Apple and HTC settle patent dispute.

BBC needs radical overhaul, chairman says, as two more senior execs step down.

Hyundai and Kia cope with damage they've done to their main selling point: mileage.

AEG and StubHub align.

Alltel returns with holiday pitch to Santa.

Brinks says it isn't for sale right now.

Cisco rolls out aggressive new strategy for dealing with patent trolls.Continue reading...

Acer postpones launch of Alibaba-powered phone.

Apple fights to keep iPhone cool in China as larger screen of iPhone 5 sparks developer rush and NFC omission puzzles observers.

Beef Products faces high hurdle in "pink slime" lawsuit against ABC News.

Brand USA tourism push sets sights on India.

Burger Lounge and Counter Burger offer non-traditional meats.

Disney takes film write-down.

Dr Pepper gets flack on Facebook after posting evolutionary graphic.Continue reading...

When M&M’s Ms. Brown appeared on TV screen during the Super Bowl, she represented a whole new resurgence for brand mascots. They may seem retro, but branded characters and icons are making a comeback because, as the Wall Street Journal reporter Suzanne Vranica points out above, who wants to talk to a logo?

While mascots took off in the 1950s, the use of icons had fallen out of favor in recent years ... but that was before Twitter and Facebook. Mr. Clean, for instance, has 277,000 fans via his Facebook page. The latest example: a new ad campaign by StubHub, which is using a talking tree as its mascot.Continue reading...

Amazon acquires Kiva Systems for warehouse automation.

Apple sold 3 million new iPads in first 3 days, while legal handling of iPad China trademark dispute questioned, while app developers favor iOS platform.

AstraZeneca abandons experimental antidepressant.

Bed, Bath & Beyond deals with radioactive scare.

Cheesecake Factory revamps menu.

Chevron faces troubled waters after spill off Brazil.

Disney writes down John Carter as flop.

GM faces labor push-back in Europe.

Gap opens first store in South Africa.Continue reading...

Live music concerts are still big business, and none is bigger than Bonnaroo.

This four-day, multi-stage camping extravaganza that takes place on a 700-acre farm in Manchester Tennessee has been held every June (June 9 - 12 this year) for the last nine years. Consider it a kind of tamer, smaller Woodstock that features not just rock-and-roll but jazz, hip-hop, electronica — an eclectic mix of music —along with an arcade, movies, comedy club, beer festival, and more. This year's lineup includes Eminem, Arcade Fire, Widespread Panic, Buffalo Springfield, Robert Plant, and Greg Allman, to name a few.

To celebrate its Tenth Anniversary, for the first time Bonnaroo has also launched the "Bonnaroo Buzz Tour presented by Stubhub!" This 13-city tour starts on May 17 in Asbury Park, NJ and winds up in Charleston, WV on June 9. The tour is designed to bring some of the Bonnaroo acts to other parts of the country as a lead up to Bonnaroo itself.Continue reading...

In a bid to lure younger viewers, Major League Baseball's new advertising campaign highlights humor over action, featuring players such as San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson, who continues riffing on his "Fear the beard" MLB 2K11 game spots. 

The league introduced the new spots in tandem with the start of the 2011 season on March 31st. The previous theme, “Beyond Baseball,” has been replaced with the phrase “MLB Always Epic,” reinforced with a microsite of the same name.Continue reading...

Recently suffering a blow to its image when publicly accused by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy (in a series of tweets) of fostering ticket scalpers and overcharging fans, the eBay-owned StubHub ticket site is striking back with new commercials.Continue reading...