Startup sends live local TV to the iPhone
NEW YORK (AP) — A startup backed by media billionaire Barry Diller has launched a service that sends live local TV feeds to iPhones and iPads. But the service may be short-lived, since TV stations are likely to challenge its right to use their broadcasts.
The service, Aereo, launched in New York this week, but it is available only by invitation. It hopes to broaden access to more people next month, and then launch in other cities.
Subscribers pay $12 per month and use their web browsers to access streams from 27 local channels, including the major broadcast networks ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. For now, the service works only on iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, but Aereo is planning to make it accessible to PC browsers and Android-powered phones as well.
In a test by an Associated Press reporter, the service provided high-quality streams over Wi-Fi to an iPad, but often it wouldn't show particular channels. The company says kinks are still being worked out of the system.
Consumer prices up as gas, clothing costs rise
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer prices rose in January for only the second time in four months. The price of food, gas, rent and clothing all increased.
The Labor Department said Friday that the consumer price index increased 0.2 percent last month, after a flat reading in December. Both November and October were revised slightly higher to show an increase of 0.1 percent and no change, respectively.
Excluding volatile food and energy, so-called "core" prices ticked up 0.2 percent. Medical care and tobacco prices also increased. Car prices were unchanged, and airfares fell.
Core inflation over the past 12 months moved up to 2.3 percent — its highest point in more than three years. While many economists say inflation is likely peaking, the rise in core prices could limit the Federal Reserve's ability to take steps to boost the economy.
Dow average closes within 50 points of 13,000
NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow edged teasingly close to the 13,000 marker on Friday, a milestone it hasn't reached since before the financial crisis brought the U.S. economy to its knees.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 45.79 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 12,949.87, its highest close for the year so far. That followed a 123-point surge the day before, when it also set a closing record for 2012.
The rest of the market struggled for direction on what turned out to be a quiet news day as traders prepared for the long Presidents' Day weekend. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 3.19 points, or 0.2 percent, to 1,361.23, also setting a record close for 2012. The Nasdaq composite, after surging Thursday, fell 8.07 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,951.78. Greek debt talks idled and a key economic indicator, U.S. consumer prices, came in at about what analysts were expecting.
The Dow hasn't closed above 13,000 since May 19, 2008, a time when the Bush administration was still in charge, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch still existed, and unemployment was just 5.4 percent, compared to the current 8.3 percent.
