5-year-old finds flaw in Xbox Live security

SAN DIEGO — A 5-year-old San Diego boy has outwitted the sharpest minds at Microsoft — he's found a backdoor to the Xbox.

Kristoffer Von Hassel managed to log in to his father's Xbox Live account. When the password log-in screen appeared, Kristoffer simply hit the space button a few times and hit enter.

Robert Davies tells KGTV-TV (http://bit.ly/1hmrTan ) that just after Christmas he noticed his son playing games he supposedly couldn't access.

Davies, who works in computer security, says he reported the issue to Microsoft, which fixed the bug and recently listed Kristoffer on its website as a "security researcher."

A Microsoft statement says "we take security seriously" and thanks customers for highlighting issues.

It's not the Kristoffer's first triumph. At a year old, he bypassed a cellphone toddler lock by holding down the "home" button.

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Samsung adding anti-theft solutions to smartphones

SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung Electronics will add two safeguards to its latest smartphone in an effort to deter rampant theft of the mobile devices nationwide, the company said Friday.

The world's largest mobile-phone maker said users will be able to activate for free its "Find My Mobile" and "Reactivation Lock" anti-theft features to protect the soon-to-be-released Galaxy 5 S.

The features that will lock the phone if there's an unauthorized attempt to reset it will be on models sold by wireless carriers Verizon and U.S. Cellular. The phones go on sale next week.

"Samsung takes the issue of smartphone theft very seriously, and we are continuing to enhance our security and anti-theft solutions," the company said in a statement.

The announcement comes as San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and other U.S. law enforcement officials demand that manufacturers create kill switches to combat surging smartphone theft across the country.

Earlier this week, California legislators introduced a bill that, if passed, would require mobile devices sold in or shipped in the state be equipped with the anti-theft devices starting next year — a move that could be the first of its kind in the United States. Similar legislation is being considered in New York, Illinois, Minnesota, and bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress.

In July, Samsung officials told Gascon's office that the major carriers were resisting using kill switches. However, Gascon and Schneiderman said in a joint statement Friday that Samsung's latest move sends a strong message that the wireless industry can work together to make consumers safe. The prosecutors have given the manufacturers a June deadline to find solutions to curb smartphone theft.

"More work needs to be done to ensure that these solutions come standard on every device, but these companies have done the right thing by responding to our call for action," the prosecutors said. "No family should lose a mother, a father, a son or a daughter for their phone. Manufacturers and carriers need to put public safety before corporate profits and stop this violent epidemic, which has put millions of smartphone users at risk."

Apple created a similar "activation lock" feature for the popular iPhone last year.

Almost one in three U.S. robberies involve phone theft, according to the Federal Communications Commission. Lost and stolen mobile devices — mostly smartphones — cost consumers more than $30 billion in 2012, the agency said in a study.

CTIA-The Wireless Association, a trade group for wireless providers, has said a permanent kill switch has serious risks, including potential vulnerability to hackers who could disable mobile devices and lock out not only individuals' phones but also phones used by entities such as the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and law enforcement.

The association created a national stolen phone database last year to remove any market for stolen smartphones.

___

Follow Terry Collins at: https://twitter.com/aptcollins

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LPGA Tour boss 'disappointed' with Golf Digest

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan weighed in Friday on Golf Digest's provocative cover featuring Paulina Gretzky.

"Obviously, we're disappointed and frustrated by the editorial direction (and timing) Golf Digest has chosen with the announcement of its most recent magazine cover," Whan said in a statement at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the tour's first major tournament of the year.

"If a magazine called Golf Digest is interested in showcasing females in the game, yet consistently steers away from the true superstars who've made history over the last few years, something is clearly wrong. ... 'Growing the game' means a need for more role models and in these exciting times for women's golf, the LPGA is overflowing with them."

The cover photo shows Gretzky in skintight capris and a bra.

Known for provocative pictures on her social media accounts, Gretzky is former hockey star Wayne Gretzky's daughter and PGA Tour player Dustin Johnson's fiancee.

Former LPGA Tour star Lorena Ochoa in 2008 was the last female pro to appear on the magazine's cover. Golf Digest featured Golf Channel's Holly Sonders in May 2013 and model Kate Upton posed with Arnold Palmer for the December issue.

"It's frustrating for female golfers," third-ranked Stacy Lewis said. "It's kind of the state of where we've always been. We don't get respect for being the golfers that we are. Obviously, Golf Digest is trying to sell magazines. But at the same time you'd like to see a little respect for the women's game."

Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest's editor in chief, released a statement about the cover.

"Sports figures, celebrities and models have appeared on Golf Digest covers since the magazine's beginning," Tarde said. "Paulina ranks at the high end of the golf celebrity scene today, and she has a compelling story to tell. She also might get some new people interested in the game."

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Fitchburg couple takes over Marshall Farm

FITCHBURG, Mass. — Jim Lattanzi is no stranger to hard work. At 29, he has operated a highly successful food-truck business, started a farm in his Hollis Hills home backyard with wife Allison, and expanded the business to include maple sugaring.

The couple, who are expecting their first child in the summer, are taking their business to a whole new level after purchasing Marshall Farm in Fitchburg, and expanding their services beyond home-grown beef, bacon, chicken, eggs and maple syrup.

In addition to providing those services in the farm's store, they plan on providing apple picking and pumpkins in the fall and full-service breakfast at their state-of-the-art kitchen and restaurant.

The couple had been looking for a place to move their farm for about a year, and Allison Lattanzi said her mother approached her about Marshall Farm being on the market. She said she initially brushed it off, thinking Jim wouldn't be interested.

The next time he saw his mother-in-law, she told Jim about the farm and a light instantly went off in his head, she said.

"My mother is very involved in this farm," she said.

Purchasing the 100-acre farm is like coming home for Jim Lattanzi, he said. When he was first getting his food-truck business off the ground, he used to lease kitchen space at Marshall Farm from the owner.

Their retail store will not only sell products from Hollis Hills farm but from other farms in the area, including Carlisle Honey in Tyngsboro.

"We're looking to revive this place," he said, while noting he and Allison first began pondering the idea in the fall. "The opportunity just presented itself."

The couple closed on the property March 25.

Lattanzi said Marshall Farm has a rich history in the city, and it is his hope to bring back some of the historical charm.

"We're excited to bring this back as an institution to the city of Fitchburg," he said.

He said for many years in recent history, the farm had moved away from being a fully functioning farm and dabbled in other business ventures.

"We're looking to change it back to a fully functioning agricultural farm and provide clean food to the community," he said.

The couple also bought the Marshall homestead, which was built in 1784, and is next to the farm. They plan to move in this spring.

Despite the move, he said, the farm will still have a presence in Lunenburg.

"I still have a ton of crop land in Lunenburg. It's still a vital part of our business," he said. That includes fields he hays and maple taps that provide sap for his maple syrup.

Lattanzi was renting the old Ewen's Sugar Shack in Lunenburg and has since moved the entire operation to the farm and upgraded a lot of the equipment.

The couple said they are appreciative of all they were able to do in Lunenburg and feel they still have a lot to offer.

"We work with excellent landowners in Lunenburg. Lunenburg has always been an agricultural community. You definitely like to see your farm help to maintain that," he said.

