The NYT reports that Steve Jobs is stepping down but will remain as chairman.  Tim Cook, currently Apple's COO, will take over the top spot.

With the August 30 release of Madden NFL 12 just days away, GameStop says it is sponsoring midnight kickoff promotions at more than 2,100 stores. Events are scheduled to begin as early as 10:00 pm on Sunday, and the Grapevine, Tex.-based retailer is inviting fans to wear team colors and come to stores to play pre-game warm-up challenges that include first-to-play Madden NFL 12 kiosks, ultimate fan contests, and instore tournaments. To encourage people to pre-order, it says it will offer a bonus gift of the 2011 All-Star teams from the NFC and AFC. And gamers who participate …

WPP reported an 8% revenue gain on a constant currency basis to slightly more than $7.6 billion for the first half of 2011, due largely to currently fluctuations that favored the British pound during the period, the ad holding company said. Organic revenue growth, a key metric for the industry, which excludes acquisitions and currency fluctuations, was lower, but still up 6.1% for the half. That was at the low end of the range of other holding company competitors for the same period. At the high end, Publicis Groupe reported 7.1% organic growth for the same period. The comparable figures …

Taking a page from Warren Buffett, Publicis CEO Maurice Lévy has signed a public letter (along with 14 other wealthy French citizens) encouraging the French government to levy a one-time tax on the rich, according to the WSJ. Just to be clear, this would be a tax on the personal wealth of private individuals -- nothing to affect corporate income at Publicis.  Other signatories include Jean-Paul Agon, the chairman and CEO of L'Oreal, and Franck Riboud, chairman and CEO of Danone.

Everyone place frantic calls to your guru asking which crystals will best realign your aura.  That's how we handle this on the West Coast. On a not-at-all-serious note, here's my social graf on the subject: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=157300

General Motors is launching a global consolidation review, the company has confirmed. The car marker spends more than $4 billion in ads worldwide and close to $3 billion in the U.S. It's the first Consolidation review the auto giant has conducted since 2005, when Publicis Group's Starcom MediaVest Group, the current incumbent, beat Interpublic's MediaWorks, the buying incumbent at the time.

Toys "R" Us says it is stepping up its expansion plans, and that it plans to have 21 new stores open by the end of the year. That includes 11 superstores and 10 locations with both a Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us under one roof. The Wayne, N.J.-based retailer is also remodeling 23 existing locations to this "side-by-side" format, which it says provides convenience for parents, as well as the ability to cultivate customer loyalty, "as their children grow and they transition from Babies "R" Us to Toys "R" Us shoppers," the company says in its release. …

Can using an e-book or e-reader app make you healthier? Maybe not. But a new study has found that people who use such apps on mobile devices are more three times likely to be active users of online healthcare information than the total Internet population. According to Kantar Media's MARS 2011 Online Behavior Study, 71% of the 27.1 million U.S. adults who regularly use e-book or e-reader apps go online to gain more information about a condition, and 61% are more apt to do so in connection with a doctor's appointment. The study also found about 1 out of …

The Association of National Advertisers added 11 new members during the second quarter of 2011, bringing its total member up to more than 400 companies. The list of new ANA members for Q2 2011 is: ALCOA Blue Diamond Growers Carolina AAA Celestron Idea Sphere International Code Council Juniper Networks Kennametal National Hot Rod Association Samsung Vista Print

A group of WPP agencies has been awarded a $200 million global U.S. tourism account. The assignment includes creative, media, public relations and brand consulting. JWT and sibling MediaCom will handle creative and media chores respectively, according to client, The Corporation for Travel Promotion (CTP), which issued RFPs for the business back in July. Congress established the CTP in 2010 as a partnership between the travel industry and federal government to promote international tourism to the U.S. The client confirmed that its ad budget for the next year is $200 million. Hill & Knowlton will handle public …