U.S. could wrap up Google probe this week: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators this week could drop their investigation of how Google ranks certain searches, without requiring any major changes in how the online giant does business, according to two people knowledgeable about the investigation.

Google had been accused of giving competitors in lucrative areas like travel a lower ranking in search results, thus making it harder for their customers to find them.

But the Federal Trade Commission is expected to conclude that Google's actions were legal and end its more than two-year probe of the company.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz has said he wanted the case wrapped up by the end of the year. He is widely expected to step down within a month but has not announced his resignation.

Google is expected to agree to some changes in its business practices, however. For example, it is expected to end the practice of "scraping," or using reviews from other websites, for its own products, the sources said.

And it is also expected to allow customers who use its advertising network to be able to export data on the effectiveness of those ad campaigns, the sources said.

Google and the FTC are also expected to reach an agreement on when the company can request sales bans when filing patent infringement lawsuits.

The company is expected to agree to strict conditions when filing these lawsuits if the patent in question has been determined to be essential to a standard, the sources said.

The European Commission, which is also probing Google on the issue of search fairness, is expected to announce a decision next month.

Google's U.S. critics, anticipating disappointment from the FTC, have already said they would take their evidence to the Justice Department to press the antitrust division to take up the case.

(Reporting By Diane Bartz)

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49ers withstand comeback, top Patriots 41-34

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — LaMichael James awaited the kickoff, determined to regain the momentum for the 49ers after they quickly lost all of a 28-point lead.

"We need a boost," he said. "That's what I was thinking. I was thinking I got to take it to the house."

He didn't get all the way there, but close enough to set up the decisive touchdown — going 62 yards before Colin Kaepernick's 38-yard pass to Michael Crabtree with 6:25 left — that helped San Francisco reach the playoffs with a 41-34 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday night.

"We faced adversity," James said. "Nobody flinched."

Now the 49ers have at least a wild-card berth with a 10-3-1 record, knowing a win against division rival Seattle (9-5) next Sunday clinches the AFC West title.

The Patriots (10-4) already had locked up first place in the AFC East with a chance to improve their chances for a first-round bye. They began the day in second place in the race for the two byes but fell behind the Denver Broncos (11-3). The Houston Texans (12-2) hold the top spot.

"We haven't thought about that yet," Tom Brady said. "What's in our control is winning football games."

Doing that on Sunday night seemed almost impossible after the 49ers rolled to a 31-3 lead on Kaepernick's 27-yard touchdown pass to Crabtree five minutes into the third quarter. Only one team in NFL history had won a regular-season game after trailing by 28 — a 38-35 win by the 49ers over the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 7, 1980.

But with 25 minutes left and Brady at quarterback, the 49ers weren't comfortable.

"Tom is a good quarterback and we knew some adversity was going to come and they were going to make plays sooner or later," linebacker NaVorro Bowman said.

They did — time after time — until they had tied the score at 31 on Danny Woodhead's second touchdown, a 1-yard run with 6:43 remaining.

Woodhead began the comeback with a 6-yard touchdown run, Brady scored on a 1-yard sneak on the first play of the fourth quarter and then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez less than three minutes later. And when Woodhead scored again, the Patriots had their fourth touchdown in 14 minutes, 16 seconds.

But two plays later — James' kickoff return and Crabtree's catch — the 49ers were back on top. And this time they stayed there.

David Akers made it 41-31 with a 28-yard field goal with 1:56 to go, Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 41-yarder for New England with 38 seconds remaining and San Francisco sealed the win when Delanie Walker caught the onside kick.

"We just spotted them 28 points," Brady said. "We fought hard, but you can't play poorly against a good team and expect to win. We can't miss plays that we have opportunities with."

For Kaepernick, a second-year pro starting just his fifth game, it was a chance to remain calm even as the big lead disappeared. He finished with 14 completions in 25 attempts for 216 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.

"This is my 17th year of football," he said. "I've been playing since I was eight years old. So, to me, I am going to go out there and I'm going to throw to the guy who is open and you try to keep football simple so your mind can be clear when you're on the field."

It was clear enough for him to throw a short pass to Crabtree then watch him race by cornerback Kyle Arrington for the go-ahead touchdown. That gave the team that had allowed the fewest points this season enough to beat the team that had scored the most.

"We can win a shootout," said Crabtree, who had 107 yards receiving. "Whatever it takes, that's our motto. ... We feel like we can do anything, sky's the limit."

New England, which had won seven straight games, lost for the first time at home in December in 21 games. The Patriots also had won 21 in a row in the second half of the schedule before San Francisco somehow regrouped late in a game it seemingly had clinched long before.