Allison Lattanzi said one of the biggest things they focus on when raising their animals is attention to detail.

"We're not pushing out animals for the fastest production," she said. "We maintain our soils and pay close attention to the environment.

She said they use no hormones or antibiotics with their animals.

Jim Lattanzi said that principle has become more and more important now as more and more people want to "see where their food is coming from."

"We're more farm to table, using what you get from us on our farm and use those ingredients in everything we make that we put on the table," he said.

Lattanzi was one of the driving forces in establishing an Agricultural Commission in Lunenburg and helping to write a right-to-farm bylaw for the town, and although he said he still plans on being active in the farming community, this was a chance to help grow his business.

-KATINA CARAGANIS, Sentinel & Enterprise

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Tech giants back Aereo vs. broadcasters

Tech giants have fired back at broadcasters, throwing their support behind Internet TV startup Aereo as a Supreme Court case looms later this month and setting up a showdown between two generations of technology companies.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court in support of Aereo, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which includes Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook, said a finding against Aereo "would threaten one of the most important emerging industries in the U.S. economy: cloud computing."

Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia has repeatedly said the effects of a negative ruling on the cloud computing industry — which includes everything from Dropbox to cheaper, remote servers targeted toward small businesses — will be significant and "will endanger the thriving cloud computing industry just as it starts to mature."

Groups that filed briefs in support of Aereo also included the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, which makes the Firefox browser, and Dish Network.

Aereo is being sued for copyright infringement by major broadcasters, who say the startup illegally transmits content without paying licensing fees. The National Football League and Major League Baseball, among others, are supporting the broadcasters' suit.

Using miniaturized antennae, Aereo receives over-the-air signals and sends them over the Internet. The service starts at $8 per month.

Aereo, headquartered in New York, has a majority of its employees, including its engineering office, in Boston.

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Buyers beware: Homes going fast

If you're shopping for a home this spring, brokers say prepare to see a lot of fellow buyers.

"Open houses are just packed," said agent John O'Connor of Keller Williams, who saw 52 parties come through an open house in Winchester last weekend.

"I see a small increase in inventory this spring, but not nearly enough," said O'Connor. He added that Hub inventory is down about 25.7 percent year-over-year from 2013, and that the median sales price is up 24.5 percent. "We are really seeing the effects of five years of pent-up demand with no new supply."

O'Connor is listing a three-bedroom Cape at 47 Cottage St. in Wellesley for $999,000 this weekend and doesn't expect it to be on the market for long. He recently had seven offers on one Charlestown property, six on another condo and had seven listings go under agreement in one week, all above asking price.

Karen McCormack of McCormack & Scanlan in Jamaica Plain says she's recently seen a big uptick in available JP condos, with 35 listings since mid-March, including 13 in one day last week. She's just listed three three-bedroom condos at 300 Chestnut Ave., ranging from $569,000 to $589,000.

McCormack said properties are still selling very quickly, often under agreement on a Tuesday evening after a weekend open house and two days fielding competing offers. She says buyers are willing to overpay because they've lost out on other properties.

"Buyers are so desperate that they also do risky things such as forgoing home inspections and mortgage contingencies," McCormack said.

Jay Rooney of William Raveis Realty has 50 buyers interested in 11 market-rate condos at Seaport Crossing in South Boston that aren't on the market yet, and says he will sell out the building in less than 30 days after it's listed.

"Young professionals are getting gifts from their families to buy because the rents are so high and mortgage rates are still low," Rooney said. "But it's like a big sale. So many people want to buy that the store runs out of product."

Some people who want to sell but stay in the city are reluctant to put their properties on the market out of fear that they won't find anything they can buy, creating what O'Connor calls a "shadow inventory." And McCormack has been reaching out to potential sellers and offering to sell their properties for big money in private transactions.

"Right now, there's 10 buyers for every condo out there," Rooney said.

O'Connor said buyers in the spring market run the gamut.

"Besides the young professionals, the empty nesters selling big houses are back, young families want to trade up, and there's a slew of foreign buyers, especially from Asia."

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Tasty Burger cooks up Fenway Park deal

Move over Fenway Franks. Boston's famed Fenway Park now has an official hamburger, too.

Local quick-service restaurant chain Tasty Burger has signed a three-year deal to be the Official Burger of the Boston Red Sox, just in time for Opening Day.

Tasty Burger celebrated its new-found status by giving away 2,014 free burgers yesterday at its original Fenway location.

"It feels to us like such a natural fit because Tasty Burger was born right here in the Fenway in the shadow of the ballpark," said Tasty Burger Corp. CEO Dave DuBois, a Cambridge native. "I think it's so cool for somebody with the size and the weight of a brand like the Red Sox and Major League Baseball to tip their hats to a small local brand like ours."

The Fenway faithful will find a new Tasty Burger concession stand in the recently renovated third-base deck, which will sell burgers, fries, milkshakes and Tasty Burger tater tots made exclusively for Fenway Park.

Tasty Burger opened its first restaurant in the Fenway in 2010 and has added locations in Harvard Square and South Boston.

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World stocks muted ahead of US jobs report

SEOUL, South Korea — European stocks made modest gains Friday and Asian markets meandered as investors looked to the upcoming U.S. job report for a fresh trading cue.

Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,674.11 while Germany's DAX added 0.2 percent to 9,645.57. France's CAC 40 was also up 0.2 percent to 4,459.32.

Wall Street appeared set for a day of moderate gains, with Dow Jones futures up 0.1 percent. S&P 500 futures added 0.2 percent.

The U.S. March jobs report will be released early Friday morning in Washington. Many economists think it will show a bounce-back in hiring by employers who held off adding staff during winter.

A strong jobs report would boost confidence that that U.S. economic recovery is on track while also reinforcing expectations that interest rate hikes are in the pipeline after the Federal Reserve ends its bond purchasing program that has provided extraordinary monetary stimulus.

Analysts forecast that employers added 195,000 jobs last month, according to a survey by FactSet. That would be the highest total in four months and up from 175,000 in February. The unemployment rate is predicted to fall to 6.6 percent from 6.7 percent in February.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.1 percent 15,063.77 and Seoul's Kospi drifted down 0.3 percent to 1,988.09. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2 percent to 22,510.08.

But mainland China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.7 percent to 2,058.83 while Australia's S&P ASX/200 added 0.2 percent to 5,422.80. Stocks in Indonesia were the biggest losers, down 0.8 percent ahead of elections. Other Asian markets were mostly flat.

Asia is "a market that is really keen to see a genuine improvement in U.S. data again," IG's Chief Strategist Chris Weston said in a market commentary.

In earlier trading, sentiment was mixed after the European Central Bank did not cut interest rates or announce any new stimulus measures, as some had been hoping.

On Thursday, the ECB decided to leave its main interest rate at a record-low 0.25 percent. ECB President Mario Draghi dismissed fears that consumer prices might fall in countries that use the euro common currency, but stressed that the bank was ready to act if inflation remained low.

In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was up 50 cents to $100.79 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 67 cents Thursday to close at $100.29.

The euro fell to $1.3701 from $1.3720 late Thursday. The dollar was down to 103.87 yen from 103.90 yen.

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Dish Network backs Aereo in Supreme Court battle with broadcasters

Dish Network, Echostar and the American Cable Assn. are among those supporting Aereo in its showdown with broadcasters in the Supreme Court.

