Traditional exterior hides modern home

This stylish new townhouse is one of six similar available units that's bringing a contemporary look to a traditional but highly desirable Somerville neighborhood between Davis and Teele squares.

Each unit at 39-43 Elmwood St. has four levels of living space and features a private outdoor deck carved into its roof. The exteriors of the two buildings are Hardieplank clapboard with white trim with gables as a nod to the existing neighborhood. But the interiors are completely contemporary.

The units feature high-tech components such as iBot smart-home technology, Nest learning thermostats, Sonos music systems and Kohler digital shower valves. Units also come with induction cooktops, Navien tankless water heaters and high-efficiency gas heating and central air-conditioning systems.

In the staged model unit, you enter via a small front porch into a 15-foot high foyer and step up into an open, recessed-lit living/dining area with 13-foot ceilings, oak-stained floors and lots of tall windows with transoms above. In one corner sits a horizontal gas fireplace with a metallic porcelain finished surround. And overhead is built-in surround sound with a Sonos music system that can be operated through a smartphone or iPad.

It's a half flight up to a high-end kitchen, which features custom maple cabinetry including a recipe desk. There are white quartz countertops with glass mosaic backsplash and a quartz island/breakfast bar with contemporary pendant light­ing. High-end Energy­Star appliances include a Sub Zero refrigerator, a Bosch dishwasher and wall ovens and a Bosch electric induction cooktop. Off the kitchen is a half-bath.

The second floor features two bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a closet with a washer/dryer hookup. The oak-floored master bedroom has a walk-in closet with built-in wardrobe system. The en-suite porcelain-tiled bathroom has a walk-in shower with a stylish rolling glass door and a Kohler DTV digital shower valve.

The second bedroom is a bit on the small side, but there is a second full porcelain bathroom with a white subway tile surround for a tub/shower.

The third floor features a third bedroom, a flex space that could also be a home office, study or gym. It opens out onto a private deck cut into the roof of the building.

The lower level features direct access to a one-car garage and a half flight farther down to a carpeted space, ideal for a family room, with an adjacent half bathroom.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

ReWalk Robotics to go public

The company behind a revolutionary $69,500 exoskeleton that lets paralyzed patients walk again is planning to go public.

ReWalk Robotics, based in Israel and Marlboro, disclosed plans to raise 
$57.5 million through an initial public offering.

The company develops and sells a robotic exoskeleton that has allowed paralyzed patients, including vets, to walk thanks to an onboard computer and motion sensors. In ReWalk's regulatory filing, the company said its future could depend on being able to successfully go public.

"Without additional capital, from this offering or otherwise, we may run out of cash in the second half of 2014," the filing said. The company also said in the filing it is unclear how the exoskeletons will be viewed by insurance companies.

Still, the market for the exoskeletons is relatively untested. In June, ReWalk was given FDA approval to sell its systems directly to patients to use in their homes, but has not started selling them yet. The exoskeletons are currently used in rehabilitation hospitals.

So far this year, IPOs from medical device companies have not fared well, a trend experts blame
partly on a slow response by insurance companies.

"The recent results for medical device IPOs has been poor, perhaps related to the uncertainty of medical reimbursements," said Kathleen Smith of IPO investment firm Renaissance Capital.

"However, if ReWalk is seen as a unique robotics company, there may be more interest by IPO investors. "

A spokeswoman for ReWalk declined to comment, citing the SEC-mandated quiet period.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

E-coupon app ringing it up

For mobile commerce to be successful, consumers — not the merchants — have to be the driving force, and one of the few companies that has figured that out is our own Waltham-based e-Coupons service SavingStar, which is announcing a huge expansion on Monday.

Rather than trying to get consumers to forgo their credit cards or lure them with "game theory," as Square and LevelUp have done, SavingStar is doing something simpler — and maybe even nobler: They've spent the past three years trying to modernize the ol' grocery store coupon.

Launched in 2011, the digital grocery savings service began helping shoppers earn cash back on purchase at stores such as Stop & Shop, Hannaford, Shaw's, CVS, Wegmans, Roche Bros., and Price Chopper. The soon-to-be-announced expansion adds partnerships with Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar and Dollar General.

