http://bostonherald.com/feed/4 en http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/senator_concerned_about_apples_fingerprint_tech <p>NEW YORK — Sen. Al Franken is concerned about Apple's use of fingerprint recognition technology in its new iPhone 5S.</p><p>The iPhone 5S, which went on sale Friday, includes a fingerprint sensor that lets users tap the phone's home button to unlock their phone, rather than enter a passcode.</p><p>But Franken says that while a password can be kept a secret and changed if it's hacked, fingerprints are permanent and are left on everything a person touches. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Minnesota Democrat asks for more clarity on security questions.</p> Technology News Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:18:09 -0400 Associated Press 1063302701 http://bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2013/09/ag_rides_for_dead_people_billed_to_medicaid_program <p>A medical transportation company billed the government for rides for dead people, according to the attorney general's office, which today indicted the owner of the Webster-based business for allegedly defrauding a Medicaid program of more than $470,000.</p><p>Cynthia J. Keegan, 50, of Webster and her company, Cross Roads Trolley, were indicted yesterday by a Worcester County grand jury for multiple counts of larceny and Medicaid false claims.</p> Healthcare Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:21:00 -0400 Ariel Rodriguez 1063302521 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/employers_cut_jobs_in_20_us_states_in_august <p>WASHINGTON — Employers cut jobs in 20 states last month, suggesting modest improvement in the U.S. job market this year is not enough to benefit all areas of the country.</p><p>The Labor Department said Friday that 29 states added jobs, while Montana showed no net gain or loss in August. Unemployment rates rose in 18 states, fell in 17 and were unchanged in 15.</p><p>"The picture is decidedly mixed," said Jim Diffley, chief US regional economist at IHS Global Insight. "We're still optimistic about the improvement (in hiring), but it's been slow."</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:59:51 -0400 Associated Press 1063302231 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/obama_takes_on_coal_with_first_ever_carbon_limits <p>WASHINGTON — Linking global warming to public health, disease and extreme weather, the Obama administration pressed ahead Friday with tough requirements to limit carbon pollution from new power plants, despite protests from industry and from Republicans that it would mean a dim future for coal.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 10:07:42 -0400 Associated Press 1063301306 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/much_needed_hub_condos_on_the_way <p> </p><p>For the past year, Bay State homeowners and potential home buyers competed in bidding wars as they targeted a dwindling supply of properties for sale. Massachusetts' housing market rebounded strongly in the first two quarters as the median sale price for single-family homes and condos jumped at double-digit rates and sales reached levels not seen since 2006.</p><p>But has the market cooled with mortgage rates up by a full percentage point over the past four months? And if so, what will the fall and winter markets look like?</p> Real Estate Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jennifer Athas 1063300131 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/price_y_offices_rise_in_seaport <p>Shovels were ceremoniously lifted yesterday to mark construction already under way on the first office tower in Seaport Square, one of the largest mixed-used, master plan developments in the nation in one of the fastest growing areas of the city.</p> Real Estate Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Donna Goodison 1063300231 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/3_mayoral_candidates_who_understand_innovation <p>In a race focused heavily on schools, jobs and crime, mayoral candidates John R. Connolly, John F. Barros and Michael P. Ross have emerged as the tech trio – the ones who understand the critical role that innovation could play in the next administration.</p> Technology News Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jessica Van Sack 1063300636 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mit_prez_fed_budget_cuts_killing_growth <p> </p><p>Massive federal budget cuts are threatening Boston's innovation economy, and could significantly derail the industry's momentum years from now, education and business leaders say.</p><p>"It would be hard to overstate the negative impact on the people, the businesses and the future of Greater Boston and our nation," MIT President Rafael Reif yesterday told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jordan Graham , Chris Cassidy 1063300641 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/the_ticker_5 <p><strong>Logan to get Dubai flights</strong></p><p>The Massachusetts Port Authority yesterday announced that Emirates Airlines will begin daily nonstop flights from Dubai to Boston starting March 14.</p><p>The Emirates service comes with a $1.5 million sweetener, a Massport incentive program that includes landing fee credits and joint advertising opportunities.</p><p>The flights on Emirates follow announcements in the past 18 months of new international service between Logan and Tokyo, Panama City and Istanbul.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 herald.staff 1063300696 http://bostonherald.com/business/automotive/2013/09/california_adopts_ride_hailing_service_regulations <p>SAN FRANCISCO — Web-based ride-hailing companies will have to make sure drivers undergo training and criminal background checks and have commercial liability insurance under rules approved Thursday by California regulators.</p><p>The state Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously in favor of those rules and others for such companies as Lyft and Sidecar. Both companies rely on smartphone applications to connect riders and drivers who use their own vehicles.</p><p>Commissioners said the rules were needed to ensure public safety.