Starbucks acquires San Francisco's La Boulange Bakery for $100M to improve food menu and build out national premium brand.

Amazon acquires Avalon Books.

Bank of America execs explain how they hid Merrill Lynch losses. 

China embraces robot labor.

FedEx retires jets to cut costs.

Foursquare teases new app.

Google appears poised to buy Meebo as social agency M&A continues.

Marriott looks to expand through acquisitions.

Microsoft unveils Xbox Music as replacement for Zune.Continue reading...

GM pressures TV networks for discounts in upfront.

Ducati is booming in North America.

Facebook sees future in India, and explores access for under-13-year-olds as fallout from botched IPO continues.

Adidas sues Merrell over three-stripe design.

Apple/Motorola patent trial will feature Steve Jobs 'testimony.'

Big Tobacco goes to war in California.

BlackBerry-maker RIM victim of own 'identity crisis' (at least it's still cool with South African youths).Continue reading...

Over the last few years, new-guard brands including Hyundai and Kia have joined surprisingly strong runners such as Volkswagen in usurping share of the U.S. auto market, especially as the Great Recession and the Japanese natural disaster last year threw the entire industry into turmoil.

But it might be a surprise to know that one of the industry's foremost gurus on Wall Street is predicting when the dust settles three years hence, the only significant gainers in market share compared with now will be three of the hoariest names in the business: Ford, General Motors and Toyota.

The reason, said John Murphy, of Merrill Lynch, in the latest version of his annual automotive sector three-year outlook, "Car Wars," is that those old-guard brands will be doing the best job of replenishing their product lines. And in the car business, nothing matters as much to sales bursts and share gains as fresh sheet metal.Continue reading...

Apple confirms Oct. 4th iPhone 5 announcement.

AT&T and T-Mobile launched cell phone service pilot in NYC's subway.

Disney launches Appmates iPad toy line with Cars.

Goldman Sachs prepares "deeper cuts" as CEO Lloyd Blankfein's personal data is leaked.

LinkedIn town hall with President Obama called "a coup" for the social network.

YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen relaunch Delicous.

And in other news: All Saints boss quits ... Facebook defends tracking logged out users ... Merrill Lynch targets wealthy with luxury yacht mag ... RIM gains on speculation Carl Icahn may buy stake ... Sprint vows to keep unlimited data plans, even for the iPhone ... Starbucks stock rally sets seven-year high ... Walmart loses top online execs ... Yammer raises $17M led by former Facebook exec.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is suing 17 US and European banks and more than 130 individuals on charges of selling bonds backed by mortgages that should have never been packaged into securities. Institutions named including Bank of America, its Merrill Lynch unit, Barclays, Citigroup and Nomura.

Halliburton is suing BP for defamation and misrepresentation, while a key court ruling in the Gulf of Mexico litigation could encourage more lawsuits. Oil and gas production is curtailed in the Gulf, meanwhile, as New Orleans declares state of emergency ahead of storm.

Facebook tests comment translation button.

GM rehires Bob Lutz as an adviser.

Google acquires Zave Networks, a digital coupons platform, as it expands local deals offering.

Hugo Boss releases campaign featuring Orlando Bloom and Sienna Miller in support of African schools.Continue reading...

As Dow closes down 634 points, the S&P downgrade of U.S. probed by Congress.

AIG sues Bank of America and its subsidiaries, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide.

BlackBerry cringes at association with U.K. riots, as violence continues to escalate.

Spotify reportedly has 1.4 million U.S. users, and now valued at $1.1 billion.

BMW leads global luxury auto brand sales through July, followed by Audi.

CenturyLink brand launches in former Qwest markets.Continue reading...

Adidas forecasts better year. 

Allstate sues Merrill Lynch over mortage-backed securities.

Apple will today unveil second generation iPad — which may lead to a tablet price war — as brand aims to shed elitist label.

Bentley, Bugatti and Maserati compete for top end with new models at Geneva Auto Show.

CBS has almost sold out March Madness ad time as it promotes broadcast-sharing scheme with TBS. 

Chick-fil-A eyes new products and markets.Continue reading...

Google may stop complying with Chinese Internet censorship requests and shut down operations due to cyber attack. [NY Times]

Conan O'Brien rejects 12:05 timeslot, prepared to leave NBC. [NY Times]

Toyota to introduce two new Scion vehicles in 2010. [WSJ]

Nintendo Wii game console to stream Netflix movies. [NY Times]

Football sponsors launch digital initiatives in preparation for the summer World Cup. [WSJ]

Ferrero abandons Cadbury bid. [Times of London]Continue reading...