(Reed Saxon / AP)
Sony launched its new PlayStation Vita on Wednesday. The portable device is geared toward hard-core gamers and offers a lot of new technology. And after a string of tough times at Sony, the company needs this gadget to sell. Sony is trying to distinguish the Vita from the smartphones it's competing against.
Priorities USA Action has unveiled a new ad in Michigan in advance of that state's GOP primary next week. It takes former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to task for opposing the auto industry bailout.
(Fred Prouser / Reuters /Landov)
Food court mainstay Panda Express is now in the midst of a major transformation. It's adding premium products like Angus steak and portobello mushrooms, and new flavors to keep pace with an increasingly sophisticated American palate. But that fiendishly tasty orange chicken isn't going anywhere.
Audie Cornish speaks with Jim Tankersley, Economics Correspondent for the National Journal, about how oil prices have affected the outcomes of elections in the past.
(Toby Talbot / AP)
Oil prices have jumped sharply in the past two weeks, and the price of gasoline has followed suit. Experts are pointing to everything from the tensions with Iran to a decrease in supply as a possible cause. One expert even thinks the rise in fuel prices could be good for the economy.
Traffic cameras that snap pictures of cars running red lights or speeding are used in 661 cities around the U.S. NPR's Corey Dade explains that while local governments argue they make driving safer, some motorists believe the cameras are nothing more than revenue generators.
(Ugurhan Betin / iStockphoto.com)
Advertisers collect information with every digital move people make. They then target ads based on that information. Communications scholar Joseph Turow worries that advertisers will use such data to discriminate against people and put them into "reputation silos."
(via Pinterest.com)
Pinterest, which has drawn lots of media interest and millions of users, has been tagged "digital crack for women." But while most users are female, men are finding ways to use the social media site, like Drew Hawkins' "Board of Man."
Federal prosecutors Wednesday unveiled the most serious criminal charges yet in the West Virginia explosion that killed 29 workers. The new charges involve officials at former mine owner Massey Energy who were directly responsible for managing Upper Big Branch.
With every announcement that Europe has finally dealt with its debt crisis there is a sigh of relief — and then reality sets in. There is a lot of skepticism this time because the Greek economy needs to start growing in order for it to make debt payments. And so far all the signs point toward a continuing contraction.
Johnson and Johnson has been struggling with lawsuits and product recall issues — most recently it was bottles of infant Tylenol. Current CEO William Weldon plans to retire in April. His replacement will be Alex Gorsky, a Johnson & Johnson executive who has dealt with its supply-chains.
One of four versions of "The Scream" by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch is going on the block this spring. All four versions of the painting show a man clutching the sides of his skull-shaped head, his mouth open. The one being offered by Sotheby's is the last still in private hands.
The country's largest cable company Comcast announced it's going to carry four new channels geared toward African American and Latino audiences. Owners include Magic Johnson, Sean "Diddy" Combs and movie director Robert Rodriguez. Comcast promised Congress nearly two years ago that it would carry more minority-owned and operated networks in its bid to acquire NBC-Universal.
Gasoline prices are up nearly 20 cents from a month ago. High prices at the pumps could turn into a liability for President Obama — if Republicans have their way. The White House insists its policies are not to blame.
(Mark Lennihan / AP)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimates that last year, banks made $15 billion to $22 billion from the overdrawn-account fees they charge customers. The agency is seeking data from banks so it can help customers avoid such charges. But any changes could lead banks to raise other fees.
(Getty Images)
A Boston city councilor wants to enlist the help of valets in keeping drunken drivers off the road. "They are literally our last line of defense," says Rob Consalvo. But critics say that's too much responsibility for valets who, unlike bartenders, are not trained to spot intoxication.
(Mark Lennihan / AP)
Google, Facebook and 11,000 other companies are circumventing privacy protections in Internet Explorer.
(Whitney Curtis for NPR)
A little more than a year ago, NPR launched the Road Back to Work series, following six people in St. Louis who started 2011 unemployed and were searching for work. Like so many Americans, the people we followed have had difficulty getting health coverage, even after returning to work.
European leaders saved Greece from a messy default — and a possible exit from the Eurozone — by finalizing a second bailout, with loans amounting to around $170 million. Greek politicians are celebrating for now, but most Greeks are filled with dread. They fear the new austerity measures will drag out the recession — which is in its fifth year — and continue to push up unemployment, which is already more than 21 percent overall.
BOSTON — UMass researchers say the state could lose more than 52,000 jobs over the next 10 years as a result of planned federal budget cuts.
ATHENS, Greece — Fitch ratings agency downgrades Greece from CCC to C, indicating default ‘highly likely.’
WASHINGTON — The Dow Jones industrial average, powered higher all year by optimism that the economic recovery is finally for real, crossed 13,000 on Tuesday for the first time since May 2008.
BOSTON — Civilian workers at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford are bracing for cuts in defense spending that could cost hundreds of jobs.
Greece won a second massive financial bailout early Tuesday morning when its partners in the 17-country eurozone finally stitched together a $170 billion rescue, meant to avoid a potentially disastrous default and secure the euro currency.
NEW YORK — Experts say gas prices could reach a record $4.25 a gallon by late April.
BOSTON — NStar will purchase more than a quarter of the power expected to be generated by Cape Wind as part of an agreement to facilitate the merger between the company and Northeast Utilities.
BOSTON — Caesars Entertainment makes a play for a casino at Suffolk Downs. And the Las Vegas company touts a CEO who commutes from his home in Wellesley.
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s parliament approved harsh new austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors to save the country from bankruptcy, after rioters in central Athens torched buildings, looted shops and clashed with riot police.
WILBRAHAM, Mass. — The chief executive of the Friendly’s restaurant chain has announced he is stepping down after 18 months on the job and a month after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. The company’s chief marketing officer is also leaving.
BOSTON — Under the agreement, existing and former Massachusetts homeowners are supposed to split up $318 million from the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders. But most won’t get anything.
When the market goes up because of positive news about the economy, Bank of America stock shoots up past the stocks of other big banks. When traders get worried about Greek debt, Bank of America takes the biggest plunge.
BOSTON — Massachusetts is expected to receive more than $300 million for homeowners as part of a $25 billion state-federal settlement with the nation’s biggest mortgage lenders over controversial foreclosure practices.
BOSTON — Former Boston Red Sox player Curt Schilling is unveiling the first video game created by his Rhode Island-based company 38 Studios.
BOSTON — The big hole in Boston’s Downtown Crossing may finally be filled. Millenium Partners is planning to build a 600-foot tower behind the facade of the old Filene’s department store.
WASHINGTON — Employers went on a hiring spree in January and drove down the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent, the lowest in nearly three years.
BOSTON — Boston officials hope construction can begin within a year at the former Filene’s Basement site in Downtown Crossing after the long-stalled project found a new developer Thursday night.
Facebook made a much-anticipated status update Wednesday: The Internet social network is going public eight years after its computer-hacking CEO Mark Zuckerberg started the service at Harvard University.
BOSTON — The growth of the Massachusetts economy slowed last quarter to 2.3 percent. But the report forecasts a return to stronger growth in the first half of 2012.
