Starbucks to partner with Google to upgrade Wi-Fi

SEATTLE — Starbucks says it's reached a deal to partner with Google that will allow it to offer its customers dramatically faster Wi-Fi service.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Starting in August, new U.S. company-operated Starbucks stores will begin to receive up to 10 times faster network and Wi-Fi speeds. And over the next 18 months, Starbucks will convert more than 7,000 U.S. stores to the upgraded service.

Starbucks says the improvements will help ensure that its customers can easily access the internet.

Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. and Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. also plan to work together to co-develop the next generation of Starbucks' digital network.

Level 3 Communications, a telecommunications company, will upgrade existing Wi-Fi devices and manage connectivity in more than 7,000 company-owned stores.

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Annual Utah outdoor show features lighter gear

SALT LAKE CITY — It's a showcase of technology for everything from socks that can take a beating to water bottles equipped with battery-powered ultraviolet purifiers.

At the world's largest trade show for outdoor gear, one trend this year is lighter or more powerful equipment. The makers of a pint-sized hydrogen battery say it can give a cellphone five complete charges before it needs a recharge itself.

Others are showcasing solar cells that roll up for easy packing. Also on display are featherweight canoes, kayaks and standup paddleboards.

The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market opens for a four-day run Wednesday. More than 1,300 manufacturers and suppliers are packing the floor of a Salt Lake City convention hall, plus three outdoor canopy tents. The summer and winter trade shows have been a mainstay in Utah since 1996, drawing consistently larger crowds, although attendance leveled off this year.

More than 25,000 people are expected at the trade show this week, many of them retailers, who are placing bulk orders for specialty outdoor shops around the world. Exhibitors were unpacking crates Tuesday, displaying a merchandise bazaar that would make a consumer drool — except the public isn't allowed inside.

"This show has morphed into a mecca for the outdoor action-sports world," says Peter Kray, publisher of the Gear Institute of Santa Fe, N.M., a network of outdoor gear testers and experts who try out and promote the best gear.

A number of magazines and websites, including gearjunkie.com, also rate the gear and fashions to come out of the Salt Lake show before the new products hit the mainstream. Kray's picks include Smith Chroma Pop lenses — "awesome color" — and an improvement on Easton tent poles that nearly doubles their strength and flexibility in heavy winds.

Kray also is celebrating a hydration bladder not for water, but whisky or tequila — "perfect," he says.

Even socks have come a long way, with more than 100 companies in a foot race to stich the finest wool blends. A pair can cost $25, but makers say they last practically a lifetime. Cabot Hosiery Mills Inc. says its Darn Tough Vermont socks can withstand 30,000 machine rubs before wearing thin.

The jam-packed expo underscores a thriving corner of the economy. Outdoor-gear sales have grown at 5 percent or more annually through recent years of recession, analysts said.

"The industry is doing well. Patagonia has weathered the storm," said Tania Bjornlie, a trade-show manager for the Ventura, Calif.-based industry giant long known for its sleek outdoor clothing.

Patagonia is showing off a new line of day packs. "Everything at the show is getting more technical, lighter, faster," Bjornlie said.

Utah has become a cottage industry for innovators and established brands including Petzl, best known for its headlamps and climbing gear. Petzl says business is growing steadily: It's opening a new factory in a Salt Lake City suburb.

Outdoor sports "is a passion for a lot of people," said John Evans, a Petzl marketing director. "Even if the economy is not running at full steam, people still pursue their passions."

A hydrogen battery pack the size of a deck of cards can be found at an exhibit for Brunton, a subsidiary of Stockholm-based Fenix Outdoor AB., which specializes in navigation, optics and now, "portable power."

At $150, Brunton's hydrogen battery pack can be recharged at retail shops for $8 a pop. Brunton says the battery takes hydrogen out of water and mixes ambient oxygen when it's time to charge a cellphone or other electronic device.

"It's the lightest, toughest, most portable hydrogen reactor," said Walter Kaihatu, vice president for sales and marketing at Boulder, Colo.-based Brunton. "It has really high capacity. It can charge a cellphone five times from dead, and works in a range of temperatures."

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Boston Harbor lighthouse up for grabs

BOSTON — It's prime oceanfront property — but with a twist.

The U.S. government is accepting bids for ownership of Graves Island Light Station, a working lighthouse on a tiny Boston Harbor island about nine miles off the coast.

The 113-foot structure is more than a century old and has space for two bedrooms and a kitchen, but no bath. It also has a private dock.

The buyer will get the entire 10-acre island — a rocky ledge near the entrance to a major shipping channel.

