• RIM Takes Its Shot At The Buzzer
    In the parlance of a grizzled newspaper editor, Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins seemingly buried the lede yesterday when he announced, about an hour into his presentation, that the first of the already tardy new BlackBerrys he was touting would not be available in the U.S. until March. Wall Street, frustrated by earlier delays, apparently didn't buy it. "RIM shares, which were up about 4% when Mr. Heins began introducing the phones, closed the day down 12% at $13.78," the "Wall Street Journal" reports.
  • Microsoft, Apple Have At It In Multiple Arenas
    Microsoft's release of its Office 365 Home Premium software to the public yesterday is drawing attention more for how it's being distributed, or not, than for its features.
  • Retailers Show Little Interest In Tacking On Fees
    Retailers in 40 states -- New York, Florida, California and Texas are four oversized exceptions -- can add a surcharge as high as 4% on bills being paid by credit card as of Sunday. But even though there is widespread precedent for the practice at gas pumps and consumers are getting used to uncertain price points for everything from airline seats to online merchandise, most merchants appear reluctant to pass along the fee.
  • Yesterday's News: McDonald's Fish Wrapped In MSC's Blue
    McDonald's Filet-O-Fish wrappers will carry the blue label of the Marine Stewardship Council, indicating that the wild-caught Alaska pollock the fast-food chain sells in its 14,000 outlets in the U.S. are being harvested in an environmentally sound manner. Fish McBites rolling out next month will also be wrapped in the packaging.
  • Maybe Ron Popeil Should Pitch Cordray
    Wall Street was apparently put on notice yesterday by President Barack Obama's nomination of former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White to head the Security and Exchange Commission and his simultaneous bid -- once more -- to have former Ohio Atty. Gen. Richard Cordray confirmed by the Senate as head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an operation he has been running with fervor for the past year.
  • The Plot Gets Upbeat For Netflix
    We could talk about Apple's disconcerting results, McDonald's tepid expectations or the high price of tea (and everything else) in China, but why not head toward the end of the week with an upbeat story line? Netflix.
  • Reports: Microsoft Ding-Dongs Dell
    Microsoft, whose Windows operating system and applications are part of Dell's DNA, is said to be mulling a multibillion-dollar investment in the leveraged buyout of the company being engineered by founder Michael Dell, with private equity firm Silver Lake Partners taking the lead.
  • Call It What You Will, McDonald's Garners Loyalty
    Why would McDonald's want to go messing with a brand name that is consistently rated as one of the world's most powerful and, a new survey says, has the qualities that best drive loyalty to quick-service restaurants? On the surface, that's what it may seem to be doing by renaming 13 outlets "Macca's," which is the Aussie equivalent of Mickey D's. In reality, concludes Mark Wembridge in today's "Financial Times," if you think of it as an effective publicity stunt, "fair dinkum."
  • Subway Gets Rolled For 11-Inch Footlong
    The biggest lesson gleaned from Subway's foot-long fiasco last week is obvious: It doesn't take much to kick off a social-media stampede followed by a mainstream media steamrolling. The question is whether Subway's response, sincere and honest as it may have seemed, comes across as half baked.
  • Critics: American's New Look Doesn't Fly
    There's something different in the air. Just how special seems to be a matter of hardy debate. American Airlines, whilst in bankruptcy and reportedly in discussions with US Airways about a merger, ceremoniously unveiled a new logo replacing the "iconic" Helvetica AA on its tail with bolder colors and red-white-and-blue stripes, as well as an updated eagle.
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