Experts offer good read on Amazon’s latest buy

Experts are hailing Amazon's decision to acquire social reading website Goodreads as a brilliant move that will steer traffic — and sales — to Amazon, which started as an online bookstore and grew to become the world's largest online retailer.

The deal, which was announced Thursday and will be finalized in a few weeks, marks a move to integrate social media with the books found on Amazon's Kindle e-reader.

"Amazon has an incredible recommendations feature, but by tying in who your friends are and what they're buying, all of a sudden you'll see recommendations for those books," said Todd Van Hoosear, owner of Fresh Ground, a Cambridge social-media consulting group.

And the average person is more likely to buy a book that a friend has recommended than one a stranger has, said David Gerzof Richard, a professor of social media marketing at Emerson College.

In addition to reader reviews, other features found on Goodreads' website, including online book clubs and the ability to share passages, may also eventually be available to Kindle users.

Gerzof Richard said he wouldn't be surprised if Amazon expanded into other consumer sharing platforms such as gdgt, which has reviews of electronic goods.

"Amazon knows how powerful experienced-consumer reviews are for converting to sales," he said.

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The Ticker

Battery maker gets cute with name

Lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems is changing its corporate name to B456 Systems Inc. to satisfy one of the embattled company's obligations under an asset purchase agreement with Wanxiang America Corp.

Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group acquired all of the company's heavily government-subsidized assets for more than $256 million earlier this year, after the Waltham-based company filed for bankruptcy.

Lexington co. nets major funding

QD Vision, a nanomaterials product company that makes optical components for LCD applications, has closed a $20 million round of financing to expand production capacity and fund long-term company growth. The company said its Color IQ components significantly improve LCD color performance in televisions, monitors and mobile displays.

CVS CEO pay spikes 44 percent

CVS Caremark Corp.'s President and CEO Larry Merlo's pay spiked 44 percent to $20.4 million last year. In a regulatory filing, the company said Merlo's base salary rose slightly, while other benefits saw greater increases. Merlo joined the company in 1990.

Dynasil Corp. risks delisting

Watertown-based Dynasil Corp. of America is no longer in compliance with the NASDAQ stock market after the closing price for its common stock fell below $1 per share for 30 consecutive days.

The company has until Sept. 23 to regain compliance or face delisting.

Hub on Alaska's horizon

Seattle-based airline carrier Alaska Airlines has launched nonstop flights between San Diego and Boston, the sixth new city the carrier has begun serving from the California city in the past year. To celebrate, the airline is offering a $159 one-way fare available now through April 9 for travel from April 30 through June 12.

THE SHUFFLE

• Acentech Inc. of Cambridge has hired Sarah McGillicuddy, left, as director of marketing and business development. McGillicuddy previously served as director of marketing and was a business development manager at construction management firm Richard White Sons Inc.
• Cambridge-based Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc. has promoted Jodie Morrison to the position of chief executive officer. Morrison most recently served as chief operating officer and vice president of clinical affairs for the company.
• Square 1 Bank of Boston has hired Michael Madden as senior vice president and managing director in the Boston office. Madden was previously a principal at Edison Ventures.

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Cape Cod lifestyle in Quincy

This free-standing single-family is part of a Nantucket-like condo development in Quincy's Marina Bay neighborhood.

The four-bedroom house at 12 Hutchinson Lane is in the 18-acre Chapman's Reach planned community, one of 152 single-families and townhouses built in 1999 and designed to resemble a Cape Cod village. Homes are set close to one another to create an urban feel that encourages walking. Transom windows ensure privacy from neighbors, with full windows facing front and back as well as into an enclosed patio. Parking garages are in alleys behind the houses.

This 3,928-square foot two-story home, one of 48 single families in the complex, has 2,400 square feet of living space on the first floor, including the master bedroom suite and is available for $1,180,000.

The well-designed two-story home, with an exterior of yellow clapboard and gray cedar shingles has a front brick walkway and covered farmer's porch. It opens into a double-height foyer with chair-rail wainscoting and maple floors.

On one side of the foyer through a marble column arch is a formal dining room with bay windows, maple floors and a wrought-iron chandelier. On the other side is a guest bedroom with a connecting marble bathroom.

