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At its highly anticipated press conference, Apple said Friday that iPhone 4 owners would get a free case to prevent the "death grip" that causes the smart phone’s signal to drop dramatically when held a certain way.

Customers who already bought a case from Apple will receive a refund for the purchase, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said at the event at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters. Jobs said about 67,000, or 20%, of iPhone 4 customers have already bought a case.

For future iPhone 4 customers, the free case offer will extend until September 30, at which point Jobs suggested that another fix may become available. Customers can apply on Apple’s website for a free case beginning next week.

Users who are unhappy with the iPhone 4 will also be able to return the phone for a full refund for 30 days after purchase, without incurring the usual restocking fee. Jobs said AT&T (T, Fortune 500) will let customers out of their two-year contracts penalty-free.

A snippy Jobs called the reaction to the problem "overblown" but said he and Apple’s employees have been working on the issue non-stop for the 22 days that the iPhone 4 has been on sale.

"We are not perfect, and we are working our asses off," he said. "It’s not like Apple has had its head in the sand on this."

In the meantime, the issue doesn’t appear to have hurt iPhone 4 sales: Jobs said Apple has sold over 3 million iPhone 4s since they went on sale in mid-June. Only 1.7% of those devices, or just over 50,000, have been returned, compared with a 6% return rate for the iPhone 3GS during the same time period.

The problem that has caused Apple so much headache is that bridging the gap between the iPhone 4’s two antennas (which appears on the bottom left side of the phone) with skin or another electrically conductive material has the effect of reducing the phone’s signal strength dramatically. The effect was so severe that Consumer Reports this week refused to recommend the phone until Apple issues a free fix.

Though the problem affects a minority of iPhone 4 users — Jobs said just over a half-percent of buyers reported problems to Apple — the complaints about Apple’s device have spread like wildfire in the media and over the Internet.

But Jobs said the problem is not unique to the iPhone. He showed YouTube clip after YouTube clip of various smart phones that experience the same issue.

"It’s a challenge for the whole industry," Jobs said. "Phones aren’t perfect."

Even as Jobs said that signal-reduction issues affect the whole smart phone industry, he denied that he was made aware of the iPhone 4’s particular "death grip" potential by Apple’s engineering staff, as Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal have reported. He dismissed it as "a total crock."

"We don’t know everything … but we figure it out pretty fast," he said.

Before the press conference, many wondered whether the perpetually unapologetic Jobs would say he is sorry for the incident. Apple’s leader did offer apologies to customers that were experiencing problems, and stressed repeatedly that "we love our users so much."

Jobs even gave a half-admission of guilt, though he quickly turned it around.

"I’m not saying we’re not at fault," Jobs said. "We didn’t understand that people don’t know that smartphones have weaknesses."

But investors got no kowtow, despite Apple’s stock falling 7% since the iPhone 4 went on sale.

"As far as investors go, we want investors who are in it for the long haul," said Jobs. "It’s just like having kids. Things happen, and you roll with it."

Prior to its announcement on Friday, Apple had not acknowledged any hardware issue with the iPhone 4. After reports of reception problems poured in, Apple issued an open letter on July 2, saying the cause of the dramatic drop in bars users sometimes see is a software glitch dating all the way back to the original iPhone. For almost three years now, the iPhone has been occasionally displaying two more signal bars than it should.

On Thursday, Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) released a software patch that users can install to fix the bug, which makes the "death grip" effect appear less severe.

Other problems have followed the iPhone 4 as well, including reports of proximity sensor malfunctions and manufacturing difficulties that have postponed sales of the white iPhone. Jobs said the phone’s next software update will address the proximity sensor issue, which can lead to accidentally dropped calls.

Fortune senior writer Jon Fortt contributed to this report.  

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Central Garden & Pet Co.’s board of directors has authorized a new $100 million share-repurchase program following the completion of a program begun in 2006.

Under its prior program, also for $100 million, the company repurchased 6 million shares of common stock and 4.6 million shares of Class A common stock for approximately $99.7 million.

In the new program repurchasing can be handled through brokers and dealers or in privately negotiated transactions.