The 49ers forced four turnovers, matching the number of giveaways the Patriots had at home all season.

"I don't think they faced a physical defense like us all season," said San Francisco cornerback Carlos Rogers, who intercepted Brady midway through the first quarter and ran 53 yards to the Patriots 5.

The 49ers were leading 7-0 at the time on Kaepernick's 24-yard touchdown pass to former Patriot Randy Moss. Gostkowski's 32-yard field goal made it 7-3, but San Francisco scored on Kaepernick's 34-yard pass to Walker and David Akers' 20-yard field goal for a 17-3 lead at intermission.

"Everything" went wrong in the first half, Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker said. "A lot of bad football."

Frank Gore then recovered Kaepernick's fumble and ran 9 yards for a touchdown. Two plays later, Aldon Smith intercepted Brady's pass and Kaepernick struck on the next play with his 27-yard pass to Crabtree for a 31-3 lead with 10:21 remaining in the third quarter.

Still plenty of time for Brady.

"I had a feeling we'd be able to come back," he said.

But when the Patriots tied it, a poor job by the kickoff team proved costly.

"I did as much as I could to help the team win," James said.

It was just enough.

NOTES: The 49ers allowed 520 yards after entering the game second in the NFL in fewest yards allowed, 275.5 per game. ... Welker had five catches, giving him 100 and making him the first player in NFL history with that many in five seasons. ... Gore led all rushers with 83 yards on 21 carries. ... Brady was 36 for a career-high 65 for 443 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

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Beck looks for new connection with 'Song Reader'

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Beck Hansen wants you to think about the way music has changed over the last century and what that means about how human beings engage each other these days.

Laboring over the intricate and ornate details of his new "Song Reader" sheet music project, he was struck by how social music used to be — something we've lost in the age of ear buds.

"You watch an old film and see how people would dance together in the '20s, '30s and '40s. You'd go out and people would switch partners and it was a way of social interaction," Hansen said. "It's something that was part of what brought people together. Playing music in the home is another aspect of that that's been lost. Again, I'm not on a campaign to get people to take up songs and play music in their home or anything. But it is interesting to me, the loss of that, what it means."

Beck hopes the "Song Reader" inspires some of us to pick up instruments and limber our vocal cords. It includes 20 songs annotated on sheet music that's been decorated in the style popular in the early 20th century when the songwriting industry was a thriving enterprise with billions of songs sold.

The 42-year-old singer notes in the book's preface that Bing Crosby's "Sweet Leilani" sold an estimated 54 million copies in 1937, meaning about 40 percent or more of the U.S. population was engaged in learning how to play that song. They were touching it directly, speeding it up, slowing it down, changing the lyrics and creating something new.

"There's popular bands now that people know the words to their songs and can sing along, but there's something about playing a song for yourself or for your friends and family that allows you to inhabit the song and by some sort of osmosis it becomes part of who you are in a way," he said. "So when I think of my great-grandparents' generations, music defined their lives in a different way than it does now."

Beck proposed the idea to McSweeney's Dave Eggers in 2004 and it soon blossomed into something more ambitious as the artist wrapped his mind around the challenge of not just writing a song, but presenting it in a classic way that also engages fans who might not be able to read music or play their own instruments.

They quickly agreed it would make no money, but it seemed like an idea worth exploring.

"And it seemed like only Beck would have thought of it," Eggers said in an email to the Associated Press. "It's a very generous project, in that he wrote a bunch of songs and just gives them to the world to interpret. That's a very expansive kind of generosity and inclusiveness that we're happy to be part of. On a formal level, we love projects like this, that are unprecedented, and that result in a beautiful object full of great art and great writing. And it all started with Beck. It's a testament to his groundbreaking approach to everything he does."

Beck hopes fans will record their own versions and upload them to the Internet so those songs grow into something more universal.

As for his own recorded music, that's a little more complicated.

Beck's not sure where he's headed at the moment. He recorded an album in 2008, but set it aside to work with Charlotte Gainsbourg on "IRM," which he wrote and produced. He's also been writing songs for soundtracks and special projects and producing artists like Thurston Moore, Stephen Malkmus and Dwight Yoakam. All that has left him feeling creatively satisfied, but he does acknowledge it's been a while since he released 2008's Danger Mouse-produced "Modern Guilt."

He says in many ways he's reached a crossroads he's not yet sure how to navigate.

"This last year I've been thinking about whether I'd finish those songs (from 2008), whether they're relevant or worthy of releasing. I know that doesn't sound very definitive," he said, laughing, "but that's the kind of place I'm in — in this kind of limbo — and, um, yeah."

