New York mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils $12 million ad campaign (above) for Mayors Against Illegal Guns that lobbies for background checks to reduce gun violence, while NYC's municipal data geek squad makes headlines.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz defends same-sex marriage support to shareholders as brand expands loyalty rewards to other retailers.

PepsiCo shares jump on Mondelez merger speculation sparked by Telegraph story which Pepsi "downplays."

Apple acquires indoor GPS startup WiFiSLAM for mapping, patents iPhone drop protection technology and faces EU scrutiny following iPhone and iPad distribution complaints — and may report first quarterly dip since 2003.

FTC "pay for delay" generic drug case, set to go before US Supreme Court on Monday, will be closely watched by pharmaceutical industry and economists.

Below: BlackBerry, Blockbuster, Dell, Diageo and other brands in the news —Continue reading...

It’s the kind of coincidence that can’t be let alone. The same week that Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer banned working from home in a move that caused major upheaval among the media and the public, “Makers: Women Who Make America,” premiered on PBS, telling the story of the last 50 years of the American women’s movement.

Beginning with the publication of Betty Friedan’s book “The Feminine Mystique,”— which is credited with codifying women’s ennui as housewives and mothers—the three-hour documentary puts the iconic Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. Magazine, front and center discussing the 70s. “It was heady and exciting and naïve, imagining that if we just explained it to people, that it was so unjust, that surely it would change.” 

Makers is a very modern model of a truly cooperative effort. The project is funded by many companies and organizations including AOL, PBS, Unilever's Simple skincare brand, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Narrated by Meryl Streep, the film focuses on the famous and infamous from Steinem and Abzug to Barbara Walters, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and barrier-breaker’s like tennis legend Billie Jean King.Continue reading...

It seems the great divide still exists—a great mother or a great worker. Now, two of the most powerful female executives have set their own standards for work/life balance, but there are faults to be had in both arguments.

Late last week, via an internal H.R. memo that was leaked to the press, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer banned working from home. The Google transplant has been in the process of turning around embattled Yahoo! since taking over in July 2012, but her latest move is inspiring more backlash than anything. 

"Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home," says an internal memo from HR director Jackie Reses, obtained by tech blog All Things D. "We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together."

“Even if that was what was previously agreed to with managers and HR, or was a part of the package to take a position, tough … It’s outrageous and a morale killer,” an employee told All Things D.Continue reading...

Toyota tops Interbrand's 2012 Best Global Green Brands report.

News Corp. considers splitting company in two, spinning off publishing assets, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Microsoft acquires Yammer for $1.2 billion to take on Oracle and Salesforce with new cloud-based services.

Nissan rises on fast recovery from disasters and plans $1B China auto plant as CEO Ghosn remains Japan's highest paid exec and automaker turns to Facebook to launch five new models.

Facebook names first woman to board — COO Sheryl Sandberg — and pulls so-called stalker app while creating uproar by changing all users' email addresses to facebook.com.

Google I/O news on Wednesday expected to reveal Google and Sony taking on cable and satellite operators with voice-controlled YouTube TV box, as Google prepares to battle Apple with discount tablet.Continue reading...

The historic day came and went as Facebook, eight years-old, with more than 901 million members, roughly 1 in 8 people on Earth, went public, issuing actual stock certificates in a retro move. As of 3:07 pm EST, Facebook had traded 460 million shares, setting a record for trading volume for a U.S. stock the day of its IPO. Facebook's stock opened around $43 and quickly slipped to under $39, after pricing on Thursday at $38 a share.

The social giant chose Nasdaq over NYSE Euronext, not surprising as the former is more closely associated with Silicon Valley. Due to a technical delay at Nasdaq caused by the sheer volume of share orders which began at 10:45 am EST, the stock opening took place at 11:30 am instead of 11:00 am, with some 82 million shares traded in the first 30 seconds. Seven minutes after the opening, 110 million shares had traded, with the stock eventually reaching a high of $45 a share. All in all, the highly anticipated public debut proved more of a whimper than the bang that was expected.Continue reading...

In a truly social move, Facebook has added a timeline tool that lets its 161 million members in the U.S. and 30 million U.K. members share their organ donor status with friends in order to facilitate connecting potential donors and recipients.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News for Good Morning America that aired today on Mayday appropriately, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the life-saving commitment: "What we hope will happen is that by just having this simple tool, we think that people can really help spread awareness of organ donation and that they want to participate in this to their friends. That can be a big part of helping solve the crisis that's out there." 

The plan — outlined in a co-bylined piece by Zuckerberg and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on the ABC News website — is to leverage social media to encourage more organ donors. With the new Facebook feature, users can register as organ, eye and tissue donors and link to the donor registry in their state as well as post videos or status updates about their decision to be a donor as well as indicate their wish to donate upon death.Continue reading...

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg tweeted that he's "making an exciting announcement" with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg today. (We're crossing our fingers for citywide Facebook traffic signs like the one below.) Mashable, meanwhile, guesses that it's do with a NYC hiring spree.

Update: Mashable got the scoop, as Facebook is indeed going on a hiring spree by expanding its New York operations to create an engineering office in the city next year, and making NYC its third biggest tech hub after Palo Alto and Seattle.Continue reading...

Baidu and Microsoft team up for English search in China.

BMW widens US luxury sales lead over Lexus.

Coca-Cola emphasizes content over advertising in reaching consumers.

Craftsman pitches tools to the unhandy.

Diageo switches focus to emerging markets.

Disney looks to King of the Elves.

Exxon Mobile leaks oil in to Yellowstone River.

Facebook is reportedly launching Skype video chat this week.Continue reading...