The winding road

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Cumulative revenues and profits for the 500 largest corporations have risen dramatically over the past 20 years, with a couple of setbacks. In 2012 profits fell 0.5% from the 2011 record while revenues kept rising. In the latest issue of Fortune magazine. My first use of a connected scatter plots which was previously seen in few publications.

What is Facebook Home?

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Facebook’s developers availed themselves of Android’s open-source code to build a product that offers consumers a more immersive experience than they will get using Facebook’s standalone apps for either iPhone or Android.
In the latest issue of Fortune magazine.

Tracking bank settlements

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Since 2010 thousands of lawsuits related to the financial crisis have been brought against the country’s top five banks. So far, the Big Five have settled for a little more than $60 billion. Bank of America has paid out more (and been sued more) than anyone else, with Wells Fargo a distant second. The biggest settlements so far: Federal and state regulators behind the historic National Mortgage Settlement received $25 billion; other banks, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were awarded $13.3 billion; and investors ended up with an $8.5 billion settlement from BofA in 2011’s BNY Mellon suit.

In the latest issue of Fortune magazine.

Carmakers take the Valley

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In February, Franco-Japanese car behemoth Renault-Nissan opened a new, 26,000-square-foot research center in, of all places, Sunnyvale, Calif. It turns out that it is joining a long list of auto companies that have recently opened or expanded R&D shops in Silicon Valley. The Bay Area’s pool of technical talent has long attracted outside industries. But recent advances in Internet-enabled cars, electric vehicles, and driverless automobiles—not to mention local firms Google and Tesla — are fueling automotive innovation here.

In the latest issue of Fortune magazine.

Mississippi’s great green hope

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KiOR is a next-generation renewable fuels company that has developed a proprietary technology platform to convert biomass into renewable crude oil that is processed into gasoline, diesel and fuel oil blendstocks. The company built the first commercial scale cellulosic fuel facility in Columbus, MS. KiOR strives to help ease dependence on foreign oil, reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.

In the latest issue of Fortune.

The robot garage

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A New Jersey startup called Boomerang has built robotic valets, which shuffle and shift cars in parking garages. The saved square footage means extra revenue for real estate developers, who can now rent or sell the freed-up space.

The evolution of listening to music

The smartphone is also an always connected listening device; its growth has vastly outpaced that of previous music players.

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BMW Gets Plugged In

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The company is making huge bets on green, wired cars for city dwellers alongside its high-performance luxury vehicles. The BMW i3is designed for utility and fuel economy, and when it goes on sale this fall, it will be expensive—about $40,000—and probably appeal to a small number of people.
In the latest issue of Fortune Magazine.