The "Song Reader" spurred Beck to think about his own work in a new light as well. Spending six months finishing off the project after working on it sporadically over the years, he was struck by how much craft went into the creation of each song and how quickly music can come into existence today.

"There is so much music out there, to me," he said. "I don't know if it's just where I am in my own music making or if it's a product of the amount of music out there, but I feel like a piece of music does have to have a certain validity to be put out there and to ask people to listen. ... I feel like it's impossible for everyone to keep up, you know, so I guess I've been feeling like maybe there's something to picking what you're going to put out, about being more particular about what you put out."

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Online:

http://beck.com

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Reyes goes craft with Windy City deal

Independent breweries are still a niche category in the marketplace, but interest in them continues to grow.

Reyes Beverage Group, a division of global food and beer distributor Reyes Holdings of Rosemont, said Sunday it has reached an agreement to purchase Windy City Distribution, a well-regarded distributor of craft beers.

Brothers Jim and Jason Ebel founded Windy City in 1999. The firm operates as a distributor across eight northern Illinois counties for more than 40 craft breweries, such as Tyranena, Lagunitas and Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. The Ebels also are the brewers behind Warrenville-based Two Brothers beer.

The deal, which is expected to close by the end of the year, is yet another sign of the coming-of-age of the craft beer scene, which is now much more part of the mainstream beer industry. In 2012, 442 craft breweries opened, according to the Beer Institute. The Brewers Association, a trade association, said sales of craft brews increased 14 percent in the first half of 2012 and volume jumped 12 percent.

While the beer industry overall has shown limited growth, the explosive interest in craft beer is enticing giants such as Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Budweiser, and MillerCoors, both of which have struggled to enter the craft market on their own. Since acquiring Chicago's Goose Island in 2011, Anheuser-Busch has aggressively expanded that well-known label. Earlier this year, it revealed plans to increase Goose Island's distribution to all 50 states, making it one of the few craft brands with a true national footprint.

Reyes' Chicago Beverage Systems and Windy City will not integrate their operations. Windy City's president, Bob Collins, and his management team will join Reyes. Chicago Beverage Systems distributes Miller, Coors and Heineken brands, among others.

"Windy City Distributing will be a new entity in our network focused solely on the craft beer market," said Ray Guerin, chief operating officer of Reyes Beverage Group. "I look forward to working with Windy City to learn more about servicing the craft beer industry while providing Reyes Beverage Group's expertise to help Windy City expand."

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Both companies are privately held.

mmharris@tribune.com

Twitter @chiconfidential

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1st quarter: Bears 0, Packers 0

Ignoring recent trends has been the message from Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith this past week, but reality arrived at Soldier Field on Sunday in the green-and-gold uniforms of the Green Bay Packers.

It was difficult to forget that the Bears had lost five straight to their NFC North rivals. Entering with an 8-5 record, the Bears also had lost four of their last five after an auspicious 7-1 start.

Behind coach Mike McCarthy, Green Bay positioned itself to possibly clinch the NFC North with a victory Sunday.

"A rivalry game, I don't have to say an awful lot more than that," Smith said of the division-leading Packers. "I know they're excited about coming down here. It has just been too long. Right now, as I continue to say, unfortunately we haven't held up our end of the deal with the rivalry. You've got to win some football games to really get that done. We know what's at stake."

The Bears' defense came in knowing it had to find an answer for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the reigning NFL MVP. Injuries could not be an excuse for the Bears, as the Packers had significant losses to injuries, as well.

Inactives for the Bears were Josh McCown, Tim Jennings, Geno Hayes, Henry Melton, Earl Bennett, Shea McClellin and Urlacher.

Green Bay inactives: Charles Woodson, James Starks, Terrell Manning, Donald Driver, D.J. Williams, Jordy Nelson and C.J. Wilson.

Rodgers came in with an 8-2 record against the Bears as a starter, with a passer rating of 96.8.

"He's the type of guy, he can make every throw," said Bears linebacker Nick Roach, who has been filling in for the injured Brian Urlacher in the middle. "He adjusts on the run. When he gets out of the pocket, he can do a lot of things. The run game, obviously, is not what people remember them for, but they have been doing it a lot better lately, and more successfully than earlier in the year. So it is just something else we will be alert to, but nothing will change."

Exacerbating the problem of containing Rodgers has been the resurgence of the Green Bay running game in recent weeks.

