Pratt & Whitney parent firm to cut another 1,500 jobs

United Technologies will cut another 1,500 jobs this year and next on top of the 900 positions it has already eliminated in 2010, the Hartford, Conn., company said Monday.

The conglomerate last week posted almost a 14 percent increase in second-quarter net income, citing a “relentless focus on cost.” It slashed its payroll during the worst of the recession, cutting 11,600 jobs last year.

These most recent job cuts come, however, with the company posting its first increase in revenue in about two years as aerospace and refrigerated transportation orders rebound.

The parent company of jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, which has a plant in North Berwick, Maine; Otis elevator; Sikorsky Aircraft, and other businesses said in a regulatory filing it will take restructuring and other costs of $121 million this year.

The company didn’t specify where the job cuts would take place. It employed 206,700 workers as of the end of 2009.

 

iPhone owners can unlock device for other applications

Owners of Apple.’s iPhone can unlock the device in order to use applications not authorized by Apple, the Library of Congress said Monday.

Librarian of Congress James Billington added the practice, described in the ruling as “jailbreaking,” to a list of actions that don’t violate copyright protections. The decision affecting iPhones and other smartphones was posted on the agency’s website.

The decision was a victory for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy-rights advocacy group that asked the Library of Congress to exempt programs for smartphones. In a statement Tuesday, the group said the “overbroad reach” of U.S. copyright law had prompted it to act.

The advocacy group’s “arguments really amount to an attack on Apple’s particular business choices” for the iPhone and the company’s iPhone App Store, Apple said in a filing during consideration of the issue.

 

Ford begins marketing reinvented 2011 Explorer

The Ford Explorer used to be one of the best-selling vehicles in the United States, but as demand for big, truck-like SUVs fell, so did its sales.

Now Ford is trying to breathe new life into the Explorer by reinventing it as a more car-like, fuel-efficient utility.

Ford began a marketing campaign Monday for the 2011 Explorer, which will be in dealerships this winter. Ford promises a utility vehicle with seating for seven that has similar fuel economy to a Toyota Camry sedan. At $28,190, the base price is also $1,000 less than the 2010 Explorer.

The new Explorer is built on a car platform, not a truck one, so it sits lower to the ground and has a smoother, more fuel-efficient ride. The new Explorer shares a platform with the Taurus X sedan.

Some buyers looking for a truck-like SUV will be disappointed. The new Explorer will have less towing capacity than the outgoing model — 5,000 pounds, versus 7,115 pounds — and it won’t offer a V-8 engine.

 

Dow gains over 100 points for third straight trading day

The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 100 points for the third straight day Monday after traders got some unexpected good news about the economy.

A report on the housing market came in better than traders anticipated. And shipping giant FedEx Corp. released a forecast that was more upbeat than the prediction it made just six weeks ago.

The news sent the Dow up 100 points by the close for a three-day gain of 405. Traders who a week ago were selling on a pessimistic view of companies’ earnings and the economy are now buying on the belief that the economic recovery, while slow, is proceeding.

The Dow’s latest advance means the average is up 7.7 percent in July after falling 10 percent from April through June. The Dow is also up 0.9 percent for the year. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index is still showing a loss for 2010, but barely. It’s down less than 0.01 percent.