Aereo TV streaming service from Barry Diller faces showdown with News Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, who threatens to take FOX cable-only, as Intel cooks up its vision of future of TV.

Apple, which can now trademark iPad mini in U.S. and captured 74% of mobile app revenue in Q1, reportedly will release new iPhone 5S in "at least" two screen sizes.

Billabong in talks to sell out for $300 million.

Airbus juggles order book to meet record demand for A320neo Jet.

AT&T joins Boeing in backing U.S. cyber bill facing privacy fight.

Audi promotes in-vehicle Wi-Fi in new TV campaign.Continue reading...

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils $12 million ad campaign (above) for Mayors Against Illegal Guns that lobbies for background checks to reduce gun violence, while NYC's municipal data geek squad makes headlines.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz defends same-sex marriage support to shareholders as brand expands loyalty rewards to other retailers.

PepsiCo shares jump on Mondelez merger speculation sparked by Telegraph story which Pepsi "downplays."

Apple acquires indoor GPS startup WiFiSLAM for mapping, patents iPhone drop protection technology and faces EU scrutiny following iPhone and iPad distribution complaints — and may report first quarterly dip since 2003.

FTC "pay for delay" generic drug case, set to go before US Supreme Court on Monday, will be closely watched by pharmaceutical industry and economists.

Below: BlackBerry, Blockbuster, Dell, Diageo and other brands in the news —Continue reading...

Retailers are trying to cope with the challenge of an increasingly mobile consumer who conducts life digitally. This means meeting consumers' expectations on a whole new playing field: the mobile device.

According to Interbrand's just-released Best Retail Brands 2013 report, "retailers are mobilizing to address the larger issues around digital: Where and how does it fit into the organization? How can development teams be reorganized and silos lowered to accommodate a multichannel approach? How will the brand's culture change in response?"

While mobile sales are insignificant now, they are growing rapidly. In-store mobile payments almost quadrupled last year, and PayPal alone processed around $14 billion in mobile payments in 2012, according to Business Insider. That means mobile payments need to be a key part of future retail strategy. Just last week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report, "Paper, Plastic... or Mobile?" The FTC cites a KPMG survey that found that 83 percent of executives in retail, financial services, technology and telecommunications believe mobile payments will see widespread consumer adoption by 2015.

Another recent study, by JPMorgan, divides the current state of the mobile commerce market: mobile acceptance (any mobile-based payment solution), mobile wallets (applications that enable consumers to use mobile devices for payment instead of credit or debit cards) and mobile commerce (e-commerce via any mobile device).Continue reading...

Marketers beware: think carefully before placing promotional messages that require disclosures or disclaimers to avoid being deceptive or unfair, according to new regulations announced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC has revised its Dot Com Disclosures guide to reflect the rise of mobile platforms, leaving no room for lack of requisite disclosures even in smaller spaces with finer print. The original guide, released in 2000, pre-dated smartphones, tablets and mobile—not to mention the dominance of social media as a marketing platform.

The new guidelines, released Tuesday, emphasize "that consumer protection laws apply equally to marketers across all mediums, whether delivered on a desktop computer, a mobile device, or more traditional media such as television, radio, or print."Continue reading...

FTC clarifies rules for social and mobile advertising.

Reader's Digest reports big gains among advertisers and readers.

Samsung deals with high expectations for Galaxy S IV as it outspends Apple on marketing.

BBC World News launches global marketing campaign.

Boeing gets FAA initial approval of battery fix for Dreamliner and wins $15 billion order from Ryanair for current 737 plane, report says.

Cadbury's Silk undergoing brand "renovation."

Chevrolet accelerates dealer infotainment training.Continue reading...

One company announced the deal early, but the merger between Office Depot and OfficeMax has been a long time coming.

Office Depot jumped the gun by posting a draft press release about the deal on its web site early this morning; shortly after, the two companies confirmed that a deal was done. The still-to-be-approver merger will create an $18 billion global "office solutions" company whose combination is meant to help them survive the intensifying competition not only with archrival Staples but also with Amazon.com and other retailers that are increasingly peddling office supplies.

"In the past decade, with the growth of the internet, our industry has changed dramatically," Neil Austrian, CEO of Office Depot, said in a press release. "Combining our two companies will enhance our ability to serve customers around the world, offer new opportunities for our employees, make us a more attractive partner to our vendors, and increase stockholder value."Continue reading...

Consumer activists and trial lawyers have been feeling their oats in recent years as food and beverage companies have found themselves responding to several challenges by regulators. Increasingly, the public seems skeptical of the claims and motives of brands — and eager to take them on.

Two recent cases have nicked brands owned by PepsiCo and the Dr Pepper-Snapple Group — so far, with different outcomes.

PepsiCo announced last week that it would remove an emulsifier from Gatorade that also has applications as a flame retardant, prompting Sarah Kavanagh, a teenager who waged an online campaign against brominated vegetable oil (BVO), to claim victory. Meanwhile, Mott's, owned by Dr Pepper Snapple, is the subject of a recently filed class-action suit that claims "deceptive labeling" of its Mott's for Tots Immune Support Fruit Punch.Continue reading...

One thing can be said for Lynda and Stewart Resnick, the owners of Paramount Farms and the POM Wonderful and Wonderful Pistachios brands: They're certainly aggressive. Wonderful Pistachios is taking on Frito-Lay with its first Super Bowl commercial next month, for instance. And the Resnicks signed on as title sponsor for director Morgan Spurlock's 2011 film about product placement.

So it isn’t surprising that the billionaire philanthropists behind the two highly successful brands aren't backing down in their fight with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over whether their advertising can claim significant health benefits tied to POM.

After more than two years of wrangling, Federal regulators this week released their final ruling against POM and its pomegranate juice, saying advertising for the juice — such as a 2012 print ad headlined “Cheat Death” that aimed to rebut the FTC's case against the brand — made misleading claims about the drink’s health benefits. Continue reading...