Apple takes $290M bite of Samsung

In an industry where ripping off another company's ideas is the norm, Samsung took copycatting too far with its mobile devices, according to a federal jury that ruled yesterday that the Korean manufacturer must pay Apple $290 million on top of $600 million from a previous judgment.

Samsung took a calculated risk by using design elements that were dangerously similar to Apple's. The original model of its Samsung Galaxy series of mobile devices, the S i9000, has the same outer frame, screen and icon placement as the iPhone, specifically the 3Gs model — including those handy phone and mail shortcuts anchored to the bottom of the home screen. And the original Galaxy Tab is nearly the mirror-image of the original iPad in terms of appearance.

Many have argued that it was unfair for the government to issue such broad patents in the first place. Should Apple really own design characteristics as basic as a rectangular frame with curved edges? But guess what — before the iPhone, there were no smartphones that looked like that. And not every smartphone that followed looked like that.

Microsoft smartphones are the best example. They neither look nor act like 
Apple devices. But the U.S. consumer electronics market isn't necessarily the greatest judge of innovation, with Windows phones still struggling to gain market share.

Samsung actually sold more mobile phones nat­ionwide than Apple in 2011. The smartphones cited in the lawsuit generated 
$7.5 billion in revenue from June 2010 to June 2012, 
so I'd say that calculated risk paid off for Samsung. Big time.

And Samsung's troubles with Apple might not be over. While testing the new Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom yesterday — which is supposed to be a 
truly unique smartphone 
because its face looks like a digital camera — I realized the back of the device is the twin to my iPhone 5. They literally share a footprint.

Not that Apple has the moral high ground on 
intellectual property. The company has been subject to its own set of patent claims, including one by Boston University alleging that it stole an engineering professor's manufacturing technique for blue LEDs.

So don't expect the 
mob­ile patent wars — which have embroiled Google and HTC as well — to end anytime soon. The greatest idea these com­panies have had in a long time is to lawyer up.

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Dow average closes above 16,000 for the first time

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones industrial average finished above 16,000 for the first time Thursday as the blue-chip index races toward its best performance in a decade.

The Dow has been on fire lately, propelled higher by a combination of solid corporate earnings, a steadily strengthening economy and easy-money policies from the Federal Reserve.

Since the start of the year, the Dow is up 22 percent and has now topped three 1,000 point milestones in 10 months. It eclipsed 14,000 in February and 15,000 in May. If it holds onto its gains, it would notch its strongest performance since 2003.

"The market has come a long way," said Dan Seiver, an economist at San Diego State University. "It's a sign of just how far financial markets have recovered."

The Dow has more than tripled since its bear market low in March 2009.

Back then, the country was in the worst downturn since the Great Depression, the housing market had collapsed and individual investors had abandoned stocks.

Now, with the economy recovering and confidence returning, small investors are coming back in.

"People are getting out of bonds into stocks," said Steven Ricchiuto, chief economist at Mizuho Securities. "We're in the early stages of a recovery."

The Dow rose 109.17 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 16,009.99 Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 14.48 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,795.85. The Nasdaq composite rose 47.88 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3,969.15.

In a sign that investors are taking on more risk, small-company stocks rose at a much faster pace than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index jumped 19.83 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,119.62.

The Labor Department reported before the market opened that applications for unemployment benefits dropped last week to the lowest level since September. The number of applications is close to where it was before the Great Recession.

General Motors rose after the U.S. government said it expects to sell its remaining stake in the company by the end of the year. The Treasury Department got shares after bailing out GM five years ago, but once its sells, the automaker will be free of restrictions on executive pay that came with the bailout. It would also be free to pay dividends if it chooses.

GM gained 43 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $38.12. The stock is up 32 percent this year.

"Having the Treasury out is probably something that is going to be positive for the shares," said Jeff Morris, head of U.S. equities at Standard Life Investments. "Some investors are probably a bit spooked by having a meaningful amount of government ownership."

Johnson Controls was among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500. The company, which makes heating and ventilation systems for buildings, said its board approved a $3 billion increase in its share buyback program. The company rose $2.13, or 4.4 percent, to $50.35.

In government bond trading, the yield on the 10-year note edged down to 2.79 percent from 2.80 percent Wednesday. The yield, which is a benchmark used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans, including home mortgages, is the highest it's been since Sept. 17.

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Jury awards $24.4M to parents of Tufts patient

The parents of a boy whose intestines were damaged by an infection that went undetected in Tufts Medical Center's neonatal intensive care unit for nearly a day have been awarded a 
$24.4 million judgment by a jury, but will receive only $5.3 million under a prior deal between the parties.