They were among the companies and organizations which filed briefs to the high court on Wednesday, the deadline for amicus briefs in favor of Aereo. Oral arguments in the Supreme Court are scheduled for April 22.

If Aereo is allowed to continue, broadcasters say that cable and satellite operators could merely start their own similar services and bypass having to compensate them for retransmitting station signals, in what is now a multi-billion dollar revenue stream.

Dish and Echostar argue that if the court's decision stands to have implications "far beyond Aereo" and "go so far as to touch technologies like Sling and cloud computing. It might even carry implications for a broad swatch of well-established functionality on the Internet -- for example, Internet hyperlinks or indexed thumbnails."

Dish's legal team wrote in their brief that if the high court decides to rule against Aereo, it should issue a narrow ruling.

"Even if Congress intended to prevent free riding by commercial intermediaries on the public performance right, it never intended to authorize copyright holders to charge the public repeatedly just to access their lawful copy of a work at a different time or place," Dish said in its brief.

The American Cable Assn., which represents small- and medium-sized cable operators, argued that Aereo and other new technologies provide a "modest safety valve against what smaller cable companies consider to be unfair and oppressive retransmission consent rates extracted by threat of blackouts that would leave customers with a 'dark' channel unless untoward price demands are met."

"Congress intended to encourage commercial dissemination of local broadcasts," the ACA said in its brief.

The broadcasters argue that Aereo's technology, in which subscribers receive digital streams of broadcast signals via dime-sized remote antennas, violates the public performance "transmit" clause of the Copyright Act, and in particular the intent of Congress when it was written in 1976. The U.S. Solicitor General sided with broadcasters in a friend-of-the-court brief filed last month.

Aereo contends that the streams are private performances, in that viewers are in control of what streams are delivered to their devices. The broadcasts are not live, but captured by the antennas, recorded and then transmitted to viewers after a short delay of about six seconds.

The Consumer Electronics Assn., which filed a joint brief with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and Engine Advocacy, argued that the broadcasters were seeking a "copyright expansion" to cover new, potentially disruptive technology. The organizations said that Congress in 1976 "did not foresee that TV viewers would be able to transmit signals over over a communications medium like the Internet for their own personal use."

"Copyright law has never assigned all commercially valuable uses of creative works to rightsholders; many have always been reserved to the public," the organizations said in their brief. "This creates breathing space for technological and business innovation by entrepreneurs who have no affiliation with rightsholders. As history shows, that leads in turn to new markets for creative work, increasing both rewards for authors and access to creative works in the long term."

Also siding with Aereo were the Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America, as well as a group of small (in some cases very small), independent broadcasters. The latter includes Block Broadcasting Co., which operates a station with familiar call letters, WKRP in Cincinnati.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Josh Elliott on move to NBC Sports: 'Coming here was the best decision for me'

Just days after announcing hismove from ABC's "Good Morning America" to NBC Sports, Josh Elliott joined NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus for a conference call to discuss the new role.

Elliott, who spent nearly a decade working at ESPN and ABC, began by explaining that making the switch between networks was not an easy decision.

"Coming here was the best decision for me, but it was a decision that was tough to make," Elliot said. "It was bittersweet. It was made with a degree of melancholy and it was made with a heavy heart."

When asked about making the transition from on-air personality to "the last man on the bench," Elliot said being on the air every day was never something he needed.

"If a day goes by that I'm not on television, I don't look at it as a lesser day, nor do I look at changing from a news world to a sports world as any sort of step other than a step in a new direction," he explained. "The ability to join this team - to be the rookie on this team - is really what I want for myself personally."

Elliott added that no news role has been discussed with him as of yet and, when asked about the possibility of eventually succeeding "Today" anchor Matt Lauer, he said, "I hope Matt Lauer is here when I step away from this gig 30 years down the road."

While he didn't get into specifics, Elliott said he looks forward to telling stories and providing sports content across NBC's multiple platforms.

Lazarus said that Elliott will be a key player in NBC's Olympics coverage and his duties at the network will begin with the upcoming Kentucky Derby. Lazarus also mentioned that the network is in discussions about its coverage of the French Open, golf majors, the NFL's opening night and the Super Bowl, all of which would involve Elliott.

"He was a journalist, a reporter, a host, an anchor. He's done hard interviews. He's done soft interviews," Lazarus said. "You'll see a mixture of that. You'll see him hosting in some areas and interviews and reporting in other areas. ... It's still early and we're planning."

Elliott expressed confidence in his successor, Amy Robach, and said knowing she would be replacing him made his departure a bit less difficult.

Even so, Elliott hasn't been immune to the media backlash following his network move. While he said this type of reaction was probably inevitable, he also shared that it has been hard to swallow at times.

"It's been difficult to read categorical falsehood after categorical falsehood," Elliott said. "To be in the center of whatever this has been the last couple of days has been incredibly uncomfortable and, at times, very painful."

Elliott said he had no reaction to ABC News prexy Ben Sherwood's comments about their contract negotiations and credited Sherwood with taking a chance on him.

"Ben was crazy to give me a shot. He took a huge gamble," Elliott said. "He is and always will be the reason I'm here."

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Bill Hemmer re-ups with Fox News

"America's Newsroom" cohost Bill Hemmer has signed a multi-year contract to stay on with Fox News Channel, Variety has learned.

In addition to his duties surrounding the weekday morning news talk show he hosts with Martha MacCallum, Hemmer has anchored the network's 1 p.m. ET timeslot since September. He will continue in this position until a new show debuts at that hour.

"Bill Hemmer is a fantastic all-around newsman and a tremendous talent," said Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News. "One of his great gifts is his ability to work so well with everyone -- there isn't an hour in our news lineup that Bill couldn't anchor. He's the consummate team player."

Hemmer, who joined the politically conservative-leaning 24-hour news network in 2005 after 10 years at CNN, said "There is no better boss in America than Roger Ailes. I'm proud to work for him and my wonderful, hardworking colleagues at FNC."

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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World shares rise on China stimulus, US hiring

TOKYO — World stock markets were mostly higher Thursday as investors took heart from new stimulus in China and evidence of stronger U.S. hiring.

Gains were modest, however, in early European trading, as markets awaited a decision by the European Central Bank on further monetary easing.

Germany's DAX inched up 0.04 percent to 9,628.78 and Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.1 percent higher at 6,659.04. France's CAC 40 slipped 0.03 percent to 4,429.45.

Wall Street looked ready for another day of gains, with Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures both up 0.1 percent.

U.S. stocks gained for a fourth straight day Wednesday after a report on hiring reinforced confidence the economy is emerging from a winter slump.

In a further boost to market sentiment, China's State Council, or cabinet, pledged Wednesday evening to do more to support companies, expand consumer demand and create jobs. The moves include increased railway investments and an easing of controls on property dealings in some cities.

That boosted buying of shares in railways and construction-related companies and helped to push Hong Kong's Hang Seng up 0.2 percent to 22,565.08.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock index rose 0.8 percent to 15,071.88, buoyed by the weaker yen and buying of automakers and machine manufacturers such as industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp.

