Apple will use Baidu search engine on phones in China and gets on fast track in court to block Samsung Galaxy phone as iPhone 5 speculation mounts ahead of WWDC, while marketing head Steve Schiller gets a Bloomberg Businessweek profile. Also, Apple will pay $2.5 million to settle false advertising suit in Australia over 4G iPad claims. 

Audi plant expansion tests ability to maintain quality.

Boeing hits milestone on 787 Dreamliner.

Burger King plans to expand in Russia.

Cannes Lions to honor Dan Weiden of Weiden+Kennedy.

Carnival Cruise loyalty program members are up in arms.

CBS chief Les Moonves says "partisanship" is part of journalism now.Continue reading...

Following the release of its second installment, China's microblog network Weibo was buzzing about the mini-series 再一次心跳 (Heartbeat Love). For a period, it was a top ten trending topic on the social website.

The "micro-film" is being broadcast online at China's video sharing site Tudou in five 45-minute segments. The story chronicles the dramatic romance of a young Chinese couple, played by wildly popular duo Rainie Yang and Show Luo.

The romance kicks off in Australia, which makes sense — the whole movie is funded by the The Australian Tourism Commission. We spoke with Leo Seaton, manager of media relations for Tourism Australia, about the unique branded entertainment campaign.Continue reading...

It's nightmarish to consider from a corporate and brand perspective, but the record flooding in Thailand that has endangered lives is also wrenching apart supply chains for both Toyota and Honda, and could become a major disruption to their business. The fear is that the leading Japanese brands do not pass "Go Back to Market" and instead proceed right back to "Supply Chain Jail."

Not even eight months after the March 11 tsunami and earthquake devastated the big Japanese brands' supply lines stretching from Japan and around the world, company executives are confessing that they still don't know quite how badly they'll be nicked by the flooding. The waters didn't reach Toyota's own plants, for example, but they did badly affect suppliers in Thailand that ship electronic components for Toyota vehicles to the automaker's plants around the world.

Already, Toyota has cut back on overtime and Saturday work at its U.S. facilities through at least next week (and is sticking to a plan to open a factory in Indonesia), and Honda has conceded that up to half its North American production ultimately could be affected.Continue reading...

In 2009, we praised Nikon for signing man-of-the-moment Ashton Kutcher as its spokesman. In fact, the actor had thrown himself so fully into the high profile Nikon ads, we wondered if Kutcher's fans would "see him as a sellout or a shill, and will his own brand of goofy, boy-next-door purity suffer?"

What a difference two years make. Now, the latest Kutcher Nikon ad to hit TV screens has us wondering if Nikon's pitch man has suddenly become a liability.Continue reading...

The emotional strings evoked in the film's title may not be attached. But there are certainly a lot of products attached to No Strings Attached. Booze. Cars. And of course, Apple. Bushels of Apple.

No Strings Attached is filled with products — nearly 30 by our count. It shouldn't come as a surprise.Continue reading...

It wasn't just the unsuspecting audience members who flipped for Oprah's two-part, final Favorite Things gift-giving year-end special. Featured brands can also expect a boost in holiday sales thanks to the halo effect of the Winfrey wand.Continue reading...

Facebook is closing its online gift shop, an estimated $100 million business and a blow to charities such as (RED), WWF and Tom's Shoes, above — and, potentially, Facebook's brand as the initiative was its core platform for philanthropy. The UK government, meanwhile, is also using Facebook for crowdsourcing ideas.

Boeing will introduce its 787 Dreamliner to the public next week.

It's Chick-fil-A's annual customers-dressed-as-cows appreciation day.

Colgate-Palmolive is bringing free dental care to children affected by the Gulf oil spill.

Ferrari is replacing the controversial Marlboro barcode design from its F1 cars with a new logo for the upcoming season.Continue reading...

Can Facebook withstand the coming Facebook movie?

Kia and Nissan run ads noting England's World Cup defeat in U.K. newspapers.

McDonald's eyes beverages to take on Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.Continue reading...