Above, watch Microsoft's new Windows 8 promo and below, the winners of its first Windows 8 app contest, introduced by Windows president (and prolific blogger) Steven Sinofsky: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...

Taco Bell is introducing its new "Live Más" tagline in a kickoff campaign for Doritos Locos Tacos (joining the quick serve restaurant chain's menu on March 8th). The first commercial, "Pockets," will premiere during TNT's All-Star Game telecast on Saturday night. Find out more below.Continue reading...

Basketball-mad North Carolina generally goes a bit nuts when March Madness rolls around since it has some serious roundball powerhouses in Duke, North Carolina State, and the University of North Carolina. But if residents of the Tar Heel State want to get celebrating a little early, the N.C. State Wolfpack is giving them something to howl about.

OK, it might not be basketball, but N.C. State has just won ImagiNations, the annual Disney Imagineering contest for college students who “conceive and propose a new Disney theme park, attraction, restaurant, resort hotel, product or other themed entertainment experience,” according to Disney.Continue reading...

Starbucks is pressing the envelope in plenty of ways with its namesake brand, but the company also is continuing to innovate through its sibling brand, Seattle's Best Coffee. The newest wrinkle: a Facebook-based contest called "Create Your Deliciousness."

Seattle's Best has launched a year-long marketing campaign "inspired by the brand's mission to bring great coffee to everyone," the company said in a press release. And what better way to do that than to let every individual define what they mean by "great," in their own unconventional coffee combinations and dream drinks?Continue reading...

And the votes are in... This past Super Bowl was one heck of a showdown, and not just involving the teams. The highly anticipated and heavily judged commercials have been hotly debated all week. As rated by ad-trackers including Hulu, USA Today and Nielsen, the outcome of votes have made it clear which ads reign supreme. Check out the winners below.Continue reading...

One of the YouTube comments on the 60-second version of Toyota's Super Bowl spot (Camry Effect: "Connections") above: "I love how they show there older cars in real, used condition; paint flaking, dents, imperfections, eta. This is the greatest Toyota commercial yet."

The official description: "'Connections" is an expansive film made up of real and fictional stories. There are nearly 7 million Camry stories out there. Yours could start on Sunday, February 5th." The Camry is also the focus of a Super Bowl XLVI giveaway contest, which is powered by Shazam's mobile app.

Check out Toyota's other Super Bowl XLVI spots below.Continue reading...

For a small manufacturer, a spot on the shelves of Walmart or a pixel packet on Walmart.com can be transformational. That's why there is practically a cottage industry around Bentonville, Ark., just serving the needs of the thousands of would-be vendors who trek to Wal-Mart headquarters there every year in an attempt to lure or cajole one of the company's buyers into taking a flyer on the "next great product."

Now, Walmart wants to make it easier for some of these innovations to make their way onto its product list as well as, perhaps, land some hit merchandise that might never have made it through all the hoops before. So the company's @WalmartLabs R&D unit is launching an initiative to open its doors to great product ideas: Get on the Shelf, a program inviting would-be suppliers small and large to submit product ideas along with supporting videos in a campaign that unfolds in phases through April.

Consumers are invited to vote online on which products they'd like to see Walmart pick up, and the company will end up selling three of them online plus feature a grand prize winner on its home page and in some stores. Entrants will be free to get votes however they want — and, in the process, will demonstrate their marketing savvy to Walmart.Continue reading...