Walnut Creek-based Central Garden & Pet (NASDAQ: CENT) is a maker of branded products for the garden and pet markets no fax payday loans. The company has approximately 4,000 employees, primarily in North America and Canada.

In its most recent quarter ending March 27, the company had net sales of $441.9 million, compared with $476.4 million in the year-earlier quarter. Its net income was $31.6 million, down from $33 million a year earlier.

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Wake Forest-based PowerSecure International is partnering with Schneider Electric to bring its power management systems to hospitals in North America, according to an agreement announced Tuesday.

Under the partnership, France-based Schneider Electric will offer to hospitals PowerSecure’s Interactive Distributed Generation power systems, equipment that provides backup power at times of peak electricity demand. The systems also monitor electricity use to ensure efficient use of power.

Schneider Electric specializes in energy management and has operations in more than 100 countries. PowerSecure’s (Nasdaq: POWR) backup power systems are used by utilities and large commercial customers payday loan lenders. The company also makes LED lights for grocery stores and retailers.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. James Anderson, Schneider Electric’s vice president of smart grid programs, said in a statement that the partnership will allow the company to work with its health care customers in managing their power demands.

PowerSecure employs more than 350.

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Two Colorado hotels have landed on a prestigious list of the world’s best hotels.

The Sonnenalp Resort of Vail and Little Nell of Aspen rank among the world’s top 100 hotels in Travel + Leisure magazine’s annual World’s Best Awards, which will be featured in its August issue. The Sonnenalp (tied for No. 69) and Little Nell (No. 86) received their designations one year after no Colorado hotels were ranked in the top 100 in the readers’ poll of hotels, cruises, tour operators, airlines and cities.

The Sonnenalp and the Little Nell also topped four Colorado locations ranked among the top 50 resorts in U.S. and Canada. The Sonnenalp was ranked sixth in that category, followed by the Little Nell (No. 8), the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in Beaver Creek (No. 34) and The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs (No. 35).

Frontier Airlines, the second-largest carrier at Denver International Airport, earned a ranking as the No no checking account payday advance. 8 domestic airline in the readers’ poll. Southwest Airlines, the No. 3 carrier at DIA, came in fourth, while Virgin America was ranked first.

Three Colorado hotels or resorts that achieved recognition in last year’s World’s Best Awards — Denver’s Hotel Teatro, St. Regis Resort in Aspen and the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa — did not gain recognition this year.

The Oberoi Vanyavilas in Ranthambhore, India was ranked as the top hotel in the world by Travel + Leisure readers. The San Ysidro Ranch, A Rosewood Resort, in Santa Barbara, Calif. was named the top resort in the U.S. and Canada.

To see the full list, go to www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2010.

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Bebe Stores Inc. will discontinue operations at its 48 PH8 stores, the company said Tuesday.

Brisbane-based Bebe (NASDAQ: BEBE) said it would focus its efforts on improving bebe sales as well as continuing to develop its 2b bebe concept, including the possible conversion of PH8 stores to 2b bebe stores.

Bebe estimates the cost associated with closing or converting its the stores will be approximately $17 million, including an estimated $2 million related to the write-off of the net book value of the stores’ assets and up to $1 million to mark down inventory pay day loans. Both noncash charges will be recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010.

The company said the decision was based on the approximate after-tax loss of $10 million for fiscal 2010, before taking into account costs associated with store impairment charges.

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Stocks slipped Thursday, but managed to trim bigger losses, after worse-than-expected readings on manufacturing, housing and the labor market fueled fears that the economy is heading for another recession.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 41 points, or 0.4%, for its lowest close since Oct. 30. The Nasdaq (COMP) composite lost 8 points, or 0.4%, closing at its lowest point since Nov. 4.

The S&P 500 (SPX) lost 3 points, or 0.3%, closing at its lowest point since Oct. 2.

"The combination of a weak weekly jobless claims number and a lower-than-expected manufacturing index helped send the market sharply lower throughout much of today," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group.

However, on a positive note, the S&P 500 was able to touch and then bounce off a key level professional traders watch, Sheldon said, which could give the market some stability in the short term.