But Shanghai's Composite Index fell 0.7 percent to 2,043.70, weighed by worries over tightening liquidity and a possible restart of initial public offerings. Blue-chip "A-shares" cannot follow the lead of upbeat global markets, said Jackson Wong, a vice president at Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong.

"They haven't rolled anything out to boost A-shares. They're still worried about IPOs. They've got their own problems," Wong said.

South Korea's Kospi gave up early gains to edge 0.2 percent lower to 1,993.70 following the release of a central bank survey outlining banks' concerns over rising household debt risks.

Elsewhere in Asia, shares rose in Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines, but fell in India, Malaysia and Taiwan.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3764 from $1.3768 late Wednesday. The dollar rose to 103.99 yen from 103.87 yen.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 30 cents at $99.32 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It closed Wednesday at $99.62, down 12 cents.

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Boston eyes all-star games, Final Four

In a city that celebrates sports, Mayor Martin J. Walsh is creating an office to lobby for high-profile events such as the X Games, professional all-star games and even the Final Four to come to Boston, a move that could bring in big tourism dollars.

"Boston is such a sports town, and (sports) is such a way of attracting tourists," Walsh told the Herald. "I want to use these opportunities for us to capitalize on these tourism dollars."

The Office of Sports, Entertainment and Special Events will operate under John Barros and the city's economic development department. Walsh said he is eyeing events such as the X Games and professional sports all-star games, as well as bringing hockey's Winter Classic back to Boston. Tony Nunziante, acting director of the former Arts, Tourism and Special Events office, will run the new office.

Patrick Moscaritolo, president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, said sports events can have a significant impact on the economy.

"The major league events, or these huge events like the NCAA Final Four, these are the kinds of things that could really propel the city's industry forward," Moscaritolo said. "That's where you get a lot of spending impact, you get a lot of bang for your buck."

Still, landing the Final Four may be a reach. It's been held in domed football stadiums for at least 10 years, something Boston — or even New England — doesn't have. Boston hosted the Sweet Sixteen in 2012. Moscaritolo said playing host to earlier rounds of the tournament is more likely.

Walsh said a marquee event would not put a strain on the city's amenities.

"We have the hotels, we have the restaurants," Walsh said. "That's the beautiful thing, we have all the infrastructure."

The U.S. Figure Skating Championship was held in Boston in January, and Walsh said attending that event sparked the idea for the sports-focused office.

Next year, the Frozen Four — the NCAA men's hockey tournament — will be held at TD Garden.

Moscaritolo, who has led bids for the Frozen Four and the Women's Final Four, said a focused city office will give the Hub an edge with the leagues and organizations evaluating cities for their high-profile events.

"You rise to the top," Moscaritolo said. "This is a broad, citywide effort that has the mayor's stamp of approval.

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Gaming panel to play hand on host status for Boston

The state Gaming Commission is forging ahead with its plan to rule on whether Boston is a host community to casinos in Revere and Everett after Hub lawyers argued the gaming panel does not have legal standing to make the determination.

"We will proceed with the hearing," commission spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll told the Herald yesterday. "As we have stated previously, the commission has statutory authority to make this decision, and we look forward to resolving this matter quickly."

The commission will discuss a date for the adjudicatory hearing tomorrow, and is sticking with a goal of awarding a casino license in June to either Mohegan Sun's Revere proposal or Wynn Resorts' Everett plan.

Driscoll said the commission has been facilitating information-sharing between the applicants and Boston and hopes to hold a hearing "where everybody will feel like they're prepared with the information that's necessary to support their position."

In a March 25 letter to the commission, city attorney Thomas Frongillo questioned whether the commission had jurisdiction to decide if Boston is a host community. The city is still not entirely on the same page with the commission, asking in a letter Monday for details on tomorrow's discussion, which the commission had said in another letter would include discussion of Boston's status.

"The city requests that the commission provide a more detailed explanation of these statements, which will enable the city to move forward in a thoughtful and productive manner on behalf of its residents including protecting their right to vote," reads the letter by city lawyer Elizabeth Dello Russo.

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World stocks rise on US data, Japan stimulus hopes

MUMBAI, India — World stock markets pushed higher Wednesday on signs of a pickup in the U.S. economy and expectations of further stimulus in Japan.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 led the gains, rising 1 percent to 14,946.32 after a weak outlook for companies raised hopes the Bank of Japan would launch additional monetary stimulus in coming months.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.3 percent at 22,523.94 and South Korea's Kospi edged 0.3 percent higher to 1,997.25.

In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 percent to 2,155.70 as investors continued to shrug off two reports that signaled weakness in manufacturing. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.3 percent to 5,403.30. Indian stocks extended a rally ahead of elections set to start next week, with the Sensex rising 0.4 percent to 22,542.55.

Markets have been optimistic since Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen vowed to keep interest rates low and a survey showed an improvement in U.S. manufacturing activity, with the news apparently outweighing China's weak manufacturing reports.

"If sentiment is a key component in driving price around, I should think these markets can continue higher," Chris Weston, IG's chief strategist said in a market commentary.

European markets opened with modest gains Wednesday as investors waited for a private payrolls report in the U.S. that could indicate the strength of job creation.

Germany's DAX was up 0.3 percent to 9,628.50 and Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.1 percent higher to 6,655.94. France's CAC 40 gained 0.1 percent at 4,428.78.

Futures augured gains on Wall Street. Dow futures were up 0.2 percent at 16,480. S&P 500 futures added 0.2 percent to 1,880.90.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.37935 from $1.3806 late Wednesday. The dollar was up to 103.81 yen from 103.64.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 6 cents at $99.68 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract sank $1.84 to close at $99.74 on Tuesday.

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Under fire: GM's Barra deflects hard questions

WASHINGTON — General Motors CEO Mary Barra didn't squirm on the hot seat Tuesday. On the job less than three months, she calmly answered or deflected tough questions from a congressional committee about faulty parts responsible for at least 13 deaths and the recall of 2.6 million cars.

Barra frustrated lawmakers by fending off questions, saying she was awaiting the results of an internal GM investigation. She didn't know why GM waited more than a decade to recall cars it knew had defective ignition switches. She didn't know who was responsible for the decisions that delayed the recall.

But experts on corporate damage control said she didn't have much choice and gave her high marks for her performance on the hot seat.

"Barra's rope-a-dope is the best of GM's bad options today," said Washington crisis management consultant Eric Dezenhall. "There isn't a corporate lawyer in the country that's going to allow her to engage in freelance speculation about things she doesn't know yet. No, that's not satisfying to the public and media, but the alternative is much worse."

Investors shrugged. General Motors Co. stock, down more than 7 percent since March 11, barely budged Tuesday, slipping 8 cents to $34.34.

Barra apologized for GM's slowness in warning customers about the problems and promised to change the automaker's culture to put a new emphasis on safety. "Barra held her ground, claiming that today's General Motors is a different company from the one whose corporate culture allowed this issue to fester for a decade," said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director Kelley Blue Book.

Ken and Jayne Rimer, whose daughter died in a 2006 accident after a faulty switch prevented airbags from deploying, found Barra's testimony incomplete. For Barra "not to have any answers" after about three months as CEO was unsatisfactory, Ken Rimer said in the hallway outside the hearing room. "It surprised me how unprofessional that was," he said.

