus.

AOL gives all employees $1,000 year-end bonus.

Billabong gets another takeover bid.

BlackBerry 10 now in tests at 120 companies.

Brazil burger chain offers edible packaging.Continue reading...

Diesel automobile sales continue to gain momentum and share in the US market even as hybrids and electric vehicles continue to stall as a segment. Mazda, for instance, just announced that it will offer a diesel beginning late next year. It's Audi, however, that continues to push the clean-diesel proposition more than any other brand.

As the brand unveiled its new offering of its TDI (Turbo Direct Injection) diesel engines across most of its product lineup — now including all of its mainstream models in addition to the A3 and Q7 clean diesel models where the option originated a few years ago — at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Audi of America President Scott Keogh was articulating his company's case for the technology in an unprecedented way.

Fuel-efficient, emission-reduced clean diesel "is the best choice for drivers seeking to save at the pump, for a nation seeking to free itself from the grip of foreign oil, for a society seeking smart ways to cut greenhouse gases, for a world seeking more sustainable mobility," Keogh told journalists assembled in Los Angeles, where the Q7 also received the ALG residual value award.Continue reading...

Microsoft denied "Killer Instinct" trademark, as Microsoft-Google patent fight rests on "fairness" definition and Motorola is denied injuction against Microsoft in patent suit. Microsoft-Intel push to combat Apple in tablet space, meanwhile, seen as "sputtering."

American Suzuki forges ahead with incentives amid US wind down.

Apple wins six new design patents, sees increasing pricing tension with retailers and Steve Jobs bio pic starring Ashton Kutcher heading to Sundance.

Applebee's plans to open "green" restaurant in New York's Harlem where Hot Bread Kitchen is a rising local brand.

Balenciaga hires designer Alexander Wang as creative chief.

Baxter agrees to buy medical-equipment maker Gambro in company's biggest acquisition.Continue reading...

Greenpeace is doing battle against the fashion world. In the past week, it organized more than 700 volunteers in more than 80 cities in 20 countries to dress up like mannequins and stage “walkouts” of Zara stores as a protest against the company for using any hazardous chemicals in its supply chain.

The “Detox Zara” campaign has spread to include all of fashion; the eco-campaigner's latest video, above, is a manga style trailer called "Detox Fashion" (tagline: "Toxic is so last season.")

The campaign has worked, according to Greenpeace's Tristan Tremschnig: "Zara — the world’s largest retailer — has now committed to clean up their supply chain and Detox following 9 days of intensive pressure from people around the world. This included over 320,000 people joining the campaign online, over 44,000 mentions of Zara and the Detox campaign on Twitter alone, and a reach of over 7.1 million people across Twitter and Weibo. Not forgetting our activities on Facebook, Pinterest and outside the brand’s stores."Continue reading...

AMC considers reality shows to complement Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

BP and Shell plan to resume oil exploration in Libya.

Boeing hopes rise for union accord that would end labor struggle.

CBS is upbeat about TV business in 2012.

Citigroup announces cuts of additional 4,500 jobs.

Daimler loses value with investors relative to BMW as the two companies race to finish in U.S. luxury-car sales for 2011 and as Daimler's Mercedes-Benz brand plans big boost in U.S. output.

Darden cuts forecast due to Olive Garden woes.Continue reading...

Lexus and Toyota brand executives have new spring in their steps these days after each brand reported a 7-percent rise in November U.S. sales over a year earlier. Both brands also are reaching normal levels of inventories at their American dealers again, have some important new products recently introduced or in the pipeline for imminent launch, and are taking some interesting new marketing steps.

"I've been waiting for over seven months to say this," Bob Carter, Toyota Division general manager, commented to auto reporters. "For the first time since [the March natural disaster], sales were up for the month versus a year ago."

The iconic Camry is leading the way. Americans have embraced the new 2012 Camry enthusiastically enough that Carter was certain Camry still will be America's best-selling car for 2011, for the tenth consecutive year. Consumer interest also is being heightened by the launch just last week of a new hybrid version of Camry.

What's more, buyers of the new Camry are making the most highly contented version, the SE, the most popular choice by far, a flip from earlier versions. These buyers tend to be much younger than Toyota's reliable baby boomer cohort. Toyota's planned Super Bowl commercial in February for the new car will only help things along.Continue reading...

China really is picking up on this whole consumer culture thing.

A scandal came to a head late last week as the head of Shanghai-based luxury furniture brand DaVinci melted down at a press conference in which she said allegations that it deals in counterfeit furniture — sold as "made in Italy" but in fact made in China — were false.

As the New York Times explains, "DaVinci furniture stores have been places where wealthy Chinese in (Shanghai) and five other big cities can indulge their appetite for imported luxury. Promoting itself as 'a haven for premium products,' DaVinci is the place to go for Versace sofas, sumptuous Fendi Casa calf-skin couches or stylish chaise lounges stamped Made in Italy. A DaVinci bedroom set can sell for $100,000."

The scandal exemplifies how fragile the brand relationship is in China and how Chinese consumers are increasingly upset about counterfeiting.Continue reading...