Briefs
Comcast speeds up downloads
Comcast Corp. is scheduled to introduce faster residential Internet packages and double the speed of its most popular local package today, a company spokesman said.
The cable company is rolling out its wideband Internet service in Allen County and the city of Huntington today, spokesman Mark Apple said in an e-mail. The fastest Internet package, which costs $139.95 a month when combined with a cable TV subscription, will offer residential download speeds of up to 50 megabits a second. That matches the fastest Verizon FiOS residential Internet package available in Fort Wayne, New Haven and Huntertown.
When Comcast upgrades the technology, current subscribers who have the Internet performance package will see their 6 megabit a second download speeds double at no additional cost, the company said.
The Fort Wayne area is among the first 10 markets to receive the upgrade nationwide, Comcast said.
Mattel will shell out for lead-tainted toys
Toymaker Mattel Inc. will pay $12 million to 39 states, including Ohio and Michigan, to settle an investigation over Chinese-made lead-tainted toys shipped to the U.S. in 2007, state officials said Monday.
Mattel and its Fisher Price unit recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys last year, beginning in August, fearing the items had been tainted with lead paint and tiny magnets that children could accidentally swallow.
All the affected toys were pulled off shelves by December 2007.
As part of the agreement, Mattel also agreed to lower the acceptable level of lead in toys shipped to the states to 90 parts per million down from 600 parts per million.
Hasbro drops suit over online Scrabble clone
Hasbro Inc. has dropped its lawsuit against the makers of a popular online version of the board game Scrabble.
According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in New York, Hasbro dropped the lawsuit Friday.
Hasbro, which owns the North American rights to the word game, sued Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, brothers from Calcutta, India, this summer. The brothers developed the unauthorized version, called Scrabulous, after they couldn’t find an online version they liked.
The court documents did not specify a reason for the withdrawal of the case.
Glenbrook owner still in talks on Vegas malls
Shopping center real estate investment trust General Growth Properties Inc. said Monday it is still negotiating for an extension on the maturity date on $900 million mortgage loans for two Las Vegas malls.
The REIT, which owns Fort Wayne’s Glenbrook Square, said it’s still negotiating with the lenders for Fashion Show and Palazzo, both in Las Vegas.
