BP sells Gulf of Mexico oil fields for $5.5 billion to help pay for spill settlement while Petrobras seeks partner for development of its Gulf sites.

HP expands workforce reduction to 29,000 positions.

AIG will see U.S. slash its stake to become minority shareholder with $18 billion sell-off.

Apple cuts reliance on Samsung for iPhone chips as iPhone 5 mania and rumor mill heat up.

Audi threatens BMW's seven-year luxury auto crown.

Google charges retailers in growing competition with Amazon, as Google Fiber launch site takes off and Google Glasses hit the runway at New York Fashion Week.

NBC faces Paralympic TV deal scrutiny while the UK celebrates the end of the summer of the Olympics with London 2012 parade.Continue reading...

First it was LinkedIn, then Instagram lost its friend-finding privileges on Twitter, and now it's Tumblr whose users lost the ability to connect with Twitter friends in “a veritable third-party relationship killing spree by Twitter, which is on a mission to assert more control over its ecosystem.” 

Within hours of BuzzFeed’s Matt Buchanan's prediction that Tumblr was a primary target on Twitter’s third-party “hit list,” the option to locate Twitter friends disappeared from Tumblr's site.

Tumblr issued this unhappy statement:

To our dismay, Twitter has restricted our users’ ability to ‘Find Twitter Friends’ on Tumblr. Given our history of embracing their platform, this is especially upsetting. Our syndication feature is responsible for hundreds of millions of tweets, and we eagerly enabled Twitter Cards across 70 million blogs and 30 billion posts as one of Twitter’s first partners. While we’re delighted by the response to our integrations with Facebook and Gmail, we are truly disappointed by Twitter’s decision.

But as Svbtle founder Dustin Curtis commented in Digitaltrends, the repercussions for Twitter are potentially much greater: “Twitter was built on the backs of the very developers it is now blocking.” Continue reading...

AB InBev closes in on buying remainder of Mexico's Grupo Modelo for more than $12 billion.

Apple adds Yelp check-ins to iPhone maps app, sees Motorola Mobility patent case shut down by federal judge and retail workers described by NYT as "loyal but short on pay."

Best Buy tries to regain edge before back-to-school season.

BlackBerry owner RIM reportedly considers a plan to split its company in two.

Cadillac surprises with integration of Apple's Siri voice.

Carl's Jr. and Hardee's set Spider-Man movie tie-in.

Dewar's announces three-year partnership with TED.

Dairy Queen gripes about New York menu restrictions as it enters the city.Continue reading...

Four years shy of turning 100, Boeing just launched its first official app for iPad, 'Milestones in Innovation', in Apple's App Store. The app celebrates nine decades of aviation innovation through beautiful imagery and an interactive timeline, from its first 1916 launch (above) to the Boeing 787, winner of the 2011 Collier Trophy for aviation excellence, below.Continue reading...

ABC cancels legendary US daytime dramas All My Children and One Life to Live.

Airbnb offers country rental with Liechtenstein offer for $70K. 

American Apparel founder Dov Charney, profiled in NYT, says he refuses to be pushed aside.

Applebee's sued by parents of child served alcoholic beverage.

Best Buy expands Buy Back program.

CBS accused of greenwashing.Continue reading...

Flipboard is a revolutionary iPad app for social news: "your own digital magazine" or even a personal newsstand. It turns Twitter and Facebook accounts into magazine look-alikes. It builds custom magazines from pre-built curated “boards,” or imported Twitter lists. And it works in reverse — a brand’s Twitter account can be flipped to… a Flipboard.

It’s being touted as revolutionary, a killer app and disruptive to media publishers of news, news aggregators, and Twitter client producers.

According to Business Insider, it’s the design elements that make the difference.Continue reading...