Microsoft, Motorola enter ‘smart’ cell phone market

The fledgling competition to develop “smarter” cell phones for Web-hungry consumers is getting a powerful new tag-team entry: Motorola Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

The nation’s largest cell-phone and software manufacturers plan to announce an alliance Monday under which Microsoft software will power a series of new Motorola smart phones and wireless devices.

The products — starting with the Motorola MPx200 phone, pictured at right, which is to make its American debut in the fourth quarter and be carried by AT&T Wireless Services Inc. — will be the newest entries in a category being eyed by several big software and phone makers.

Smart phones, combining the features of cell phones and hand-held computers, have been introduced in only a handful of countries and remain sparse in the United States.

Economy

Manufacturing still slow, new report suggests

Industrial production edged up by just 0.1 percent in August, restrained by weakness in manufacturing, especially for big-ticket goods such as automobiles, according to a report by the Federal Reserve.

At factories, production dipped by 0.1 percent in August following three straight months of gains. The decline partly reflected a drop in the production of costly manufactured “durable” goods, expected to last at least three years, the Fed said. Production at utilities, however, rose 1.9 percent in August, following a 3.8 percent increase in July.

The Fed meets today to discuss interest rates. Many economists are predicting policy makers will leave interest rates unchanged.

Retail

Proctor & Gamble agrees to sell ‘fair-trade’ coffee

After years of resistance, Procter & Gamble Co. on Monday began selling a line of “fair-trade” coffee, a more expensive variety intended to return more profits to growers.

Cincinnati-based P&G is selling the Mountain Moonlight brand online and by mail-order request as a part of its Millstone Signature Collection, the company’s line of gourmet coffees. Millstone is sold in 10- to 12-ounce bags for about $6.99. The Moonlight version is available only in a 10-ounce size with a suggested retail price of $8.99. Activists, who have lobbied P&G at its annual meeting and through shareholders’ resolutions, hailed P&G’s decision as a milestone.

Wall Street

NYSE pay package draws more criticism

A former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange joined critics Monday in calling for a clean sweep of the boardroom as the best way of quelling the growing storm over Dick Grasso’s lavish pay package.

The exchange’s directors, who are considering ways to ease outrage over the $139.5 million Grasso received in accrued benefits and savings, were expected to call a meeting later this week.

James Needham, a retired accountant who was NYSE chairman from 1972 to 1976, said everyone associated with the decision should step down, including Grasso. He said he has shared his views with Grasso and SEC Chairman William Donaldson, who raised sharp questions about the pay package.