But the showpiece space of the home lies straight ahead in a 25-foot-high maple-floored living room with five sets of double-tiered windows. The west-facing wall of windows looks out into a bluestone patio. In the center of the room is a gas fireplace with fluted columns and green marble surround.

The adjacent recessed-lit kitchen features ceramic tile floors, 32 maple cabinets with beige Giallo Veneziano granite counters and island with pendant lighting overhead. Stainless-steel General Electric Monogram appliances include a side-by-side refrigerator, a gas stove and a compactor. The owners recently added a Bosch dishwasher.

There's an adjacent breakfast nook with high transom windows on one side and glass doors on the other that open onto the nicely landscaped enclosed outdoor patio.

Behind the kitchen is a laundry room with a full-size washer and dryer and the hallway continues down to double doors that lead into the master bedroom suite.

The carpeted master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling with a clerestory window and glass doors out to the patio. There are two walk-in closets with built-in wardrobes. The en-suite bathroom has a white Botticino marble floor with black marble inlay. There are Corian-topped vanities on either side of the room, and a whirlpool tub and separate walk-in shower, both with white tile walls.

Off the bedroom is a hallway with direct access to a two-car garage and there are three deeded outdoor spaces.

Above the garage is a carpeted game/media room with a Tiffany-style lamp over a billiards table, which is negotiable.

A distinctive winding maple staircase from the foyer leads to two bedrooms and a study on the house's main second floor. The carpeted study overlooks the living room. The two carpeted bedrooms are on either side of a walkway that overlooks the living room and the foyer. There's a laundry closet here, as well as a full bathroom with a Fiberglas shower.

The house has an additional, uncounted 2,400-square-foot unfinished basement, with lots of storage and room for additional living space. It also houses two gas-fired forced hot air heating systems and a two-zone central air-conditioning system.

Broker: Fred Alibrandi of Otis & Ahearn at 617-851-8050

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Tax credits vital to conversions

Affordable housing is crucial to society because it ensures that families with limited economic means have a place to live.

Either new structures can be built or older buildings can be renovated to increase the affordable housing stock.

"Preserving and restoring historic buildings has the potential to breathe life into local communities and their economies," said Larry Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment, which is one of the nation's largest developers of large-scale, mixed-use and mixed-income projects, including the Oliver Lofts on Mission Hill and the The Apartments at Boott Mill in Lowell.

Historic tax credits, from both the state and federal governments, can be an integral part of the financing for real estate redevelopment and re-use projects. These subsidies have helped developers revitalize older downtown areas and urban neighborhoods. These projects have provided construction jobs and affordable rental housing for low-income families and seniors since 1976.

"The revitalization of historic buildings into housing typically has significant construction cost premiums and the historic tax credits directly address that and make it possible to create reasonably priced affordable housing," said Bart Mitchell, president and CEO of The Community Builders, the country's largest nonprofit developer of mixed-income housing. Its local projects include the Franklin School Apartments in Lexington and the Central Grammar School in Gloucester.

Making older buildings wheelchair-accessible can be particularly costly, he said.

"Especially buildings such as schools were built as a monumental structure on top of a huge staircase and are not accessible. (It's necessary to) add elevators and such," Mitchell added.

There may also be costly environmental cleanup issues, because renovating older buildings may require asbestos or lead paint removal.

Additionally, when laying out a building for a completely different use, the developer may want to preserve some of the historic features, but may face the costly challenge of coming up with spaces for bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

"Preserving the high ceilings and large windows is important and creates interesting interiors within the housing units," Curtis said.

Of course, there are benefits to rehabbing existing buildings.

"When re-using an old building, no one is wondering what the building is going to look like. Sometimes the approval process can be easier," Mitchell said.

The historic credits also can help contribute to a cleaner environment, according to developers.

"The 'greenest' thing you can do is re-use an existing building," Mitchell said. "If you don't re-use an existing building, think about all of the diesel exhaust and landfill that's used in the demolition of the old building, then all of the transportation, manufacturing and assembly for the new building."

Older buildings that were built with thick masonry walls can be extremely efficient to heat, especially once a modern roof and windows are added.

