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Tue. Feb. 07, 2012 iFood app is powered by Dragon speech technology A new version of the iFood Assistant app from Kraft Foods is powered by Nuance Communications Inc.’s Dragon speech-recognition product, Burlington-based Nuance said today. A consumer using the iFood app with an iPhone or an iPod Touch can now use voice commands to create shopping lists, search for recipes, and draw up meal plans, Nuance said in a press release.	Advertisement
Report: China looks to biopharma Greater Boston prides itself on being a biopharmaceutical hotbed, but a new report suggests that the Chinese are also keenly interested in the life sciences industry. The report is from Lux Research of Boston. One line from the report: “A clutch of promising Chinese companies ... underlines the emergence of the Asian giant as a center for biopharma innovation and entrepreneurship, even as Western pharmaceutical companies continue to enjoy technological and business advantages.”
BioMed Realty Trust agrees to buy Cambridge Place for $119m BioMed Realty Trust Inc., a San Diego-based real estate investment trust that focuses on the life sciences industry, has agreed to buy Cambridge Place for $119 million. The transaction would expand BioMed’s real estate portfolio in the Greater Boston-Cambridge market to about 3.2 million square feet of space. Cambridge Place is made up of three buildings, and the property is 80-percent leased. Tenants include CDM Smith Inc., an engineering and construction firm, and Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., a biopharmaceutical company.
Crowd welcomes Schilling’s Kingdoms of Amalur Last night at a Gamestop videogame store in Bellingham, Schilling scrawled his name on dozens of copies of the first release from his videogame company, 38 Studios LLC of Providence, RI.
Massachusetts, California, and New York considering joining settlement with banks Massachusetts, California and New York were considering Monday whether to join most other states in backing a long-awaited settlement with banks over foreclosure abuses. The deal would require the five largest mortgage lenders to reduce loans for about 1 million households. State attorneys general have set a deadline of the end of Monday for states to join the settlement. Homeowners in states that opt out of the deal wouldn’t share in the settlement money.
Appeals court ruling in Fidelity case: Whistleblower law doesn’t apply to mutual funds A federal law that protects employees at public companies when they blow the whistle on alleged fraud does not apply to mutual funds, a US appeals court ruled Friday. The ruling, by the US Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, overturned a Boston federal judge’s decision involving two former Fidelity Investments employees. The new ruling finds that employees of mutual fund companies are not protected under Sarbanes-Oxley, the law passed in the wake of the Enron scandal.
Congressmen Barney Frank, Michael Capuano, Stephen Lynch urge housing officials to help troubled homeowners Three Massachusetts Congressmen are urging federal housing officials to help troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure -- adding pressure on mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reverse a prohibition against reducing the size of struggling borrowers’ mortgage loans. The letter was released today by US Representatives Barney Frank of Newton; Michael Capuano of Somerville; and Stephen Lynch of South Boston, all Democrats. They are endorsing a request by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley who wrote to federal officials last week.
Hasbro 4Q net income down 1 percent It was a blue Christmas for Hasbro. The No. 2 toy maker said that its fourth-quarter profit slipped 1 percent, pinched by softer-than-expected demand in the US and Canada and slow sales of games and puzzles during the key holiday season. The results contrasted with larger rival, Barbie-maker Mattel Inc., which last week reported better-than-expected results for the season. Toy makers can make up to half of their annual revenue during the holiday quarter.
Rockland Capital to buy Beacon Power’s power-storage plant in New York state Beacon Power Corp., the Tyngsboro-based power-storage developer that filed for bankruptcy after winning a US loan guarantee, agreed to sell its only plant to Rockland Capital for $30.5 million in cash and a promissary note, plus additional obligations. Rockland will continue operating the 20-megawatt plant in Stephentown, N.Y. Beacon sought protection from creditors Oct. 30 after receiving a $43 million federal loan guarantee to build the world’s first commercial plant using spinning flywheels to retain energy.
Mass. gas prices rise 2 cents a gallon The average price for gas in Massachusetts is $3.499 a gallon in the latest weekly survey from AAA, up 2 cents from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said today. This was the seventh consecutive week of increases, and this week’s average is 12 cents higher than the average from a month ago. The current national average for gas is $3.48 a gallon, and a year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average was $3.11.
AMSC loses small skirmish in legal battle that seeks $1.2b AMSC, a Devens company that makes control systems for wind turbines, said a Chinese court has dismissed a small lawsuit that is part of a much larger effort to recover more than $1.2 billion from a wind turbine maker for alleged technology theft. The case dismissed is seeking about $200,000 in damages, and AMSC plans to appeal. All told, AMSC has filed four cases in various Chinese legal venues that involve Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd., which was once its largest customer.
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