Microsoft unveils Surface tablet to take on iPad.

Walgreen is buying 45% stake in European pharmacy chain Boots for $6.7 billion.

Spotify rolls out free mobile radio for iPhone and iPad in U.S. to take on Pandora.

Caribou Coffee revels in being alternative to Starbucks.

Carrefour CEO offers turnaround plan.

Cisco expands use of WebEx brand.

Coca-Cola remains unbowed by New York Mayor Bloomberg's anti-soda campaign.Continue reading...

If timing is everything, then Jamba Juice, Capri Sun and V8 could have very good summers. Each brand is bringing some product and sales news to the market just in time for the traditional Memorial Day kickoff to "summer" — and the seasonal spike in thirst — with a better-for-you twist.

Jamba Juice is bringing back a "summer favorite" drink: Fruit Refreshers with coconut water, which is popular as a beverage on its own with American consumers. They're made with fresh fruit, and Jamba is adding a new flavor this year: Watermelon Splash. The company‚ which is extending its brand in many directions these days, is also expanding its menu of smoothies and juices and juice blends for summer.

Kraft's Capri Sun brand just launched a new Super V drink, a blend of fruit and vegetable juices that represents a significant foray into the better-for-you space by a brand that traditionally was more about flavor and refreshment than nutrition.Continue reading...

The race for NFC-based mobile payments is heating up with projections for 2013 exceeding $13 billion globally, up from just over $7 billion in 2011, according to Gartner research.

Isis, the mobile-payments joint venture backed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, has signed up Coca-Cola, Macy’s, Aéropostale, Dillard’s, Foot Locker (and its subsidiary Champs Sports) and Jamba Juice, as well as hundreds of local retailers in Texas and Utah who will start accepting Isis payments by this summer.

Both Isis and competitor Google Wallet use NFC chips that store user’s credit card data or pre-loaded digital cash. Both companies are also working with check-out scanners and retailers including Gap, Office Max, Toys ‘R’ Us and Walgreens. 

Google Wallet is currently available on four Sprint handsets and none from the mobile operators backing Isis. Sprint is the only U.S. carrier backing Google Wallet and to that end just released the LG Optimus Elite for Virgin Mobile.Continue reading...

Abbott Laboratories to pay $1.6 billion over labelilng of antiseizure drug.

Amazon takes on high-end clothing.

Angry Birds gets embeddable, and bumps Rovio to pre-IPO valuation of $9 billion.

Apple sees iPad trademark settlement rejected by China's Proview.

Aviva sees CEO resign over shareholdre-pay revolt.

The Avengers offends Indian viewers with slum depiction.

Barneys New York skirts bankruptcy.

Costco seeks to grow online sales.Continue reading...

Amazon sees stock soar on rapid sales growth.

Anheuser-Busch InBev sees global CMO depart.

Apple ads for Siri are questioned for using celebrities.

Betsey Johnson files for Chapter 11.

Cheesecake Factory explores overseas growth.

Ford sees earnings drop on strains from Europe and Asia.

Jamba Juice splits with Nestle and takes control of joint line of energy drinks.Continue reading...

Jamba Juice keeps on spreading its brand mojo in new places, now including American schools and the supermarket tea aisle.

"Whatever it is that defines you, Jamba Juice wants to be part of helping you live a healthier and more wholesome life," Julie Washington, SVP and recently named chief brand officer of the California-based smoothie chain, told brandchannel. "We're trying to make sure everyone knows the wealth and breadth of Jamba's food and beverage offerings."

Jamba, which has an endorsement deal with tennis pro Venus Williams, has been in expansion mode beyond its smoothie menu for some time now, including introducing oatmeal and flatbreads, expanding into South Korea and the Philippines, diversifying into coconut water and CPG goods for stores. Lately, its gambits have included acquiring Talbott Teas and testing an in-school-outlet concept, in addition to new fresh-squeezed juice blends.

"Two years ago, our biggest competition probably could have been considered McDonald's, because they were getting into smoothies," said Washington, who was Jamba's general manager of consumer products before moving earlier this year to the new branding post. "Today, people talk about Starbucks," she added, as Jamba's main rival because the company began selling its recently acquired Evolution juice line in its coffee stores and in a standalone store in Bellevue, Wash., last week.Continue reading...

Vows review after captain goes berserk in mid-air (and a New York Post punning cover).

Los Angeles Dodgers sell for record $2 billion to group including Magic Johnson.

Foxconn banks on Apple future with Sharp investment. And in other news:

Airbus faces more woes as A380s abandon flights.

BATS chairman plans to give up post.

Bank of America turns focus to overseas markets.

Budweiser snags naming rights at Texas Rangers' center field.

EBay targets growth in India.

Fox pulls trailer for Ben Stiller movie Neighborhood Watch in wake of Trayvon Martin death.

GM consolidates global Chevrolet ad account with Omnicom and Interpublic.Continue reading...

Jamba Juice is at it again. As another way to propel the healthy-food innovator into a $1-billion global "lifestyle" brand, Jamba Juice wants to tap into the potentially fertile U.S.-school market with a self-serve-smoothie concept called JambaGo.

It's hard to keep up with all the ways that CEO James D. White has been spurring the QSR chain's growth and broadening its brand transformation. In last month's third-quarter earnings statement alone, the company disclosed plans to extend Jamba-branded CPG products across 28,000 retail outlets to gain nationwide distribution, and the signing of a new partnership with Bare Fruit to produce three varieties of bake-dried, all-natural, 100-percent-fruit chip snacks, in a new category for Jamba.

Nation's Restaurant News reports that Jamba Juice has already opened about 30 pilot locations of JambaGo, which takes up roughly the space of a soda-fountain beverage dispenser. It offers branded packaged products as well as the option of several pre-blended smoothies that White said rival the blended-to-order quality of those made at the chain's retail outlets.Continue reading...