American Airlines and US Airways to create the world's biggest airline with $11 billion union.

AB InBev will sell Corona unit to salvage Modelo takeover, as Pernod Ricard is open to Jose Cuervo talks.

H.J. Heinz Company enters agreement to be acquired by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.

Time Warner rumored to eye Time Inc. split and talking to Meredith about buying magazine brands.

Adidas unveils new global brand strategy with Boost product push.

American Express and Yahoo accused of stealing travel service idea.

Angry Birds parent Rovio slings into advertising.

Apple promises to fix iOS Exchange bug, fights activist shareholder Einhorn.

Barclays agrees to stop speculating on food prices.

Barnes & Noble warns of lower 2012 sales and Nook concerns.

Boeing looks at interim 787 fixes.

BT sticks by Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius (charged with murdering his girlfriend), for now.Continue reading...

The evolution of the automobile into a mobile living room takes a giant leap forward this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with many of the world's top 10 car makers touting wares that advance the richness, variety and seamlessness of the infotainment experience inside their vehicles. Audi, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Subaru, and Toyota's Lexus brand are all tooting their own digital horns and partnerships at the 2013 CES show.

Garnering some pre-CES buzz, both Lexus and Audi will be showcasing their respective advances in the self-driving car arena, whose development so far has been aggressively pursued mainly by Google (using Lexus for its self-driving car test) Both luxury auto brands are displaying technologies that could bring this once-outlandish notion closer to the actual road.Continue reading...

Apple joins Google in $500M+ bid for Kodak patents; smacked by USPTO as 'Steve Jobs Patent' for iPhones and iPads deemed invalid and Siri secrets revealed.

Diageo seen as unlikely to bid for Beam following UK report that drinks giant talked to Suntory about joint bid.

Barnes & Noble cuts Nook price from $99 to $79.

Michael Bloomberg weighs making bid for The Financial Times, which includes the paper and a half-interest in The Economist. 

Caribou Coffee celebrates 20th anniversary.

Carlos Slim brings Telcel brand to U.S. for Mexico calls.

CVS Caremark reportedly aims to acquire drug-store chain in Brazil.

Chili's begins soft rollout of new menu items.

Darden Restaurants looks to retool value proposition for its Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants.Continue reading...

As if Hurricane Superstorm Sandy preparations weren't enough to keep it busy, Google is all over the news this week:

• A new AMBER alerts project in partnership with The National Center For Missing And Exploited Children in the U.S. followed the launch of a crisis page and public alerts system for those affected by the wrath of Sandy. When using Google Search or Maps, you’ll see if an AMBER Alert is in effect in your area.
• A revamped iOS search app with Siri-like voice-recognition represents its "most advanced voice search" to date, greeting users with a "Try our new voice search" message above a microphone icon on the main page ready for tapping. "If it’s short and quick, like the status and departure time of your flight—Google tells you the answer aloud." 
• Google Earth 7 is now available with 3D Imagery on the desktop (can be disabled if you choose), and newest sites include Avignon, France; Austin, Texas; Munich, Germany; Phoenix, Arizona; and Mannheim, Germany. A tour guide flies over landmarks and offers stats and info from Wikipedia.
• Google Chromebook rocks with Slayer for Halloween.
• Google's still-in-beta universal analytics for websites lets marketers better measure impact of digital campaigns.Continue reading...

Apple shares hit a record high after iPhone 5 pre-orders sold out online within an hour this morning, along with the new Lightning cables and adapters, in the brand's biggest and most aggressive smartphone launch ever. The rush, which knocked Apple.com offline at times, now moves offline to stores, which could see unprecedented queues next week.

There was a 1,000% jump in iPhone 5 chatter on Twitter heading into today's iPhone 5 press conference reveal of the new device by Apple SVP of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller, according to Socialbakers.

So does the sixth version of its iconic smartphone since 2007, which goes on sale next week, live up to the hype — let alone add 0.5% to US GDP? Apple certainly thinks so, with its website calling it "the biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone." That's also a play on the fact that it's taller than the iPhone 4S, one of many new features coming to the iPhone.

“They have built a juggernaut,” commented Matt Murphy, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, the venture capital firm that invests in iPhone app developers, to Bloomberg. “This is going to be an absolutely blowout, homerun product.”Continue reading...

With all the Olympic-themed ads that have been running during the London Summer Games, some might see the "Apple Genius" ads that debuted the first weekend of the games as a breath of fresh air. They featured a youthful employee who's been let loose from an Apple store's genius bar — still wearing his blue t-shirt and, whether it be on a plane, above, a street corner, or an apartment building, heroically ready to solve consumers' computer problems in the name of touting the brand's Mac line.

More often than not (under the watchful eye of an intensely involved Steve Jobs), Apple ads have always been considered a cut above the ordinary if not positively in a league of their own. Apple has always found a way to advertise a product with a good dose of humanity and a touch of humor. Witness the lauded "I'm a Mac" series from several years ago that brilliantly personified the differences between a Mac and a PC, and the current Siri campaign for the iPhone that feature celebrities including Zooey Deschanel, Samuel L. Jackson, John Malkovich and Martin Scorsese having intensely personal conversations with their iPhones.Continue reading...

Android beats Apple for global market share while Samsung becomes top-selling mobile brand in Europe, and Apple and Samsung court battle continues.

Citi tests foreclosure rentals, steps up digital marketing.

Eli Lilly seen as last hope for Alzheimer's drug as Pfizer and J&J bow out.

Betsey Johnson rebounds from bankruptcy with lower-priced collection set for New York Fashion Week.

BlackBerry-maker RIM stock jumps on Samsung rumors.

Carmen Steffens expands fashion brand from Brazil to US.

Chiquita restructuring plan calls for new CEO.

Dairy Queen promotes Orange Julius brand.

Esprit hires Zara exec as new CEO.Continue reading...