"They've put a commitment to it. They know how to run the football, there's no doubt," Bears defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. "All through his career they've run the football well. Tough offensive linemen, smart. You come out every week saying that's what you've got to get done. You've got to be able to knock out the run."

The Packers entered the game having won 11 straight division games.

fmitchell@tribune.com

Twitter@kicker34

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Apple falls on lower shipment forecasts, muted China debut

(Reuters) - Apple Inc shares fell 3.9 percent on Friday after the iPhone 5 debuted in China to a cool reception and two analysts cut shipment forecasts.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek trimmed his iPhone shipment estimates for the Jan-March quarter, saying that the technology company had started cutting orders to suppliers to balance excess inventory.

Shares of Apple suppliers Jabil Circuit Inc, Qualcomm Inc, Skyworks Solutions Inc, TriQuint Semiconductor Inc, Avago Technologies Ltd, and Cirrus Logic Inc also fell in early trading.

Apple shares have lost a quarter of their value since they hit a life high of $705.07 on September 21, as it faces increasing competition from phones using Google Inc's Android operating system.

Misek cut his first-quarter iPhone sales estimate to 48 million from 52 million and gross margin expectations for the company by 2 percentage points to 40 percent.

UBS Investment Research cut its price target on Apple stock to $700 from $780 on lower expected iPhone and iPad shipments for the March quarter.

The brokerage said it was modeling more conservative growth for the world's biggest technology company after making supply chain checks that revealed that fewer iPhones were being built.

"Some of our Chinese sources do not expect the iPhone 5 to do as well as the iPhone 4S," UBS analyst Steven Milunovich wrote in a note to clients.

Apple launched the iPhone 5 in China on Friday, a move widely expected to bring the Cupertino-based company some respite from a recent slide in market share in China, but early reports indicated that demand may not be as great as expected.

"The iPhone 5 China launch has been surprisingly muted but (we) are unsure how much weather (snow) or the required pre-ordering (to prevent riots) are factors," Misek said.

Apple shares fell as low as $508.50 in morning trading on the Nasdaq on Friday.

(Editing by Supriya Kurane)

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Griffin not playing for Redskins

CLEVELAND (AP) — Robert Griffin III won't be running wild or throwing passes for the Redskins. He can only watch them.

Washington's electrifying rookie quarterback is inactive for Sunday's game against the Browns, eliminating any chance of him helping his teammates continue their NFC playoff push.

Griffin sprained his right knee last week against Baltimore, and after days of speculation about his playing status, the Redskins announced late Saturday night that rookie Kirk Cousins will start.

Cousins, who came off the bench last week against Baltimore after Griffin got hurt, will make his first career start and veteran Rex Grossman will be Washington's No. 2 QB. Grossman has been inactive for every other game this season.

Griffin sustained a mild sprain of the lateral collateral ligament when he took a scary hit from Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata following a 13-yard run late in the fourth quarter. He was limited in practice all week, but as of Friday it appeared he might play and coach Mike Shanahan was keeping tight lipped about his young star's status.

The 22-year-old RG3 was one of the first players on the field Sunday morning. He seemed to be moving well with a brace on his knee. At that point, it still wasn't official that he would not be inactive, and the Redskins (7-6) didn't make it known that No. 10 would suit up at all until 90 minutes before kickoff.

The Browns spent all week preparing to face Griffin, who is tied with New England's Tom Brady for the league lead in passer rating and who has dazzled opponents and fans with his speed and arm strength.

His absence could be a break for the Browns (5-8). Cleveland has won three straight games and is still in the playoff chase after starting the season 0-5.

Cousins rallied the Redskins in the fourth quarter last week, throwing a late touchdown pass and ran for a 2-point conversion before the Ravens won in overtime. Washington selected Cousins in the fourth round of April's draft. The former Michigan State star was somewhat of surprise pick because the Redskins had already selected Griffin after trading several picks to St. Louis to move up to get last season's Heisman Trophy winner.

Cousins also played earlier this season after Griffin sustained a concussion against Atlanta. He has completed 7 of 11 passes for 137 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

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Sundance film “End of Love” finds distributor

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Gravitas Ventures and Variance Films have acquired all North American rights to writer-director Mark Webber‘s drama “The End of Love,” the companies announced on Thursday.

The father-son drama, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, stars Webber alongside Shannyn Sossamon (pictured), and Webber’s real-life son Isaac Love, and features appearances by Michael Cera, Jason Ritter, and Amanda Seyfried.

The film tells the story of struggling actor Mark (Webber), who is forced to grapple with his inability to grow up when the mother of his two-year-old son Isaac suddenly dies. As he kindles a relationship with a young single mother, Mark begins to realize that he can no longer remain in denial about the real-life consequences his choices have on Isaac.