The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/17Sv1Zl ) reports the General Services Administration began an auction on the property in June and the current high bid is $101,000.

After the sale, the U.S. Coast Guard would continue to maintain the automated lighthouse, including its foghorn, with access to the property as needed.

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New US Treasury securities on sale in January

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Wednesday that it expects to start offering investors a new Treasury security with variable interest rates in January. It will be the first new Treasury security in 15 years.

Treasury officials said they hope to be able to tell investors the size of the initial offering in November, providing time for bond traders to adjust their computer systems for the new product.

Offering a variable interest rate carries some risk to the government, which would have to pay more if, as economists expect, rates begin to rise in coming years from the current super low levels. But the government is counting on attracting more investors who will be drawn by the prospect of potentially higher yields.

Treasury officials said they viewed the rate risk as minimal because the bills will basically substitute for short-term Treasury bills which have to be renewed every three months, a frequency that already carries a rate risk for the government.

A final rule describing the new floating rate notes was published Wednesday in the Federal Register. The floating rate notes are the first new product Treasury has offered investors since TIPS, Treasury inflation protected securities, were put on the market more than 15 years ago.

Matthew Rutherford, Treasury's assistant secretary for financial markets, said that Treasury is not currently contemplating any other new products such as a 50-year bond or a 100-year bond. Rutherford said he thinks Treasury's 30-year bond adequately served the needs of investors looking for a longer-term security.

Rutherford told reporters at a news conference that Treasury still believed it would be able to meet its borrowing needs and keep the government operating until sometime after Labor Day when Congress will return from its August recess.

He refused to be more specific about when Treasury will run out of bookkeeping maneuvers to avoid hitting the current $16.7 trillion debt limit but private economists have said Treasury may be able to avoid hitting the limit until late October or early November. Treasury has been using various bookkeeping maneuvers to avoid hitting the borrowing limit since May 17.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is urging Congress to move quickly in September to take away the "cloud of uncertainty" about the nation's ability to pay its bills by increasing the borrowing limit and avoid a repeat of 2011 when a prolonged standoff over the issue between Republicans and the administration rattled financial markets.

Treasury announced Wednesday that as part of its regular quarterly refunding auctions next week it would sell $32 billion in 3-year notes, $24 billion in 10-year notes and $16 billion in 30-year bonds.

The money raised would be part of the $209 billion in borrowing it is projecting will be done in the July-September quarter. It has projected $235 billion in borrowing needs for the October-December quarter but that amount will depend on Congress increasing the debt limit.

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Microsoft Office comes to Android, but not tablets

NEW YORK — Microsoft is bringing a pared-down version of its Office software to Android phones, but it won't work on Android tablets just as it doesn't on iPads.

The software will be available starting Wednesday. It requires a $100-a-year subscription to Office and won't be sold separately.

The new offering follows the release of an iPhone version in June and brings an Office app to phones running the most widely used operating system on new smartphones.

Microsoft Corp. is trying to make its Office 365 subscription more compelling, without removing an advantage that tablet computers running Microsoft's Windows system now have — the ability to run popular Office programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

"The release of this app shows that we're committed to keep providing additional value for Office 365 subscribers," the company wrote in a blog post. "Office 365 subscribers will now be able to access, view, and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents with Windows Phone, iPhone and Android phones."

Microsoft is pushing subscriptions as a way to get customers to keep paying for a product that was historically sold in a single purchase. The company touts such benefits as the ability to run the package on multiple computers and get updates for free on a regular basis. However, a subscription can be more expensive than buying the package outright for just one or two computers.

Microsoft said it designed Office Mobile for Android phones specifically for small-screen devices, even though many people will prefer editing documents on a tablet's larger screen. The company has a version for iPads and Android tablets, called Office Web Apps, but that runs on a Web browser and requires a constant online connection. The new Android software is an app that gets installed on the phone and can work offline.

With a subscription, customers typically get to use Office on up to 10 devices. Five of them can be Windows or Mac computers or Windows tablets. The other five can be iPhones or Android phones. Windows phones come with Office installed and do not count toward the limit.

In keeping the software off the iPad, the top-selling tablet computer, Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder has estimated that Microsoft is potentially ceding $1.4 billion a year in revenue, based on 10 percent of the 140 million iPad owners paying for a $100 subscription. Gownder said failure to provide it on the iPad or Android tablets gives incentives for users to explore competing offerings such as QuickOffice from Google and iWork from Apple.

Like the other mobile versions, the new Android software is designed for lightweight use. For example, you can use it to view and edit an attachment sent by email. But it's not meant to create a complex spreadsheet from scratch.