</p> Automotive Thu, 19 Sep 2013 22:17:13 -0400 Associated Press 1063298791 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/senate_passes_bill_to_avert_helium_shortage <p>WASHINGTON — Break out the balloons.</p><p>Congress moved a step closer Thursday to averting an impending shutdown of the federal helium reserve, a key supplier of the lighter-than-air gas used in a products ranging from party balloons to MRI machines.</p><p>The Federal Helium Program, which provides about 42 percent of the nation's helium from a storage site near Amarillo, Texas, is set to shut down Oct. 7 unless lawmakers intervene. The shutdown is a result of a 1996 law requiring the reserve to pay off a $1.3 billion debt by selling its helium.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 19:17:22 -0400 Associated Press 1063299126 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/jpmorgan_admits_fault_pays_920m_in_trading_loss <p>WASHINGTON — The financial penalty is staggering. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $920 million for trading losses that shook the financial world last year.</p><p>But the bigger price may be a few words rarely uttered in settlements with U.S. regulators: The nation's largest bank is also admitting wrongdoing.</p><p>JPMorgan's acknowledged failure of oversight in the $6 billion trading loss is a first for a major company since the Securities and Exchange Commission reversed its longstanding practice of allowing firms to pay fines without accepting fault.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:27:41 -0400 Associated Press 1063297606 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/ex_halliburton_manager_charged_in_gulf_spill_probe <p>NEW ORLEANS — A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company.</p><p>Anthony Badalamenti, who had been the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., was charged in federal court with instructing two other employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP's blown-out well.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 17:12:15 -0400 Associated Press 1063297266 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/man_accused_in_bogus_phone_bill_scheme_indicted <p>HELENA, Mont. — A Montana man being sued by the federal government over $70 million in charges to unsuspecting phone customers' bills nationwide is now facing criminal counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.</p><p>The 35-count indictment against Steve Sann was unsealed Wednesday during a settlement conference in a separate civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission over the allegations.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:40:21 -0400 Associated Press 1063298406 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/americans_increasingly_hungry_for_hipster_foods <p>So maybe the chance to taste the flaky spawn of a doughnut and croissant won't get you lining up at the crack of dawn. Maybe you're holding out for a burger nestled between fried ramen noodles. Or perhaps it's the elusive McRib that moves you.</p><p>Whatever flies your foodie flag, it's hard to deny that Americans love feeling part of something deliciously exclusive, that they clamor to taste trendy, hard-to-get morsels.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:30:14 -0400 Associated Press 1063298871 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/tj_maxx_lets_customers_shop_online <p>NEW YORK — Deal hunters have a new online option: This week, off-price retailer T.J. Maxx has quietly begun letting its customers shop online.</p><p>Off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx buy excess clothing and home goods from other merchants and sells them at about 20 percent to 60 percent off regular prices.</p> Technology News Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:59:17 -0400 Associated Press 1063298891 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/postmaster_says_usps_may_need_emergency_rate_hike <p>WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said Thursday his agency is in "the midst of a financial disaster" and may need an emergency increase in postage rates to keep operating.</p><p>"The Postal Service as it exists today is financially unsustainable," he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It's a message that the postmaster general has been delivering to Congress with regularity over the past several months.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:18:47 -0400 Associated Press 1063297716 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/pandora_boosts_stock_offering_as_shares_hit_high <p>LOS ANGELES — Pandora stock hit an all-time high Thursday in the wake of a court ruling that should help the Internet radio giant trim its songwriter royalty costs.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:54:35 -0400 Associated Press 1063298411 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/google_releases_digital_wallet_app_for_iphones <p>SAN FRANCISCO — Google is bringing its digital wallet to the iPhone in its latest attempt to upstage Apple on its own popular device.</p><p>Thursday's release of the Google Wallet app represents a challenge to the Passbook program that Apple has built into the iPhone's operating system.</p><p>Both Google Wallet and Passbook allow iPhone users to store loyalty cards from some merchants and scan coupons offering discounts.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:43:30 -0400 Associated Press 1063298446 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mass_unemployment_rate_flat_despite_7500_new_jobs_in_august <p>Massachusetts added 7,500 jobs in August but the unemployment rate stayed flat at 7.2 percent, officials said today.</p><p>The private sector added 6,700 jobs in August, as education and health services, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, construction, information and financial activities all added to their ranks, the preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates show. Government added 800 jobs over the month and 1,600 over the year.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 12:00:00 -0400 Marie Szaniszlo 1063298086
