Some AOL Inc. customers have suffered problems with their e-mail accounts because of a technical glitch at the company, according to an AOL spokeswoman.
The spokeswoman said AOL’s routine maintenance process caused less than 4 percent of its customers to lose access Monday to some of the messages in their inboxes, and the company is working to fix the problem. Get the full story »
Verizon Wireless added fewer smart phone customers in the fourth quarter, before getting the Apple Inc. iPhone, as the carrier also announced plans to initially sell the iPhone with a $30 unlimited plan, its standard smart phone plan.
The news comes as Verizon Communications Inc. reported a 2.6 percent decline in fourth-quarter revenue, hurt by its declining wireline business. The telecommunications company’s per-share earnings missed Wall Street’s expectations by 1 cent. Get the full story »
By Monique Garcia and Kathy Bergen | The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an inquiry into the state’s financial disclosures about potential savings expected from the pension reforms enacted last spring, Gov. Patrick Quinn’s office confirmed Tuesday morning.
“This is not an investigation, this is an inquiry,” said Kelly Kraft, the governor’s budget spokeswoman. “The SEC has stated this is not an indication of any violation. We feel our disclosures have always been accurate and complete.” Get the full story »
Ford Motor Co. said it has idled for a week the plant where it makes most of its best-selling Ford F-150 pickups.
A shortage of parts for 3.7-liter V-6 engines and the new 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engines caused the shutdown at the Dearborn, Mich., truck plant, said Ford spokesman Todd Nissen. Get the full story »
Chicagoan Diane Sroga whips up a batch of Bunches of Crunches for Baskin-Robbins chefs Stan Frankenthaler, left, and Kerry Burke. Sroga's creation will be Flavor of the Month in June.
Who says ice cream should melt in your mouth? Not Chicagoan Diane Sroga, who came up with a recipe for chewy ice cream that netted her a four-day trip to Boston and $1,000 cash.
Sroga’s ice cream concoction, mixing chocolate ice cream with caramel, Heath bar pieces and pecans, beat out the recipes submitted by 40,000 others to win a contest sponsored by Baskin-Robbins to create a new flavor for the chain. Get the full story »
An Illinois judge has dealt a setback to Motorola in a legal dispute with Chinese company Huawei Technologies over Motorola’s planned sale of its networks business.
Huawei sued Monday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, claiming that the sale of the networks business to Nokia Siemens Networks would represent a misappropriation of trade secrets and breach of contract between Motorola and Huawei. Get the full story »
Americans were more optimistic about jobs and the overall economy in January, pushing the latest reading on consumer confidence to its highest level since May 2010.
The Consumer Confidence Index shot up to 60.6 in January, from 53.3 in December, the Conference Board, a New York-based research group that compiles the index, said Tuesday. Get the full story »
Countrywide Financial, a unit of Bank of America Inc., conducted a “massive fraud” over its mortgage-backed securities, according to a lawsuit brought by investors, including TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co., New York Life Insurance Co. and Dexia Holdings Inc., Bloomberg News reported Tuesday on its Web site. Get the full story »
College football conferences will get a record take of about $170 million from this year’s bowl games, including a new high of $24.7 million for the five conferences that don’t get automatic bids to the Bowl Championship Series.
The figures were obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press before heir official release by BCS officials. Get the full story »
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued draft proposals Tuesday to require hedge fund and other private fund advisers to file periodic reports with regulators seeking to assess threats to the financial system. Get the full story »
A personalized news service funded by New York Times Co., Washington Post Co ., and Gannett Co. launched Tuesday in an attempt to get readers to pay for online news.
Ongo, which received $12 million in funding from the three newspaper publishers, delivers news from a variety of sources starting at $7 a month. Get the full story »
Home prices in Chicago fell to their lowest level in November since local prices peaked in September 2006, according to a widely watched index.
In the Chicago area, prices were just slightly lower than where they were in March 2010, and that was in line with prices in the spring of 2002, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Prices fell 2.2 percent in November from October, and were down 7.6 percent from November 2009. Get the full story »
Amazon.com Inc. may be expanding a free home-delivery program, a move that analysts say would encourage consumers to do more of their shopping for groceries and other goods with the online retailer.
The service, AmazonTote, is currently available only around Seattle, where the company is based. The program offers customers a free weekly delivery on a specified day and doesn’t require a minimum-order size. Get the full story »
Selling products used to help clean up oil spills enabled Chicago-based W.W. Grainger Inc. to report a double-digit sales gain and a 36 percent increase in fourth-quarter net earnings, the company said Tuesday. Get the full story »
