Burning up Wall Street and the virtual Wall Street that is Twitter and Facebook, not to mention inspiring wags such as the UK's Daily Mash (above) and US humorist Andy Borowitz — you've no doubt already read Goldman Sachs' exec Greg Smith’s excoriating resignation letter published as a take-no-prisoners op-ed column in The New York Times today. Goldman, no surprising, rejected Smith's accusations in the 'other' paper of record, the Wall Street Journal.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...

Facebook today unveiled Timeline for pages on NBC's Today morning show, which used the occasion to unveil the first official Facebook Timeline — its own — and give TV viewers their first look at the social network's latest suite of tools to manage their presence and build their brands. Similar to individual user Timelines, this iteration for brands and organizations loses landing tabs but adds new features including the ability for featured posts to be "pinned" to the top of a Timeline for up to one week.

Brands are jockeying for creative positioning that stands out in an increasingly crowded field, with a slew of Timeline launches today timed to Facebook’s inaugural Marketers World Conference in New York, where it's also introducing simpler premium ads: “anything you can do on your Page, you can do in ads.”

Coca-Cola, for instance, is leveraging 125 years of history through the lens of fans’ letters to the Company over the years, including one from a man who asked for the exclusive franchise on the moon when President Kennedy pledged in 1961 to put a man there. (As the brand mused in a blog post today, "What did Coke fans do before Facebook?"Continue reading...

Zynga prices IPO at $10/share (which CEO Mark Pincus played early). Its $7 billion valuation could lift all social gaming.

BlackBerry crisis mounts as troubled RIM co-CEOs announce they're deferring smartphone relaunch until late 2012.

Amazon reports selling more than 1 million Kindles a week.

Apple struggles to take a bigger bite of China.

Covidien to spin off pharmaceutical unit.

Dell abandons netbooks.

eBay counters Amazon's shopper incentive.Continue reading...

TomTom GPS teams with Bert and Ernie and the whole Sesame Street gang. (via)

Who'd have thought? "Hell's Angels Are Pussies" ad campaign will get you some attention.

Clearly unimpressed with the current difficulties faced by his reelection campaign, Obama administration enacts "Christmas tree tax."

Pure gold can that Chinese beverage brand Jianlibao presented to 1992 Barcelona Olympics Judo medalist Zhuang Xiaoyan? Not real gold.

A Conspiracy of Hogs: The McRib as Arbitrage.

Take a Load Off, Mom: Huffington Post's parent blog "Parentlode" sued by New York Times parent blog "Motherlode." Continue reading...

Michael Jackson's personal physician, Conrad Murray, found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

Republican presidential wannabe Herman Cain slapped with more charges of sexual harassment.

U.S. district judge sides with tobacco companies and finds FDA's proposed graphic cigarette packages unconstitutional.

Bank of America must pay $410 million to settle debit card overdraft class action suit.

Coca-Cola named Ad Age's marketer of the year.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tells Charlie Rose that Steve Jobs was an advisor (but says Apple didn't attempt to buy him out).

Google's head lobbyist steps down.

National Geographic Channels names new U.S. president and CMO.

New York Times top digital exec announces retirement.

& Zynga reportedly plans post-Thanksgiving IPO, on Nov. 24.

Air France replaces CEO, Mercedes-Benz USA CEO is ousted in Daimler exec shuffle, and Olympus shares plunge as its CEO is fired.

Apple sells 4 million iPhone 4S units in first weekend, as Samsung sues to block the device in Japan and Australia and HTC loses Apple patent case in US. Steve Jobs' Silicon Valley memorial service reportedly filled with humor and music, as company prepares to honor late co-founder and report earnings on Tuesday. Starbucks and Apple are also partnering in the UK on free music downloads.

Mattel eyes UK's HIT Entertainment, home to Thomas the Tank Engine and other kids' properties.

Bank of America posts $6.2 billion quarterly profit, while Goldman Sachs reports $428 million loss.

BlackBerry customers receive free apps and tech support to make amends for outages.Continue reading...

Allstate looks to jettison weak agents.

Amazon's iPad challenging Kindle Fire set to be revealed today.

Arnott's promotes Roadies beer chip brand in Australia.

Aston Martin named UK's coolest brand, while Asos tops British digital brand love ranking.

Barclays is Britain's most beefed about banking brand.

BP launches "My Gulf" web series promoting Louisiana Gulf Coast tourism and culture on YouTube.

CBS News confirms Andy Rooney's last 60 Minutes is Sunday.

Esprit value tumbles.

Facebook wins first round in fight with Teachbook.Continue reading...