Declines were broad based, with 23 of the Dow’s 30 components lower, led by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), Merck (MRK, Fortune 500), United Technologies (UTX, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500)

Stocks started higher Thursday as investors opted to dip back into select shares after a brutal second quarter. But the early buying fizzled after the release of the manufacturing and housing market reports.

An earlier reading on weekly jobless claims added to concerns that the economic recovery is losing steam.

Stocks slumped in the second quarter on worries that the European debt crisis would pressure an already struggling U.S. economy, potentially sending it into a double-dip recession. In the quarter, the Dow lost 10%, the Nasdaq lost 12% and the S&P lost just short of 12%.

However, the S&P 500 is off more than 15% from its rally highs in April, a threshold that could set the stage for a bigger sell-off in the weeks ahead. In the same period, the Nasdaq lost 16.6%.

"Earnings are decent and interest rates are low, but it’s a nervous environment, from declines in net worth to issues of job security," said Steven Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co. "The public is unlikely to invest with this backdrop."

Treasury prices advanced, lowering the corresponding yields. The euro rallied versus the dollar, while the dollar slumped versus the yen.

Manufacturing: The Institute for Supply Management’s ISM index for June fell to 56.2 from 59.7 in May. Economists expected it to dip to 59. While any level over 50 indicates expansion in the sector, the slowing pace of activity was nonetheless a worry to market participants.

In other news, construction spending fell 0.2% in May, the government reported, after rising 2 cash advance today.3% in April. Economists thought it would fall 0.9%.

Housing: The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index plunged 30% in May, reflecting the end of the tax rebates for homebuyers. Economists expected the index to fall 10.5%. The index rose 6% in April.

Jobs: One day ahead of the government’s big non-farm payrolls report for June, the weekly jobless claims report showed a rise in new claims. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment last week rose to 472,000 from a revised 459,000 in the previous week. Economists expected 458,000 new claims.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans who have been receiving benefits for a week or more, rose to 4,616,000 from a revised 4,573,000 in the previous week. Economists expected a drop to 4,510,000.

Friday’s big jobs report is expected to show that employers cut about 100,000 jobs from their payrolls last month. The unemployment rate, generated by a separate survey, is expected to have risen to 9.8% from 9.7%.

A report on private sector hiring released Wednesday showed employers added 13,000 positions in June, missing forecasts for a gain of 61,000.

Autos: Car and truck makers were releasing June sales figures through the session. General Motors said sales rose 36% from a year earlier, but dipped 12.5% from May. That month-over-month decline was bigger than what economists surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting, providing another indication that the economy is weakening.

Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) said June sales climbed 15% versus a year earlier, but down 13% from May, short of expectations.

World markets: European markets stumbled across the board, with Britain’s FTSE 100 losing 2.3%, Germany’s DAX giving back 1.8% and France’s CAC 40 falling 3%.

Asian markets slipped as well, with Japan’s Nikkei falling 2%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.6% and the Shanghai Composite off 1%.

Commodities: U.S. light crude oil for August delivery fell $2.68 to settle at $72.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for August delivery fell $39.20 to settle at $1,206.70 an ounce.

Bonds: Treasury prices climbed, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 2.93% from 2.95% late Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Market breadth: Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners three to two on volume of 1.6 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by two to one on volume of 2.68 billion shares. 

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In the wake of Thursday’s iPhone 4 launch frenzy lies as trail of unloved, no-longer-needed iPhones cast off by owners trading up for the shiny new model.

Analysts estimate that as many as 1.5 million iPhone 4s were sold on the first day — and three-quarters of them went to buyers upgrading from a previous iPhone. That means more than 1 million iPhones are headed for the graveyard.

Where do old iPhones go to die?

Some, inevitably, wind up in the trash or the back of a junk drawer.

But many find their way into the secondhand phone market. On Friday morning, more than 5,000 iPhone 3GS units were available on eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500).

Companies that buy, rehab and resell old mobile phones and PDAs are having a bonanza right now — it’s Christmas in June for sites like like NextWorth, CashforiPhones.com and Gazelle.

