Apple suspends iPhone 4S sales in China after riot breaks out at Beijing launch.

Delta eyes bid for American Airlines, AFP says, and so do others.

MetLife cuts 4,300 jobs as company exits mortgage business.

BMW and Daimler plan to raise U.S. output.

Bank of America ponders retreat from some regions of U.S.

Best Buy sees fallout from holiday delivery foul-up.

CBS talks with David Letterman about a new contract.

CVS Caremark settles deceptive-pricing charges.

Chipotle plans to open second ShopHouse Asian restaurant.

Coca-Cola expands social marketing to Tumblr.Continue reading...

Gap, J.Crew and other retailers slash prices, as stores try to thwart price apps, and tweak websites to spur sales.

A&W is sold by Yum! Brands to A Great American Brand.

Absolut celebrates 30 years of gay ads.

Adidas pursues church for trademark infringement; church asks Derrick Rose to intercede.

Akamai purchases cloud rival.

Apple isn't expected to produce a smaller iPad, although fuel-cell MacBooks are rumored. Apple's online sales also exceed Walmart.com results.

AT&T's $1.93 billion deal for Qualcomm's airwaves approved.

Bebe expands with wedding collection.

Best Buy criticized for not fulfilling some holiday online orders.

BT's long-running family campaign in the UK ends its run.

Burberry, Forever 21 and Zara score on Facebook.Continue reading...

Over the past few years, McDonald's has touted everything from value pricing to new product lines to continue to get people through the doors of its restaurants. On January 2nd, the world's biggest fast food chain will join competitors in attempting a new type of pitch in America: talking about where its ingredients come from.

While McDonald's has committed to promoting sustainable farming in Europe, taking a "farm-to-fork" approach in America may seem a stretch. After all, the restaurant chain doesn't deal directly with "local" farmers and ranchers but only with big suppliers such as Cargill, Lamb Weston and Coca-Cola.

But McDonald's U.S. executives have seen rivals such as Wendy's and Chipotle get some traction with down-on-the-farm marketing. And they acknowledge that "there are questions about where our food comes from," as McDonald's U.S. CMO Neil Golden put it this week, according to Ad Age.Continue reading...

Apple tries to leverage lower prices.

Cars.com sets up custom channels on Pandora.

Chipotle finds customers tolerate higher prices.

Dove asks women, "Who inspired you?" in new campaign.

Kia asks NBA star Blake Griffin to soar again.

Kraft keeps investors and advertisers hopping with its "leaping" strategy aimed at hitting home runs.

Mattel to buy preschool brands.Continue reading...

BlackBerry owner RIM challenged on BBX name.

Buffalo Wild Wings succeeds with strong attachment to football-watching.

Capital One targets small businesses with Spark credit-card program.

Chipotle growth beats expectations.

Cinnabon makes TV advertising debut.

DirecTV threatens to pull Fox networks amid carriage dispute.

Facebook royalty Randi Zuckerberg breaks out on her own.Continue reading...

Fast-food burgers and pizza restaurants have long been a staple of dining in the United States, but American diets are changing. Fast food joints and family restaurant chains are having “their lowest sales all year,” according to ABC News, but another inexpensive dining category is growing quickly: fast casual.

“In the last year alone sales in the fast casual sector reached $18 billion,” ABC reports. One of the things driving this trend is sudden explosion of celebrity chefs from such television shows as Iron Chef, Top Chef, and The Chew.

"We're seeing people interested in all sorts of tastes ... Mexican, Asian, Indian is really big right now," said Blair Chancey, editor of QSR (quick-service restaurant) magazine, according to ABC.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, which uses chickens that are fed a vegetarian diet and naturally raised pork beef has been one of the category’s leaders since it launched in 1998. Now, it's expanding into Asian cuisine with the ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen fast casual concept it's testing in Washington, D.C. (Perhaps McDonald’s, a majority owner in the chain until it divested in 2006, got out too soon?)

"Americans want high quality, but they want it to be an affordable value and inexpensive, and that's what I think the fast casual industry is trying to do," said Jonathan Kaplan, creator of the Flip video camera, who is starting a chain of grilled cheese restaurants called The Melt, according to ABC. "There's really a niche there where restaurants are able to offer high-end quality ingredients, artisanal breads, really high quality cheeses, but they can do it at a fast casual price point."

This week, Domino's Pizza tried to get a slice of the action by launching 'artisanal' pizzas to appeal to foodies on a budget. And the founder of Domino's, Tom Monaghan, is starting a new restaurant that will only serve a two different gourmet burgers, ABC reports.

“My philosophy is not to try to be all things to all people — to do one thing and do it extremely well, better than anyone else can possibly do it and I'm hoping that will spell success," Monaghan told the network.

Pepsi returns to musical roots in spots for tonight's debut of The X Factor on Fox, while the UK version of the show copes with criticism over treatment of contestant. Meanwhile, analysts say that PepsiCo shareholders could reap big gains if the company executes a strategic split-up.

SABMiller gets Foster's to accede to a deal.

Burger King's post-King advertising clicks with consumers.

AOL needs Patch to turn a profit.

Apple schedules Oct. 4th press conference, presumably for iPhone 5 reveal.

CBS scores huge ratings for first episode of Two and a Half Men with Ashton Kutcher, including setting a Canadian TV record.

Chipotle sees strong growth potential from ShopHouse Asian eateries.

Chrysler seeks to keep lid on UAW pay through 2019.Continue reading...

Chipotle soft-launches ShopHouse Kitchen, a Southeast Asian fast casual restaurant concept, in Washington, D.C. (prompting Seattle's Shophouse eatery to rebrand to Little Uncle).

Yahoo and AOL may be planning an ad sales partnership.

Kenmore may be next brand 'farmed out' by Sears.

Bing introduces "adaptive search" to personalize results.

Eterniti teases luxury 'supercar' at Frankfurt Auto Show.

Facebook expands social ads push, delays IPO to late 2012.

Google buys more than 1,000 patents from IBM.

Louis Vuitton names next CEO, opens first airport store.

Marni and Estee Lauder partner on perfume collection.

Solyndra bankruptcy and loan become a bigger embarrassment for the Obama administration.

Toyota steps up research to make driving safer.

& Advertisers and retailers move up Halloween promotions earlier this year (on both sides of the pond).