Edward Xu, who is now 9 years old, was a premature newborn when he got the infection that distended his belly.

Lawyer Benjamin Nov­otny, with Lubin and Meyer, said Edward's parents 
alerted a doctor who ordered
X-rays after 11 hours, but 
those only captured the
half of his belly that was not infected. Nov­otny said it took another 13 hours before doctors realized what was wrong.

Yesterday, a jury returned a verdict that orders the hospital to pay $24.4 million to Edward's parents. However, both sides had agreed to limit the payout to $5.3 million under a deal that would have ensured some payment to the family regardless of the verdict.

"I'm just happy to see the family get the help that they need," Novotny said. "His parents take a bag of fluid and they tie it to a pole 
beside his bed. The bag feeds a tube in his chest. For eight to 10 hours a night he stays hooked up to these machines. It will be like this for the rest of his life."

The boy underwent emergency surgery to remove the damaged and infected lengths of his intestine, but the medical costs involved in his care are more than $2,000 a week, Novotny said.

Tufts yesterday defended its care of the boy.

"We have reviewed this case thoroughly and Edward was monitored closely by a team of experienced medical experts. They performed early medical and surgical interventions to save his life, using the most advanced techniques," the hospital said in a statement following the verdict. "Our care team is saddened that the best medicine available could not give him a better outcome."

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Experts: HealthCare.gov fix needs more time, money

NEW YORK — Technology experts say healing what ails the Healthcare.gov website will be a tougher task than the Obama administration acknowledges.

"It's going to cost a lot of tax dollars to get this done," says Bill Curtis, senior vice president and chief scientist at CAST, a French software analysis company with offices in the U.S.

Curtis says programmers and systems analysts start fixing troubled websites by addressing the glitches they can see. But based on his analysis of the site, he believes the ongoing repairs are likely to reveal even deeper problems, making it tough to predict when all the site's issues will be resolved.

"Will it eventually work? Yes, because they have to make it work," he says. But it'll be very expensive."

Curtis and other technology executives say the site's problems are the result of poor management of its many working parts. They also believe, as Congressional testimony has revealed, the site suffered from a lack of testing once all its systems were in place.

The federal health insurance exchange website —which cost taxpayers more than $600 million to build, according to the Government Accountability Office— has been crippled by technical problems since its Oct. 1 launch. Since then, everyone from top White House officials to the contractors who worked on the site have been called before congressional committees to determine what went wrong and who is to blame.

The White House originally promised to have the site running smoothly by the end of November. But at a news conference last week, President Obama said he couldn't guarantee that the site will be completely bug free by then.

The HealthCare.gov site is supposed to serve as a marketplace where people can enter their personal information, search and sign up for required health care coverage. But the site is a patchwork quilt of sorts. It pulls together a slew of contributions from various government contractors and attempts to join the structure with the systems of participating insurance companies.

Experts say the amount of information coursing through HealthCare.gov dwarfs that of any other government website, making it more similar to a high-traffic e-commerce operation such as Amazon.com or eBay. They contend the government didn't design the site with the kind of retail-like infrastructure it needs to keep up with demand and failed to knit its pieces together in an efficient way.

Curtis says visible parts of the website's programming code reveal a host of analytic and data coordination failures — a red flag that the site wasn't designed by people with a lot of experience building high-traffic websites. He notes that government projects are typically awarded to the lowest bid, a factor that limits the amount of money a contractor can make. As a result, bid-winners don't always assign their top people to those jobs.

Himanshu Sareen, CEO of Icreon Tech, a New York-based web and mobile design and development firm, says the government has made some progress fixing the site in recent weeks, but there are still big problems. He worries that the website is operating at half the capacity that it needs to.

Indeed, fewer than 27,000 people signed up for insurance through the federal website during the first month of open enrollment in the 36 states, according to federal health officials. Nearly 1 million more applied for coverage and were waiting to finalize decisions.

Sareen says he's shocked that so few people have been able to sign up. He says the government should focus on fixing the website's telephone support centers, the place where many frustrated insurance seekers are looking for help.

Michael Smith, a vice president of product development and operations for Compuware Corp., says the site's operations have improved significantly. Recent testing of HealthCare.gov's visible parts done by Compuware APM show seven states with unacceptable response times, down from 26 states on Oct. 25.

Even so, Smith says the government needs to inform the public that it takes time and patience to fix problem websites.

"They're building something that's never been built before, so there's no prescription for how to do it," Smith says.

