Apple pays $60M to end iPad trademark dispute in China, looks to secure ipad3.com domain.

Barclays scandal forces out chairman, saying "the buck stops with me."

Bristol-Myers agrees to buy Amylin Pharmaceuticals for $5B in cash, expands diabetes alliance.

Rupert Murdoch will rebrand the Wall Street Journal as WSJ as part of News Corp. split.

AMC parent ends AT&T U-verse TV dispute with long-term agreement, as Dish feud continues.

Applebee's rolls out fresh menu, look and campaign.Continue reading...

Automakers have been panicking throughout the recession that Gen Y is abandoning the American dream of car ownership (forget home ownership). The answer: create buzz and a cool factor by targeting the creative class. The above photo doesn't look like a custom publishing project by an automaker, and that's the whole point.

Mercedes-Benz is positioning The Avant/Garde Diaries as a digital project, curating interviews, video and photos promoting its events appealing to not-always-affluent but certainly influential creatives in key cities. It all kicked off with the brand's Transmission 1 event in Berlin, continued with Movement Copenhagen then the recent Transmission LA - AV hybrid arts/music/digital happening in Los Angeles curated by the Beastie Boys' Mike D.

Last week saw the opening of A/D's editorial office, at the corner of Broome and Mott Streets in New York's Nolita neighborhood, whith hipster fave photographer Cobrasnake on hand to photograph the 700 guests who attended.Continue reading...

In addition to an even trippier special edition of its tie-dye logo, Apple unveiled more than one dozen new products today at the brand's highly anticipated 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference. While Apple’s main growth drivers remain the iPhone and the iPad, its Mac line remains a cornerstone.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...

Best Buy, JPMorgan, Yahoo CEO stumbles put ethics and mismanagement in the spotlight. JPMorgan closes ranks around embattled CEO Jamie Dimon as mega-loss is probed; and Yahoo's interim CEO Ross Levinsohn reportedly close to getting role permanently.

Amazon reportedly prepping front-lit Kindle for July.

Facebook eyes historic $12 billion to $15 billion IPO windfall and up to $104 billion valuation.

Activision Blizzard goes back to the future for new games.

Apple plans iCloud upgrade, and thinner laptops with Intel chips.

Baidu enters China's crowded low-cost smartphone market.

BMW touts "ultimate service" in new campaign.

Budweiser strikes deal with Jay-Z for annual concert.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola is mounting a massive music-based global marketing campaign pegged to the London 2012 Olympics, so it makes sense that Coke would partner with the leading musical app (Spotify) on the biggest social network (Facebook) to bring free music to countries worldwide, expanding on a relationship that started last year.

A message posted on Coca-Cola's corporate Twitter feed confirmed the partnership following Spotify's CEO keynote at the Ad Age digital summit this morning in New York: “What goes better with Coke? Music. Daniel Ek just announced @Spotify and Coke partnership.”

The details were forthcoming at a post-keynote press conference: Spotify will be the primary technology for Coca-Cola Music worldwide, with its app integrated into Coke's Facebook presence and Timeline for a ‘seamless social music experience.’

Coca-Cola will leverage the Spotify API and platform through a variety of applications, the first of which was built by independent developers during a two-day Spotify/Coca-Cola “hackers den” held in New York City this past weekend, which will be unveiled at the 2012 Olympics in London.Continue reading...

American Express has tapped comedian and uber-tweeter Aziz Ansari for brand's first Twitter Sync TV campaign, which breaks tonight. Check out the :15 version of the commercial below, along with other headlines this hour.Continue reading...

Apple balks at Proview's iPad trademark demands; held cross-licensing talks with Motorola, EU reveals.

AT&T expands 4G LTE rollout.

Audi said to be in talks to buy Ducati.

BabyBjorn gets a boost from Beyonce, while New York Times logo gets boosted by Jay-Z in Amex-sponsored show at SXSW.

Bob Lutz defends the Chevy Volt.

China promotes its homegrown brands.

Coca-Cola lobbyists spend millions to defeat soda taxes, hires Jean-Paul Gaultier as Diet Coke's European creative director.

Facebook sued by Yahoo for allegedly infringing patents, while Timeline apps inspire developers.

Friendly's ice cream chain expands ordering and loyalty online.

Intel reportedly eyes web TV service.

Jeremy Lin may endorse Volvo in China.Continue reading...