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CauseWorld, a mobile app that lets users check in to retail shops for credits that can be donated to charity, is clearly on a roll. The app first launched in December as “the first mobile application that let’s you do good deeds simply for walking into a store.” CauseWorld app users earn “karma points” when they walk into stores and check in with their cell phone. No purchase is required at any store, and karma points can be redeemed nine predefined good causes. Big brands like Kraft Foods and Citi (both are on board) then turn the karmas into real dollar donations to those causes. Food for poor families, water in Sudan, trees in the Amazon, etc. are examples of the causes. The company has now donated about half of the original $500,000 donated by Kraft and Citi for the test period. And these brands seem to be happy. CauseWorld has been downloaded more than 300,000 times, probably putting it on par with location based check in networks like FourSquare. Last week Proctor and Gamble said it will give users karma points for scanning the bar codes of 27 products, like toothpaste or face cream. And now Citi will announce that it is expanding it's support of CauseWorld. It's total contribution is now at $700,000. techcrunch.com | 3/9/10 7:58 AM

It's harder than ever for brands to diffuse that bad publicity surrounding recalls because news of recalls spread so quickly through Twitter and blogs. Twitter - Social Networking - Online Communities - United States - Personality abcnews.go.com | 3/5/10 11:08 PM

Disgraced golfer TIGER WOODS has reportedly declined a $75 million (£46.88 million) offer to endorse Irish gambling company PaddyPower.com. The married sportsman has been dropped as the spokesmodel of several big brands, including energy drinks firm Gatorade, since news of his numerous affairs hit the headlines last year (09). feeds.hollywood.com | 3/5/10 3:18 PM

COMPANIES behind some of the best-known brands are being urged to do more to prevent littering following a survey of rubbish picked up across Britain. news.scotsman.com | 2/24/10 12:00 AM

Laptop buyers may not be as familiar with boutique vendors like Micro Express as they are with big brands like Dell or HP, but smaller vendors can sometimes be more agile in getting hot new products to market. Case in point: The Micro Express KHL9070 is the first portable to hit our labs carrying Intel's latest Core i7 620M chip paired with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics. It isn't the most powerful desktop replacement laptop we've seen, but it isn't the most expensive one, either--in this model, Micro Express brings you the latest Intel CPU line and DirectX 11 graphics for $1299 (as of February 2, 2010). www.networkworld.com | 2/3/10 4:00 PM