Despite record sales of iPhones and iPads, Apple's first-quarter earnings inched up a mere 0.1 percent, the company said late today.

The news immediately sent Apple's stock 6 percent lower, the New York Times reported. All told, Apple's stock value has fallen 16 percent in the past three months, the Wall Street Journal said.

The company reported sales in the last quarter of a record 47.8 million iPhones, marking a 29 percent increase from a year before. Still, analysts had projected sales of up to 50 million, prompting WSJ's headline: "Apple Earnings Disappoint."

The earnings report comes as the brand finds itself under increasing pressure worldwide as competitors offer cheaper products that hold strong appeal to a growing global middle class.Continue reading...

Priceline to buy Kayak.

Chrysler recalls Jeeps over faulty airbags.

Walmart faces probe in India.

Axe sponsors comedy tour.

Boeing is on track to outsell Airbus for first time in six years.

Diageo finally reaches deal for stake in United Spirits.

GM stake becomes a challenge for re-elected President Obama as Chevrolet finds a home in Russia.Continue reading...

BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion saw its shares slump today after warning Wall Street that it's forecasting an operating loss for the first quarter. With the company hiring bankers at JPMorgan and RBC to explore a sale, investors worried and layoffs looming, the Canadian government dismissed rumors of a possible takeover.

Other brand news:

Best Buy store closures spur Walmart ads.

NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg bans sale of large sodas and sugary drinks.

GM is shifting Chevrolet ad budget from Super Bowl to sponsoring the popular Manchester United soccer team.

Disney Channel joins the TV Everywhere brigade.

Exxon Mobil shareholders approve executive pay.Continue reading...

Lowe’s caused an uproar when the DIY chain pulled its ads from TLC’s month-old reality show, All-American Muslim, which follows the adventures of five Muslim-American families that live near Detroit. That action caused plenty of anger to surface about the company as well as a call to boycott its stores by California State Senator Ted Lieu.

Now travel website Kayak.com is getting similar treatment. The site announced that it had decided to discontinue its ads mostly because it felt that the producers of the show hadn’t been totally upfront about its content.

“Any reasonable person would know that this topic is a particular lightning rod,” Kayak’s chief marketing officer, Robert Birge, wrote on the company’s blog. “We believe TLC went out of their way to pick a fight on this, and they didn't let us know their intentions. That's not a business practice that generally gets repeat business from us.”Continue reading...

Afar.com, launched in 2010, is the digital extension of the travel magazine of the same name. As the above video explains, for founders Greg Sullivan and Joe Diaz, “experiential travel is a way of life,” and their brand nuance is getting "out of your comfort zone," delving beneath the surface to real places and real people.

It’s one example of how travel is trending as one of the hottest online verticals for disintermediation, with a slew of start-ups seeking differentiation in a crowded field.

Following the early crop of online booking sites – Hotels.com, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline – a second wave of sites like Kayak made search the currency for iterating online travel. Now, leveraging social media is the Shangri-La for targeted trip advice, crowdsourcing experiences and recommendations from the most trusted sources – friends, and friends of friends.Continue reading...

Some Facebook trends and stats to pay attention to this week:

Nielsen's new “gross ratings points” system will launch with Facebook's help, as the traditional measurement firm seeks to expand its digital, cross-platform and social savvy. Nielsen Online Campaign Ratings was announced last September and will debut August 15th with Facebook as its first client, reports Mashable. Use of gross ratings points to measure online campaigns instead of traditional metrics like click-through rates or impressions lets marketers purchase online ads in a way similar to TV and print. More importantly, it provides fodder for convincing advertisers that social-media platforms like Facebook hold significant sway on brand’s campaigns. "Brands love word of mouth," commented Sean Bruich, head of the measurement research team at Facebook, to the Wall Street Journal, in something of an understatement. Find out more on Nielsen's blog post.

According to TBG Digital, Facebook's share of U.S. display ad revenue is projected to grow to 17.7% in 2011, up from a 12.2% share last year. The site's growing interest to advertisers helps explain why Facebook is partnering with comScore on its new measurement system, Social Essentials, which aims to enable brands to understand the size and composition of their social media fan base and the reach and frequency of brand impressions.Continue reading...

BP oil spill fund offers fast-track payments.

eBay and BBH part company after marketing changes.

ESPN buys PVI intellectual property from Cablevision.

Gawker Media resumes publishing, serves as object lesson in password security.

Google launches site for teaching tech to parents; Google Mobile searches grew 130% in Q3.

Lions Gate loses Carl Icahn as a bidder.

Microsoft joins Expedia, Kayak to block Google acquisition; fends off Twitter rumors.Continue reading...