The wireless industry said smartphones will offer optional, reversible "kill switches" as a way to deter thieves. The feature lets users remotely erase their personal data and render phones inoperable if they are lost or stolen. Apple, AT&T, Google, HTC, Motorola, Microsoft, Nokia, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, among others, said they would offer the switch in phones this summer.

General Mills plans to start selling Nature Valley brand oatmeal that can be cooked with a Keurig coffee machine via single-serving pods. Nature Valley Bistro Cups Oatmeal will have a packet of oatmeal, another packet of nuts and fruit and a flavor capsule that is mixed with the oats when hot water filters through the machine.

L'Oreal Paris has released first-quarter sales results, which were hampered, in part, by sluggish trends in North America's mass-market channel during the first few months of the year. Total group sales for the quarter were EUR5.64 billion, down 2.2% compared with the year-ago period. On a like-for-like basis, sales rose 3.5%.

Here's the list you have been waiting for. "Artisanal," "bespoke," and all of the hipster words don't do it justice. These are the top coffee spots in America in 2014. The names should say it all: Houndstooth Coffee in Austin; Joe Bean, Rochester, N.Y.; Sqirl in L.A.; Bad Wolf Coffee in Chicago. Put your mason jar of cold-brew coffee in the fridge, twirl that mustache and skateboard on down.

The Chevrolet Trax small crossover is in 60 global markets and will soon be in 61: the U.S. The automaker unveiled the vehicle at an event in New York on Tuesday night. Sibling Buick has had success in the segment with platform sibling Encore, sales of which have exceeded GM's expectations since its launch in early 2013.

Maxwell House, a 122-year-old coffee, is good, not awesome, to the last drop. The brand, trying to avoid competing with hipster coffee and Starbucks, is playing on "Good to the Last Drop." A trio of TV spots says, "Good is setting a personal best before going for a world record," the Maxwell House man explains. "Good is swinging to get on base before swinging for a home run."

A new retailer survey found that vapor products are a threat to both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. And retailers dedicated to them are growing. Henley Vaporium in NYC is one. Wells Fargo Securities analysis says e-cigarettes are losing share to vapors/tanks/mods in the $2.2 billion market. Vape shops could reach 10,000 outlets nationwide.

GM's global HR director, Melissa A. Howell, is leaving GM as the automaker is conducting its own investigation into the handling of the ignition switch recall. The automaker's CEO, Mary Barra, last week put two managers on leave due to their handling of the problem. Selim Bingol, the GM global public relations chief, is also out.

Unilever has created a YouTube channel filled with hair styling tutorials from well-known video bloggers as a platform to advertise a range of its hair brands. The channel, called 'All Things Hair', marks the first time that Unilever has advertised multiple brands as part of the same campaign. The brands involved include Toni & Guy, Dove and VO5.

"Labels are not just labels; they evoke a set of beliefs," says Alia Crum, a clinical psychologist who does research at the Columbia Business School in New York. She did an experiment to see if information conveyed by a nutritional label could have a placebo effect: physically changing what happens to you. Apparently, they can.