Oliver Lofts, located on Mission Hill, is the only midrise, multifamily building in the city to earn Platinum LEED certification for its environmental friendliness, and one of only two historic renovations in the nation to win that distinction after being converted to mixed-income housing. The 19th century building, recently renovated after being vacant for 30 years, is now a mixed-income housing community consisting of 62 apartments.

Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker and can be reached by email at heraldhotproperty@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter,
@JenAthas.

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Suffolk Downs casino losing champion

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's earthshaking decision to bow out of the next election left some at Suffolk Downs concerned about whether Boston's next leader will be as supportive of its casino plans.

The final votes for the project will be cast before Menino leaves office at the end of the year, but an anti-casino successor could still make things rocky.

"We're on pins and needles here. We don't know what's going to happen," said a source connected to the racecourse.

A spokesman for Suffolk Downs declined to comment, but pointed to a timeline showing that much of the casino's approval process will be completed before Menino steps down in January.

State Rep. Marty Walsh, who has said in the past that he will consider a run for mayor, said he believes Menino will see the project through: "That's part of his plan, to bring an industry to Boston, to bring jobs to Boston. Knowing him he'd want someone to continue that."

The news of Menino's departure came as Vornado Realty Trust has decided to divest its 19 percent interest in Suffolk Downs after refusing to submit to background checks required of all casino license applicants.

The state gaming commission approved putting Vornado's interest in Suffolk Downs into a blind trust until the divestiture is completed so the license bid could move forward, according to a memo from Catherine Blue, the commission's general counsel.

The memo indicates that out of 14 individuals associated with Vornado, only two filed the required disclosure forms, with another being allowed to withdraw as 
a qualifier.

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Mayor ‘touched all the bases’

Hub real estate developers told the Herald yesterday that Mayor Thomas M. Menino's successor should stick to the five-term leader's focus on balancing the needs of Boston citizens with pro-business growth.

John Rosenthal, president of Meredith Management Corp., looks for the next mayor to follow Menino's legacy of "threading that needle between the neighborhood concerns and overall regional business and economic realities."

"It's not easy ... but Mayor Menino has done it brilliantly over the years," he said.

While many will point to the building boom during Menino's tenure as a lasting stamp of his administration, several developers said Menino's real legacy will be his work on behalf of city dwellers.

"There's no mayor in America that has been as committed a leader on homelessness prevention, and he and (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg have championed gun violence prevention for a long time," said Rosenthal, also the founder of Stop Handgun Violence, whose massive billboard fronts the Massachusetts Turnpike.

It's rare when an elected official is perfectly happy being in his role and not looking for higher office, Rosenthal said.

"It allowed Mayor Menino to focus every day on the city of Boston versus his future," he said.

Developer John B. Hynes III, CEO of Boston Global Investors, says Menino will be credited with "the rebirth and expansion of the city."

"Menino touched all the bases," said Hynes, who left the former joint venture behind the long-stalled Filene's project in Downtown Crossing last year and is developing the 23-acre Seaport Square in South Boston's Seaport District. "From a development perspective, he touched upon design, economics, private contributions to service public needs, expanded affordable housing and environmental sustainability — all good programs, all reasonable and fair."

Menino has championed the now-booming Seaport District, rebranding it as the Innovation District.

"Mayor Menino has always envisioned this area as a growth district, and for him, it was important that the uses would create a diversity of people and businesses," said Joe Fallon, whose Fallon Co. is developing the $3 billion Fan Pier project that includes Vertex Pharmaceuticals' new headquarters. "It's proven to be true. We now have life sciences, commercial, residential, a convention center, a (music) pavilion. It's a great story."

But, Fallon said, with all of Menino's milestone accomplishments, he kept one thing in mind: "He cared more about the people in the city than any development or expansion or perceived legacy."

And Fallon doesn't foresee the next mayor reversing course. "The city is growing, people want to live in the city — why would a new mayor want to change that?" he said.

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Casino rivals show off their grand designs

Developers behind two dueling, billion-dollar resort casino bids — one promising to save thoroughbred horse racing at Suffolk Downs and the other vowing to clean up a polluted waterfront in Everett — tried to steal each other's thunder yesterday by each unveiling designs of their gaming complexes.

Standing behind a newly created portable scale model of the proposed Caesars resort at his 78-year-old racetrack, Suffolk Downs chief Chip Tuttle said he plans to "take this model on the road" after a series of "open houses" aimed to disarm opponents in neighboring East Boston and Revere.

