Microsoft will announce Monday a plan to sell tablets under its own brand, in a challenge to Apple's iPad, while Amazon reportedly plans to launch cloud music service in July to rival iTunes.

Kirin Holdings agreed to pay $200.9 million Australian dollars (US$203.4 million) for the shares it doesn't already own in Australian boutique brewer Little World Beverages, as Japanese companies expand offshore to combat flagging domestic demand.

Dr Martens owners seeks up to £200m from potential buyers.

AirAsia plans to follow Virgin model with brand extensions.

Android relaunches user interface.Continue reading...

You've heard of sentiment analysis of social media. Now, get ready for sentiment analysis of messages directed at you.

We're not sure if Lorraine Chambers ever sported a mood ring, but the Master's student at the University of Portsmouth has created an app that color-codes messages so before reading them, users can get an indication of the message's tone, and perhaps get a heads up on if they’ll feel better or worse for having read them. As you might expect, green is for positive, red is for negative and blue is for neutral.

"The ultimate objective of this application is to make the user aware of the negative contents they receive so they are able to manage their stress in the best possible way,” comments Mohamed Gaber, senior lecturer at the University of Portsmouth's School of Computing.

"For example, if most of what is received from social media websites by a user on a particular day was negative, it is important that the user attempts to take an action in order to not get stressed, especially if this may affect the individual's performance at work and/or their behaviour at home."

The app (only for Android phones so far) warns users of negative, angry messages from Twitter, Facebook or texts, or contrariwise, heightens anticipation of good news. The technology is based on a desktop equivalent developed at the Eindhoven University of Technology, and analyzes the sentiment of the message itself.Continue reading...

Domino's Pizza is thanking its U.S. digital customers for passing the $1 billion mark in digital sales between April 2011 to April 2012 — that's one billion dollars in digital sales in one year, folks — with 50% off all pizzas ordered online at menu price. The deal is available through Dominos.com and mobile.dominos.com, and iPhone and Android apps through Sunday, June 17 (conveniently, also Father's Day).

"We love our online customers, and have learned so much from them during the past five years about how we can continue to deliver the best online ordering experience in the industry," said Russell Weiner, Domino's CMO, in a press release. "Reaching $1 billion in online sales during a one year time period is a major milestone, and we hope offering this amazing deal for an entire week lets our fans and customers know how much we appreciate them."Continue reading...

GM exits advertising on Facebook, raising questions about FB's revenue projections as site boosts number of shares available ahead of Friday IPO.

Samsung loses $10 billion market value on Apple chip loss.

Intel launches employee-curated digital magazine.

American Airlines sees unions reject contract offer.

Amylin attracts interest from pharma rivals.

Apple moves toward larger iPhone screens.

BBC bumps Blue Peter in children's programming shuffle.

Berkshire Hathaway takes stakes in GM and Viacom.Continue reading...

Apple grapples with Foxconn labor audit.

BP says Gulf oil spill was smaller than claimed.

Best Buy reboots big-box format.

BlackBerry owner RIM sees former co-CEO depart amid $125 million loss, trims exec staff, and explores strategic options including sale of Canada's troubled smartphone-maker.

Burger King sells 278 restaurants to biggest franchisee; tests new menu items; cedes U.S. crown to Wendy's; and brings lamb burgers to the U.K.

CBS and Turner boost digital ad sales through March Madness.

Chrysler unveils new spots to follow Super Bowl's "Halftime in America" commercial with Clint Eastwood.

Daimler and BYD announce Denza, a new EV auto brand for China.Continue reading...

Google unveiled Google Play today, rebranding its media and app markets into one place as it seeks to unify social and mobile around games, video, music and other content as part of its "One Google" effort. The pitch for Google Play: "Your favorite entertainment is now all in one place, always accessible on the web and across your Android devices." Learn more in the videos below.Continue reading...

As Mobile World Congress attendees pore over the latest and greatest coming to a smartphone in Barcelona this week, the brand hovering over every booth's shoulder is Apple.

Not to discount Google's Android and other innovators, but the house that Steve Jobs built has consistently churned out products that have proved game changers for technology, computing, mobile, design and advertising/marketing, from its initial Macintosh in 1984 to the iPhone and iPad releases of recent years.

Now the man who took over as CEO after the death of Steve Jobs in October, Tim Cook, is telling investors that the company is getting ready to rock the world once again.Continue reading...

The United States Postal Service is in the midst of massive layoffs and soul-searching about its future, as it looks to cut 35,000 jobs as a way of dealing with its $18.2 billion annual loss, but it's still trying to innovate in a digital era when hand-delivered mail seems quaint.

The U.S. Postal Service has just launched a new mobile application for iPhone users that lets the device's camera scan barcodes on shipping labels for "quick, easy and convenient tracking of their packages and other mail. The application stores the label numbers so customers can easily recheck the status of their shipments. The scanner function is available on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPad 2."Continue reading...