The new software requires Android 4.0 or later — the Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean flavors of Google's operating system. It's available through Google's online Play store. At first, it's available only in the U.S., though Microsoft plans to expand to 117 markets with versions in more than 30 languages.

Microsoft did not announce any plans for BlackBerry phones.

___

Online:

Office: http://office.microsoft.com

Play: http://play.google.com

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Global stock markets buoyed ahead of Fed statement

MILAN — Strong eurozone unemployment data combined with better-than-expected U.S. jobs and economy figures to give a modest boost to stock markets on Wednesday.

Eurostat figures showed the number of unemployed across the 17 European Union nations fell for the first time since April 2011, providing further hope that the region's economy could soon start showing signs of recovery.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists had expected growth of 1 percent for the period. Also Wednesday, a private survey from payroll company ADP showed that U.S. businesses created 200,000 jobs this month.

As welcome as the figures were, markets were also focused on news from the Fed's Open Market Committee meeting. The U.S. central bank will release an updated policy statement after concluding the two-day meeting.

The Fed is not expected to announce any big changes, but investors expect that an improving U.S. economy will prompt the Fed Reserve to ease back on its huge bond-buying program in coming months.

The Fed is buying $85 billion in Treasury and mortgage bonds every month to spur growth and lending. Recent hints that the Fed might start scaling back its stimulus program have sent stocks reeling.

Analysts from Capital Economics said in a note Wednesday that the latest round of U.S. economic figures suggest "that the recovery is gaining momentum and probably strengthening the Fed's resolve to taper its asset purchases in September."

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent to 6,649. Germany's DAX was up 0.2 percent at 8,285. France's CAC-40 was up 0.4 percent to 4,003.

Wall Street welcomed the upbeat economic news, with the Dow Jones industrial index up 0.6 percent to 15,616 and the broader S&P 500 rising the same amount to 1,696.

Investors are also focusing on U.S. employment figures for July, due out Friday. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said that the central bank could begin to scale back its bond purchases later this year if the economy strengthens, but Fed officials typically put greater weight on employment and inflation data than the GDP figures.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1.5 percent to close at 13,668.32. The Tokyo benchmark closed down 3.3 percent on Monday and then recovered about halfway Tuesday.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3 percent to 21,883.66. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2 percent to 1,914.03.

Benchmarks in mainland China rose while Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Taiwan fell.

Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 11 cents to $103.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.47 to close at $103.08 on the Nymex on Tuesday.

In currencies, the euro 0.08 percent to $1.3269 from $1.3259 late Tuesday. The dollar rose to 98.34 yen from 98.06 yen.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed.

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Rihanna wins case against UK retailer Topshop

LONDON — Pop singer Rihanna has won a court case in Britain against retailer Topshop, which was selling T-shirts bearing her image without permission.

High Court Justice Colin Birss ruled in favor of the singer on Wednesday, saying buyers were likely deceived by believing Rihanna had authorized its sale.

"I am quite satisfied that many fans of Rihanna regard her endorsement as important," the judge said in his ruling. "She is their style icon. Many will buy a product because they think she has approved of it. Others will wish to buy it because of the value of the perceived authorization itself. In both cases they will have been deceived."

Birss also said the sales caused a loss of control over Rihanna's reputation in the fashion realm, where the singer has been trying to carve out a name as a designer. She has a clothing line in her name at a rival store.

The shirts were first sold as the "Rihanna Tank." After her complaints, they were sold as being the "Headscarf Girl Tank" and the "Icon Tank."

Topshop's owner, Arcadia Group Brands Ltd., had argued that Rihanna was seeking legal recognition for a flawed assumption that only a celebrity could market a product bearing his or her image.

Topshop said it was surprised and disappointed by the ruling and was considering an appeal.

"There was no intention by Topshop to create the appearance of an endorsement or promotion," it said in a statement. "We do not believe it conveyed any false message to our customers."

The judge did not make an assessment of damages in his ruling.

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Not a car or bicycle, but a blend _ an ELF vehicle

RESTON, Va. — Mark Stewart turns quite a few heads as he zips through the streets on his neon green ELF bike. With each pedal, his feet take turns sticking out from the bottom while a gentle motor hums in the background.

What he's driving looks like a cross between a bicycle and a car, the closest thing yet to Fred Flintstone's footmobile, only with solar panels and a futuristic shape.

It's a "green" option for today's commuters.

Stewart, a 65-year-old family therapist and school psychologist from Cambridge, Mass., took the summer off in order to drive his new ELF bike more than 1,200 miles on trails and roads using the East Coast Greenway, a bike and pedestrian trail that runs from Canada to Key West.