"We are working very hard to earn this license and to earn local support," said Tuttle, who last summer released renderings of the planned resort that features two hotels, a refurbished racetrack grandstand with a gaming parlor, 10 restaurants and a 25,000-square-foot convention and entertainment hall.

A few hours earlier, with Frank Sinatra crooning "Luck be a Lady" in an Everett armory gussied up with white curtains and stage lighting, Wynn Resorts gave dozens of local officials and residents their first peek at a planned 19-story Vegas-styled glass hotel tower with a sprawling promenade of shops and restaurants.

"The idea here is introducing a magnificent development right at the heart of Everett," said Gamal Aziz, president and chief operating officer of Wynn Resorts, noting the award-winning casino operator plans to use water taxis to ferry patrons to and from Logan International Airport and downtown Boston.

Caesars, Wynn and a third developer, David Nunes, who has partnered with Foxwoods and hopes to build a resort casino off Interstate 495 in Milford, are competing for a single casino license to be issued for Eastern Massachusetts by the state Gaming Commission.

Aziz said the 2.7-million-square-foot Wynn Everett resort would recruit Beantown boutiques to rent space in its mall instead of its usual lineup of high-end shops.

"When we have international visitors and tourists from around the world, I think they will be a lot more interested in seeing something that is part of the fabric of Massachusetts than me bringing in Louis Vuitton or Cartier," he said.

The hotel will have 550 suites, ranging in size from 700 to 2,800 square feet. Construction will be done in one phase and employ 4,000 workers. Once completed, the resort will create another 4,000 permanent jobs.

One of Wynn's biggest selling points is the creation of a "river walk" on the Mystic that would connect to other waterfront paths near the Gateway Mall and downtown Everett.

"This development would really give us the opportunity to give the river walk back to the people of Everett," Aziz said, noting the company is "fully committed" to the costly cleanup of the former Monsanto chemical plant site.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. said residents for the first time in generations will be able to launch canoes along their waterfront. "I think we have a little more support here in Everett than they do in other cities," he added.

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Hey, Dad, got $35G for my little wedding at the Mandarin?

Groupon is offering its priciest "deal" yet in Boston: a $35,000 wedding at the Mandarin Oriental.

The invitation-only offer, which ends Sunday, includes space for up to 100 guests for five hours, a reception with a live DJ for four hours, a three-course dinner and wedding cake, and a two-night stay for the couple in a premier suite.

"It's a way for brides and grooms who want to have a wedding in 2013 but might not have time to plan it," said Molly Kinsella, a hotel spokeswoman. "It takes the stress and trouble of planning a wedding out of it."

Not completely out, though. Although various dates are available, the offer does not include the cost of stationery, wedding attire, transportation, an officiant, photography or flowers.

Nonetheless, the offer far exceeds the typical Groupon daily deal, which usually tops out at around $1,000.

"We're always looking for ways to surprise and delight our customers and partner with top local businesses to offer great deals," Groupon spokesman Tim DeClaire said in an email. "The Boston market is a very important market for Groupon."

The website isn't the first, however, to offer a lavish wedding deal in Boston.

Gilt City offered five similar packages that expired at midnight for weddings at the Boston Harbor Hotel after it sold a $35,000 wedding last November in less than one hour, said Heather Joselyn, a hotel spokeswoman.

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Sporting News partners with digital video provider

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sporting News will add online highlight clips as part of a new business deal.

Parent company American City Business Journals and digital video provider Perform will work together on Sporting News Media in the United States and Canada. The venture will combine the two organizations' management, sales, content, technology, editorial and media assets.

Perform owns ePlayer, which streams highlights and news from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, colleges and other sports.

American City Business Journals CEO Whitney Shaw says "we are combining the heritage and editorial excellence of one of the U.S.'s oldest sports media brands with a forward-looking, digitally focused organization."

The joint venture will be owned 65 percent by Perform and 35 percent by ACBJ.

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$un shining on Third Rock fund

Hub-based venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures, LLC, has closed its third fund and is ready to put the money toward its intended purpose — supporting innovative health-care companies.

Third Rock partner Kevin Starr said the $516 million fund will help start 15 to 16 new companies, with a bias toward those that will be based in the Boston area.