Spun from Newton-based marketing corporation 
Upromise, SavingStar is a mobile app for Android and iOS that organizes and provides coupons from leading manufacturers — essentially the digital equivalent of the supermarket circular.

But it's more valuable to merchants than paper coupons because it encourages consumers to use their customer loyalty cards at checkout. And that gives the merchants better data about consumption.

As for consumers, they don't see the discount at the register, but in the form of rewards that accumulate as cash, transferable to Paypal, Amazon gift cards or a bank account.

It's brilliant, really. Nothing generates loyalty like checking your bank statement and seeing that a company has actually deposited money rather than withdrawn it.

In addition to the merchant partner expansion, SavingStar is also adding a new feature, allowing consumers to earn discounts just by taking a picture of their receipt.

SavingStar, which claims 
five million users, has raised 
$27.4 million in venture capital since its founding, including a $9.1 million fourth round last year, according to CrunchBase.

SavingStar is consumer-driven, and I wouldn't be surprised if a company like Amazon scoops them up soon.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

New group helps artists brush up biz skills

A new hub for artists trying to mix their creativity with business savvy is holding its annual Marketplace tomorrow in Somerville.

Jessica Burko, a mixed-media artist, photographer and founder and director of Boston Handmade, is holding the event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow in Union Square.

"Our group exists to support creative entrepreneurs in their microbusinesses," said Burko, 40, of Roslindale. "When you go to art school, you don't necessarily get any business training. So our group is all about filling that gap."

Boston Handmade also offers workshops on topics such as how to use social media to market your business.

"I really wanted to meet a group of fellow artists and crafts people like that to bounce ideas off of," said Dana Garczewski, an illustrator whose studio, The Patterned Peacock, is in Watertown.

Garczewski, 36, sees events like the Boston Handmade Marketplace as a chance to show people the value of buying goods handmade locally.

"It's an opportunity to get to know the artists in your own backyard," she said, "and experience art and crafts in a very hands-on way."

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Wine lovers raise a glass to direct shipping law

BOSTON — Whether it's pinot noir, merlot, chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, wine lovers in Massachusetts will soon be able to have some of their favorite bottles shipped straight from the vineyards to their homes.

A provision in the new state budget lifts a long-standing prohibition on direct deliveries from wineries to consumers. It follows a spirited campaign by out-of-state producers and customers that recently received a major endorsement from former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who operates a winery in Washington state.

The law won't take effect until Jan. 1, but connoisseurs in a state with one of the nation's highest per capita wine consumption rates are anxious to enjoy the convenience of ordering brands that are currently difficult or impossible to find on local store shelves.

"It definitely opens the door to us wine geeks to have, right on our doorsteps, these cool, funky, small-producers' wines," said Lorraine Martinelle, of Worcester.

Although she's made frequent trips to wine country in California and abroad, the best Martinelle said she could do was to have her favorites shipped to her son's home in neighboring Connecticut.

According to Free the Grapes, an industry-backed group based in Napa, California, direct wine shipping occurs in all but nine other states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Utah.

"It's about consumer choice," said Jeremy Benson, a spokesman for Free the Grapes, who added that wine lovers from Massachusetts had been among the most vocal of those in states with direct shipping bans.

Under the new law, domestic wine producers will initially pay $300 for a direct shipper's license, with a $150 renewal fee each subsequent year. Shippers may deliver no more than 12 cases of wine (containing no more than 9 liters per case) to each person in a year.

The wine must be for personal consumption only and cannot be resold. Wineries must report all deliveries to the state each year and pay Massachusetts excise taxes.

The American Wine Consumers Coalition complained that the new law would still prevent direct shipments of most international wines because they are only available in the U.S. through wine retailers, who remain barred from direct shipping under the law.

Resistance to direct shipping had come from liquor store owners who feared a loss of business and from those concerned that wine could easily be delivered to underage drinkers. The law requires that wine packages bear the words "contains alcohol" and be signed for at delivery by a person 21 years or older.