http://bostonherald.com/feed/4 en http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/senator_concerned_about_apples_fingerprint_tech <p>NEW YORK — Sen. Al Franken is concerned about Apple's use of fingerprint recognition technology in its new iPhone 5S.</p><p>The iPhone 5S, which went on sale Friday, includes a fingerprint sensor that lets users tap the phone's home button to unlock their phone, rather than enter a passcode.</p><p>But Franken says that while a password can be kept a secret and changed if it's hacked, fingerprints are permanent and are left on everything a person touches. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Minnesota Democrat asks for more clarity on security questions.</p> Technology News Fri, 20 Sep 2013 13:18:09 -0400 Associated Press 1063302701 http://bostonherald.com/business/healthcare/2013/09/ag_rides_for_dead_people_billed_to_medicaid_program <p>A medical transportation company billed the government for rides for dead people, according to the attorney general's office, which today indicted the owner of the Webster-based business for allegedly defrauding a Medicaid program of more than $470,000.</p><p>Cynthia J. Keegan, 50, of Webster and her company, Cross Roads Trolley, were indicted yesterday by a Worcester County grand jury for multiple counts of larceny and Medicaid false claims.</p> Healthcare Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:21:00 -0400 Ariel Rodriguez 1063302521 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/employers_cut_jobs_in_20_us_states_in_august <p>WASHINGTON — Employers cut jobs in 20 states last month, suggesting modest improvement in the U.S. job market this year is not enough to benefit all areas of the country.</p><p>The Labor Department said Friday that 29 states added jobs, while Montana showed no net gain or loss in August. Unemployment rates rose in 18 states, fell in 17 and were unchanged in 15.</p><p>"The picture is decidedly mixed," said Jim Diffley, chief US regional economist at IHS Global Insight. "We're still optimistic about the improvement (in hiring), but it's been slow."</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 11:59:51 -0400 Associated Press 1063302231 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/obama_takes_on_coal_with_first_ever_carbon_limits <p>WASHINGTON — Linking global warming to public health, disease and extreme weather, the Obama administration pressed ahead Friday with tough requirements to limit carbon pollution from new power plants, despite protests from industry and from Republicans that it would mean a dim future for coal.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 10:07:42 -0400 Associated Press 1063301306 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/much_needed_hub_condos_on_the_way <p> </p><p>For the past year, Bay State homeowners and potential home buyers competed in bidding wars as they targeted a dwindling supply of properties for sale. Massachusetts' housing market rebounded strongly in the first two quarters as the median sale price for single-family homes and condos jumped at double-digit rates and sales reached levels not seen since 2006.</p><p>But has the market cooled with mortgage rates up by a full percentage point over the past four months? And if so, what will the fall and winter markets look like?</p> Real Estate Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jennifer Athas 1063300131 http://bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/2013/09/price_y_offices_rise_in_seaport <p>Shovels were ceremoniously lifted yesterday to mark construction already under way on the first office tower in Seaport Square, one of the largest mixed-used, master plan developments in the nation in one of the fastest growing areas of the city.</p> Real Estate Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Donna Goodison 1063300231 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/3_mayoral_candidates_who_understand_innovation <p>In a race focused heavily on schools, jobs and crime, mayoral candidates John R. Connolly, John F. Barros and Michael P. Ross have emerged as the tech trio – the ones who understand the critical role that innovation could play in the next administration.</p> Technology News Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jessica Van Sack 1063300636 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mit_prez_fed_budget_cuts_killing_growth <p> </p><p>Massive federal budget cuts are threatening Boston's innovation economy, and could significantly derail the industry's momentum years from now, education and business leaders say.</p><p>"It would be hard to overstate the negative impact on the people, the businesses and the future of Greater Boston and our nation," MIT President Rafael Reif yesterday told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 Jordan Graham , Chris Cassidy 1063300641 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/the_ticker_5 <p><strong>Logan to get Dubai flights</strong></p><p>The Massachusetts Port Authority yesterday announced that Emirates Airlines will begin daily nonstop flights from Dubai to Boston starting March 14.</p><p>The Emirates service comes with a $1.5 million sweetener, a Massport incentive program that includes landing fee credits and joint advertising opportunities.</p><p>The flights on Emirates follow announcements in the past 18 months of new international service between Logan and Tokyo, Panama City and Istanbul.</p> Business & Markets Fri, 20 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400 herald.staff 1063300696 http://bostonherald.com/business/automotive/2013/09/california_adopts_ride_hailing_service_regulations <p>SAN FRANCISCO — Web-based ride-hailing companies will have to make sure drivers undergo training and criminal background checks and have commercial liability insurance under rules approved Thursday by California regulators.</p><p>The state Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously in favor of those rules and others for such companies as Lyft and Sidecar. Both companies rely on smartphone applications to connect riders and drivers who use their own vehicles.</p><p>Commissioners said the rules were needed to ensure public safety.</p> Automotive Thu, 19 Sep 2013 22:17:13 -0400 Associated Press 1063298791 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/senate_passes_bill_to_avert_helium_shortage <p>WASHINGTON — Break out the balloons.