Brands and marketers are heading to Las Vegas for the International CES show this week, which is expected to be an "evolutionary" showcase for "phablets," smart cars, mobile entertainment, celebrity-gawking and trend-watching. So what's in store for this year's edition of "the mother of all trade shows"?

A lot of noise from the many brands looking to make some noise in Vegas, including:

• Audi and Toyota will unveil self-driving cars among other auto brand moves.
• Corning will unveil tougher Gorilla Glass for smartphones and tablets.
• Google TV news is being closely watched, along with YouTube integration, while execs speak on "Brand Matters" lunch panel.
• Huawei is bringing the Ascend D2 among other "competitive" new devices.Continue reading...

"Don’t leave home without it" is becoming "Don’t leave home at all." Or, at least, "just yet." American Express is kicking the tires on interactive television and branded content with its own video-on-demand channel, participating in a year-long test with interactive TV provider BrightLine and the Mindshare agency to launch what's being called the largest advanced TV campaign to date.

The AMEX Channel, which quietly launched in September, is available in more than 50 million households through five pay TV service providers — AT&T's U-verse service, Cablevision, DirecTV, Dish and Verizon FiOs —and through smart TV platforms, namely Internet-connected TV sets sold by LG and Samsung.

The advanced television ad test is being trialed on TV as the primary screen, with apps for tablets and smartphones as second screens. Viewers can access the channel via interactive banners, channel guide listings and overlays that appear next to American Express commercials, using BrightLine-based technology. The video-on-demand channel offers video clips, games and information and promotions like AmEx's annual Small Business Saturday shopping day after Black Friday.Continue reading...

Microsoft announces the departure of Windows chief (and Ballmer's heir apparent) in wake of Windows 8 launch.

LG breaks through with new smartphone.

Hostess Brands starts closing plants as workers strike.

Acura brings Dr. Phil and Suze Orman into its Christmas promo campaign.

Apple finally gives in on employee perks.

Bojangles recruits American Idol winner Scotty McCreery for campaign.

Cadillac shows design chops in China.

Callaway Golf drives buzz on Twitter for new high-tech driver.Continue reading...

Hurricane Sandy may have blown out Google’s planned NYC press reveal of its Nexus family of devices Monday, so new details on the Nexus 4 smartphone, Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus 10 slate released by the search giant online.

The search giant's flagship smartphone is 4.7-inches, runs the newest version of Android, and was made by LG Electronics with input from Google, which claims its quad-core processor makes it the fastest smartphone on the market.

The Nexus 4 will not support LTE as it’s being sold as an unlocked, off-contract phone for $300 globally and LTE is not a uniform standard. The price is a dramatic departure from the norm, represented by the unlocked iPhone 5 which retails at $700.Continue reading...

Avon's Jung to leave board early, shifting focus to new CEO.

Mondelez creates Oreo and Cadbury Dairy Milk hybrid chocolate bar, acquires Italian biscuit maker from Danone.

Foxconn faces more unrest at iPhone factory as new battle brews between Apple and Samsung.

BAE deal with EADS is questioned by major shareholder.

Baxter looks to its medical-product pipeline to sustain growth.

Budweiser donates to military families via tie-in with Major League Baseball.

BuzzFeed bets on online sharing of sponsored content.

Coca-Cola India signs Bollywood star Salman Khan as brand ambassador.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...

‘Million Moments’ is the latest free photo viewer app for smartphones from Sony Digital Network Applications (SDNA), enabling users to organize their cherished smartphone photos in a magazine-like format with a variety of layouts. The upgrade, available through the App Store and Google Play enables a changeable book cover photo, photo rotation, and chosen order of display from 'Oldest first' or 'Newest first.'

Users can also add 'labels' to specific photos to build albums with just these 'labeled' photos, creating millions of moments worth keeping. Supported languages include English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Traditional), Korean and Japanese. 

Over at LG, meanwhile, the brand's mission is to show the best things in life are even better in 3D. LG 3D Studio plays with the possibilities, and 3D Newsfeed, their first app, puts your Facebook wall in 3D, as you can see below:Continue reading...

Google’s Android mobile operating system is #1 on the top 20 brands favored by the LGBT community, according to the researchers at YouGov BrandIndex. Last year, Google's YouTube topped the annual LGBT ranking.

The 2012 LGBT buzz list includes four Apple-related and several other tech and social media brands, and looks quite different from last year’s ranking, with 12 new brands making the top 20: Android, iPad, Target, Samsung, Aleve, Kindle, Advil, PBS, LG, Starbucks, Comedy Central, and Skype. Disneyland and Disney World share fourth spot, reflect the parks' annual LGBT days and outreach to the gay community.

“Gay consumers number 15 million and counting, spending $743 billion annually” in the U.S., according to LGBT marketing agency Prime Access. Falling out of the top 20 this year: Google, Amazon, Whole Foods, Claritin, HBO, Lowe's, Cheerios, Food Network, M&Ms, Nike, Trader Joe's and Bose.Continue reading...