Congressional appearances can be a minefield for CEOs. In 2008, automaker CEOS drew public scorn for flying corporate jets to Washington to ask for a government bailout. And Wall Street CEOs were battered in hearings after the financial crisis.

But some lawmakers appeared somewhat more sympathetic to Barra, who was thrust into a crisis after becoming the first woman CEO of a major automaker in January. In 33 years at GM, Barra worked in engineering, communications and human resources. She's a second-generation GM employee: Her father was a GM die maker for four decades.

Not everything went smoothly for the new CEO Tuesday, who flew commercial to the hearing. Barra struggled to explain how GM could continue to use parts that didn't meet its own specifications. When she tried to draw a distinction between parts that didn't meet specs and those that were defective and dangerous, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, said: "What you just answered is gobbledygook."

Dan Hill, president of a Washington firm that advises clients on public relations and crisis management, said Barra erred by contrasting today's safety-conscious GM with the belt-tightening GM that sought bankruptcy protection in 2009. "Barra threw the old GM under the bus by saying that the previous company that she grew up in and held executive positions in was based on a 'cost culture' as opposed to a 'customer first' culture," Hill said, noting that the implicit criticism of her predecessors could be used as ammunition in lawsuits against GM.

But some corporate image experts praised Barra for seizing the initiative by announcing that GM has hired Kenneth Feinberg — who handled the fund for the victims of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the BP oil spill — to explore ways to compensate victims of accidents in the GM cars. Barra didn't commit GM to setting up such a fund.

"She didn't make mistakes," says Gene Grabowski, a crisis management consultant who helps executives prepare for congressional testimony. "That's how you survive a hearing."

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Durbin reported from Detroit. AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this story.

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Syrup-makers go high-tech with wireless monitoring

MILTON, Vt. — Maple syrup production has come a long way from metal buckets hung on trees, but even high-tech operations have had to rely on old-fashioned foot patrols to fix a common problem — leaks.

The tubes that draw sap from trees straight to sugar houses often get pulled down or bent by falling limbs or chewed by critters, meaning sugar-makers spend hours and sometimes days stomping through snowy woods to find and fix problems — a big time-waster in a sugaring season that lasts just a few weeks.

But now sugar-makers are harnessing new technology to keep the precious sap flowing.

Meadowbrook Maple Syrup in January installed a monitoring system that is already paying off. Designed to help mid-to-large scale syrup producers keep an electronic eye their sap vacuum lines, the Tap Track system consists of solar battery-powered radio units strapped to trees, with each unit monitoring the pressure on a half-dozen lines. The data is transmitted to a computer or smartphone, where it shows up as a map with green dots indicating lines with good sap flow and red dots indicating leaks. Users can even get text messages alerting them to problems.

"I think it's the thing of the future. I really do," owner Donnie Richards said.

In the past, Richards and his crew would have to walk the woods of Milton listening and looking for leaks, which was time-consuming.

"And if you didn't find the leak that day, you didn't get sap off that part of the woods all day long," he said.

Now he uses his iPhone to check the system and can immediately see a leak and when it is repaired.

Richards' operation includes about 5,000 taps, with about 18 miles of tubing spread out over more than 100 acres. The new system costs $1 to $2 per tap, but inventor Jason Gagne said the return on investment can be seen in one season. He said the test site of 20,000 taps in Ontario resulted in a more than 5 percent increase in sap collection, or an extra $15,000.

Gagne, who used to spend days on end patrolling his own sugar bush in Swanton, came up with the idea several years ago, teaming up with Canadian sugar-maker Doug Thompson to develop the product.

The University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center is using a similar remote monitoring system for the first time this season, as the technology becomes more commercially available. Smartrek, produced by a Quebec-based company, also monitors sap lines for leaks and provides the information immediately on a smartphone or tablet.

Nationally, maple syrup production totaled 3.25 million gallons last year. Vermont led with 1.3 million gallons, followed by New York, Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Each of those gallons of syrup required sugar-makers to collect 40 gallons of sap.

It takes warm days and cold nights for sap to flow, so the conditions are just right for syrup-making for only about 4 to 6 weeks. And cold weather has already pushed back Vermont's season this year. But Proctor researchers expect the new system to make their operation more efficient and productive. It will also give sugar-makers, who are prone to staying up late to boil sap down to syrup, a few extra hours of sleep, said Brian Stowe, Proctor's sugaring operations manager.

"We find that a lot of sugar-makers get sleep deprived during the season, this again they can take a quick look from their house and then they can go to bed and get some good sleep and not have to worry," Stowe said.

The ideal system would have a sensor at the end of each of the main lines. But that can be expensive for some sugar-makers — about $200 per Smartrek vacuum sensor and $400 for a tank level sensor — so some sugar-makers may start with a smaller number depending on what they want to monitor.

"Whether it's mine or Tap Track of any of the other systems, the technology is fantastic," said Eric Sorkin, of Thunder Basin Maple Works in Cambridge, who was so impressed with Smartrek that he became a distributor.

In the past, Sorkin said, the only way to increase production was to make sure sap is flowing in the system, and that meant lots of man-hours checking each line.

"With these remote monitoring systems, we can effectively lower our labor costs and increase our production," he said.

Gagne described an incident last year when his system showed a leak where a porcupine had cut the line. Just as workers had repaired the break, Tap Track showed another leak.

"You could follow the porcupine prints right to the next line where he'd cut it," he said. "Otherwise, it would have been a few more days before we found those two lines."

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AP sources: Health law sign-ups on track to hit 7M

WASHINGTON — Beating expectations, President Barack Obama's health care overhaul was on track to sign up more than 7 million Americans for health insurance on deadline day Monday, government officials told The Associated Press.

The 7 million target, thought to be out of reach by most experts, was in sight on a day that saw surging consumer interest as well as vexing computer glitches that slowed sign-ups on the HealthCare.gov website.

Two government officials confirmed the milestone, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of an official announcement.

Seven million was the original target set by the Congressional Budget Office for enrollment in taxpayer-subsidized private health insurance through new online markets created under Obama's signature legislation.

That was scaled back to 6 million after the disastrous launch of HealthCare.gov last fall. Several state-run websites also had crippling problems.

Americans who rushed to apply for health insurance Monday faced long, frustrating waits and a new spate of website ills on deadline day.

"This is like trying to find a parking spot at Wal-Mart on Dec. 23," said Jason Stevenson, working with a Utah nonprofit group helping people enroll.

At times, more than 125,000 people were simultaneously using HealthCare.gov, straining it beyond its capacity. For long stretches Monday, applicants were shuttled to a virtual waiting room where they could leave an email address and be contacted later.

Officials said the site had not crashed but was experiencing very heavy volume. The website, which was receiving 1.5 million visitors a day last week, had recorded about 2 million through 3 p.m. EDT. Call centers have more than 840,000 calls.

Supporters of the health care law fanned out across the country in a final dash to sign up uninsured Americans. People not signed up for health insurance by the deadline, either through their jobs or on their own, were subject to being fined by the IRS, and that threat was helping drive the final dash.

The administration announced last week that people still in line by midnight would get extra time to enroll.

The website stumbled early in the day — out of service for nearly four hours as technicians patched a software bug. Another hiccup in early afternoon temporarily kept new applicants from signing up, and then things slowed further. Overwhelmed by computer problems when launched last fall, the system has been working much better in recent months, but independent testers say it still runs slowly.