He said the new fund will target "big ideas" companies.

"It's more about making a major impact on severe diseases," Starr told the Herald. "It's not about me-too drugs. We're looking to make a truly meaningful impact on major diseases."

Starr said a recent example was Third Rock's decision to fund Lotus Tissue Repair, which creates innovative treatments for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. The rare disease's victims, often referred to as "butterfly children" because their skin is as fragile as butterfly's wings, suffer from birth from a painful condition in which the top layer of their skin is so fragile that everyday activities such as eating or going to the bathroom can cause severe injuries to their skin and organs.

Lotus Tissue Repair created a unique drug that is injected monthly to help butterfly children lead more normal lives, Starr said.

"Our investors are happy, but what makes us happy is that we can help these kids with this horrible disorder," Starr said.

He added that Third Rock Ventures, which previously closed funds of $378 million and $428 million, is not yet thinking about a fourth fund, since it will be busy launching companies from the third fund for the next few years. He said most of the companies will be based in the Hub, since promoting innovative health care in Boston is a major goal of the fund.

"If you make a big difference for patients, the economic benefits follow," Starr said.

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Senate’s bank vote may be symbolic slap

After the Senate's symbolic crackdown on too-big-to-fail banks in the final hours before Congress adjourned over the weekend, experts were divided about how effective such legislation would be, with the industry threatening to pass any costs along to customers.

The Senate voted 99-0 for a non-binding measure to end implicit subsidies the largest banks receive from the credit markets due to the perception that the government would bail them out — an issue raised by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Warren that the Dodd-Frank financial reform law provided a way to "unwind" big banks that failed.

Banking analyst Louis Harvey told the Herald that any additional costs imposed by Congress on big banks would ultimately be transferred to customers in the form of fees and interest rates.

"These actions (by lawmakers) may correct an unlevel playing field (between large and small banks) but make it more expensive for everyone to do business," said Harvey, president of Boston-based Dalbar, Inc.

But Deirdre Cummings of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group called that a familiar — and exaggerated — refrain.

"It's the standard reply we hear every time there's a proposed change," Cummings said. "The reality is ... the impact on consumers is not as dire as predicted."

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Asia stocks up, Europe flat before data release

HONG KONG — Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher on Wednesday after upbeat economic data from the world's largest economy. But in Europe, markets were unsteady ahead of the release of more indicators that would provide further clues about the health of the world's leading economies.

Reports including a forward-looking German consumer confidence index and U.S. pending home sales were expected out later in the day.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX slipped less than 0.1 percent to 7,873.17 while France's CAC 40 fell 0.1 percent to 3,743.49. The FTSE 100 index of leading British companies was practically unchanged at 6,398.29.

U.S. stocks were poised to rise marginally. Dow futures rose less than 0.1 percent to 14,484.00 while broader S&P 500 futures were up 0.1 percent to 1,558.50.

Asian stocks ended the day higher following reports overnight from the U.S. showed home prices rose in January at the fastest rate since the country's housing boom peaked in 2006 while February factory orders for long-lasting goods were at their highest in five months.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent to close at 22,464.82 while South Korea's Kospi gained 0.5 percent to 1,993.44. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 percent to 2,301.26 while the smaller Shenzhen Composite rose 0.3 percent to 955.24.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.9 percent to 4,995.00 while benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also rose.

"So we had a good session in the US last night, certainly. I think the durable goods order figures were really supporting to the market," said Guy Stear, head of Asia research at Societe Generale. "We continue to see strong figures really, out of the production side in the US economy."

In Japan, gains were more muted, with the Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2 percent to end at 12,493.79 as investors stay on the sidelines, hoping for more than just talk from policymakers trying to stimulate the economy. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to pull Japan out of deflation through monetary easing and higher government spending.

"If the Abe government is going to keep the yen down, it is going to have to pull the trigger sooner rather than later, as investors are going to start calling its bluff," IG Markets strategist Evan Lucas said in a commentary.

In currencies, the dollar strengthened slightly to 94.57 yen from 94.50 yen in late trading Tuesday. The euro slipped to $1.2832 from $1.2858.

Oil prices slipped. Benchmark crude for May delivery fell 39 cents to $95.95 a barrel. The contract rose $1.53 to settle at $96.34 on the Nymex on Tuesday.

