• Add India and Germany (but not Oman) to the list of countries giving Research in Motion a hard time about BlackBerry security, as RIM reportedly reaches an agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia.

• H-P's slide on the New York Stock Exchange today was its worst in six years, as Oracle chief Larry Ellison denounced Hurd's ouster, which is being questioned on Wall Street. Reuters asks: What does this mean for "The HP Way"?

• Google and Verizon's net neutrality proposal today is parsed in Salon, Wired, NYT, TechCrunch, AllThingsD, and beyond, while the Wall Street Journal examines Google's seven-page internal memo "agonizing" over privacy and advertising.

• LeBron James' Miami Heat debut isn't generating a rush for tickets due to team's real-time sales.

• Lowe's settles a class action suit over defective drywall with $6.5 million in customer gift cards.Continue reading...

Brands in the news:

Starbucks' rebranded Seattle's Best Coffee brand arrives in Manhattan.

About.com launches new branding effort.

Amazon reports that e-books outsell hard cover books as Kindle sales triple.

Apple donates MacPaint source code to museum as rocky romance with AT&T unveiled in Wired.

Blekko enters the search engine fray.

Brightkite embraces badges.Continue reading...

Bosch VitaFresh marketing campaign, above, is yabba-dabba delicious (and nutritious!)

Biggest Twitter downer, apart from World Cup meltdown? Announcing an execution.

Post-plans for new slogan, U.S. Pork Board shows complete and utter lack of a sense of humor.Continue reading...

Comcast-NBC deal raises concerns in the U.S.

Facebook looks to boost ads; 500 million user benchmark tipped in new movie marketing?

Jeep "slowly" relaunches the Grand Jerokee.

Tiger Woods' lost endorsements cost IMG $4.6 million last year, according to CNBC.

Toshiba enters e-reader fray.

Toy Story 3 tops box office in biggest opening weekend for Disney Pixar.Continue reading...

Today, Tiger Woods returns from a recent physical injury to begin play in the U.S. Open. Will he also be returning from the injury done to his reputation?

A recent ranking of sports personalities suggests his star is indeed tarnished. Sports Q Scores, which ranks the popularity of sports personalities, puts his score at 30, or 14 points lower than his score before the much-publicized scandal about his extra-marital escapades hit the news. Woods used to be ranked as the top professional athlete in the world, but no longer. While he ranks the highest among active golfers, he now trails Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

Nevertheless, the disgraced golfer hasn't lost his commercial appeal, including starring in a new ad for EA Sports to pitch the Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 video game.Continue reading...

BP CEO Tony Hayward will face a tough audience and aim to strike an emotional chord (and avert criminal charges) in his testimony in Washington today, as company's shares rise on news of $20 billion compensation fund. Obama's speech on the oil spill Tuesday night? Too "professorial" says linguist.

Two Dutch women appeared in court in South Africa, facing jail time over Bavaria Beer's ambush marketing stunt at the World Cup.

AOL confirms Bebo sale to turnaround firm.

Bank of America and other banks hope to phase out free checking without alienating customers.

Boots becomes first major UK retailer to adopt contactless Mastercard payments.

Facebook valuation debate: $3.60 or $136.38 per fan?Continue reading...

Our most-read stories this week:

Gillette Taps Federer's Sensitive Side

Coke's Recyclable PlantBottle a Winner

McDonald's First Gay Ad: Meh to Wha?!

Tiger's Back in Humorous EA Ad

Keeping Fast Company with Lady Gaga

BMW Projects 5 Series on Asia

Smirnoff Needs to Ice "Icing Bros"

Shah Rukh Khan Says: Brush Your Teeth!

In the News: BP Faces Criminal Probe

Just Don't Call Them Men's Girdles

It appears that a celebrity of Tiger Woods' stature can survive a sex-riddled scandal. After his public apology, Woods was featured in April in a self-abasing Nike ad. Although the ad was deemed by experts and consumers alike to be largely ineffective, it marked the return of the beleaguered golfer to the airwaves, and to the game.

His latest advertising appearance is for Electronic Arts (EA), the video game publisher, promoting the upcoming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, which hits stores on June 8th. The "Welcome to Team Golf" ad depicts Woods as a US team player facing off against a European squad, since the video game offers the ability to play as part of a team.

Peter Moore, president of EA Sports, tells the Wall Street Journal, "It's been a tough six months in the business of golf and with what went on with Tiger... it is time to lighten up."Continue reading...