At Chicago's Norwegian American Hospital, people began lining up shortly after 7 a.m. to get help signing up for subsidized private health insurance.

Lucy Martinez, an unemployed single mother of two boys, said she'd previously tried to enroll at a clinic in another part of the city but there was always a problem. She'd wait and wait and they wouldn't call her name, or they would ask her for paperwork that she was told earlier she didn't need, she said. Her diabetic mother would start sweating so they'd have to leave.

She's heard "that this would be better here," said Martinez, adding that her mother successfully signed up Sunday at a different location.

At St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Del., enrollment counselor Hubert Worthen plunged into a long day. "I got my energy drink," he said. "This is epic, man."

At a Houston community center, there were immigrants from Ethiopia, Nepal, Eritrea, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and other conflict-torn areas, many of them trying anew after failing to complete applications previously. In addition to needing help with the actual enrollment, they needed to wait for interpreters. Many had taken a day off from work, hoping to meet the deadline.

The White House and other supporters of the law were hoping for an enrollment surge that would confound skeptics.

The insurance markets — or exchanges — offer subsidized private health insurance to people who don't have access to coverage through their jobs. The federal government is taking the lead in 36 states, while 14 other states plus Washington, D.C., are running their own enrollment websites.

New York, running its own site, reported more than 812,000 had signed up by Sunday morning, nearly 100,000 of them last week.

However, it's unclear what those numbers may mean.

The administration hasn't said how many of the 6 million people nationally who had signed up before the weekend ultimately closed the deal by paying their first month's premiums. Also unknown is how many were previously uninsured — the real test of Obama's health care overhaul. In addition, the law expands coverage for low-income people through Medicaid, but only about half the states have agreed to implement that option.

Cheering on the deadline-day sign-up effort, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius planned to spend much of the day Monday working out of the department's TV studio, conducting interviews by satellite with stations around the country.

Though March 31 was the last day officially to sign up, millions of people are potentially eligible for extensions granted by the administration.

Those include people who had begun enrolling by the deadline but didn't finish, perhaps because of errors, missing information or website glitches. The government says it will accept paper applications until April 7 and take as much time as necessary to handle unfinished cases on HealthCare.gov. Rules may vary in states running their own insurance marketplaces.

The administration is also offering special extensions to make up for all sorts of problems that might have kept people from getting enrolled on time: Natural disasters. Domestic abuse. Website malfunctions. Errors by insurance companies. Mistakes by application counselors.

To seek a special enrollment period, contact the federal call center, at 1-800-318-2596, or the state marketplace and explain what happened. It's on the honor system. If the extension is approved, that brings another 60 days to enroll.

Those who still don't get health insurance run the risk that the Internal Revenue Service will fine them next year for remaining uninsured. It remains to be seen how aggressively the penalties called for in the law are enforced.

Also, the new markets don't have a monopoly on health insurance. People not already covered by an employer or a government program can comply with the insurance mandate by buying a policy directly from an insurer. They'll just have to pay the full premium themselves, although in a few states there may be an exception to that rule as well.

Supporters of the law held their breath early Monday when the website was taken down.

In Oakton, Va., enrollment counselor Rachel Klein said she noticed the website was running slowly.

"We all came into it understanding that today was going to be challenging," said Klein. "We're all relieved that there's going to be a little extra time for people."

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio said Monday that Republicans remain committed to repealing Obama's law.

___

Associated Press writers Connie Cass in Washington, Don Babwin in Chicago, Randall Chase in Wilmington, Del., Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Houston, Michelle Price in Salt Lake City and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.

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Global stocks mostly higher, Tokyo falls

TOKYO — Global stock markets were mostly higher Tuesday as the Fed's vow to keep interest rates low offset weak economic indicators from China and Japan.

European stocks were higher in early trading. Germany's DAX gained 0.4 percent to 9,597.86 and France's CAC-40 rose 0.6 percent to 4,417.27. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent to 6,624.37.

Wall Street was set to gain with S&P 500 futures up 0.1 percent at 1,867.20. Dow futures rose 0.2 percent to 16,399. Stock markets in the U.S. rose the day before after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen said U.S. interest rates would stay low for some time and that momentum continued Tuesday.

But the Nikkei 225, the main index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange, closed down 0.2 percent at 14,791.99. Japan's sales tax rose Tuesday to 8 percent from 5 percent, a change needed to help stabilize government finances but also a possible setback for consumer demand and economic recovery. Separately, the central bank's quarterly business survey showed muted confidence that could affect spending and investment plans.

Other Asian markets largely shrugged off two surveys that showed weakness in China's manufacturing.

A factory purchasing managers' index released by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing ticked up to 50.3 in March from 50.2 in February. Economists said the increase should have been bigger as factories ramped up after the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

Separately, HSBC's manufacturing index fell to 48.0 from 48.5, slightly worse than a preliminary report and its third consecutive monthly drop. Both indexes use a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 indicate expansion.

HSBC said its reading implies that first quarter economic growth likely fell below the 7.5 percent rate that China's leaders have targeted for the full year.

Seoul's Kospi gained 0.3 percent to 1,991.98. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1 percent to 5,389.17.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.3 percent to 22,338.54 and China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.7 percent to 2,047.46.

Koji Takeuchi, senior analyst at Mizuho Research Institute in Tokyo, said the Bank of Japan's weaker-than-expected "tankan" survey made the Tokyo market nervous about recent gains.

"There is some uncertainty about the future of the Japanese economy so people are being careful," he said.

That countered the recent upbeat mood, thanks to the weakening yen, a plus for the giant exporters of Japan Inc., and a rise in U.S. stocks, said Takeuchi.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3793 from $1.3776 late Monday. The dollar rose to 103.25 yen from 102.20 yen.

Benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery was down 27 cents at $101.31 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 9 cents to $101.58 on Monday.

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama

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GM, safety agency face Congress over recalls

DETROIT — General Motors' new CEO and the head of the nation's auto safety watchdog are headed to Congress to testify about a defect in small cars that is linked to 13 deaths.

In written testimony released ahead of a Tuesday House subcommittee hearing, acting National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief David Friedman says GM had information connecting defective ignition switches to the non-deployment of air bags, but didn't share it until last month.

GM CEO Mary Barra will also testify. Committee members will press Barra and Friedman to explain why neither the company nor the safety agency moved to recall millions of small cars with a defective ignition switch, even though GM knew of the problem as early as 2001.

"Sitting here today, I cannot tell you why it took years for a safety defect to be announced in (the small car) program, but I can tell you that we will find out," Barra said in prepared testimony submitted to the subcommittee.

GM has recalled 2.6 million cars for the faulty switch. That recall prompted GM to name a new safety chief and review its recall processes.

GM continued its efforts to show regulators and consumers that it is more focused on safety, announcing the recall of 1.5 million more vehicles on Monday for a power steering problem.

With Monday's recall, GM has now recalled 6.3 million vehicles since February. GM estimates the actions will cost it $750 million.

The House hearing — and a separate one Wednesday before a Senate subcommittee — will likely be tense and emotional. At least a dozen family members of victims will attend, wearing blue shirts featuring a photo of 16-year-old Amber Marie Rose, who was killed in a 2005 Cobalt crash, and the words "Protect Our Children."