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Worries over Wegmans

Wegmans Food Markets' plans for its first Hub supermarket may be cheered by foodies, but they are raising concerns that the grocery chain's cultlike following could worsen traffic for Fenway drivers already facing rush hour gridlock, Red Sox games and a three-year Muddy River drainage reconstruction project.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced the high-end grocery chain is coming to Boston yesterday. Samuels & Associates is expected to propose an expansion of its 949,000-square-foot Landmark Center to accommodate the new grocery store in the retail and office development at Park Drive and Brookline Avenue.

"We would hope the city, developer and Wegmans would work together to figure out a good traffic plan that wouldn't exacerbate traffic problems," said Sarah Horsley of the Fenway Community Development Corp. "That location can be challenging because of the intersection with the mall there ... and the (nearby) Longwood Medical Center."

Nearby Fenway Park hosts 81 home games between April and September, plus summer concerts, drawing heavy foot and vehicle traffic. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' three-year Muddy River project will require extensive rerouting and narrowing of traffic lanes around Landmark Center. But project manager Michael Keegan said many of the travel restrictions are planned for this summer, probably well before a Wegmans could be built. "The critical time will be in July when we'll be working in the Landmark area," he said. "If we can do that, we'll be good."

Samuels and New York-based Wegmans were mum yesterday about the store's size and target date.

"It would be premature to have those details," Wegmans spokeswoman Jo Natale said. "Discussions with the developer are under way."

The Boston Redevelopment Authority said discussions about traffic will wait until plans are filed.

Samuels spokeswoman Diana Pisciotta declined comment on any expansion of Landmark Center, which Samuels bought for $453 million in 2011 from the Abbey Group, which also had floated plans to enlarge it.

Hingham resident Gretchen Kinger, who now regularly travels across the state with her friends to the Wegmans in Northboro, said about the news yesterday: "I'm so happy. ... Parking will not be as easy, but it will be a lot closer."

Fenway Civic Association president Bill Richardson said he welcomes Wegmans and doubts it will lead to further congestion. Fenway residents have the lowest rate of car ownership in the city.

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Study: Mass. life science initiative creating jobs

BOSTON — Midway through Massachusetts' ambitious 10-year, $1 billion life science initiative, the state is already reaping benefits.

That's the finding of a new study by Northeastern University economists Barry Bluestone and Alan Clayton-Matthews.

The report found that after 5 years and more than $300 million in investments, Massachusetts has overtaken all competitor states in its rate of life sciences job creation.

The analysis found the state made $301 million in investments between June 2008 and June 2012, including more than $186 million for capital projects and nearly $57 million in tax incentives to companies that meet specific hiring goals.

By June 30, 2012, those companies had created 2,537 new jobs.

The report also concluded that investments in startup companies are a strong draw to Massachusetts for larger companies.

Gov. Deval Patrick signed the bill into law in 2008.

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Yahoo buys startup run by 17-year-old entrepreneur

SAN FRANCISCO — A London startup owned by a 17-year-old entrepreneur has Yahoo as a buyer.

The teenager was seeking an easier way to read news stories and other content on the smaller screens of smartphones, so he built an app for that.

The deal announced Monday is Yahoo's fifth small acquisition in the past five months. It's part of CEO Marissa Mayer's effort to attract more engineers with expertise in building services for smartphones and tablet computers, an area of technology that she believed the Internet company had been neglecting.

Yahoo didn't disclose how much it is paying for Summly.

Founder Nick D'Aloisio began working on the app at his London home when he was 15. He's younger than Yahoo, which was incorporated in March 1995.

D'Aloisio said Summly will no longer be available, but the technology will return in other Yahoo products.

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Sandusky interview to air on NBC's 'Today' show

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — An interview with Jerry Sandusky is expected to be aired on NBC's "Today" show, a rare instance of the former Penn State assistant football coach giving his own side of the story.

The network said the Monday morning broadcast will include Sandusky's remarks about his former boss Joe Paterno, who died two months after being fired following Sandusky's arrest in 2011.

Sandusky's lawyer Norris Gelman says the interview excerpts are from John Ziegler, a documentary filmmaker working on a defense of Paterno.

