COMPANIES

The “suburbanization” of Manhattan will continue -- the 7-Eleven convenience store franchise plans to operate an astounding 100 stores in the borough by the year 2015, according to a report in Crain’s New York Business.

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who sustained a gunshot to the head during a Congress on Your Corner event in Tucson that killed six people, including federal judge John Roll, and injured 14 others, on Saturday, is still in critical condition but is expected to recover.

Adult magazine publisher Playboy Enterprises Inc. is about to go private as founder Hugh Hefner has received the nod from the board to buy the company.

The shocking (and highly ludicrous) news over the weekend that Mark Zuckerberg was going to shut down Facebook because it was causing him too much “stress” was only the latest in a long line of corporation-related hoaxes that have long amused, annoyed and bedeviled the public.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a record 219,614 patents in 2010, with IBM grossing the highest number of patents followed by Samsung and Microsoft.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is setting up its first overseas office for consumer product safety after failing to persuade makers of defective Chinese drywall to compensate affected U.S. homeowners.

Apple has recommended its shareholders to vote against the demand for a CEO succession plan at the Annual Meeting of shareholders in February.

Fundraising by private equity firms globally is expected to increase 33 percent to over $300 billion in 2011 compared with last year, according to a study.

News Corp's Myspace the struggling social network site, the could be Facebook site is due to lay off 500 to 600 employees.

Meet the hard drive that is almost battle worthy, capable enough to survive the ravages of Iraq or Afghanistan - the IoSafe Rugged Portable, showcased at CES 2011.

UK department store chain Debenhams Plc said bad weather in December impacted like-for-like sales by 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent for the 19 weeks to January 8.

UK recruitment consultancy Michael Page International Plc reported a 32 percent rise in fourth-quarter gross profit, as most of the growth came from permanent recruitment and said it was optimistic about its 2011 prospects.

General Motors unveiled the all-new 2012 Chevrolet Sonic at the North American International Auto Show on Monday.

The consolidation in the banking sector will continue, according to two industry executives whose institutions are in a position (and open to) buying smaller banks.

Ford Motors unveiled its first all-electric car, Focus, which is expected to get up to 160km on a single charge.

A family photo snapped by a Filipino councilman moments before he was shot dead has led the police to arrest the suspected killer and his accomplices.

GM-owned Vauxhall Motors announced Friday that the company has extended its 'Lifetime Warranty' benefit to its second owners under the Network Q used car programme.

JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley received approval from Chinese regulators to form joint ventures with domestic firms, which would allow them to participate in underwriting Chinese stock and bond offerings.

A Texas man has been exonerated by a Dallas County Judge when DNA evidence proved he was wrongly convicted in connection with a 1979 Dallas rape, robbery and abduction case.

Three people who were arrested by the federal agents last month in an operation seen as part of a widening probe into insider trading were granted bail on Tuesday.

Verizon has received a crop of 4G phones at the CES 2011, sufficient enough to handle an onslaught of phones from other carriers. Here is a comparison of 4G phone releases by Motorola, HTC, Samsung and LG for Verizon network.

BB&T CEO Kelly King speaks to IBTimes about taking advantage of the financial crisis (because of its status as a healthy bank) and the difference between BB&T and national banks like Citigroup.

The battle for 4G space intensified as both Motorola and HTC launched their 4G smartphones with key carriers.

Toyota Motor U.S.A., Inc., today reported December sales results of 177,488 units, a decrease of 2.0 percent from the same period last year.

Deloitte has recommended loss-making Air India (AI) to put a freeze on pay hike or promotion of its employees for the next three years to make a turnaround, said a report on Friday.

A federal judge in New York has okayed a class action lawsuit that accuses Leucadia National Corp., a financial services firm, the debt-collection law firm Mel S. Harris & Associates, and a Brooklyn-based process serving agency Samserv Inc., of a racketeering scheme that allowed them to fraudulently secure default judgments in New York courts against unwitting consumers around the country.

Apple's skipping the CES party but that does not stop it from creating waves, while competitors are launching tablets and phones, Apple has softly opened its much awaited Mac App Store.

French automaker Renault, which just suspended three senior managers for possibly leaking secrets about its electric car project, has said that industrial espionage poses a grave threat to the company’s “strategic assets.”

While Microsoft slugs-it-out in the CES arena, Google won temporary relief in its cloud-war against Microsoft as it restricted the U.S. Interior department from handing a $59 million contract to Microsoft.