Google doubles size of Seattle-area campus as X Lab sparks interest, Android chief steps aside and loss of Google Reader upsets loyal users.

Time Inc. spinoff rattles employees.

Volkswagen warns of a tough year ahead and focuses on China.

Apple exec attacks Google, Android and Samsung on eve of Galaxy S4 introduction.

AMC Theaters seeing stellar results.

Amazon pares price of large-screen Kindle Fire HD.

American Express, Audi and Griffin's "get" social media, execs say.Continue reading...

Microsoft denied "Killer Instinct" trademark, as Microsoft-Google patent fight rests on "fairness" definition and Motorola is denied injuction against Microsoft in patent suit. Microsoft-Intel push to combat Apple in tablet space, meanwhile, seen as "sputtering."

American Suzuki forges ahead with incentives amid US wind down.

Apple wins six new design patents, sees increasing pricing tension with retailers and Steve Jobs bio pic starring Ashton Kutcher heading to Sundance.

Applebee's plans to open "green" restaurant in New York's Harlem where Hot Bread Kitchen is a rising local brand.

Balenciaga hires designer Alexander Wang as creative chief.

Baxter agrees to buy medical-equipment maker Gambro in company's biggest acquisition.Continue reading...

GM expected to announce Manchester United sponsorship today.

Nike is selling its Cole Haan and Umbro brands.

RIM shareholders see outright sale as best option for BlackBerry maker.

Amazon may end up sharing California tax as NJ tax collection kicks in.

American Idol owner rebrands.

CBS says Super Bowl advertising is more than half sold.

Caterpillar sees strikers hunkering down.

Chevron is sued in Canada by Amazonians.Continue reading...

Conde Nast's Social Sidekick got off to an iffy start this week when Business Insider dismissed it as a "non-starter."

"It's a nice little feature - one that will increase engagement a bit and allow advertisers some flexibility - but is it really changing anything? Nope."

Kicking the tires on the digital sidecar to Conde Nast's vast array of content, Gucci is the exclusive launch advertiser for Social Sidekick through the end of October.Continue reading...

The iPhone gets a bit more dangerous for shopaholics with a new Vogue shopping application launching this month. Vogue Stylist enables users to scroll through the magazine’s ads, click to purchase looks, and obtain styling advice. It is impulse buying at its best.
 
Users can also upload items from their own wardrobes and sort them by color or trend. Computer algorithms provide suggestions based on clothes in the user’s closet and ones shown in the current Vogue issue.Continue reading...

Conde Nast Publications announced this morning that it is shuttering four magazines, following a widely publicized review by McKinsey and Company. Food bible Gourmet will shut down, Brides will increase to monthly publication but Modern Bride and Elegant Bride will close, as will family lifestyle magazine Cookie.

The changes show resolve by Conde Nast to eliminate redundant brands -- an opposite strategy than earlier in the decade, when the company was happy to boast food titles Gourmet and Bon Appetit, men's mags GQ, Details, Cargo, Vitals, and Men's Vogue, home titles House & Garden, Architectural Digest, Domino and occasionally Vogue Living, and numerous women's books including Vogue, Glamour, Self, Jane and Allure. In those days, the company's direction was to block competition and nail down every available ad dollar in a given category.

Now, the company has reversed course. Cargo, Vitals, and Domino (all clones, to some extent, of Conde's successful shopping magazine Lucky), Jane and House & Garden are gone, and Men's Vogue has been folded into Vogue as a twice-annual supplement.Continue reading...