BUSINESS BRIEFS
AT&T says its version of iPhone will be faster
Advertiser Staff and News Services
SAN JOSE, Calif. — AT&T Inc. says it plans to offer a version of an iPhone next year that runs on a faster wireless network so users can get speedier results when surfing the Web.
The move would address one of the main drawbacks about the smart phone made by Apple Inc. and distributed exclusively by wireless carrier AT&T in the United States.
AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson spilled the news during his appearance at an event late Wednesday at the Churchill Club in Santa Clara.
Stephenson said he didn't know how much more the new version will cost than the existing model, which sells for $399.
TIVO VICTORIOUS IN PATENT DISPUTE
TiVo Inc. said yesterday it won a victory in a regulatory ruling on its digital video recording patents, halting a key challenge by EchoStar Communications Corp. to TiVo's intellectual property claims.
The decision by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office validates a set of TiVo's "time warp" patents covering technology that lets TiVo's boxes record, pause and rewind live television. The final ruling trumps a preliminary decision issued in August by the office that initially affirmed the patents covering TiVo's software, but rejected the patents on TiVo's hardware.
TiVo's shares soared nearly 25 percent, up $1.48 to $7.46. EchoStar, which operates the Dish Network, slipped 14 cents to $42.70.
CHRYSLER WILL FALL SHORT IN REVENUES
DETROIT — Spending is outpacing revenues at Chrysler LLC, which has kept its financial information secret since going private in August. It appears the company will spend $1 billion more than it is to take in this year.
That revelation was not delivered to industry analysts but reportedly to business students in Nova Scotia. They also learned that the automaker, which already has announced plans to slash as many as 25,000 jobs and four nameplates, could be making plans to cut deeper into its vehicle lineup — axing maybe four other models, though no timeline was given.
Steven Landry, Chrysler's executive vice president of North American sales, gave the students a window into Chrysler during a talk at St. Mary's University in Landry's hometown.
STUDY LOWERS COST OF SAVING OZONE
Fighting global warming may not be as painfully expensive as once thought, a new study says.
Cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming could cost the U.S. economy almost nothing if pricey measures such as building new clean power plants are offset by more energy-efficient cars, homes and businesses, says the study by McKinsey & Co., released yesterday. That's because becoming more energy efficient by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, for example, carries an upfront cost, but more than pays for itself with longer-lasting bulbs and lower electric rates.
The report's thesis appears to counter claims by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that bills in Congress that would impose heavy costs on utilities to emit carbon dioxide would be too harmful to the economy.
COMPANY ADMITS GUILT IN OIL SPILL
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska subsidiary of oil company BP PLC pleaded guilty yesterday to a federal environmental crime for failing to prevent a crude spill across a swath of delicate tundra in America's largest oil field.
The guilty plea by BP Exploration Alaska Inc. is part of a settlement with the government over a 200,000-gallon spill at the Prudhoe Bay field in March 2006. It was the largest spill ever in the vast, oil-rich region of Arctic Alaska known as the North Slope. BP pleaded guilty to one violation of the Clean Water Act, a misdemeanor, and will pay $20 million in fines for allowing the pipeline to corrode.