And there's no better way to improve public opinion than to fix the site as quickly as possible, says Wally Krantz, creative director for The Brand Union, a global brand strategy consultancy that works with clients ranging from Time Warner Cable to The Coca-Cola Co.

Krantz says people will forget about its technical problems once they get their insurance coverage.

"If they ultimately get the website working, it'll just be another thing that people who want it to fail will bring up," Krantz says. "I don't think this story has legs beyond that."

___

Follow Bree Fowler on Twitter at http://twitter.com/APBreeFowler

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Pinterest launches location-based pins

NEW YORK — Pinterest, the online pinboard for sharing everything from wedding china ideas to travel inspiration, is now letting users add location to their pins.

San Francisco-based Pinterest says that its "Place Pins" were designed to "combine all the beautiful imagery of a travel magazine with the utility of a map and put it all online so you can share it with friends." The new feature is available on Pinterest's website and on the latest version of its mobile apps.

Pinterest says there are more than 750 million travel-related pins on the site already. With the new location-based pins, users will be able to create maps for friends visiting from out of town, or vacation spots they want to see. Pinterest launched the location tool with a slew of boards from travel sites, magazines and companies to serve as examples on how they could be used.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine, for example, created a map called the "Top 100 Hotels in the World," while Fest 300 pinned one called "The World's Best Festivals." Many of the place pins include addresses, phone numbers and other useful information.

According to comScore, Pinterest has more than 53 million monthly users. The San Francisco-based company is privately held and is only testing the waters of generating revenue. The startup's latest round of financing, $225 million, valued it at nearly $4 billion.

__

Online:

Pinterest's blog post: http://blog.pinterest.com/post/67622502341/introducing-place-pins-for-the-explorer-in-all-of-us

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News media protest White House press access limits

WASHINGTON — Dozens of leading news organizations protested to the White House on Thursday against restrictions that sometimes keep journalists from taking pictures and video of President Barack Obama performing official duties. At the same time, two press groups urged their members to stop using official photos and video handed out by the White House, dismissing them as little more than "government propaganda."

The news organizations' letter to White House press secretary Jay Carney detailed a number of recent examples in which photographers weren't allowed to cover presidential events that were deemed "private" by administration officials — even though the White House indicated their newsworthiness by releasing its own photos of the same events.

"As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist's camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the executive branch of government," the letter states, adding that the restrictions imposed by the Obama White House represent a major break from the practices of past administrations.

The news organizations said the White House limits on access raise constitutional concerns about infringement on First Amendment press freedoms and have "a direct and adverse impact on the public's ability to independently monitor and see what its government is doing."

The press coalition, which included The Associated Press, major broadcast and cable networks, wire services, online services and newspapers, said the access limits also undercut Obama's pledge to create a more transparent government, and impose "an arbitrary restraint and unwarranted interference on legitimate newsgathering activities."

The groups requested an immediate meeting with Carney on how to restore full press access.

Simultaneously, the presidents of the American Society of News Editors and the Associated Press Media Editors sent a letter to their members urging them to stop using handout photos and video from the White House.

"We must accept that we, the press, have been enablers," the ASNE-APME letter states. "We urge those of you in news organizations to immediately refrain from publishing any of the photographs or videos released by the White House, just as you would refuse to run verbatim a press release from them."

The AP has a policy against using handout photos from the White House unless they are of significant news value and shot in areas that the press doesn't expect to have access to, such as the Situation Room or the private residence areas of the White House.

Obama spokesman Josh Earnest cast the news organizations' protests as part of the natural tension that exists between journalists and those they cover.

"The fact that there is a little bit of a disagreement between the press corps and the White House press office about how much access the press corps should have to the president is built into the system," he told reporters. "If that tension didn't exist, then either you or we aren't doing our jobs."

Earnest also defended the White House's release of handout photos taken by its staff photographer, saying that allows the public to have greater access to the inner workings of the administration.

"What we have actually done is use a range of new technology to provide people greater access to the president," Earnest said. "To the American public, it's a clear win."

Among recent presidential events for which the White House distributed its own photos but denied access to photojournalists:

—An Oct. 11 meeting with Pakistani human rights activist Malala Yousafzai.

—An Aug. 26 meeting with African-American faith leaders.

—A July 30 meeting with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and Vice President Joe Biden.

—A July 29 meeting with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"While certain of these events may appear 'private' in nature, the decision of the White House to release its own contemporaneous photograph(s) suggests that the White House believes these events are, in fact, newsworthy and not private," the coalition letter states.