He began his journey by flying down to Durham, N.C., on July 15, and estimates that the entire trip will take about a month. He covered the first leg, from Durham, N.C. to Reston, Va., over roughly five days, 60 miles at a time.

Needless to say, he's getting lots of questions along the way.

"It reminds me of when I saw a Smart car the first time," said Joanne Bury as she emerged from her Reston condominium building to take a look at the vehicle. "This is incredible. What is it?"

Such attention, Stewart says, is par for the course.

"I don't mind though. I mean I like that people want to talk about it," he said.

The ELF, or "Organic Transit Vehicle," can go for 1,800 miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of gasoline. It does not require the insurance, repair and car maintenance costs of the average vehicle. Besides the cost of the occasional new tire, the ELF runs completely off what it costs to charge its battery.

Stewart bought the ELF from Durham-based Organic Transit, which sells them for a base price of $5,000. He said he wanted to avoid the almost $1,000 delivery charge, so he decided to fly down to pick up the bike in person and learn how to operate it before taking the long trip back home.

"I spent three days in the shop hanging with the guys there and learning the vehicle," Stewart said. "This is just an unsupported solo trip up here in a vehicle that nobody else really knows."

Stewart's ELF is only about the 40th to come off the production line. While few bike shop workers have seen the contraption, the materials, such as the tires and pedals, are items on your average bicycle.

Organic Transit CEO Rob Cotter took technology from aircrafts, boats and bicycles and incorporated them into a "green" 130-pound vehicle.

"About 30 years ago I was working in the performance car industry working on Porsches and BMWs," Cotter said. "At the time the world record for a streamline bicycle was 55 mph by ground and I realize that those efficiencies are capable with one horsepower. I realized from a social, ethical and environmental standpoint that we're doing something drastically wrong."

He was consulting on bike-sharing technologies being considered for New York City's proposed program when he saw there was a market for his vehicle.

"A combination of environmental catastrophes, high fuel costs, climate change and a migration of people moving to the cities all combined for a trend of people looking for an automotive alternative. But not everyone can fit a bicycle into their daily life," Cotter said.

"Issues like weather, steep hills, lack of carrying capacity, falling over and safety concerns steer many away from bicycles. The ELF was designed to address those concerns, contribute to the rider's health, cost savings and lessen their environmental impact," he said.

Demand has grown significantly, and Organic Transit has opened a second factory. The company is working on their 75th bike, with more than 200 already sold or reserved with a deposit.

"Right now we make them at a rate of one per day hand built in the U.S. but we're about to open up another facility on the West Coast to increase our efficiency sometime this year to get up to four per day," Cotter said.

While the ELF is classified as a bicycle by Organic Transit, the laws surrounding such a vehicle vary.

In the District of Columbia, where Stewart's GPS was taking him, the ELF is not allowed on the bike trails and paths. The city classifies it as a motorized bicycle.

"They can't operate the unit on a sidewalk, they can't park on a street and they can't operate on off-street bike trails or bike routes," said Monica Hernandez of the city's Department of Transportation. "The only thing you can do (on the street) is stop to unload or load the unit."

Stewart says so far he's only gotten looks of curiosity.

"A lot of cops have gone by me no one's said boo. They'll look, they're interested but they don't question its right to be on the road," Stewart said.

___

Associated Press writer Shaquille Brewster contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Organic Transit: http://www.organictransit.com

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US economy grew at sluggish 1.7 pct. pace in Q2

WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy grew from April through June at an annual rate of 1.7 percent — a sluggish pace but stronger than in the previous quarter. Businesses spent more, and the federal government cut less, offsetting weaker spending by consumers.

The government on Wednesday sharply revised down its estimate of growth in the January-March quarter to a 1.1 percent annual rate from a previously estimated 1.8 percent rate.

Though growth remains weak, the pickup last quarter supports forecasts that the economy will accelerate the rest of the year. Economists think businesses will step up investment, job growth will fuel more consumer spending and the drag from government cuts will fade. If so, the Federal Reserve could scale back its stimulus later this year.

The April-June growth figure indicates that "the recovery is gaining momentum," Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics, said in a note to clients.

Optimism about the second half of the year, along with higher corporate earnings, helped fuel a rally on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 100 points in late-morning trading.

During the April-June quarter, businesses increased their spending 4.6 percent after cutting by the same amount in the January-March period. And spending on home construction grew 13.4 percent, in line with the previous quarter.

At the same time, the federal government cut spending only 1.5 percent after slashing it 8.4 percent in the first quarter. And state and local governments spent more for the first time in a year.

