At least for this morning's class, boys and girls, we're going to put aside all the rampant speculation about what Apple has up its sleeve with a product that may or may not be the "TabletMac" that may or may not be announced this quarter (see here and here to review), and let Don Clark guide us through a new breed of devices called the "smartbook." They are due to debut next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Smartbooks, which are designed to be continually connected to the Internet …

Responding to two trends in the marketplace -- the fact that consumers are eating more at home and that they are exhibiting a predilection for bolder flavors -- Kraft will roll out 20 products in 2010 that help people recreate the restaurant experience at their own table, Emily Bryson York reports. "Hot and spicy is big, so chipotle and garlic are key flavor notes, while berry-infused items remain on-trend," says John Li, director of Kraft's Culinary Center. "The increasing desire for bolder flavors is not limited to a single age group. Everyone is asking for more-adventurous taste experiences." …

Executive editor Melanie Wells says that the coming year will be the one when marketers, media companies and consumer watchdogs find out just how fired up consumers really are about behavioral targeting violating their privacy. Not very, she predicts. "Despite all the buzz in Washington and efforts by some companies to give consumers more information about how their data is used, guess what? Consumers are so accustomed to sharing everything about themselves online that they don't care if marketers and media companies know everything about them," Wells writes. In another prognostication, Wells expects that marketers will …

Drinks with names like Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda, Slow Cow and Ex Chill are part of a new group of so-called "slow-down" or "anti-energy drinks" that may be among the top food trends of 2010, according to J. Walter Thompson. They contain folk-medicine sedatives such as kava, chamomile and valerian to provide a diametric alternative to caffeine-laced energy drinks such as Red Bull, Jerry Hirsch reports. Although Mary Jane unabashedly plays off of marijuana in its name, it does not actually contain any ingredients from the plant, says Matt Moody, a Denver nutritional supplement developer who created the …

GEICO has broken yet another campaign -- there are at least four others running out there -- that taps actor Mike McGlone from "The Brothers McMullen" to play a reporter who asks rhetorical questions, such as: "Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?" and "Did The Waltons take way too long to say goodnight?" The questions with obvious answers are set up by the familiar, "Could switching to GEICO save you 15% or more on car insurance?" "Rhetorical Questions" isn't replacing GEICO's other campaigns featuring its mascots -- the gecko, the caveman, and kash …

AT&T was once again selling iPhones to metro New Yorkers yesterday after refusing to do so for a few days and suggesting that shoppers choose another phone, Niraj Sheth reports. Several blogs reported the decision -- and AT&T's sketchy reasoning -- over the weekend. Several reports speculated that AT&T's network was having trouble keeping up with the high data demands of the phone. On Monday, AT&T issued a "terse" statement, Sheth writes, but declined to comment further on why it temporarily halted sales. It simply said: "We periodically modify our promotion and distribution channels." Analysts say …

After doing an end-run around the Hollywood studios last year to get digital content for its digital streaming service, Netflix executives say they will play nice in the future. Netflix gained streaming rights to Disney and Sony movies by allying with Starz, the pay-TV network controlled by John Malone's Liberty Media. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is counting on Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos to cut deals with the studios that will allow Netflix to show more films over the Web. Sarandos, a former video-store clerk, says he is willing to write big checks and negotiate directly with studios, Adam …