Microsoft, Novell open an 'interoperability lab'

Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. announced the opening of an "interoperability lab" in Cambridge. At the 2,500-square-foot facility, a priority of a lab team made up of Microsoft and Novell engineers will be to ensure interoperability between Microsoft and Novell virtualization technologies, the companies said. Plans for the lab were revealed last fall as part of a collaboration agreement between Microsoft and Novell, the firms said. Headquartered in Waltham, Novell designs, develops, and supports proprietary and open-source software for use in business solutions. (Chris Reidy)

Friendly Ice Cream Corp. has named George Weldon vice president of marketing. The Wilbraham chain operates about 515 company-owned and franchised restaurants; it also makes ice cream distributed in stores. Weldon had been a vice president for Dunkin' Donuts. Friendly was recently acquired by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners Inc., a Florida private equity firm, for $337.2 million. (Chris Reidy)

The former head of the Cartoon Network who resigned over a publicity stunt that caused a terrorism scare in Boston has been named the next president of HGTV. Jim Samples will join the Tennessee home and garden cable network next month. He takes over for retiring HGTV chief Judy Girard. HGTV reaches more than 95 million subscriber households and has 5 million visitors monthly on its website. Samples resigned in February as general manager and executive vice president of Atlanta-based Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network after a promotion for a cartoon show caused bomb scares. Dozens of blinking circuit boards of a cartoon character appeared in 10 cities. Turner and its ad agency paid $2 million in compensation. (AP)

A federal judge halted an import ban on mobile phones by Qualcomm Inc., a rare legal victory in a long-standing patent dispute with rival Broadcom Corp. Judge Haldane Mayer on the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted a request by several mobile phone manufacturers and AT&T Inc.'s wireless division to stay the ban the federal government ordered in June. The International Trade Commission barred imports of new mobile phone models with Qualcomm chips after determining the company had violated a patent held by chip maker Broadcom on battery power-saving technology. (AP)

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, introduced the first new companywide slogan in 19 years, promoting the benefits of low prices as it seeks to boost slowing sales. The motto, "Save Money. Live Better," appears in TV advertisements and then in print, on store receipts, and shopping bags, spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien said. Wal-Mart wants to highlight its appeal as a low-price retailer after earlier attempts to woo shoppers with advertising taglines in 2006 failed. Wal-Mart fell 23 cents to $42.71 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. (Bloomberg News)

Sun Microsystems Inc. will begin building servers with one-time foe Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system installed directly inside of them, instead of forcing customers to install the ubiquitous software on their own or defect to a rival for one-stop shopping. The agreement is the latest twist in a truce the pair, once bitter rivals, hammered out in 2004, when Sun pocketed $1.95 billion in a settlement payout from Microsoft over antitrust and patent allegations, and both companies vowed to make their products work better together. Sun shares fell 5 cents to $5.66. Microsoft shares finished unchanged at $28.93. (AP)

Sprint Nextel Corp. unveiled a service that allows mobile handset customers to buy and compare a wide range of products over their phones. Called Mobile Shopper, the free service essentially replicates the experience of shopping online but on a mobile handset. The service also allows shoppers to compare the prices they see in stores with those offered by more than 30 online partners. Customers who like what they see can order items on the spot with a credit card. The service offers around 7 million products from big retailers like Wal-Mart to niche players such as Dreamtime Baby. (AP)

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