Kathleen Carroll, AP executive editor and senior vice president, said too many public events "are now recorded only by photographers who work directly for the White House, resulting in images that are little more than visual press releases."

"We aren't asking to make pictures of the president putting on his socks in the private quarters every morning," Carroll said. "We are asking simply to be allowed back into the room when he signs legislation, shakes hands with other leaders, and otherwise discharges his public duties."

Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography, said in a recent speech about press access that when White House photos replace — rather than supplement — independent photos, the result is "images that put the president in a consistently rosy light."

"Independent photographers strive to show things as they actually are, not how the protagonists would like to see them," Lyon said. "Showing the details, making choices of angles, all of these things are the vocabulary of photography."

In addition to the AP, those signing the coalition letter were ABC News, Agence France-Presse, American Society of News Editors, American Society of Media Photographers, Associated Press Media Editors, Associated Press Photo Managers, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Association of Opinion Journalists, Bloomberg News, CBS News, CNN, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., Fox News Channel, Gannett Co., Inc., Getty Images, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, The McClatchy Company, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, National Press Club, National Press Photographers Association, NBC News, New England First Amendment Coalition, News Media Coalition, Newspaper Association of America, The New York Times Company, Online News Association, Professional Photographers of America, Radio Television Digital News Association, Regional Reporters Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reuters, Society of Professional Journalists, Tribune Company, The Washington Post, White House Correspondents' Association, White House News Photographers Association, Yahoo Inc.

___

AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

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Senate panel advances Yellen's bid to lead Fed

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel on Thursday advanced Janet Yellen's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, setting up a final vote in the full Senate after lawmakers return from a two-week Thanksgiving break.

The Senate Banking Committee approved her nomination on a 14-8 vote. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-V.Wa., was the only Democrat to oppose Yellen's nomination. Republican Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mark Kirk of Illinois supported her.

Yellen's path to confirmation also became easier on Thursday when the full Senate voted to change its rules for approving all presidential nominees other than Supreme Court selections. Now a simple majority will be required, instead of 60 votes.

Republicans could still try to delay the final vote to focus attention on other issues. For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham has threatened to hold up nominations for government positions until survivors of last year's deadly attack on the diplomatic post in Libya appear before Congress.

But Democrats control 55 votes in the chamber, so such tactics could easily be overcome.

Yellen was nominated by President Barack Obama in October to succeed Ben Bernanke, whose second four-year term as chairman will end Jan. 31.

She would be the first woman to lead the Fed and the first Democrat to do so since Paul Volcker stepped down in 1987. She made clear at the committee's hearing last week that she's prepared to support the Fed's extraordinary efforts to bolster the economy until there are clear signs of a sustained rebound and further improvement in the job market.

As a result, the Fed's low-rate policies are expected to continue under her leadership. Yellen has been a close Bernanke ally, first as president of the San Francisco regional Fed bank, and then since 2010 as vice chair of the Fed's board in Washington.

Yellen and Bernanke are both considered "doves" — Fed officials who stress the need to fight unemployment during periods of economic weakness. By contrast, "hawks" tend to worry more about inflation that could arise from the Fed's policymaking.

In the view of Fed watchers, Yellen's testimony last week solidified her dovish reputation. She maintained that the Fed's bond buying program has successfully supported the economy by keeping long-term borrowing rates. And she minimized concerns that critics have raised about the bond purchases.

The Fed is adding to its investment portfolio with $85 billion a month in bond purchases. Its holdings are nearing $4 trillion, more than four times their level before the financial crisis struck in the fall of 2008.

Republican critics say they fear that by flooding the financial system with money, the Fed has inflated stock and real estate prices and could create asset bubbles that could pop with dangerous consequences for the economy.

Some say they also worry that the Fed's eventual unwinding of its investment holdings will unsettle financial markets, sending stock prices falling and interest rates rising and threatening the economic recovery.

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, said before Thursday's vote that he would oppose her because of his disapproval of the Fed's easy money policies.

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Luxury rental tower springs up

If you've driven down Essex Street in Boston heading toward South Station, you've undoubtedly noticed the construction project that's been in development at 120 Kingston St.

The project, which broke ground in September 2012, is within months of completion. For Forest City, which is developing it with the Hudson Group, it's the first such project in Boston to date.

Located on the edge of Boston's Chinatown, this new luxury rental development will include 240 studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and penthouse contemporary residences available for lease in the spring. Officially known as the Radian, the development will offer modern rentals on the Rose Fitzgerald ­Kennedy Greenway and will feature panoramic views of Boston along with luxury amenities and services for residents.

