Apple isn’t wasting time putting the Beats brand to good use after its acquisition of the streaming music and audio hardware maker officially closed last week – the Mac maker now has a dedicated section of its online store, both on the web and via its iOS app, that’s all about Beats By Dre devices. The new section is divided up into headphones, in-ear headphones, speakers and accessories, and actually gives the essentially ridiculous ‘Beats Pill Dude’ its own big hero image. Beats’ own website redirects all customers looking to purchase to the Apple Store, as it has done since Apple relaunched the site of its subsidiary after closing its deal in the U.S. on August 1.



Fewer people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, as jobless claims remain at relatively low levels that point toward stronger economic growth. The Labor Department says weekly applications for unemployment aid fell 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000. The prior week's was revised up slightly to 303,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell 4,000 to 293,500.

The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, holding off fresh policy action as it prepares to launch fresh funding for banks next month that it hopes will lift inflation from rock-bottom levels. The decision to leave rates unchanged was expected after the ECB cut them in June, taking its deposit rate below zero and announcing a new round of long-term loans for banks that will be tied to lending to smaller companies.

Bank of America has agreed to pay between $16 billion and $17 billion to settle an investigation into its sale of mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis. The deal with the bank would be the largest Justice Department settlement by far arising from the economic meltdown. It follows earlier agreements with Citigroup and JPMorgan.



Digital media and entertainment company AOL Incorporated reported a 12 percent increase in quarterly revenue, helped by a jump in advertising sales. Net income attributable to AOL fell to $28.2 million, or 34 cents per share, for the second quarter ended June 30th, from $28.5 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $606.8 million from $541.3 million. AOL said advertising revenue increased 20 percent to $451.7 million. AOL owns the Huffington Post news website and the TechCrunch blog.



BlackBerry CEO John Chen told employees Friday layoffs at the smartphone maker are finished as the company focuses on the coming launch of new devices and software as well as "strategic acquisitions." The memo reiterated that the company is on track to achieve Mr. Chen's goal of positive free cash flow by the end of fiscal year 2015.



President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged African leaders to create a better environment for business by halting corruption, as he announced $33 billion in new US investment for the continent. Duration: 00:54

The United States is planning to sell Tunisia a dozen advanced attack helicopters as Washington seeks to help the North African state stamp out a mounting threat from Islamist militants. According to a notice posted late last month by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, a U.S government agency that manages arms sales, the Obama administration is planning to sell Tunisia 12 UH-60M Black Hawks for a total estimated cost of $700 million. Since April, thousands of troops have been deployed to Tunisia's mountainous Chaambi region on the border with Algeria, where fighters fleeing a French military intervention in Mali last year have taken refuge.



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Google has set a new record for smartphones around the world, and HP has created a luxury smart phone.

Michael Kors reported another quarter of blistering sales growth as demand for its handbags and watches surged in North America. Shares of the company, founded by fashion designer Michael Kors, were up 3.4 percent premarket on Monday after the company also raised its full-year revenue and profit outlook. The company has overtaken closest rival Coach in market share as its core customers - women between the age of 20 and 35 - snap up its trendy clutches, watches and snakeskin handbags. The company's handbags sell for $200 to $3,000, while watches are priced between $150 and $550. Michael Kors has posted sales growth of 40 percent or more in almost every quarter since going public in December 2011.



Union Pacific (UNP) voted to increase the quarterly dividend on the company's common shares by 10 percent to 50 cents per share. The increased dividend is payable October 1, 2014, to shareholders of record August 29, 2014.

According to people familiar with the matter, now that Apple has officially swallowed Beats, Ian Rogers, the head of Beats’ subscription-music service, will also oversee the iPhone-maker’s iTunes Radio efforts. Apple said Friday that it had closed the $3 billion acquisition of the headphone manufacturer and subscription-music provider. As part of the deal, Beats’ executive team, including Rogers and co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, have joined Apple. On its website, Apple posted a short message welcoming the Beats team saying "Music has always held a special place in our hearts, and we’re thrilled to join forces with a group of people who love it as much as we do."



The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, sharply higher interest rates around the world could combine with weaker growth in emerging markets to slice as much as 2 percentage points off global growth in the next five years. In a report assessing how individual national policies could interact to undermine the world economy, the IMF also warned the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could reverberate to the rest of the region if sanctions against Russia escalate, hitting natural gas supplies to Europe and weakening European banks. The IMF said in its 'spillovers' report, that the resulting impact could prompt further gyrations in financial markets, in contrast to the recent period of market calm



General Motors was hit Tuesday with a lawsuit brought on behalf of more than 650 people allegedly injured or killed in accidents involving cars that have been recalled this year for faulty ignition switches. The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court, where dozens of cases against GM over the switch recall have been consolidated. Since the beginning of the year, GM has recalled nearly 15 million vehicles worldwide over potentially defective ignition switches.

Tobacco major Reynolds American Inc's quarterly profit rose 6.7 percent as price increases helped to make up for a drop in cigarette volumes. The company's net income rose to $492 million, or 92 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $461 million, or 84 cents per share, a year earlier. Reynolds American, which has agreed to buy smaller rival Lorillard Inc in a $25 billion deal, also raised the bottom end of its full-year adjusted earnings forecast range to $3.35-$3.45 per share from $3.30-$3.45.



In Microsoft’s latest TV spot, the company stacks its voice assistant against Apple’s. The commercial features Siri on an iPhone 5S and Cortana on a low-end Lumia 635, where Microsoft’s voice assistant handles requests involving people and locations. Microsoft’s impressive voice assistant rolled out to Windows Phone 8 devices with the 8.1 update . Cortana is a smart mix of Siri and Google Now in that it sports the best of both. Microsoft and Apple have long taken shotsat each other’s products and this practice will not stop anytime soon.



In what appears to be part of a summer shopping spree, Apple is reported to be buying Swell, a radio app much like Pandora but focused on talk radio. According to Re/Code , the deal is worth approximately $30 million. Swell is a product out of Concept.io , a startup founded back in 2012 in Mountain View and led by CEO and co-founder G.D.“Ram” Ramkumar.

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