COMPANIES

Royal Dutch Shell announced plans to spend at least $1 billion a year exploiting China's supply of shale gas, Reuters reported. The news came from the energy firm's head executive in China, Lim Haw Kuang, who responded to Reuters' questions about the alleged $1 billion-a-year plan to invest in the potentially vast natural gas trove.

One of the longest-running printed video game magazines in the U.S. in Canada, Nintendo Power magazine will finally close its doors after a 24-year run. Nintendo Power is dead. Long live Nintendo Power.

Gamasutra reports that Electronic-Arts owned PopCap video game studio has issued a round of layoffs and closed down one of its international studios.

Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: EA) has removed a controversial promotion from the website for its upcoming military shooter "Medal of Honor: Warfighter" video game to sell branded weapons to the general public.

Nike Inc. (NYSE:NKE) has announced its most expensive sneaker yet, the "LeBron X," a virtual smart shoe that retails for a cool $315 per pair.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), the no. 2 computer maker that?s also one of the biggest chipmakers, said it plans to acquire private Texas Memory Systems to bolster its offerings in the flash-memory sector crucial for new servers and mobile products.

The northeastern Chinese city of Tianjin announced a four-year plan to invest 1.5 trillion yuan ($236 billion) to stimulate industrial growth, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday. The Communist Party's Tianjin Daily also reported that investments have been announced for 10 industries, including petrochemicals and aerospace.

A lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court Monday alleges that Marriott International, Hilton Hotels, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and others conspired to use their market dominance to fix hotel prices with travel websites like Expedia, Travelocity and Booking.com, a subsidiary of Priceline.com.

In case you needed any more confirmation that Apple's next iPhone is coming in September, German carrier Mobilcom Debitel has added fuel to the iPhone 5 fire. The company is now featuring a page on their site with a red veil covering what appears to be an iPhone, hinting at its September release date.

Fisker Automotive Inc. is in a bad place right now, running out of money, recalling its hybrid-electric Karma luxury cars because they burst into flames and shuffling around executives faster than a losing team substitutes pitchers; it's hard to find a bright patch for the company that isn't on fire.

Siemens AG (NYSE: SI), Europe?s largest engineering company, is in early internal talks to slash thousands of jobs after posting quarterly results that came in sharply below analysts? estimates, a German newspaper reported Tuesday.

Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) is not having a good week.

The Instacube, which launched on Kickstarter Tuesday morning, is the solution for Instagram users that want enjoy their photos in more casual way. Now, anyone can passively view their Instagram feeds in their living rooms, on their work desks, or on their nightstands. They're party centerpieces, and a great way to immediately display photos being taken at that very party. It's the only way to share photos with a crowd of people; its viewfinder is far superior to that of an iPhone.

The Apple stock (AAPL) has emerged a market favorite ahead of the September 12 event, cited to be the probable launch date for next-generation iPhone, iPhone 5 and iPad Mini. Witnessing a huge rally for the last few days, the stock closed August 20 at an all-time high of $665.15 resulting in a market capitalization value of $665.15 billion.

Dell is scheduled to report second-quarter results Tuesday below last year?s. For the first time, the company founded by Chairman Michael S. Dell nearly 30 years ago in a dorm room will be ranked No. 3 in PC sales, having lost its No. 2 ranking last quarter to China?s Lenovo Group.

This past weekend's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the Monterey Car Week brought out the world's top classic car collectors like Jay Leno, auction houses like RM Auctions and Gooding & Co. and luxury brands from Rolls-Royce to Ferrari to Lamborghini for a week of cars, money and society along California's Pacific coastline.

Apple Inc's market value climbed past $623 billion on Monday, surpassing the record set by Microsoft Corp during the heyday of technology stocks in 1999.

According to the New York Observer, three more writers have been cut from the Village Voice's already-skeletal staff, while one full-time editor was reduced to part-time status.

Don?t say technology companies aren?t enormously profitable. An IBTimes review of the cash and investment holdings of 11 of the top technology leaders shows they are sitting atop nearly $375 billion in cash and investments ? or about 24 percent more since the last survey nine months ago.

After enjoying a record-breaking quarter earlier this year, Apple posted yet another milestone on Monday, this time for its stock. With its stock reaching $660.73 a share early Monday morning, Apple finally surpassed Microsoft as the most valuable publicly-traded stock ever, achieving a market capitalization of $619.37 billion, the largest cap ever recorded.

Rolls-Royce doubled down and unveiled both its Phantom Coupe Aviator and 2013 Ghost at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and Quail car show.

Apple fans can't wait to get their hands on the iPhone 5, Apple's sixth-generation smartphone believed to finally debut and hit stores next month. But for those who can't wait for the finalized product, China GadgetLand is selling what it claims to be a full "iPhone 5" set, complete with an LCD screen and digitizer assembly, for just $199.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL), the world's most valuable technology company, continued its tear as its shares keep setting all-time records in Monday trading. Earlier, its shares hit $664.75, valuing the Cupertino, Calif., company above $621 billion for the first time, more than any other company?s prior value.

New Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer appears to continue her housecleaning. U.S. sales chief Wayne Powers quit the search engine and media company Monday to become president of Parade Publications, the Sunday newspaper supplement published by privately held Advance Publications.

Exchange operator CME Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CME) is opening a hot new table in the global financial casino, pushed to set up a derivatives exchange in London by clients who can't be bothered to comply with U.S. law.

Apple fans can't wait to get their hands on the iPhone 5, Apple's sixth-generation smartphone believed to finally debut and hit stores next month. But for those who can't wait for the finalized product, China GadgetLand is selling what it claims to be a full "iPhone 5" set, complete with an LCD screen and digitizer assembly, for just $199. By and large, this iPhone looks to line up with most previous reports, specs, and rumored features of the phone.

European rabbis as well as Israel?s Minister of Public Diplomacy have criticized Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) for publishing and selling an Arabic-language app of ?The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,? probably the best-known anti-Semitic forgery.

Megachains Pizza Hut and Home Depot separately denied claims in court in Los Angeles on Thursday and Friday that they ripped off music by the band The Black Keys in TV spots, reports the Associated Press.

General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) will recall 249,260 mid-size sport utility vehicles to correct a potential fire hazard, a U.S. government safety agency said.