</p><p>Congress moved a step closer Thursday to averting an impending shutdown of the federal helium reserve, a key supplier of the lighter-than-air gas used in a products ranging from party balloons to MRI machines.</p><p>The Federal Helium Program, which provides about 42 percent of the nation's helium from a storage site near Amarillo, Texas, is set to shut down Oct. 7 unless lawmakers intervene. The shutdown is a result of a 1996 law requiring the reserve to pay off a $1.3 billion debt by selling its helium.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 19:17:22 -0400 Associated Press 1063299126 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/jpmorgan_admits_fault_pays_920m_in_trading_loss <p>WASHINGTON — The financial penalty is staggering. JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pay $920 million for trading losses that shook the financial world last year.</p><p>But the bigger price may be a few words rarely uttered in settlements with U.S. regulators: The nation's largest bank is also admitting wrongdoing.</p><p>JPMorgan's acknowledged failure of oversight in the $6 billion trading loss is a first for a major company since the Securities and Exchange Commission reversed its longstanding practice of allowing firms to pay fines without accepting fault.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:27:41 -0400 Associated Press 1063297606 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/ex_halliburton_manager_charged_in_gulf_spill_probe <p>NEW ORLEANS — A former Halliburton manager was charged Thursday with destroying evidence following BP's 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a case that coincides with a guilty plea to a related charge by the Houston-based oilfield services company.</p><p>Anthony Badalamenti, who had been the cementing technology director for Halliburton Energy Services Inc., was charged in federal court with instructing two other employees to delete data during a post-spill review of the cement job on BP's blown-out well.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 17:12:15 -0400 Associated Press 1063297266 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/man_accused_in_bogus_phone_bill_scheme_indicted <p>HELENA, Mont. — A Montana man being sued by the federal government over $70 million in charges to unsuspecting phone customers' bills nationwide is now facing criminal counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.</p><p>The 35-count indictment against Steve Sann was unsealed Wednesday during a settlement conference in a separate civil lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission over the allegations.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:40:21 -0400 Associated Press 1063298406 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/americans_increasingly_hungry_for_hipster_foods <p>So maybe the chance to taste the flaky spawn of a doughnut and croissant won't get you lining up at the crack of dawn. Maybe you're holding out for a burger nestled between fried ramen noodles. Or perhaps it's the elusive McRib that moves you.</p><p>Whatever flies your foodie flag, it's hard to deny that Americans love feeling part of something deliciously exclusive, that they clamor to taste trendy, hard-to-get morsels.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 16:30:14 -0400 Associated Press 1063298871 http://bostonherald.com/business/technology/technology_news/2013/09/tj_maxx_lets_customers_shop_online <p>NEW YORK — Deal hunters have a new online option: This week, off-price retailer T.J. Maxx has quietly begun letting its customers shop online.</p><p>Off-price retailers like T.J. Maxx buy excess clothing and home goods from other merchants and sells them at about 20 percent to 60 percent off regular prices.</p> Technology News Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:59:17 -0400 Associated Press 1063298891 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/postmaster_says_usps_may_need_emergency_rate_hike <p>WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said Thursday his agency is in "the midst of a financial disaster" and may need an emergency increase in postage rates to keep operating.</p><p>"The Postal Service as it exists today is financially unsustainable," he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. It's a message that the postmaster general has been delivering to Congress with regularity over the past several months.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:18:47 -0400 Associated Press 1063297716 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/pandora_boosts_stock_offering_as_shares_hit_high <p>LOS ANGELES — Pandora stock hit an all-time high Thursday in the wake of a court ruling that should help the Internet radio giant trim its songwriter royalty costs.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:54:35 -0400 Associated Press 1063298411 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/google_releases_digital_wallet_app_for_iphones <p>SAN FRANCISCO — Google is bringing its digital wallet to the iPhone in its latest attempt to upstage Apple on its own popular device.</p><p>Thursday's release of the Google Wallet app represents a challenge to the Passbook program that Apple has built into the iPhone's operating system.</p><p>Both Google Wallet and Passbook allow iPhone users to store loyalty cards from some merchants and scan coupons offering discounts.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 13:43:30 -0400 Associated Press 1063298446 http://bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2013/09/mass_unemployment_rate_flat_despite_7500_new_jobs_in_august <p>Massachusetts added 7,500 jobs in August but the unemployment rate stayed flat at 7.2 percent, officials said today.</p><p>The private sector added 6,700 jobs in August, as education and health services, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, construction, information and financial activities all added to their ranks, the preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates show. Government added 800 jobs over the month and 1,600 over the year.</p> Business & Markets Thu, 19 Sep 2013 12:00:00 -0400 Marie Szaniszlo 1063298086