"It’s always a good time of year for us," said Dave Chen, CEO of NextWorth. "Every day we’re hitting record numbers — several hundred to probably over a thousand [units] today. We’ll probably end up doing over a million bucks this month just in iPhones."

Chen thinks that business boom will continue as more customers make the move to the iPhone 4.

"It’s one of those no-brainer upgrades," he said. "The new ones are subsidized quite heavily by AT&T (T, Fortune 500), and it’s a phenomenal new phone."

IPhones hold their trade-in value better than most aging electronics. NextWorth pays an average of $200 for a 16 GB iPhone 3GS in good condition.

That’s also what a brand-new 16 GB iPhone 4 costs — but only with the subsidy AT&T offers to buyers who take out a new, two-year service contract. Buy an iPhone 4 without the contract, and you’ll pay $599 for that 16 GB phone.

If iPhone owners break or lose their phones before their contract is up, they need to buy a new, unsubsidized one if they want a replacement. The phones’ stiff list prices, starting at $499 for an 8 GB model, drive many buyers to the secondary market.

The result: Brisk demand for used iPhones in good condition. A now-outdated iPhone 3GS can still fetch $300 to $400 on eBay.

Once it buys a phone, NextWorth wipes the data, does light refurbishing work, and resells the phone on the secondary market. Some go to wholesalers and insurance companies, while others are listed on eBay or Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) no teletrack payday loan.

NextWorth also snaps up broken or damaged iPhones.

"There’s a large market for folks that just want the parts," Chen said. "We’re trying, as a company, to divert goods away from the waste stream and keep them from ending up in a landfill."

Rival recycler Gazelle has purchased 17,000 old iPhones from customers since Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 on June 7, spokeswoman Kristina Kennedy said.

Gazelle took a direct approach to cashing in on the iPhone 4 mania: It sponsored notorious first-in-liner Greg Packer, who led the flock of campers waiting for days at Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The company paid Packer $250 for each day he spent in line, wearing a Gazelle t-shirt.

"It’s been a pretty exciting time for us," Kennedy said. "Usually when the iPhone comes out we always see a really strong spike in our business."

But this year, it’s on a whole new level. Gazelle got around 150 trade-ins a day last year when the iPhone 3GS came out. Since the iPhone 4’s unveiling, the average has leaped to 1,200 a day.

More than 90% of the iPhones Gazelle buys are in good condition. They’re then resold at retail outlets like eBay, Amazon.com and Overstock.com. Broken iPhones are resold to wholesalers.

"Broken iPhones are one of the few products that still hold value because the parts are so valuable," Kennedy said. Gazelle pays about $50 for a dead one.

For those who aren’t looking to cash in and simply want to send their iPhone on to a happy retirement, charitable donation is an option.

Steve Glinberg, developer of educational apps like KidCalc Math Fun, runs a recycling program for iPhones and iPod Touches. Glinberg wipes the data, restores the factory settings, installs educational apps and ships the devices to teachers who have requested them.

"IPod touches and iPhones are invaluable to teachers, and are being used more and more in classrooms as teaching tools that draw kids in and engage them in a way that other teaching tools and text books haven’t," Glinberg said. "Every day there are more and more apps in the App Store’s education category."

It’s a whole new twist on giving the teacher an Apple.  

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Unisys Corp. said Thursday that it is examining three downtown St. Louis locations for an information technology center that will open this fall and employ as many as 300 people in two years.

Steve Mortiz, general manager of technology services, said two of the potential locations are 555 Washington Avenue and a building on North Tucker Boulevard.

"We like the city concept," Moritz said. "We think it’s an attractive location, particularly for the younger IT workers."

The announcement was welcome news for city officials eager to retain downtown employers and attract new ones.
Officials have granted or offered various public incentives to retain major employers, including the Lewis, Rice & Fingersh law firm and Peabody Energy Corp.

To help lure Unisys, the state awarded the company $4.5 million in Missouri Quality Jobs Program tax credits, which help businesses create a specific number of jobs. Additional state incentives were $900,000 in New Jobs Training funding and $212,500 in recruitment assistance.

Unisys officials said the company will open in about two weeks a temporary office in space provided by the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, or SLATE.

