Apple showed a range of products at the Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday, signaling which devices it wants to kill. Several industries and products are now on notice and should probably either gird their loins or write a will. Among them: Google Maps; ethernet; optical drives; hard disks, Dropbox and Evernote.

Marketing on Facebook influences consumer behavior and leads to increased purchases for the brands that leverage the social-networking site, consulting company comScore said in a report released Tuesday. "The Power of Like 2: How Social Media Works" looks at paid advertising on Facebook as well as earned media exposure -- meaning mentions of the brand made by Facebook users in status updates and the like. It is based on the experiences of large brands such as Best Buy, Starbucks and Target. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published last week showed four out of five Facebook users haven't bought a product or service …

Based on plans announced by Apple at its annual software developer's conference, it appears Apple wants to grab a spot on the steering wheel. It is developing a button-activated in-car version of Siri, called "Eyes Free." The button would only operate an iPhone or another Apple device equipped with Siri - which is soon expected to include an update version of the Apple iPad.

Adidas has rolled out an official Tumblr football profile to coincide with the launch of the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. The brand is also participating in a pilot project with Tumblr to test the platform's advertising model - Adidas posts will feature in the Tumblr dashboard's "Radar" section and be highlighted throughout UEFA Euro 2012.

The 2012 Olympics epitomizes the "Faustian bargain of contemporary capitalism," writes columnist Heather Stewart, pointing out that as public entities spend less, corporations are more than willing to foot the bill in exchange for ubiquity. "Judging by the advertising onslaught, the Olympic dream has little to do with rippling athleticism or heroic sporting endeavor, and everything to do with flogging washing powder and sausage and egg McMuffins." J.M. Keynes and Adam Smith weigh in from the beyond.

Share prices of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., have fallen more than 80% since September partly because its patents on the popular K-Cup single-serving pod are expiring. The K-Cups, which produce one cup of coffee at a time in Green Mountain's Keurig brewers, are the most profitable segment of the company's business, accounting for about three-quarters of its net sales. But when the K-Cup patents expire this fall, grocery and retail stores will flood the market with lower-priced, store-brand coffee pods that can be used in Keurig machines and cut into Green Mountain's earnings. One, Cincinnati-based Kroger, said it would …

Twitter aired its first TV ads to tout its advertising potential on Sunday during a NASCAR broadcast on Time Warner Inc.'s TNT cable network. The ads, produced as part of a partnership between Twitter and NASCAR is part of Twitter's effort to tout itself as a serious social media business. Using NASCAR to demonstrate how hashtag pages could work, Twitter aired six different 15-second spots during Sunday's Pocono 400 race that introduced the "#NASCAR" hashtag and directed viewers to the URL "twitter.com/#NASCAR."

Chevron has signed a three-year deal -- $4 million annually -- that makes it an official partner of the U.S. Golf Association. The sponsorship includes print, broadcast and digital media purchases. The agreement will use marquee events to promote education by showcasing the science and technology principles behind the game, Glenn Weckerlin, Chevron's director of marketing, said. There will be learning stations to teach about the science of golf -- such as aerodynamics, velocity and lift of golf balls, and measuring the slope and acceleration of putting greens.

Coca-Cola swung back at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to limit sugary beverages to 16 ounces. "There is no scientific evidence that connects sugary beverages to obesity," said Katie Bayne, Coca-Cola's president of sparkling beverages in North America. "If you look at the data, you can see that during the same period obesity was rising, sugar intake from beverages was decreasing. Between 1999 and 2010, sugars from soda consumption decreased by 39%, but the percentage of obese children increased by 7%, and 13% for adults." A rep for Bloomberg countered by telling USA Today, "sugary beverages are a key …

Adidas has launched an official soccer Tumblr blog in time for the 2012 UEFA European Championship. It plans to promote the site with paid placements in the Tumblr "Radar" slot on the user dashboard. The dashboard, which features a continually rotating selection of Tumblr blogs picked by the editorial team, can now be bought as an ad unit for an entire day as well. Adidas will also promote the site on Tumblr's "spotlight" page for sports blogs, where the ad runs three times wider than the teases for organic picks.