Apple says battery problem caused iPod overheating

SEATTLE (AP) — Apple Inc. said that batteries from a single supplier are to blame for the meltdown of some models of its tiny iPod Nano digital music player.

The company's written statement came in response to a Japanese government report that two iPod Nanos overheated in Tokyo, scorching nearby paper and a woven straw mat.

Apple said the flaw affected first-generation Nanos, sold between September 2005 and December 2006, in very rare instances.

California home sales surged in July, prices fell

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Home sales in California surged more than 12 percent in July from a year ago — the biggest jump in sales in four years, a research firm has said.

A total of 39,507 new and preowned homes were sold statewide last month. That's up 12.3 percent from July 2007 and up 12.2 percent from June's total, MDA DataQuick said in its report.

Foreclosed homes accounted for 44.8 percent of all the homes sold last month. The surge in foreclosure sales and home depreciation, coupled with fewer sales of high-end homes, helped drive down the statewide median home price to $318,000, a decline of 33.5 percent from July 2007.

FDA warns General Electric over lax record keeping

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators have warned General Electric Co. over lax quality control standards at a plant that makes computer software for medical imaging.

The warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration released lists a dozen record-keeping violations uncovered at a GE facility in Barrington, Ill., between April and May.

FDA inspectors found that GE did not have procedures for reviewing customer complaints, product changes and other information about its Centricity Imaging software that it used to schedule, manage and archive medical images.

General Dynamics to buy Jet Aviation for 2.25B

WASHINGTON (AP) — General Dynamics Corp. has said it will buy Jet Aviation for about $2.25 billion in cash, part of the defense contractor's push to expand its private civilian jet business and tap into robust demand for luxury planes overseas.

With the purchase, General Dynamics pairs its existing private aircraft maker, Gulfstream, with Jet Aviation's global network of maintenance and service centers that can fix planes and outfit them with custom features for wealthy customers or cash-rich governments.

While General Dynamics is perhaps best known for its tanks, ships, submarines and other military equipment, it has significantly expanded its aerospace unit in recent years and now expects its fleet of flying business jets to double in the next decade to roughly 30,000 planes.

Hewlett-Packard 3Q profit jumps 14 pct

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hewlett-Packard Co.'s fiscal third-quarter profit jumped 14 percent, beating Wall Street's expectations, as strong laptop sales and a robust international presence continued to lift the technology bellwether.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company's results signaled that HP continues to hold its ground as the world's No. 1 seller of personal computers even with stronger competition from Dell Inc. and Apple Inc. and aggressive price cuts.

But some investors have expressed fears that HP's growth might taper off as it digests its $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp. The deal deepens HP's battle with IBM Corp. for the dollars that corporate customers spend to get guidance on setting up their computer networks.