Still, government cutbacks have weighed heavily on the economy the past 12 months. Over the past four quarters, the economy has grown at just a 1.4 percent annual rate. But if you exclude federal, state and local governments, the private sector has expanded at a much stronger 2.3 percent rate.

The "ongoing fiscal drag is masking private sector health," said Joseph LaVorgna, an economist at Deutsche Bank, said.

The weaker growth in consumer spending last quarter was significant because consumers account for about 70 percent of the economy And a surge in imports reduced growth by the most in three years.

Yet economists say steady job growth should provide enough money for Americans to spend more and help the economy expand at an annual rate of around 2.5 percent in the third and fourth quarters.

Some signs in the report suggest that companies expect demand to pick up. Businesses added to their stockpiles last quarter — typically a sign that they foresee higher sales.

On Wednesday, the government also released comprehensive revisions that updated the nation's gross domestic product, or GDP, over the past several decades. Those figures showed that the Great Recession wasn't quite as steep as initially estimated and that the recovery has been stronger than earlier thought.

The revisions showed that the economy grew 2.8 percent in 2012, up from an earlier estimate of 2.2 percent. Growth in last year's first quarter was revised much higher. And growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 was reduced to an annual rate of just 0.1 percent.

GDP is the broadest measure of the nation's output of goods and services. It includes everything from manicures to industrial machinery. But the government's comprehensive revisions included changes in how GDP is defined.

Research and development spending is now counted as investment, rather than an expense. So is spending on the development of entertainment products such as movies, music, books and TV shows. Those changes increased the size of the economy by about $470 billion, or about 3 percent, as of the end of 2012.

Pension benefit promises are now counted as income. That's a shift from the previous approach, which counted only actual cash payments by companies and government agencies into pension plans. This change boosted the savings rate by 1.5 percentage points in 2011 and 2012 to about 5.6 percent. In the second quarter, Americans saved 4.5 percent of their after-tax income, up from 4 percent in the first quarter.

Despite the still-sluggish economy, recent data have been encouraging and suggest that growth will strengthen.

Home construction, sales and prices have been growing since early last year. Americans bought newly built homes in June at the fastest pace in five years. That's helped raise builder confidence to a seven-year high, which should lead to increases in construction and more jobs.

Overall hiring has accelerated this year. Employers added an average of 202,000 jobs a month from January through June, up from 180,000 in the previous six months.

A separate report Wednesday pointed to solid job gains in July. Payroll provider ADP estimated that businesses added 200,000 jobs in July, the most since December.

And auto sales topped 7.8 million in the first six months of 2013, the best first-half total since 2007. Analysts expect sales to remain solid the rest of the year.

Unemployment is still high at 7.6 percent, limiting consumer spending. And budget fights in Washington could lead to a government shutdown this fall, potentially disrupting the economy.

Federal Reserve officials have forecast better growth in the second half of the year. And Chairman Ben Bernanke has said the Fed could scale back its bond purchases later this year if the economy strengthens. But Fed officials typically put more weight on employment and inflation data than on GDP figures.

The Fed ends a two-day policy meeting Wednesday, after which it could clarify its interest-rate policies in a statement.

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TGI Fridays in NJ fined $500K for switching booze

TRENTON, N.J. — An operator of TGI Fridays restaurants in New Jersey raided as part of Operation Swill has agreed to pay a $500,000 fine for serving customers cheap booze when they paid for top shelf.

Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said Wednesday that the fine levied against Livingston-based Briad Group should send a message to every bar and restaurant in the state that customers should always get what they pay for.

Under terms of the settlement, Briad agreed not to contest charges that eight of its restaurants were selling customers cheap substitutes in place of premium alcohol. It also agreed to employ a state-appointed monitor through June 14 to ensure its restaurants and employees are in compliance.

As long as there are no further violations during that period, the businesses will avoid five-day suspensions of their liquor licenses, the attorney general said.

The fine includes $400,000 for the violations and $100,000 to cover investigative costs.

Twenty-nine establishments, including 13 TGI Fridays, had been accused of cheating customers when the state first announced the raids. The attorney general's office said the state decided to pursue charges against only eight of the TGI Fridays. The other cases remain under investigation.

At one of the 29 businesses targeted, a mixture that included rubbing alcohol and caramel coloring was sold as scotch. In another, premium liquor bottles were refilled with water that was not even clean. The state never identified which restaurants or bars those were.

The eight TGI Fridays included in the settlement are in West Orange, East Windsor, Old Bridge, Piscataway, Freehold, Marlboro, Hazlet and Linden.

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