Apple hires Dixons CEO as new retail chief, while iPad sales propel Apple to top of PC market over HP. Apple patent challenger Samsung, meanwhile, faces EU inquiry.

AT&T names new strategy officer in management shuffle.

Bang & Olufsen debuts cheaper line of high-tech gadgets.

Belstaff brings luxury leather jackets to London and New York with dual flagships.

BSKyB to start movie service rivaling Netflix.

BlackBerry-maker RIM posts corporate governance report indicating why co-CEO role was scrapped.

Carrefour names yet another CEO in turnaround struggle.Continue reading...

On the list of unsympathetic figures in the entertainment business, Simon Cowell certainly has to rank in the top ten – maybe jostling for #1 or #2 with Donald Trump. Such status is ensured by a decade of absorption of his often-biting persona on American Idol and his opportunistic exit from the show after last season, when presumably Cowell saw it as a sinking franchise.

But if you’re ever going to feel sorry for the glowering, acerbic, v-neck-clad Brit, now might be the time to do it. Not only is Idol arguably better in the post-Cowell era, and with renascent ratings, but there also is an unexpected competitor to the music impresario’s plan to launch an Idol fighter this fall in a U.S. version of his UK hit talent show, The X Factor.Continue reading...

Turns out an old dawg (as Randy Jackson might say) can learn new tricks. Jackson's former American Idol co-judge, Paula Abdul, is launching AuditionBooth, a star search for the next generation of stars and performers.Continue reading...

The question has been asked before, but never so loudly and intensely as now: Does American Idol still have what it takes to remain America’s most-watched show? When the decade-old Fox reality series returns in January, will it remain king of the hill on prime-time television – or will its recent ratings slide intensify?

Such ponderings have new prominence, of course, because of the departure from the show of its symbolic father — iconic judge Simon Cowell — after nine seasons.Continue reading...

Finally! Those pre-preview, pre-movie advertising "shows" may become more entertaining — to moviegoers and brands alike.

Musician and producer Timbaland has joined forces with Screenvision to improve the quality of its theater preshows starting in September. It’s a slam dunk marketing move, as movie fans are a captive audience ... one that brand marketers can now more easily captivate.

The company sells and programs in-cinema ad opportunities to local, regional and national advertisers interested in engaging some 45 million moviegoers weekly in their brands. This week, Screenvision is unveiling a redesigned 20-minute preshow or “advertainment” block for marketers that skews more towards sponsored entertainment and celebrities.Continue reading...