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The U.S. copyright office issued exemptions to a copyright law, giving legal protection for people who unlock their smartphones like Apple Inc.’s iPhone.
Changing operators’ fixed phone settings — a concept known as “jailbreaking” — has become widely popular around the world since the 2007 introduction of Apple’s iPhone.
The move by the copyright office to give exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will undermine handset makers like Apple’s ability to control the installation of software programs on their phones. Get the full story »
Toyota Motor Corp. has pushed back plans to build its Prius in the United States by as much as six years, with a top executive saying U.S. production is likely to start only when the best-selling hybrid is remodelled. Get the full story »
Apple CEO Steve Jobs at a press conference on the Apple iPhone 4 reception problems at Apple's headquarters, July 16, 2010. (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Apple Inc. said on Monday that its popular iPhone 4 model will go on sale in an additional 17 countries on Friday, July 30.
The newest version of iPhone went on sale in France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. in late June, creating a carnival-like atmosphere and drawing tens of thousands of eager fans to Apple stores and retail partners. Get the full story »
A Boeing 787 prepares for its first test flight in December. (AP)
Boeing Co said Thursday that issues raised in its 787 Dreamliner flight tests could delay first delivery of the long-awaited carbon-composite aircraft into the first part of 2011, but the company also expects an uptick in new plane demand over the next two decades. Get the full story »
Kleenex is hoping to bolster summer sales with packages that resemble wedges of fruit and look more at home on a picnic table than a nightstand.
The A-frame packages, featuring fruits including watermelon, oranges and limes, have been rolled out to all major retailers this summer.
“This keeps the category relevant during this time of year,” said Craig Smith, brand director of Kleenex, a Kimberly-Clark brand. Smith said that with the fruit packaging test run last summer, “we saw close to 100 percent incrementality,” meaning sales of the novelty box did not cannibalize sales of standard Kleenex boxes. Get the full story »
European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. will offer prices below its previous ones in order to win a contract to provide the U.S. Air Force with new aerial refueling tankers, German daily Financial Times Deutschland reports Monday, citing industry sources. Get the full story »
A design from Threadless.com. (Dell)
The Chicago-based company Threadless, which has been putting artists’ designs on T-shirts for a decade, now is giving consumers something for their fingertips and something else for their feet.
Threadless announced on Thursday that it had partnered with Dell to offer 11 of its designs on the lids of Dell Mini or Dell Studio laptop PCs. And on Monday, it will announce a separate venture to offer six of its designs, including two new ones, on high-end Havaianas flip flops.
The partnerships highlight moves to extend the Threadless brand and the artistic expressions of its 80,000+ artists beyond the well-known T-shirts. Company executives also have had discussions about putting designs on water towers, beverage containers and integrating them into video games. Get the full story »
By Booth Moore | Madonna is hoping to go from fashion icon to fashion mogul with her latest endeavor. The pop star and her 13-year-old daughter, Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon, are partnering on a junior fashion line called Material Girl, which will be sold exclusively at Macy’s for back-to-school season, and although the clothes won’t land in stores until Aug. 3, sketches were released this week.
By Kathy Bergen
| Chicago will pay up to 25 percent of the tab on a $1.9 million restoration of exterior doors and storefront windows at the historic Civic Opera House, the City Council decided this week.
The city will provide as much as $488,844 in tax increment financing assistance to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for the restoration on its downtown home, designed in 1927 by the architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White. The firm also designed the Wrigley Building and the Merchandise Mart.
Reuters | U.S. aircraft and defense firm Boeing said on Friday
it expects to boost its international sales to compensate for a
slowdown in its home market as the U.S. government tries to rein in
defense spending.
Dennis Muilenburg, President and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space and
Security, told reporters in Singapore that international sales would
grow to 20-25 percent of total revenue in the next five years from 16
percent in 2009.
Associated Press | Deere says its second-quarter profit jumped
16 percent as sales of farm and construction equipment improved and is
raising its outlook for the second time this year.
The Moline.-based company says it generated $547.5 million in net
income, or $1.28 per share, in the quarter. That’s up from net income
of $472.3 million, or $1.11 per share, a year earlier. Excluding a
charge related to health care legislation, profit was $1.58 per share.
Associated Press | An Ohio company recalled 2.5 million ride-on
toy buggies Wednesday, because a design flaw can allow them to roll away
uncontrolled.
The buggies, which resemble cars, have long handles so parents can push
them like a stroller.
Associated Press | A new round of inspections was ordered Monday for some Boeing 737s that
can develop a dangerous vibration in the tail.
The inspections cover the mechanism that attaches a movable flap to the
plane’s elevator, the surface in the plane’s tail that points the nose
up or down. If that flap comes loose it can cause a severe vibration,
the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Associated Press | Motel 6 is offering travelers sleek European-style rooms with wood-effect floors, modernistic furniture, bright red blankets, granite counters in the bathroom, and HDTVs with a slew of multimedia hookups. After hiring an outside design consultant, the motel chose to use a haute couture design more often found in the boutique hotels of Hollywood, Amsterdam or Paris — complete with a “sexy” corner couch ready for cocktail hour.
Most Chicago-area hotels now feature the new design.
Hotels and motels normally renovate their properties about every 10 years. Motel 6’s rival operators, Super 8 and Red Roof Inn, are also starting to renovate some of their properties with similar European styling, setting up a battle for the budget traveler with high-style design as the weapon of choice.
