Business in brief: CdA ranked among top job creators

Coeur d’Alene snagged a spot among the “10 Best Performing Small Cities” index put out annually by the Milken Institute.

Bend, Ore., ranked No. 1 this year on the index, which measures metro areas’ ability to create and sustain jobs. Coeur d’Alene ranked sixth.

The index is based on five-year and one-year measurements of employment and salary growth. It also measures technology output growth, based on the industry’s crucial role in regional economic growth.

Other small cities included on the list were: St. George, Utah (2); Midland, Texas, (3); Hinesville-Fort Stewart, Ga. (4); and Winchester, Va. (5). For a complete listing, visit http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/ bc179_2007.html.

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit economic think tank based in Los Angeles.

New York

‘Media extenders’ will link TVs, PCs

Microsoft Corp. and its hardware partners are trying to bridge the divide between home computers and TV sets this holiday season with the release of several “media extenders.”

These TV set-top boxes will connect wirelessly to computers running the Home Premium or Ultimate flavors of Windows Vista and enable users to use their TV sets to watch movies, TV shows and Internet video that is stored on their computers.

Microsoft planned to announce the prices and more details about the extenders today at the DigitalLife trade show in New York.

The cheapest extender, from Cisco Systems Inc.’s Linksys division, will cost $300. Linksys will have another model with a built-in DVD player for $350, a price matched by D-Link’s model, which lacks a DVD player but includes a USB port for viewing photos and other content stored on flash drives or hard drives.

Another extender is from Niveus and is aimed at home theater enthusiasts. No price was announced yet, but Microsoft product planner Hakan Olsson said it would be substantially higher than the other models.