Company News: Airbus, Boeing share Vietnam deal

In an order split between fierce rivals, Vietnam Airlines has said it plans to buy 10 long-range, midsize Airbus A350s, while adding a dozen planes to a previous order for Boeing 787s.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus SAS said Monday that Vietnam Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding for 10 A350-900 XWBs plus 20 smaller A321s. Those planes are not yet scheduled for delivery, Airbus spokeswoman MaryAnne Greczyn said.

State-owned Vietnam Airlines said it signed a similar agreement with Boeing for 12 787s and that delivery of those planes will begin in 2015. Boeing Co. declined to confirm details of the order.

Together, the orders are valued at nearly $6 billion, though airlines typically negotiate steep discounts.

“In time for the holidays, Verizon Wireless is launching a cell phone that looks a lot like the hottest phone so far this year: Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Like the iPhone, the LG Voyager features a large touch screen, a camera and extensive multimedia, Web browsing and e-mail capabilities.

However, it one-ups the iPhone by folding open lengthwise to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and a second, non-touch-sensitive screen. The lack of a hardware keyboard has been one of the main complaints about the iPhone.

The Voyager will connect to Verizon Wireless’ latest data network, providing speeds much higher than the AT&T network the iPhone uses. The Voyager also has direct access to Verizon’s online music store.

However, the Voyager will not come with a large built-in memory for songs and video, offering instead a slot for memory cards up to 8 gigabytes. Nor are its screens as large as the iPhone’s.

Verizon Wireless did not say how much the Voyager or three other new phones would cost. Nor did it give a launch date, saying only that they would be in stores before Thanksgiving.

“For decades, the Sears Wish Book was a holiday treat, scrupulously studied and dog-eared by generations of children hoping for the best on Christmas morning.

Now, 14 years after the retailer shelved the venerable catalog, Sears is reviving the storied holiday tradition as it struggles to attract shoppers and revive business.

“We all get lots of gifts, but wishes are a special thing,” said Chief Marketing Officer Richard Gerstein. “And I think that’s what this book used to embody, and that’s why we’re bringing it back.”

Unlike its 832-page monstrous predecessor, the updated Wish Book being mailed to shoppers this week is a much trimmer 188 pages.