Ford's fall from grace with Consumer Reports has been breathtaking. The brand finished in second-to-last place, 27th of 28, in the magazine's closely watched, newly released automotive-reliability ratings — just three years after the bible of product quality praised Ford as the only domestic automaker with "world-class reliabilty."

Stunningly, Ford still apparently hasn't corrected its huge problems — real and perceived — with its MyFord Touch system, which continues to confuse some customers even a year and a half after Ford publicly acknowledged the usability problems with what is essentially Sync 2.0.

"They've put out some updates to try to address some of those problems for both the transmissions and the infotainment controls, but it doesn't seem to be enough," Jake Fisher, director of testing for Consumer Reports, commented on the most and least reliable rankings to the Detroit Free Press.Continue reading...

BBC sees editor step aside amid Jimmy Savile sex scandal as director goes before government inquiry.

McDonald's teams up with Rovio for Angry Birds promotion in China.

Google defends trademark challenge to its AdWords service.

Adobe campaign uses blunt language.

Apple tests ability to stay ahead of the curve with new iPad reveal today.

Brand India is promoted with China trade show.

Denny's launches menu inspired by The Hobbit.

DuPont cuts outlook and plans to cut 1,500 jobs.

Facebook surges in fan engagement with restaurants.Continue reading...

3M plans to acquire ceramics maker Ceradyne.

Amazon comes under fire for offering Nazi death-camp puzzle.

AutoNation makes big digital push.

BMW brings performance school online.

Simon Cowell proposes truce in competition between his X Factor on Fox and The Voice on NBC.

Fender tries to stay plugged in.

Ford hits the road to tout new C-Max nameplate.

GM recalls cars over fuel leak problem.Continue reading...

In Chinese, they have become known as "breast milk exhibitions" (乳展). Except, the shows have nothing to do with babies. Nor are they promotional events for plastic surgeons or any of the sketchy breast enlargement centers commonly found on China's streets. "Breast milk exhibitions" is the colloquial name that mainland social web wags now use for China's auto shows. All it takes is a look at a few photos from recent events to understand why the moniker makes sense.

China should probably have seen it all coming almost exactly a year ago when one Heilongjiang Province VW dealer used naked women to move product off the floor. The authorities are upset. But so far, the punishment bark is worse than the bite, which assures that China will only soon see more "breast milk exhibitions," no matter how pointless the promotions are. Continue reading...

Apple iPhone 5 sets pre-sale record, inspires queues outside stores.

Express Scripts members now can go back to Walgreens.

Ford becomes focus of talks with Canadian Auto Workers ahead of strike deadline at midnight.

Fox says Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban will join American Idol as judges.

GM is getting resistance from U.S. government over proposal for taxpayer exit from ownership.

HP emphasizes design in turnaround hopes.

Heineken makes over its bottle and enlists James Bond for global campaign.Continue reading...

Acer postpones launch of Alibaba-powered phone.

Apple fights to keep iPhone cool in China as larger screen of iPhone 5 sparks developer rush and NFC omission puzzles observers.

Beef Products faces high hurdle in "pink slime" lawsuit against ABC News.

Brand USA tourism push sets sights on India.

Burger Lounge and Counter Burger offer non-traditional meats.

Disney takes film write-down.

Dr Pepper gets flack on Facebook after posting evolutionary graphic.Continue reading...

U.S. auto sales had their best month in three years in August, but you don’t necessarily have to put out any cold, hard cash if you want some new wheels. It might help, though, if you can dance and know how to operate a video camera.

Korea’s Kia Motors is offering up a brand spanking new $14,400 2013 Kia Soul for whoever can come up with a 90-second music video that judges and consumers fall for — and raises the question of whether Kia has accepted the mantle of "hamster brand" after its CMO told Ad Age he wanted to avoid that nickname.

The contest ties in with its latest Hamsterrific ad campaign, the "Bringing Down the House" commercial that debuted during the MTV Video Music Awards telecast last week, that features those shuffling hamsters again — only this time around they go back in time to win over a snooty crowd of pompadoured, poufy opera fans.Continue reading...

AT&T plans to open Chicago flagship store today that nods to Apple.

Al Jezeera bets on soccer to win U.S. viewers.

Apple rejects app that tracks U.S. drone strikes.

Barilla makes pasta push in U.S.

Beachbody sees PX90 orders rise thanks to Paul Ryan's abs.

Facebook plans to roll out e-mail and phone-number targeting.

Ford is accused of infringing on fuel-injection patent in F-150.

Hyundai seals wage deal with unions. Continue reading...