Barra will apologize for the loss of life, but may try to limit her answers to Congress, citing an ongoing internal review and government investigations.

"When we have answers, we will be fully transparent with you, with our regulators, and with our customers," she said in the prepared testimony.

Barra met with families of some of the victims on Monday, GM spokespeople said.

That could test the patience of committee members, who will want to know immediately why GM failed to protect its customers in this case.

Congress also wants to know if it needs to strengthen a 2000 law intended to improve communication between automakers and the government.

Here are some questions lawmakers are likely to ask Barra and Friedman, and why:

GM

Q: Why did it take so long to recall these vehicles?

GM's own timeline, provided to the government, indicates that it knew as early as 2001 that there were problems with the ignition switch in the Saturn Ion. That switch was later used in the Cobalt and other cars. GM eventually learned of accidents and fatalities linked to the switch, and conducted multiple reviews. Yet the cars were only recalled this year. Barra will need to explain why GM didn't act sooner.

Q: Why was a proposed fix never implemented?

According to a timeline prepared by the House subcommittee, GM engineers developed a fix for the switch in 2004, but it was canceled in 2005 because of its long lead time and cost. Engineers also devised a new key design that would prevent the key from falling out of the ignition, which caused the engine to stall. The fix was approved but later canceled. Lawmakers will want to know why, and who was involved. Barra may not be willing to name names at this point. She has said she only learned of the problem last December, shortly after being named CEO.

— Q. Shouldn't GM tell owners to stop driving the recalled cars until they are fixed?

GM insists that the cars are safe as long as owners remove anything extra from their key chains, to avoid weighing down the ignition switch. And dealers have permission to give loaner cars to concerned customers until GM can fix their cars. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, who sits on the Senate subcommittee, is among those calling for GM to make a stronger statement and tell owners to stop driving their cars immediately.

NHTSA

— Q. Why didn't NHTSA open an investigation, which is often the first step toward a recall?

As early as 2005, the agency had numerous consumer complaints, service bulletins GM sent to dealers describing the ignition problems and data from a fatal crash in Maryland. And in late 2007, one official recommended investigating reports that air bags in the cars weren't deploying. An agency panel decided against that because it said a trend wasn't evident.

— Q. Did NHTSA get enough information from GM?

Safety regulators have sent GM a special order to get more information on the recall, but the automaker's response isn't due until Thursday.

In his remarks, Friedman says the agency would have ordered the recall if it had the information GM provided only recently. But safety experts say there was other available information at the time that warranted a recall.

— Q. Does NHTSA have the staff and expertise to deal with the volume of data it's getting?

After the Ford-Firestone tire recall in the late 1990s, Congress required automakers to report more information to the government about possible defects. NHTSA also gets more than 40,000 complaints per year from drivers. Lawmakers want to know if they agency has the resources to do its job.

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Associated Press writer Marcy Gordon contributed from Washington.

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Another Apple-Samsung skirmish heads to court

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The fiercest rivalry in the world of smartphones is heading back to court this week in the heart of the Silicon Valley, with Apple and Samsung accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features.

The trial will mark the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between the two tech giants that underscore a much larger concern about what is allowed to be patented.

"There's a widespread suspicion that lots of the kinds of software patents at issue are written in ways that cover more ground than what Apple or any other tech firm actually invented," Notre Dame law professor Mark McKenna said. "Overly broad patents allow companies to block competition."

The latest Apple-Samsung case will be tried less than two years after a federal jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900 million but is appealing and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.

Now, jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in another round of litigation, with Apple Inc. accusing Samsung of infringing on five patents on newer devices, including Galaxy smartphones and tablets. In a counterclaim, Samsung says Apple stole two of its ideas to use on iPhones and iPads.

"Apple revolutionized the market in personal computing devices," Apple attorneys wrote in court filings. "Samsung, in contrast, has systematically copied Apple's innovative technology and products, features and designs, and has deluged markets with infringing devices."

Samsung countered that it has broken technological barriers with its own ultra-slim, lightweight phones.

"Samsung has been a pioneer in the mobile device business sector since the inception of the mobile device industry," Samsung attorneys wrote. "Apple has copied many of Samsung's innovations in its Apple iPhone, iPod, and iPad products."

In the upcoming case, Apple claims Samsung stole a tap-from-search technology that allows someone searching for a telephone number or address on the Web to tap on the results to call the number or put the address into a map. In addition, Apple says Samsung copied "Slide to Unlock," which allows users to swipe the face of their smartphone to use it.

Samsung countered that Apple is stealing a wireless technology system that speeds up sending and receiving data.

The most attention-grabbing claim in the case is Apple's demand that Samsung pay a $40 royalty for each Samsung device running software allegedly conceived by Apple, more than five times more than the amount sought in the previous trial and well above other precedents between smartphone companies. If Apple prevails, the costs to Samsung could reach $2 billion. Apple's costs, if it lost, are expected to be about $6 million.

"You rarely get from the jury what you ask for, so companies aim high," said German patent analyst Florian Mueller. "But in my opinion this is so far above a reasonable level the judge should not have allowed it."

The problem, he said, is that each smartphone has thousands of patented ideas in it; Apple is challenging just five.

Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung's market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15 percent of the global market.

Apple claims the following Samsung products now infringe on Apple patents: Admire, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy SII, Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch, Galaxy SII Skyrocket, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Tab II 10.1 and Stratosphere.

Samsung claims the following Apple products infringe on Samsung patents: iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPod touch (fifth generation), iPod touch (fourth generation) and MacBook Pro.

With the San Jose federal courtroom just a 15-minute drive from Apple's Cupertino headquarters, even jury selection can be difficult. In the previous case, several prospective jurors were dismissed because of their ties to the company.

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Follow Martha Mendoza at https://twitter.com/mendozamartha

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Test accurately rules out heart attacks in the ER

WASHINGTON — A simple test appears very good at ruling out heart attacks in people who go to emergency rooms with chest pain, a big public health issue and a huge worry for patients.

A large study in Sweden found that the blood test plus the usual electrocardiogram of the heartbeat were 99 percent accurate at showing which patients could safely be sent home rather than be admitted for observation and more diagnostics.

Of nearly 9,000 patients judged low risk by the blood test and with normal electrocardiograms, only 15 went on to suffer a heart attack in the next month, and not a single one died.

"We believe that with this strategy, 20 to 25 percent of admissions to hospitals for chest pain may be avoided," said Dr. Nadia Bandstein of the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm.

She helped lead the study, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and presented Sunday at the cardiology college's annual conference in Washington.

Chest pain sends more than 15 million people to emergency rooms in the United States and Europe each year, and it usually turns out to be due to anxiety, indigestion or other less-serious things than a heart attack. Yet doctors don't want to miss one — about 2 percent of patients having heart attacks are mistakenly sent home.

People may feel reassured by being admitted to a hospital so doctors can keep an eye on them, but that raises the risk of picking up an infection and having expensive care they'll have to pay a share of, plus unnecessary tests.

The study included nearly 15,000 people who went to the Karolinska University hospital with chest pains over two years. About 8,900 had low scores on a faster, more sensitive blood test for troponin, a substance that's a sign of heart damage. The test has been available in Europe, Asia and Canada for about three years, but it is not yet available in the United States.

