Mercury Computer to use Cell processors in servers

Mercury Computer Systems Inc. of Chelmsford will begin making high-powered server computers using the same microprocessor that will drive the upcoming Sony PlayStation 3 videogame console. The Cell processor, codesigned by IBM, Sony, and Japanese electronics company Toshiba, contains eight processing cores on a single chip to enable extremely fast data processing. Mercury will use it in a server designed for aerospace engineering and medical imaging that will go on sale in January, making it the first Cell-based product to reach the market. The PlayStation 3 won't go on sale until spring. (Hiawatha Bray)

Babson College names chief financial officer

Philip N. Shapiro, a key player in Boston finance for nearly two decades, will become chief financial officer of Babson College in Wellesley, the school said. For 12 years, Shapiro has headed the Boston office of Standard & Poor's, which rates debt issues of municipalities and institutions throughout New England. Prior to that, he oversaw the finances of the Boston Harbor cleanup as chief financial officer of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. (Jeffrey Krasner)

Free high-speed Internet access for military families

Starting today, a Quincy cable and Internet service provider will offer free high-speed Internet access to immediate families of military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan -- for as long as their loved ones are abroad. Atlantic Broadband will be rolling out its freebie starting in central and western Pennsylvania before going to parts of New York, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Florida. The company also will provide free installation, cable modem, and five e-mail accounts per home. (AP)

TA Associates purchases help desk software unit

Intuit Inc., the world's biggest maker of tax preparation software, agreed to sell its help desk software unit to Boston buyout firm TA Associates for $200 million. The sale is scheduled to close within 90 days and will provide a pretax gain of $40 million to $50 million, Intuit said. Also, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and TA Associates said they would invest $300 million each for minority stakes in MetroPCS Communications Inc., which offers unlimited mobile telephone calls in a given area for a flat fee. (Bloomberg)

THE NATION
Business groups seek limit on Patriot Act powers

Some prominent business organizations are complaining to Congress that the Patriot Act makes it too easy for the government to get confidential business records. These groups endorsed proposed amendments that would require investigators to say how the information they seek is linked to individual suspected terrorists or spies. The changes also would allow businesses to challenge the requests in court and speak publicly about those requests. Among the proponents of the limits are the US Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the National Association of Realtors. (AP)

Yahoo buys event schedule website Upcoming.org

Yahoo Inc., which runs the most-visited website, acquired Upcoming.org, a free site where users post details of events. The three people who run the website will work in Yahoo's Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters and maintain the site from there, according to a statement on Upcoming.org. No financial details of the transaction were given. (Bloomberg)

Video game publisher settles overtime lawsuit

Video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. will pay $15.6 million to settle claims it required graphic artists to work long hours and weekends without overtime pay, resolving the first of several cases highlighting working conditions in the fast-growing industry. The world's largest independent game publisher also agreed to reclassify about 200 entry-level artists to be eligible for overtime. In May, the company reclassified about 240 jobs spread over its corporate, studio, and marketing divisions as eligible for overtime. (Los Angeles Times)

THE WORLD
China Construction Bank details pricing for IPO

China Construction Bank, mainland China's fourth-largest bank in terms of assets, has priced its initial public offering in Hong Kong in what is expected to be the largest IPO in the world this year, possibly raising more than $6 billion. The bank set a price range of between 23 and 29 cents per share. As the first of China's big state-owned banks to list shares overseas, the offering is considered a litmus test for the future IPOs of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China, China's first- and second-largest banks. (AP)