Amazon ships Kindle Fire and Kindle Touch early.

Apple searches for next retailing genius, recalls first-generation iPod Nano devices.

Audi A7 wins car of the year nod.

Barbie links with Stardoll for premium collection.

BMW promotes sustainability with China roadshow.

Boeing cements wide-body lead over Airbus with biggest ever deal, with Emirates.

Borders demise parsed by Bloomberg Businessweek.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 launch smashes records.

China 'ready' to allow foreign companies to issue stock.

Chevrolet woos Sonic buyers with perks program, while GM slows Chevrolet Cruze production.

Citrus Australia introduces new seal of authenticity.

Crowne Plaza tilts makeover toward young travelers.

Deutsche Boerse defends NYSE Euronext deal.

Disney buys Babble.com for $40M to reach 'hipster parents.'

Estee Lauder co-founder Evelyn Lauder dies, lauded for launching Pink Ribbon campaign for breast cancer research.

Facebook nears U.S. privacy settlement that would make public sharing opt-in, not opt-out.Continue reading...

Amazon "gives away" Lady Gaga's new album for 99 cents.

AOL shuts down India portal.

Apple rumored to be planning a store in NYC's Grand Central and a curved glass iPhone.

Barnes & Noble's Nook "crushes" Amazon's Kindle in the glossy magazine department.

Cisco accused of aiding Chinese crackdown on dissidents.

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 4 scores fourth biggest global weekend opening.

Ellen DeGeneres boycotts Twitpic in wake of Twitter app's photo agency deal. 

Ford plans in-car driver health monitoring with Medtronic.

Foursquare and Groupon reportedly in partnership talks.Continue reading...

We all should have been listening to Magnum PI — er, Tom Selleck — in the early 1990s. It seems the mustachioed heartthrob's ads for AT&T could not have been more right about the future.

Also in Brand Bites this week: zombies, bananas, and minivans — oh my!Continue reading...