LG Europe released this video promoting its lifelike color monitor (tagline: "So real it's scary") on Oct. 19 and it now has almost one million views.

Hoping to lose a little weight but somehow don’t seem to hear that little voice in your head telling you to stop when you’re reaching for the ice cream in the fridge? You might need a talking fridge.

Recalling the old Woody Allen routine about talking appliances, LG Electronics has introduced a new high-tech refrigerator as part of its ThinQ Smart appliance line, as part of its slew of product announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. The twist: the fridge knows its own contents and can help the owner with meal planning and diet goals, according to the Daily Mail and Mashable (above).

How it works: After you input your weight-loss and body-mass index goals into the fridge’s computer, it can recognition who is opening the door by its internal TV and voice-recognition technology, the Daily Mail reports. Then it can make suggestions based on what is inside.Continue reading...

Aetna rises despite drop in demand for medical care.

Boeing beats estimates, boosts outlook.

Borders woes parsed in post-mortems.

Delta Airlines cuts capacity on rising fuel costs.

Disney and Marvel team for Captain America game, while Disney looks to shore up Bollywood business with UTV ownership.

Dow Chemical quarterly profit up 74%.

Dunkin' Brands CEO says IPO a byproduct of "unbelievable buzz."Continue reading...

We're sure this announcement wasn't deliberately timed to St. Patrick's Day, but Citigroup today named Dermot Boden, the Irish-born chief marketing officer at LG Electronics, as its new chief brand officer.

Citi CEO Vikram Pandit praised Boden for his "creativity, thoughtfulness and the ability to execute a strategy over the course of a career during which he has contributed to the building of many different and successful brands."

Boden, who spearheaded LG's involvement in YouTube's Life in a Day project, will oversee Citi's 200th anniversary marketing next year. Before joining LG in 2007, he held business and marketing positions at Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Warner Lambert in Europe, Asia and the US.

If 2009 was about survival for the U.S. auto industry, and 2010 was about electric cars, expect “distracted driving” to compete for the top of the agenda for 2011. The federal government says that about 5,500 fatalities each year now can be attributed to the problem. That’s about one in every eight U.S. traffic deaths overall – and a way higher ratio among teenagers.

The likelihood of a brighter spotlight on distracted driving is becoming more evident every week, as automakers, telco brands, the federal government and other interested parties all add to a wellspring of concern and action around the problem of driver manipulation of hand-held devices while the vehicle is moving.

For the most part, auto brands have been trying to mitigate the problem with still more technology.Continue reading...

The LG Mobile Worldcup has descended on New York to find the world's fastest texter. The lure: a $100,000 top prize and the chance to set a Guinness World Record. Meet the contestants above, and last year's winners after the jump.Continue reading...

Consider it a new phrase — and a new danger — of the digital era. "Distracted driving," which is primarily associated with texting or talking on a cell phone while driving, is getting a lot of attention these days.

Texting while driving caused over 16,000 deaths between 2002 and 2007, according to research conducted by the University of North Texas Health Science Center. The percentage of all traffic deaths caused by distracted driving rose from 11% in 1999 to 16% in 2008.

That's why brands such as Allstate are stepping up efforts to address the issue.Continue reading...

As Glee prepares for its Super Bowl extravaganza on FOX, Emmy-award winning actress Jane Lynch, better known these days as Sue Sylvester on the hit series, is in demand as a celebrity spokesperson.

LG Electronics' text education campaign (announced at last year's CES) leverages Sylvester's tough love persona and plays on her guilt as a real-life texter while driving, as she tells AP above. She's also been appearing as Sylvester in ads for American Express, helping promote AmEx's Members Project tie-in with Glee.Continue reading...