Facebook appears ready to go public with $10 billion IPO in early February, despite ire at leak.

Exxon Mobil sells Japanese subsidiary for $4 billion in move to cut refining.

News Corp. reportedly woos Bloomberg exec as Twitter-happy Murdoch sees weekend arrests at The Sun tabloid.

ABB buys Thomas & Betts for $4 billion.

Angry Birds boss doesn't fear piracy.

Apple aims to sell 40 million iPhones in China next year.

Altria sees tobacco users embrace discount brands.

Bank of America shakes up investment banking division.

Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon with fifth Nook device.

Beyonce sees university class focus on her.Continue reading...

Google taps David Beckham to promote Google+ as company grapples with social search fallout, and apologizes for Kenyan flub.

Apple's iPad 3 expected to go on sale in March with HD screen and faster chip. Apple also joined the Fair Labor Association, opening suppliers' doors to labor rights watchdog in transparency response to Foxconn fears — the first tech brand to do so.

Bentley courts Maybach fans including Jay-Z — who has just signed on as the face of (and an investor in) Duracell.

British films to be pitched as a global brand.

BT will offer free Wi-Fi at London Olympic Games.

Disney Studios quickly fills CMO position.

Dr Pepper brand name is removed from Texas town.

Easyjet fined for barring disabled passengers.

Excedrin recall expands to Canada.

Olivia Munn strips off for PETA.Continue reading...

Amazon wins British top brand survey; and expands deal with FOX to stream TV shows and movies as the News Corp.-owned network gambles $50 million on Terra Nova series.

Apple dips on the back of JPMorgan's back-and-forth reports on iPad output.

Barnes & Noble will receive Borders customer list by end of October.

Berkshire Hathaway moves toward massive repurchase of its own shares, underscoring dilemma for companies – and investors like its chief, Warren Buffett —about what to do with their cash.

China's ‘Facebook’ (RenRen) buys Chinese YouTube (56.com).

Coca-Cola CEO sees U.S. becoming less business-friendly than China.Continue reading...

Apple slows down growth in China and plans reveal iPhone 5 on its campus, as Verizon sides with Samsung in Apple dispute.

Arizona and Lipton fight for first place in dynamic tea category.

Audi and its new A6 "take over" Jersey City in new branded content with FX.

Blockbuster unveils streaming movie service as Netflix secures streaming deal with Dreamworks.

Bloomberg and Time shuffle web heads.

Boeing offers bidets and electric window shades on new Dreamliner for All Nippon Airways.

Bud Light pairs with Pitbull in pitch for Cuban-American consumers.Continue reading...

Alibaba develops China search engine with Microsoft as challenger to Baidu.

Apple is in talks to bring the iPhone to India, and will sell the iPad at Wal-Mart.

AT&T's U-verse TV is coming to Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

Bank of America and other mortgage lenders face lawsuits from up to 40 state attorneys general.

Beijing Auto hopes to reinvigorate brand with $2.7 billion marketing push, as China car sales cool down.

Blockbuster begins search for a new CEO.

Bloomberg LP plans a data service catering to U.S. government.

Bloomingdale's, Macy's, J.C. Penney and other retailers go beyond discounts (incl. BOGO) to compete.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...

Friday Brand Bites has World Cup fever and a stiff neck. Good thing we have a wonderfully low-budget Volteran commercial (above).

KFC-Taco Bell combo sets government back more than the cost of 300,000 chalupas.

The New York Times bans the word "tweet" in 1,150 characters.

Yeah, well, what would you do with 2,500 Coca-Cola delivery crates?Continue reading...

Ruff love: Pedigree's UK adoption drive campaign includes a video (above) that will reveal pt. 2 of abandoned dog's story after 25,000 views. (Click, save Charlie!) More brands in the news this morning:

Pass the buck (and beach ball): Gulf oil spill hearing in Washington awash in finger-pointing, as BP pays $200,000 for BP-free ad campaign to lure tourists back to the Gulf. (Tell us: how will the Gulf oil disaster affect green marketing? Post a comment here.)

Move over, iPad ... What's up? Docs: Verizon Wireless is working on a tablet with Google ... which touted Google Docs to businesses ahead of Microsoft's Office 2010 launch today.

GM can't quit GMAC: General Motors wants to get back into auto financing, a source tells AP.

That's cold: Dunkin' Donuts fans who missed out on free iced coffees yesterday moaned on Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading...