There's no question that the London 2012 Summer Olympics will be the most social Olympic Games in history. Just how social is starting to come into focus. The attention (and money) being spent on the social aspects of the Olympics continues to escalate as billions of dollars change hands for marketing rights, and sponsors scramble for proof positive that those dollars are converting into online video views and shares.

Unruly Media, producers of the video buzz tracking Viral Video Chart, has released a dynamic interactive ranking of the social clout of every Olympic-themed commercial across the web for 25 Olympic sponsors. The breakaway winner?Continue reading...

Apple slims down next iPhone as analyst says that iPad Mini and iTV are real products.

AT&T is introducing shared data plans as iPhone users fear iPhone FaceTime charges.

Bank of America swings to profit.

Bob Evans may be considering sale of Mimi's Cafe.

Coke and PepsiCo step up campaign against New York soda ban.

DirecTV finds unlikely friends in dispute with Viacom.

Ericsson earnings plunge on economic slowdowns.Continue reading...

As promised last month, Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning's Airtime has gone live, with the tagline "Create shared experiences with the people you know, and the people you want to know." The social video chat service from Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker is officially on the air, launching at a New York press conference with Jim Carrey, Julia-Louis Dreyfus, Ed Helms, Joe McHale, Jimmy Fallon, Olivia Munn, Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg in attendance.Continue reading...

Amazon buys publisher of romance and mystery books and cools down its warehouses.

Bona Film Group of China talks with Hollywood outfits.

Coca-Cola's Australian JV says cheers to beer.

Cosi tries for dramatic turnaround under new CEO.

Disney to restrict junk-food advertising on its shows.

EA offers much of new Star Wars game for free.

Goldman Sachs outlook dims.

Google buys Meebo to bolster Google+ as its battle with Apple expands to mobile maps.

Groupe Danone fails Chinese entry inspection for Evian water.Continue reading...

Lady Gaga is now officially the mother of all Little Monsters, launching her social network, LittleMonsters.com this summer, as her fame catapults to 25 million followers on Twitter — the first user to hit that milestone.

"#25milliontweetymonsters wow! I'm officially feeling like the luckiest girl in the world today. Last sold out show in Singapore in 2 hrs!" she tweeted right before the show was cancelled and she delivered a "Special Message for Indonesian Little Monsters" on YouTube.

The special greeting that all Little Monsters, as Gaga calls her fans, are waiting for is coming soon, when her social network swings open its doors and gets out of private beta.Continue reading...

Microsoft's So.cl is described as “an experimental research project, developed by Microsoft’s FUSE Labs, focused on exploring the possibilities of social search for the purpose of learning.” Quietly debuting this week, it was previously to students studying information and design at the University of Washington, Syracuse and New York University, and originally called Tulalip. Facebook remains a log-in choice on So.cl but Twitter does not, replaced by Windows Live.

So.cl is now open to everyone, and as stated on their site, “We hope to encourage students to reimagine how our everyday communication and learning tools can be improved, by researching, learning and sharing in their everyday lives. So.cl is not meant to replace existing full-featured search and social networking tools. It is an experimental research project using a minimal set of features which help combine search with the social network for the purpose of learning.”Continue reading...

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing files for bankruptcy.

Chipotle faces federal probe.

Facebook deals with aftermath of less-than-stellar IPO showing, as NASDAQ admits some fault and site faces pressure to perform for advertisers. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, surprises with post-IPO wedding to his longtime girlfriend.

Alibaba and Yahoo strike a $7 bullion stock deal.

AT&T sings praises of Facebook fans.

Apple and Samsung talk today about ending smartphone-patent war.

Barclays to sell $6.1 billion BlackRock stake.

BMW Guggenheim Lab prepares Berlin debut.

Carl's Jr. seeks $100-million IPO.Continue reading...

Apple's next iPhone will have a bigger screen, sources tell Reuters.

JPMorgan faces FBI probe as shareholders sue the company and CEO Jamie Dimon over $2B loss.

Time Warner Cable and Viacom settle iPad dispute.

Air Pacific returns to Fiji Airways branding.

Ben Silverman's Electus details programming for YouTube's new food-centric Hungry channel.

Chevron benefits from Japan's shift away from nuclear.

Comcast launches Skype in select U.S. markets.Continue reading...