Additionally, Radian will have 4,500 square feet of retail space available on the ground floor with an outdoor patio perfect for a restaurant and cafe.

The retail space is being marketed by Jesse Baerkahn and Dave Downing of Graffito SP, a team with extensive experience in ­urban place-making in Boston and Cambridge. Graffito SP helped transform Kendall Square into a retail and restaurant destination by bringing Area Four, Commonwealth, FireBrand Saints and Tatte Bakery to the neighborhood. In Boston, the firm just completed work on the restaurant and coffee bar at District Hall and The Club by George Foreman III in Fort Point.

"Radian is the premier rental tower opening downtown next year. As the gateway to the Greenway, Radian is at the nexus of three vibrant neighborhoods and will become a new icon in the Boston skyline," said Doug Arsham, vice president of development for Forest City Boston. "Our vision is to offer an enhanced living experience through top-of-market finishes, services and amenities, while also offering a respite from the bustling city life. We are very pleased with the initial response we received for Radian, on the first day that our teaser website launched we received approximately 100 inquiries."

Keep this property on your list if you're in the market to lease. With a location that's ideal for the downtown professional, it's set to fill up very quickly.

Charlie Abrahams is a licensed real estate agent in Boston who works with buyers and sellers and can be reached for any additional information at: Bostonrealestate@charlieabrahams.com

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Land deal may not hurt Wynn bid

The head of the state Gaming Commission yesterday said a federal investigation into whether a businessman with a criminal record is a secret part-owner of the Everett site of Steve Wynn's proposed $1.3 billion casino may not affect Wynn's chances of being approved for the sole gaming license in Eastern Massachusetts.

"We are investigating this. We have been for some time," Stephen Crosby, the commission's chairman, said when asked about the probe into whether Charles A. Lightbody is a hidden investor who stands to make millions if the casino is awarded the license.

Based on what he's seen so far, Crosby added, "It didn't have anything to do with Wynn. This is nothing Wynn knew anything about."

Lightbody, 59, was originally one of the owners of the 30-acre site, but withdrew before Wynn optioned it late last year, Lightbody's attorney, Timothy Flaherty said.

Wynn Resorts yesterday said in a statement the gaming commission's Investigations and Enforcement Bureau raised concerns about "potential participants who had not been disclosed to us. Those concerns were denied by the selling group ... but the IEB still had outstanding concerns regarding the selling group."

As a result, Wynn Resorts is amending its option agreement to clearly confirm ownership and cut the option price to reflect fair-market value without casino use, the company said.

Lightbody, who was convicted of assault in 2001 and larceny in 2007, was arrested last month on charges of assault and battery for allegedly hitting the head of the union that represents Suffolk Downs' betting clerks at a pro-casino rally in Revere.

Everett City Councilor Michael McLaughlin said he trusts the gaming commission to conduct its own investigation.

"The people of Everett have spoken," McLaughlin said, referring to last summer's overwhelming vote in favor of the casino. "We welcome Steve Wynn and his development."

The gaming commission yesterday scheduled a suitability hearing for Wynn's project Dec. 16, and one for MGM's proposed Springfield casino Dec. 9.

Also yesterday, Suffolk Downs, whose former partner, Caesars Entertainment, withdrew because of concerns about debt and purported mob links, told the commission that it expects to have a new gaming partner in the coming weeks. Chip Tuttle, the racetrack's chief operating officer, proposed shifting the site of the casino from East Boston and Revere to Revere only after East Boston voters rejected the project. The commission said it would consult with its lawyers before deciding whether to permit the change.

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Mass. jobless rate at 7.2 percent in October

BOSTON — The Massachusetts unemployment rate stood at 7.2 percent in October, up slightly from the previous month, while the state added more than 9,000 jobs, according to the state Office of Labor and Workforce Development.

The agency on Friday released two months of jobs data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report for September had not been previously released because of delays caused by the partial federal government shutdown in October.

The September unemployment rate in Massachusetts was 7.1 percent, down from 7.2 percent in August. It rose back to 7.2 percent in October.

During the past 12 months, the state's jobless rate has climbed one-half point from 6.7 percent in October 2012.

During the same period, however, the state has added 52,100 private sector jobs, according to Friday's report.

Revised estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the state gained 6,000 jobs in August and 9,400 jobs in September, along with the preliminary estimate of 9,100 jobs gained in October.

Among the sectors of the state's economy that picked up jobs last month were leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation and utilities; education and health services; and construction.

Losses were reported in the manufacturing sector and in government.

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