The patients were 47 years old on average and 4 percent had a previous heart attack. About 21 percent of them wound up being admitted.

Researchers later looked back to see how the blood test and electrocardiogram would have predicted how they fared over the next month.

They figured that in order to find one heart attack in patients like this, 594 would have to be admitted — a huge waste of resources.

A test like this would be "enormously useful," and the study's results are "almost too good to be true," said Dr. Judd Hollander, an emergency medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.

He believes the test should be available in the U.S. and that the amount of evidence that regulators are requiring to approve it is too high.

Dr. Allan Jaffe, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said the problem is not what the test rules out, but what it might falsely rule in. It's so sensitive that it can pick up troponin from heart failure and other problems and cause unnecessary tests for that.

"I think the strategy long-term will be proven," but more studies underway now in the U.S. are needed to show that, he said.

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Politicians, experts split over fair minimum wage

WASHINGTON — The federal minimum wage has left three-person families below the poverty level since 1980. It's also well shy of the peak of its buying power almost half a century ago.

Is the current $7.25 hourly minimum fair? Is now the time to raise it, and, if so, by how much?

There is no objective answer. It depends on the political slant of lawmakers or the views of economists being asked.

Economic data over the minimum wage's 76-year history doesn't provide definitive help, either. It shows erosion over time in the plight of minimum-wage earners, reflecting what the nation's political system has produced, not necessarily what's fair.

Democrats backed by President Barack Obama are preparing to force election-year votes on gradually increasing today's minimum to $10.10 by 2016, an effort that seems likely to fail in Congress. Republicans generally oppose the proposal, saying it would cost too many jobs.

As a Senate clash over the issue approaches — perhaps this week — here's a look at the equity questions the dispute raises.

Q: What should be the minimum wage's goal?

A: Along with labor and liberal groups, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, sponsor of the $10.10 push, says the aim should be to boost low-earners and their families over the poverty line.

As recently as 1979, when minimum-wage workers earned $2.90 hourly, they made an annual $6,032 for a 40-hour work week. That exceeded that year's federal poverty line of $5,784 for a family of three.

The following year, when the hourly minimum rose to $3.10, a full-time worker earned $6,448. But that dipped below that year's $6,565 poverty level for the same-sized family, and it's stayed beneath the threshold since.

The current $7.25 minimum leaves that worker earning $15,080, well below the 2013 poverty level of $18,552 for a family of three. By reaching $10.10 in 2016, minimum-wage workers would earn $21,008 — surpassing the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's poverty level projection for that year by around $2,300.

Q: What do Republicans say?

A: Many don't offer an alternative figure and say their counterproposal remains a work in progress.

Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., a leading GOP opponent of Harkin's bill, says an increase to $10.10 is unfair to low-wage workers because it would cost too many of them their jobs — around 500,000, according to a Congressional Budget Office report in February. That same report said 16.5 million low-paid workers would see higher earnings, and about 900,000 people would be lifted over the poverty threshold.

Thune says that while the federal minimum wage isn't going away, regional economies and hiring markets vary so much that states should be allowed to set their own minimum wage levels. All but five states already have minimums, but currently the law requires that the federal level prevail if it is higher than a state's.

Republicans and conservatives also say the focus should be on creating a stronger economy with more jobs and better educated workers who can demand higher wages and not have to rely on a federal minimum.

Q: Historically, has the minimum wage had the same buying power for workers?

A: No. Since it stays stagnant unless Congress votes to change it, its buying power has fluctuated widely and today is well below its peak.

The federal minimum wage first took effect in 1938 and was 25 cents. That was worth about $4.06 in today's dollars, its lowest value, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, which analyzes issues for lawmakers.

The minimum wage crested in value in 1968, when it was $1.60 but had $10.69 in buying power in today's dollars. That was well above today's $7.25.

The peaks and valleys of the minimum wage tend to reflect the political party in power. It didn't change during the 1980s under Republican President Ronald Reagan. The last increase was enacted under President George W. Bush in 2007 after Democrats took control of Congress.

Q: How has the minimum wage compared with workers' average earnings over the years?

A: By that measure, too, the minimum wage has taken some hits in recent years. It's another comparison that supporters cite to argue that it's time to boost the federal minimum.

According to the Congressional Research Service, minimum-wage earners fared best in 1968 compared with their co-workers in private industry. That year, the federal minimum of $1.60 was 54 percent of average private sector earnings of $2.95.

It's eroded since then. The current $7.25 federal minimum was just 36 percent of the $20.31 average in the private sector in November.

Q: Do conservatives concede that point?

A: No. They argue that if the real goal is improving the plight of low-income workers, it would be more efficient to increase the earned income tax credit. That program — started under GOP President Gerald Ford and expanded by Reagan — provides tax breaks to lower-earning families, including government cash payments if their credit exceeds taxes owed.

Conservatives say the credit is more effective because it wouldn't cost jobs and virtually all the money would go to poorer people. Because some minimum-wage workers are members of higher-earning families, about 30 percent of the higher earnings from an increased minimum wage would go to families making over triple the poverty level, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.

One problem: While a minimum-wage increase would be paid by employers, enlarging the earned income tax credit, a $60 billion program, would cost federal taxpayers. That's an additional drain on the Treasury that some Republicans oppose.

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China, Japan stimulus hopes boost global stocks

SEOUL, South Korea — Global stocks were mostly higher Monday on expectations China and Japan will take new steps to spur economic growth.

Most European stock markets gained ground in early trading with Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.2 percent to 6,631.59. Germany's DAX index was nearly flat at 9,585.65 and France's CAC 40 was also almost unchanged at 4,409.91. On Wall Street, stocks were set to extend gains from Friday. Dow and S&P 500 futures were both up 0.3 percent.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 percent to 14,827.83 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.4 percent to 22,151.06. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 percent to 5,394.80. Stocks in Southeast Asia and Taiwan also rose but China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.4 percent to 2,033.31.

Investors in Japan anticipated the government or the central bank would announce measures to offset the impact of a sales tax hike. Japan's sales tax will increase to 8 percent from 5 percent on Tuesday, a move needed to help stabilize government finances but also a possible setback to economic recovery.

Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at IHS Global Insight, said an unexpectedly weak industrial output report also added pressure for the Bank of Japan to pursue additional monetary easing.

Japan's industrial production for February fell 2 percent from the previous month due to heavy snowfall and slowing demand for construction-related products, Taguchi said in a report.

Investors also increasingly expect that China's government will take measures to prevent a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy.

An official manufacturing survey due Tuesday might cement those views after another survey released last week show China's manufacturing at an eight month low.

In South Korea, Seoul's Kospi finished 0.2 percent higher at 1,985.61 after losing ground in early trading. The country's military returned fire into North Korean waters after shells from a North Korean live-fire drill fell south of the rivals' disputed western sea boundary.

Lee Sun-yub, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp., said the exchange of fire had little impact on foreign investors in South Korea while some local institutional investors used the incident to take profit.

In energy markets, benchmark crude for May delivery was down 11 cents at $101.53 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 39 cents to close at $101.67 on Friday.

In currencies, the dollar strengthened to 103.21 yen from 102.84 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.3786 from $1.3753.

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