Brands to Watch: Gmail Calls, Apple TV, Amazon Re-Kindles + more

* Google expanded Google Voice to all Gmail users, who can now make free VoIP phone calls to any number from Gmail (competing with Skype). The launch is being promoted with Google Voice-branded red phone booths at colleges and airports.

* Apple is about to unveil a new TV/video offering and nearing a deal with News Corp.'s Fox and Disney's ABC for streaming TV series on iTunes as rumors swirl about Sept. 1 press conference. (Industry reaction, according to AP: 99-cent TV shows not a "game-changer.")

* Amazon talks up Kindle sales, but won't divulge numbers, as latest version makes its debut.

* AT&T says $1,000 tablets will make laptops obsolete.

* Audi plans to sell its A1 sedan outside Europe and to boost production.

* Burger King has high hopes for upcoming breakfast menu.

* Ford and Porsche customers will foot bill for green tech advances.

* Geely posts earnings increase but faces increasing competition at home in China (and must reboot recently acquired Volvo brand).

* Intel CEO Paul Otellini predicts bleak future for high-tech job growth in the United States.

* Jaguar unveiled its grenade-proof, armored XJ Sentinel model.

* Morgan Stanley dismays investors with top exec prediction that sovereign-debt defaults are inevitable.

* Old Spice Man, actor Isaiah Mutafa, won a creative Emmy award for best commercial of the year.

* Sharper Image brand name is being licensed for new Literati-branded e-reader.

* TiVo unveils new research capabilities on viewership.

* Wal-Mart filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court over judge's green light for class-action sexual discrimination lawsuit.

* Zurich Insurance must pay multi-million dollar fine in the U.K. for customer data loss in 2008.