Apple's iPhone beats BlackBerry in its homeland; and could one day be made out of glass and function as a universal remote control.

AT&T sued over alleged deaf calls scam.

Bank of America tests rental program as alternative to foreclosure.

Bit.ly ranks U.S. news outlets.

Credit Suisse cuts CEO's pay 55%.

Dove launches self-esteem campaign in the U.K.

Etch A Sketch owner capitalizes on Romney-spurred attention.

Facebook strips privacy from new user policy, reportedly buys 750 patents from IBM.

FedEx called to task by Obama administration.Continue reading...

Khan Academy, the free, nonprofit online educational service, has been around for about five and a half years, but its brand is suddenly rising fast, thanks to a 60 Minutes segment Sunday night and the announcement Monday that the TED Conference is launching TED-Ed, “an online collection of free video lessons delivered by the best teachers on a range of subjects,” according to the Washington Post.

It also doesn’t hurt that investment dollars have come in from the Gates Foundation and Google, whose chairman, Eric Schmidt, is a big fan. The Post notes that Khan is “beginning to be used experimentally in a couple dozen schools” as well.

The Academy was started by former hedge-fund analyst Salman “Sal” Khan to help his cousin learn algebra, but then his videos started going viral on YouTube as parents and teachers stumbled across them. The idea is that “students watch videos to learn the lessons at home, and then work through problems in school with their teachers’ assistance,” the Post reports.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...

When it comes to creative film tie-ins, this week saw the release of a fictional future TED Talk set in the year 2023 and starring one of the characters from the upcoming sci-fi epic, Prometheus. It's quite an involved, bold bit of marketing, especially as TED 2012 is wrapping up today in Long Beach, CA.

But it's not the only film tie-in going this week, even if some of the rest is a little less creative and a little more… wolfish.Continue reading...

Ford — the automaker and its executive chairman, Bill Ford — is concerned about the future of urban mobility. So are Audi of America executives. And so at different forums this week, half a world apart, they've been promoting their insights into the traffic congestion to come with the world's burgeoning population, and how vehicles and techology — both their own, and shared, and even public-sector help — can help us tolerate and even navigate all of that.

The first order of business for Ford scion and executive chairman Bill Ford was to unveil B-Max at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company's first car to offer Sync and its voice-activated infotainment system in Ford models in Europe. Ford's target is 3.5 million Sync-equipped owners in Europe by 2015, though Sync availability on the continent trails that in the United States by four years.Continue reading...

"Anyone has access and the audience defines the popularity," said YouTube Trends manager Kevin Allocca, explaining the secret sauce that goes into viral videos. Find out more in Allocca's talk, above, during the Youth portion of the TED2012 conference this week in Long Beach, CA, which ranged from Rebecca Black's Friday to Justin Bieber to cats watching cats watching the 65 million-viewed Nyan Cat phenom. 

TED, the nonprofit devoted to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ and a harbinger of intelligent and inspiring discourse, is adding an element of surprise to its ongoing call for Ads Worth Spreading.

Five agencies that enter their 2011 campaigns in TED's AWS call for entries will be randomly selected for a visit from TED and a one-on-one with each agency “to spark deeper conversations between TED and the global advertising and marketing community.” Better be quick — the deadline for submissions is Dec. 31st.Continue reading...

Apple hit with inevitable class action lawsuit over location tracking.

Donald Trump's birther fixation impacts personal brand, supposed presidential ambitions.

Enfamil settles mom's lawsuit over nutrient claims.

Facebook updates Groups, adds Send button.

GM minivan thrives in China post-US demise.

Kimberly-Clark and P&G to both raise prices.

Lenovo Honeycomb tablet coming later this year.Continue reading...