In a statement Sunday, Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers says Sandusky had the opportunity to speak under oath during his trial but he "chose not to do so."

Sandusky is serving a 30- to 60-year sentence after being convicted of child sexual abuse. He maintains his innocence and is pursuing appeals.

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Ford India apologizes over Berlusconi bondage ad

MUMBAI, India — The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologized for an advertisement depicting Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a trio of bound women in the trunk of a car.

The image appeared over the weekend on a website showcasing creative ads. Featuring Ford's logo, it showed three women bound and gagged in the trunk of a Ford Figo with Berlusconi smiling from the driver's seat alongside the slogan "Leave your worries behind."

Never used commercially, the ad was reportedly posted online by its creators at an ad agency hired by Ford.

The company said Monday that it regrets the incident, calling the images "contrary to the standards of professionalism and decency within Ford."

A spokesperson said the company is investigating whether anyone at Ford ever saw the ad.

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EU finance ministers approve Cyprus bailout deal

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus' Parliament president says a deal reached for his country to raise billions in order to qualify for an international bailout is a "painful one" for the island nation's people and a defeat for European solidarity.

Yiannakis Omirou said Monday that Cyprus must work fast to reform its economy and leave the bailout as soon as possible.

The deal reached in Brussels early Monday prevented Cyprus' imminent financial meltdown by securing a last-minute 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout on the condition that the country cut back its banking sector and force large losses on big deposits to help pay much of the bill.

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Chipping away at animal testing

Harvard University researchers are tapping into Sony's manufacturing expertise with the goal of mass-producing matchbox-sized "organs-on-chips" that could make it possible for scientists to test new drugs easily without animal trials.

Though recognized globally as a CD, DVD and Blu-ray disc maker, Sony's DADC subsidiary has come to view biotech as a "future frontier that is not yet open," said Dr. Don Ingber, founding director of Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

"We're trying to take a look at the long trajectory and start now by working with companies who can help us think in big terms," Ingber said. "They understand the challenges in scaling up — instead of making one or two (chips), make thousands or millions of them and do it inexpensively."

The human "organs-on-chips" are made of a clear, flexible polymer that contains hollow microfluidic channels lined by living human cells. The chips can mimic physiological functions of different human organs and allow researchers to observe what happens in real time when a drug, toxin or chemical is administered, Ingber said.

A lung-on-a-chip already has proven successful in mimicking pulmonary edema and the institute has at least 10 more organ chips under development, including a heart-, liver-, kidney- and gut-on-a-chip, thanks to support from such organizations as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

"I see a lot of similarities between biochips and CDs," said Manfred Koranda, marketing director for Sony DADC's BioSciences division. "Both of them need microstructures. Both of them need careful selection of materials. Both of them need the most stringent quality control."

In addition to using established cell lines isolated from humans years ago, the institute is starting to isolate cells from surgical specimens and study adult stem cells for the chips, Ingber said.

The chips will be marketed to the drug, biotech, cosmetics and tobacco industries as well as to researchers at the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency, Ingber said. He added that the current animal model of testing is not predictive of drug efficacy and safety in humans.

"The number of drugs getting approved has been decreasing over the years. It's getting more and more expensive and (fewer) drugs are being developed and approved," he said. "This is really a big problem and this is a potential way out, so that's exciting."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has thrown its support behind the chips.

"From both the point of view of reducing the use of animals in laboratories and improving human health, we love these chips," said Jessica Sandler, director of the animal rights group's regulatory testing division.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency also has provided a five-year, $37 million grant for organs-on-chips research, which the institute is using to develop an "automated instrument" that integrates 10 human organs-on-chips into a "human body-on-chips" that simulates whole body physiology, Ingber said.

Through genome sequencing, the institute said it has the potential to identify "genetic subpopulations" with commonalities, and then create organ chips representative of those subgroups. Drug companies then could test their candidates to see if there is a particular subgroup that is sensitive or resistant to that drug, he said.

"These results could then guide the design of a narrow human clinical trial that would hopefully have a much greater chance of success than they do today," said Ingber, adding the institute's "game plan" is to create a spinout company focusing on organs-on-chips technology.

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App gives more than ‘likes’

A new app launching in Boston April 3 aims to help businesses boost sales by offering customers rewards for promoting them on social media.