Gravitas Ventures will debut the film across all major video on demand (VOD) platforms on January 21, 2013 with a theatrical release from Variance Films beginning March 1 2013 in select markets.

“Propelled by the authenticity and intimacy of the performances, our acquisition team was unanimous that ‘The End of Love’ was one of the strongest films not only of Sundance, but of all of the films we saw last year,” said Nolan Gallagher, founder and CEO of Gravitas Ventures.

“I’m thrilled that ‘The End of Love’ has found a home with Gravitas and Variance,” said Webber. “In the rapidly changing landscape of how films are seen, these two companies are at the forefront of embracing that change.”

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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'The Hobbit' tops box office with $84.8 million

NEW YORK (AP) — Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" led the box office with an opening of $84.8 million, a start better than the three previous "Lord of the Rings" films.

Studio estimates Sunday had the Warner Bros. 3-D epic as the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which opened with $77.2 million in 2007.

Despite generally poor reviews, the adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's first novel in the fantasy series was an even bigger draw than the last "Lord of the Rings" films, "The Return of the King." That film opened with $72.6 million.

While Jackson's "Rings" movies drew many Oscar nominations, the path for "The Hobbit" has been rockier. It received no Golden Globes nominations on Thursday. Its 48-frames-per-second, double the usual rate, also has been criticized.

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Greener planet is goal for 3 startups

If the glut of companies billing themselves as "solutions" providers is any indication, the world has no shortage of problems.

Green tech companies take on some of the most complicated, difficult problems to solve. They tend to be problems created by our mere existence, chief among them our massive demand for energy. The more we rely on energy to power our electronics, our vehicles and our lives, the more pollution we churn into our land, water and air.

The Tribune checked in with three local green tech startups at various stages of development. They haven't changed the world yet, but they're working on it.

COMPANY: LanzaTech

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: Global warming, a huge challenge as energy demand is expected to double within 40 years.

FUNDS RAISED: $100 million

It may sound like sci-fi, but LanzaTech produces gas-eating "bugs" that don't require oxygen to survive.

In April, the company's microscopic bacteria began ingesting carbon monoxide from a steel mill in China. Carbon monoxide goes in one end of the bacteria and ethanol comes out the other.

With a few genetic tweaks, the bug can produce a wide range of fuels and chemicals from gases that companies spend money to get rid of. The idea, says Jennifer Holmgren, the company's chief executive, is to trap nasty gases that float from steel mills, power plants and chemical factories, turning them into products that are useful and profitable.

The company recently inked a deal with Petronas, the national oil company of Malaysia, to develop a modified version of the bug that takes in carbon dioxide and produces acetic acid, a chemical companies need to produce polymers used in plastics.

"Rather than trying to sequester carbon deep into the earth, we will 'bury' it in a chemical," Holmgren said. "In this way, companies can not only comply with emissions reduction requirements, but also generate revenue along the way."

When Holmgren talks about the technology's potential, she pulls up a map of the world, showing partnerships and agreements the company has with companies from Boeing Co. in Chicago and Kansas-based Invista, the world's largest nylon producer, to Indian Oil Co. in New Delhi and Mitsui & Co. Ltd. in Japan.

Out of the company's various projects, the carbon monoxide-eating bacteria are the furthest along in the path toward commercialization. This month, LanzaTech finished a demonstration project for China's largest steel manufacturer, Baosteel, at a plant near Shanghai.

LanzaTech successfully produced the equivalent of more than 100,000 gallons of ethanol per year from just a fraction of the carbon monoxide the company creates in the steel-making process.

"You're literally driving for miles watching this steel mill," Holmgren said, explaining its vast size — and its potential to produce hundreds of millions of gallons of ethanol per year.

The technology creates a financial incentive to trap the gas rather than flare it, a common practice that produces carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. Through a series of pipes, the gas enters a vessel filled with the organism, which is floating in water. Fuel comes out the back end and is pumped through a distiller to create pure ethanol.

Because of the success of that demonstration, the steel company has ordered the first of what will eventually be three or four units, each about $80 million, that are each expected to produce 30 million to 50 million gallons of ethanol per year. Each unit pays itself back in under five years, Holmgren said.

"We don't want it to be green for green's sake. If it is, no one is going to use it," she said.

With 140 employees worldwide, LanzaTech doesn't have any revenues to report yet. Holmgren said LanzaTech expects to grow to profitability between 2013 and 2015.

COMPANY: Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies LLC

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