Violations could bring fines and license suspensions.

A 2006 law allowed some small wineries that didn't have a wholesale contract in the state to ship wine directly to consumers. But large producers objected, and a federal judge later struck down the law as unconstitutional.

Emily Murray, a Worcester resident and wine lover who said she had been frustrated by a lack of direct shipping, said the state's reluctance to lift the ban wasn't surprising, given that Massachusetts was also slow to end many of its blue laws, such as its former prohibition on Sunday liquor store sales.

Yet it may well have been Bledsoe, who played for the Patriots from 1993 to 2001 and was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame, who nudged the direct shipping effort over the goal line by visiting the Statehouse last year to push for the bill.

Bledsoe, owner of the Doubleback winery, explained to lawmakers that he was having trouble providing samples to friends, fans and former teammates in Massachusetts, including Tom Brady, who succeeded him as New England's quarterback.

"Tom actually bought the wine, and he shipped it to his dad's house" in California, Bledsoe said. But the plan went awry when Brady's father drank the wine before his son got there.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Gov. Patrick signs compound pharmacy regulation measure

Two years after a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak linked to a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday signed a law he said would address a "gray area" between state and federal oversight of the pharmacies.

The measure includes new licensing and labeling requirements and steps up fines for violations of state rules.

It also reorganizes the board that oversees pharmacies and requires the board's inspectors to be trained in sterile and non-sterile compounding practices.

A tainted steroid produced by the now-closed New England Compounding Center in Framingham was blamed for the fungal meningitis outbreak that caused 64 deaths and hundreds of illnesses in 20 states.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

FairPoint unions begin strike vote meetings Friday

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. — Nearly 2,000 union employees of telecommunications firm FairPoint in northern New England are set to begin voting on whether to authorize a strike.

A meeting about the strike authorization vote is scheduled for Friday in South Burlington, Vermont. More meetings are set for Saturday in Bangor, Maine and Sunday in Portland, Maine and Manchester, New Hampshire.

The workers' contracts expire Aug. 2. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers System Council T-9 and Communications Workers of America Local 1400 began negotiating April 25.

The vote is required in advance of a work stoppage, but doesn't require the union members to strike. Union leadership could make that decision later.

The company says service to customers will continue if there is a strike. Company officials say their offers to the union have been fair.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

FTC sues Amazon over in-app buys

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon over charges that the company has not done enough to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court.

The move had been expected since last week, when Amazon said it wouldn't settle with the FTC over the charges. Amazon said in a letter to the FTC last week that it had already refunded money to parents who complained and was prepared to go to court. Yesterday Amazon said its statements in the letter still apply and did not comment further.

The dispute is over in-app charges in children's games on Kindle devices, where it can sometimes be difficult to differentiate whether users are spending virtual or real currency to acquire virtual items.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cape Wind wants staging option in R.I.

The developer of a planned wind farm off Cape Cod wants the option to lease land in Rhode Island for a staging and assembly area, the Quonset Development Corp. announced.

Cape Wind is looking at a one-year lease option at the Quonset Business Park, with two one-year extensions for about 14 acres at the Port of Davisville in North Kingstown. The development corporation's board is scheduled to take up the lease option during a meeting on Tuesday, and it won't release the financial details until then.

Much of the work for the $2.6 billion, 130-turbine renewable project in Nantucket Sound was planned for a New Bedford marine commerce terminal that is being built specifically to support the construction and deployment of offshore wind turbines.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

NHTSA probes 500K Ford cars for steering issues

NEW YORK — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it is investigating steering problems in about 500,000 Ford cars.

The investigation covers 2004 to 2007 Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Marauder models.

NHTSA says a heat shield in the car can rust, dislodge and cause the steering shaft to jam. It has received 5 complaints about the issue and knows of one injury. In that case, the steering froze as a driver entered a high entrance ramp, causing the car to roll over and cause injuries.

Ford Motor Co. says it will cooperate with the NHTSA on the investigation.

Ford shares rose 14 cents to $17.34 in morning trading Friday. They have risen more than 11 percent in the past three months.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More