K-Cups are everywhere in the news now that Starbucks is rolling them out from coast to coast. Yet in the grocery aisle, those little "K-Cups" designed for single serving Keurig brewing machines are highlighting the battle between store brands (private labels) with name brand consumer packaged goods for shelf space.

Both Kroger and Safeway, two major U.S. grocery chains, are launching private label "coffee pods" for the Keurig machine. Safeway announced it will bring to market five types of Keurig-compatible filtered coffee pods. The chain already makes three store brand instant products for the machine.

The move by Safeway and Kroger caused shares of Green Mountain, the company that sells K-Cups along with Keurig brewing machines, to plummet. Since September, in fact, its stock has dropped 82 percent, according to Reuters. Two of the patents that cover the K-Cup design will expire in September 2012, which means other companies, not just Green Mountain, could manufacture Keurig-compatible cups.Continue reading...

First Coinstar counted your coins. Then it changed rental-video distribution with its Redbox vending machines. And now, Coinstar — working with Seattle's Best Coffee — wants to change the way Americans pick up their daily cup of coffee.

Coinstar and the Starbucks-owned brand are partnering to sell coffee in thousands of kiosks across the United States beginning this summer. The two companies expect the kiosks — placed in grocery, drug and mass-merchandise stores — to sell thousands of cups of coffee each year and maybe revolutionize coffee dispensing just as Coinstar expertise has caused big changes in the other two businesses.

Prices will start at $1 for a brewed cup of coffee up to $1.50 for fancier concoctions including espresso and mocha and vanilla latte. While there's nothing new about vendor-dispensed coffee, this stuff will be brewed to order from beans ground just for you.

"The quality of the beverages are going to be the quality you'd find more closely aligned with that of a hand-crafted beverage created for you," Jenny McCabe, Seattle's Best director of communications, told brandchannel. "It's just that no person hands you the cup." The machines will be called Rubi, which McCabe said was a moniker coined by Coinstar.Continue reading...

AOL staffers brace for more cuts.

AT&T promotes "4G" with iPhone iOS upgrade.

BBC rumored to be working on a digital download store.

DirecTV protests Dish Network's "TV Everywhere" trademark.

Facebook approved for $8 billion credit line ahead of IPO, while site debuts Twitter-like interest lists.

Fiat's Charlie Sheen commercial is winning.

Google pushes Google Wallet on developers.

Joseph Kony online protest goes viral.

Netflix enables Apple TV subscriptions.

Nike partners with Path to socialize runs.

P&G wins advertiser of the year honors at Middle East/Africa awards.Continue reading...

BP says it has plugged the spill in the Gulf, earning White House accolades now that three-quarters of the spilled oil is now gone. Still, work remains.

AOL reported a $1 billion loss for the second quarter.

Cartier is suing Hautelook over the alleged sale of inferior quality (read: secondhand) goods.

Forbes is selling its Investopedia site to ValueClick for $42 million.

Google is loosening restrictions on using brand names in its lucrative European advertising business, putting the onus on retailers to protect their trademarks online.Continue reading...

Facebook takes steps toward going public, creating dual-class stock. [NY Times]

GM will decide if it will shutter Saab next week. [NY Times]

Sprint finalizes purchase of Virgin Mobile USA. [WaPo]

McDonald's to "green" its operations in Germany. [NPR, Warc]

Eager to raise capital, Heinz sells its UK private-label frozen dessert units. [Times of London]

Choosing to report from Washington D.C., Washington Post closes its bureaus in other US cities. [NY Times]

"Cheap and cheerful" dominates holiday advertising. [NY Times]

(More headlines: Lindsay Lohan, Audi boosts US ops.)Continue reading...