IKEA today previewed its seventh annual Ikea PS collection, showing at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair) and arriving in European stores in August. But the bigger buzz was its move into home electronics, with the new Uppleva (Swedish for "uplifting") hybrid HDT/home entertainment center.

Integrating RCA's HDTV system into a flat-pack entertainment unit, the TV-embedded furniture "comes in three designs and will be sold first in Sweden, France, Poland, Germany and Italy in June, with a few more markets due to launch in the second half of the year," according to the Associated Press. "By the first half of next year, it will be available worldwide, with the cheapest costing about 6,500 Swedish kronor ($955)."Continue reading...

After launching a bikini babes, donuts and milk spot, Scion thought better and pulled it. It lives on though. (via)

Blondes in bikinis and Helen Keller. Of course it's Nike. Continue reading...

"Know someone that tends to doze off when they shouldn't? Are they more 'sleeping beast' than 'sleeping beauty'? Take a picture and share it with us. You could both win everything you need to sleep like a princess in our exclusive IKEA FAMILY competition."

That's the pitch for Ikea UK's "Snap a Napper" campaign. "Snap a Napper" is a crowdsourcing project aimed at getting users to take pictures of people grabbing a few winks, and then upload those pictures to Ikea UK's Facebook page, all for a chance to win a £1,500 "dream bed." 

Not only is the competition only open to fans of Ikea's Facebook page, but it's also limited to "Ikea Family Members." Not a member? "Don't worry, it's quick and easy to join IKEA FAMILY."Continue reading...

In a bid to outdo last year's April Fool's Day jokes, a few April Foolin' Around branded fake gags today include:

• Richard Branson's next adventure, Virgin Volcanic, will take the intrepid billionaire to the center of the earth with Tom Hanks;

• in addition to really advanced search and Google TV Click, perennial prankster Google brings its self-driving car to NASCAR racing (above) and, below, announces Morse Code-based Gmail Tap (double your typing speed!) with LL Cool J, plus 8-bit Google Maps for the neglected Nintendo Entertainment System, and more:Continue reading...

Hark! It's Monty Python's new iPad app.

Below, watch the Huggies commercial that has dads up in arms, and more.Continue reading...

AMR reassures employees on pensions.

Amazon builds Fire tablet on Android without Google apps.

Anheuser-Busch president steps down.

Apple aims to shore up financial results.

Callaway tries to lure young golfers with Justin Timberlake involvement.

Chesapeake Energy pulls back on gas drilling amid glut.

Conde Nast may be cooking up another "shelter" magazine.

GM deals with Volt mini-mutiny as some Chevy dealers spurn allocations of the car.Continue reading...

Young residents of India, meet the Billy bookcase. The ubiquitous Billy, made by Ikea, is poised to continue its march across the world’s living rooms into India, the world’s second most populated country.

Up until last week, non-Indian-owned companies such as Ikea couldn’t be found in India — although they were free to help locals, as the Ikea Foundation has been doing for a few years. A vote Tuesday now allows foreign companies full ownership of stores selling a single brand, a shift from the 51 percent ownership that had been voted on in November, according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

Single branders such as Ikea and Starbucks can now move on into India’s $400 billion retail market, while multibrand retailers such as Walmart and  Carrefour have to watch from the sidelines. The BBC notes that those single branders that make their way into India do have to do one thing: “They are required to buy 30% of their goods from domestic small industries.”.Continue reading...

Ikea is embarking on a massive environmental project this month, introducing corrugated cardboard pallets instead of wooden in a move intended to make its 10 million pallets used annually more sustainable and cost-efficient. The furniture retailer previously tested recycled polypropylene plastic loading ledges as an alternative to wooden pallets. As Bloomberg Businessweek notes, the company could also save an estimated $193 million per year by scrapping wooden pallets. [image via Core77]