Socii (pronounced so-she) was founded last year by three Boston-area college grads who noticed how companies struggle to generate word-of-mouth marketing.

"Businesses spend millions of dollars every year to create it, but there's no system to do it," said Victor Dweck, a 2010 Northeastern University alum. "They use social networks like Facebook and Instagram, but their messages typically get lost in the noise. People go on to connect with their friends, not businesses."

Socii allows people to partner with up to three businesses and earn points for completing up to one activity per day, such as "liking" them on Facebook or posting photographs about them on Instagram. The points lead to rewards, including discounts and free goods.

Socii limits the number of businesses and activities people can choose to encourage them to partner only with their favorite businesses and to complete activities on a regular basis to accrue points, Dweck said.

"These aren't people who just want deals like on Groupon," he said. "These are the companies' most loyal customers."

So far, more than a half-dozen Boston area businesses — including J.P. Licks, Finale and Crema Cafe in Cambridge — have signed on to use the app, which doesn't require any new hardware, Dweck said.

"We feel this kind of word-of-mouth marketing creates loyalty among our customers," said J.P. Licks Marketing Manager Jason Provost. "When Victor reached out to us, I was like, why hasn't anyone thought of this before?"

Liz Cohen, head of marketing and design for Crema Cafe, said the company regularly tweets and posts on Facebook. But although it has more than 1,500 "likes," she's struggled with finding a way to get people to actually talk about the cafe on Facebook.

"When I saw what (Socii) was doing, it sounded great because it's a mutual thing," Cohen said. "We'll be asking customers to do things, but we'll also be showing them how much we appreciate them. Right now, we don't have that."

When the Specialty Coffee Association of America rolls into Boston on April 11 for its 25th annual expo, she said, the cafe will be able to use the app to get people attending the conference to tweet about Crema.

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Former workers find new life in industry

There is life beyond the ashes of Curt Schilling's 38 Studios, as seven former employees of the imploded Rhode Island gaming company came to PAX East yesterday to talk about the new studios they've started.

Featured on a panel at the video gaming convention, the budding entrepreneurs — most of whom have set up shop in the Bay State — join what's become a huge increase in the number of gaming and digital company startups in Massachusetts, 
up 78 percent from three years 
ago.

With the increased presence of indie gaming companies at PAX 
one of the big stories of this weekend's event, there's consensus that some of the most creative ideas in gaming are coming not out of the risk-averse mega companies, but rather from small studios, many based here.

The seven former 38 Studios employees confirmed that perception.

"Curt used to tell us that he hoped 38 Studios was the last place 
we'd work unless we started our own studios," said Joe Mirabello, who started Sharon-based Terrible Posture Games right after losing 
his job.

"It didn't pan out with his company so I decided that if I was going to work for a place that could go out of business it might as well be my own," Mirabello said.

Everyone on the panel said the spectacular collapse of Schilling's company was devastating, but it lit a fire under them. And while all refused to dish dirt on their former boss, they said that the collegial environment, which came before the abrupt flameout, had bonded former 38 Studios workers into a "brotherhood."

"We continue to take solace in one another and some have become close friends and help one another," said Geraldo Perez, who started King Bee Digital Games.

"It's been hard, but the video game industry has always been volatile," Perez said.

Rich Gallup got a job as a producer for fast-growing Disruptor Beam, but on the side started Summer Camp Studios.

"After what happened, my company's name was a way of picturing all of us all sent to a safe haven where we could go and learn new things," Gallup said.

Gallup said that most of the roughly 400 former employees of 
38 Studios have found work, 
with about half of them staying in the area and half relocating across the country.

"The attention this got opened a few doors," he admitted.

"But these were talented people, and that's why they found other jobs," he said.

Not everyone is making money off their new ventures, although a number of their games, mostly mobile-based, are for sale. Some said they relied on savings, others had a spouse with a good job, but a few are still living hand-to-mouth, determined to follow their passion to make games.

"My idea and my need was to make a game I wanted to play, and when I started it didn't matter if I made any money," said Paul Siegel, founder of Dancing Sorcerer Games.

Gallup has a better idea.

"My dream scenario is that companies put money in a fund, and if they go out of business workers can tap into that to do the games they want to do."

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