For its permanent office Unisys initially will need about 10,000 square feet of downtown space for about 75 workers. Requirements include the ability to grow to about 45,000 square feet to accommodate 300 employees.

Unisys — 452nd last year on Fortune Magazine’s list of the 500 biggest U.S. companies, with revenue of $4.6 billion — looked at sites in Montgomery, Ala.; Eagan, Minn.; and Salt Lake City before choosing St. Louis, said Ted Davies, president of the company’s federal systems division. Company officials said the average salary at the St. Louis center will be about $60,000.

Unisys’ chief executive, Ed Coleman, said the presence of an information technology work force, major universities and government customers — particularly the U.S. Department of Agriculture — favored St. Louis. Work done here will include development of Apple’s Macintosh, iPhone and iPad to meet government requirements.

"We’re excited to be bringing Unisys to St. Louis," Coleman said.

Richard Fleming, president of the Regional Chamber and Growth Association, said the area’s 46,270 IT employees comprise 3.5 percent of the work force, compared with 2.9 percent nationwide.

Gov. Jay Nixon and Mayor Francis Slay praised Unisys, based in suburban Philadelphia, for deciding to locate an office downtown.

"Unisys will provide good jobs to city residents, and our city will provide the talent this company needs to succeed," Slay said.

Said the governor, "This is one more unmistakable sign that Missouri’s economy is moving in the right direction."

Davies said the new facility will not affect the company’s 100-employee center at the Agriculture Department’s Rural Development agency at the Goodfellow Boulevard Federal Center.

Nor will it immediately affect Unisys’ Fairview Heights facility, which employs about 50 people and performs computer work for Scott Air Force Base.

But Davies said some or all of the Fairview Heights operation might someday be consolidated downtown.

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Sales of single-family homes in Massachusetts surged 37 percent in May, according to a new report by The Warren Group.

The year-over-year increase marked the fourth consecutive month of double-digit percentage increases, according to the report.

Single-family home sales jumped 36.8 percent to 4,452 from 3,255 last month. Year-to-date sales are up 29 percent, according to the Warren Group.

The median home price reached $290,000 in May, a 2.6 percent increase from $282,520 during the same month last year.

Condo sales increased 24 percent to 1,950, compared with 1,570 last May. The median selling price was relatively flat — $255,000, compared with $257,000 last year.

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AOL sold social network Bebo to a private investment group for an undisclosed sum on Thursday, after buying it for $850 million just two years ago.

The online media company unloaded almost all of Bebo’s assets to a Criterion Capital Partners affiliate. AOL deemed its remaining Bebo stock "worthless," but it will get a nice break from writing off its failed investment: AOL said it expects to record a tax benefit of $275 million to $325 million in the second quarter.

Though the companies did not comment on the value of the sale, The Wall Street Journal reported that it was "a small fraction" of what AOL paid to buy Bebo.

That drew a snarky reply from a man with intimate knowledge of overvalued acquisitions. AOL founder Steve Case tweeted his thoughts on the deal: "AOL buying Bebo for $850 million and then selling 2 years later for $10 million doesn’t seem like a winning strategy."

This isn’t the way AOL figured the deal would end. AOL had high hopes for Bebo as it tried to go toe-to-toe with social networking giants like Facebook and MySpace.

"We will be a social media powerhouse," said then-AOL CEO Randy Falco on a conference call with analysts in March 2008. "This deal is a game-changer."

The social network took off in the United Kingdom, but failed to gain any significant traction in the United States. Bebo had just 5 million U.S. visitors last month, compared to more than 130 million visits to Facebook, according to online traffic tracker comScore.

That failure to gain any momentum prompted AOL to cut its losses with Bebo. In April, the company announced it would either sell Bebo or simply close it down. AOL said that maintaining the site "would require significant investment in order to compete" with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

AOL, which was spun off by CNNMoney.com and Fortune parent company Time Warner in December, is in the midst of a turnaround effort from CEO and former Google executive Tim Armstrong. The company is trying to build up its content network and grow its ad revenue to compete with bigger online media companies like Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500).

Shares of AOL (AOL) fell slightly in morning trading on Thursday. 

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