YouTube close to launching paid subscription channels, reports say. 

Amazon launches first Android app-store in China, ahead of Google. 

Pfizer lets bashful buyers get Viagra online.

Al Jazeera America plans to open Detroit bureau.

Asustek plans to make small Windows 8 tablets.

Audi considers doubling production at Mexico factory under construction.

Berkshire Hathaway provides peek at era after Buffett.

BuzzFeed takes steps to expand foreign news.Continue reading...

PepsiCo executives are still committed to promoting "better for you" versions of their product lines, following a decade of business strategy that has seen the company drive hard into health-conscious product development. Maybe it's just the holiday spirit, but now PepsiCo is ready to pay closer attention to its traditional "indulgent" products and brands, including long-time favorites under the Pepsi and Frito-Lay banners.

"We cannot forget about what I call the indulgent core businesses," Albert Carey, chief executive of PepsiCo Americas Beverages, said at an industry conference this week, according to the Financial Times. "If you're going to do the healthy, you have to do the core, because we still have a very strong business in the core." Examples, he said, include Frito-Lay "bar food" snacks such as taco-flavored Doritos and hot-wing-flavored Ruffles.

Depending on how hard astern PepsiCo wheels, this could mark a significant turnabout.Continue reading...

Product placement may make a big leap soon if the reboot of the 1981 classic Cannonball Run gets the green light.

New York magazine's website reports that GM is deep "in discussions about backing an update of The Cannonball Run in a deal that would be much larger than your average product placement." Reportedly looking for an "equity stake," GM could go deep into its pockets in a gamble to pack the film with its models, and might even give the "new Corvette the lead."

There are several reasons this might be a disaster — so it's a good thing GM isn't getting involved.Continue reading...