Online videogame players are getting their first peek at the third installment of Halo--the company's biggest video game franchise--in a beta version that Microsoft is distributing over its Xbox Live Internet service. It will be officially released on Sept. 25. The first Halo was essential in building the credibility of Microsoft's original Xbox game machine. Now Microsoft is trying to fend off the latest contender from Sony, the PlayStation 3, with its Xbox 360. Halo 3 will not be playable on the Sony console. Since the original Halo was introduced in 2001, the series has sold more …

Word of mouth has more than twice as much influence on business-to-business sales than advertising, direct mail or press coverage, according to a survey by The Keller Fay Group sponsored by experiential marketing agency Jack Morton Worldwide. That includes (in order): recommendations from colleagues or friends, conversation with a salesperson, participation at marketing events, conferences and tradeshows, and last, the Internet. The spring 2007 survey of U.S. and U.K. executives found that 50% are highly likely to buy a product or service based on word of mouth; 49% pass on what they've heard. Fully 75% of these influential conversations …

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit in Albany County Supreme Court yesterday claiming that Dell and Dell Financial Services LP have engaged in fraud, false advertising and deceptive business practices, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal that could not be immediately confirmed. The lawsuit accuses Dell of attracting customers with misleading financing terms, rebates and other benefits, but ultimately sticking them with high interest on lines of credit. It also claims that Dell avoids giving customers rebates through various tactics and fails to honor warranties and service contracts. Dell spokesman Bob Pearson responds …

Motorola has decided that the best way to replicate the smash success of its cell phone is to add features and improve performance with more robust software and hardware. The Razr2 unveiled yesterday features big jumps in processor speed and screen brightness, both of which are 10 times greater than the original Razr. The company also has added a 2-inch display to the outside of the Razr 2--calling it the biggest external screen on a flip phone--so that it can be used more easily as a music player. The user interface has been redesigned for easier access to the assorted …

Known for generations for its suds-producing products, Procter & Gamble was a looming presence at a big biotech conference in Boston last week. It was selling one thing: Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals ability to develop and market drugs conceived by small research companies. Building these alliances follows P&G's decision last summer to abandon the drug-discovery business--costing about 300 researchers their jobs--and instead focus on partnerships in key areas, including women's health, gastrointestinal disorders and muscular/skeletal treatments. Since then, P&G has signed one licensing deal--with Aryx Therapeutics-- to commercialize a treatment for gastrointestinal problems. With many larger pharmaceuticals …

Trying to tap into the burgeoning power of blogs as promotional tools and fed up with the jaded attitudes of professional critics and TV feature writers, studios and networks are flooding bloggers with free stuff in hopes the flattered recipients will reward them with positive coverage. Some networks have even borrowed a term from the technology industry to describe the strategy: blogola. To create buzz about "The New Adventures of Old Christine," CBS recently invited 12 "mommy bloggers" to spend the day on the set. The bloggers got free DVDs, watched a rehearsal and made videos with Julia Louis-Dreyfus …

The World Federation of Advertisers--which encompasses 55 national advertiser associations--yesterday pledged to give consumers more of a stake in advertising by boosting the complaints process and generating more feedback. The commitment comes after a recent Gallup survey in the U.S. found only 10% of those polled rated the ethics of advertisers as "very high" or "high." WFA managing director Stephan Loerke says the industry needs to commit to responsible advertising at a time when marketing has an increasingly cross-border dimension and emerging economies are becoming fast-growing advertising markets. The WFA's measures include boosting consumer awareness about the …

Despite the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act, which governs Washington's 45-year-old embargo on Cuba, iconic American brands such as Coke, Nike, Colgate and Marlboro, Gillette Series shaving cream and Jordache jeans all are easy to find on the island. Nor are they in black-market back alleys. They can be found in the lobbies of gleaming government-run hotels and in supermarkets and pharmacies. Cuba has for years sought out American goods as a way of thumbing its nose at the embargo. Officials at three foreign-owned import companies operating in Havana say the communist government itself still imports the vast …

Chrysler--founded by Walter Chrysler and three ex-Studebaker engineers in 1920 to design and build affordable "luxury" vehicles--is a brand steeped in heritage. Its first model, the 1924 Chrysler Six priced at $1,565, featured two significant innovations: a light, powerful, high-compression six-cylinder engine and the first use of four-wheel hydraulic brakes in a moderately priced vehicle. The 1928 acquisition of Dodge Brothers made Chrysler the third of Detroit's Big Three automakers--and Chrysler one of the most successful industrialists of his generation. In 1938, a new brand-defining model appeared: the New York Special, soon recast as the richly appointed …

In a deal announced this morning, an affiliate of private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP will make a capital contribution of $7.4 billion in return for an 80.1% equity interest in Chrysler Holding LLC, a new entity. DaimlerChrysler will keep a 19.9% stake, and will retain obligations for pensions and health-care costs. Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda will run the company under the deal, which is subject to the approval of DaimlerChrysler's supervisory board. Cerberus was viewed as a strong contender to buy the company because of its deep pockets and the potential synergies to be had by marrying Chrysler's …