Apple broadens variety of iPods

As competitors continue leaving the portable audio player market, Apple Computer Inc. beefed up its iPod product mix Tuesday with a new 1-gigabyte version of the nano and lower-priced shuffles.

The pencil-thin, flash memory-based nano player now ranges from $149 for the new 1GB model to $249 for the 4GB model. Previously, the 2GB nano was the lowest-capacity and least expensive model at $199.

Apple also cut the prices of its bare-boned shuffle players. The 512-megabyte version dropped from $99 to $69 and the 1GB model was discounted from $129 to $99.

Both moves, analysts say, will help Apple maintain its market-leading position and further its strategy to attract consumers with slimmer budgets.

“No one has been able to catch up to Apple,” IDC analyst Susan Kevorkian said. “Apple’s ongoing dominance has made it difficult not only for major consumer electronics brands to compete, but also the much smaller brands.”

Spokane Valley

Furniture center opens new outlet

The Seattle-based owner of Furniture Supercenter in Spokane Valley recently opened a north Spokane store.

Furniture Supercenter Gallery at 8016 N. Division has more than 30,000 square feet of sofas, chairs, tables, beds, dressers and other pieces.

Kai Chang, president of the company that owns the two stores, said he hopes to open five more stores in the next few years.

“We want to have multiple stores in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana,” he said.

Detroit

Ford offering workers buyouts

Ford Motor Co. is offering buyouts of $100,000 each to workers who lose their jobs to plant closures if they agree to give up all benefits except their pensions.

The severance option is among five being proposed to workers as Ford moves ahead with its plan to close 14 plants by 2012, a move that will affect roughly 30,000 employees.

So far, the company is offering the deals to workers from idled plants in Edison, N.J., and Loraine, Ohio, Ford spokeswoman Marcey Evans said Tuesday. She said the company expects to start offering them soon to workers at the St. Louis factory, scheduled to close by the end of March.

The company hopes to offer them to workers at all idled plants, but they must first be approved by the United Auto Workers in each location, Evans said.

Seattle

Amazon exec joining Google

The head of Amazon.com Inc.’s online search effort is leaving to join Google Inc., the latest in a series of high-profile hires for the search engine leader.

Udi Manber, who has been chief executive of Amazon.com’s A9 subsidiary, will be a vice president of engineering at Google, spokeswoman Lynn Fox said Tuesday. She declined to provide more details, including when he will start and what specifically he will work on.