iPhone sales to start ringing up June 29

Apple's highly anticipated iPhone will be available June 29, according to TV commercials broadcast Sunday night and posted on the company's Web site. A company spokesman later confirmed the date.

The combination cellphone, media player and wireless Web-surfing device will retail for $499 and $599, depending on configuration. It will be offered exclusively by AT&T's wireless division, formerly known as Cingular.

The iPhone, which sports no keypad but instead a touch-sensitive screen, was unveiled with great fanfare in early January by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Sunday night's ads showed several of the gadget's features and said the phone will be available "Only on the new AT&T" and "Coming June 29."

Boeing

Strike threat won't halt shuttle work

A Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture said Sunday it would use nonunion workers to prepare for future space-shuttle launches should a Machinists union go on strike.

On June 2, members of the Machinists union rejected the final offer from the Houston-based United Space Alliance to renew the collective-bargaining agreement.

The union represents nearly 600 of the alliance's estimated 10,000 workers. It said job security and retirement plans were key issues in the talks.

The shuttle Atlantis is to launch Friday to resume construction of the international space station.

Avis

While you're at it, rent a chauffeur

Moving into competition with taxis, limousines and local car services, car-rental giant Avis is announcing today a service that enables customers to book a chauffeur when renting.

A chauffeur can be hired with 24-hour notice in 10 cities, including New York and Los Angeles but not Seattle. The cost in addition to rental charges: $30 per hour with a three-hour minimum.

Experts expect other rental companies to follow. But the move may set off a firestorm in the taxi, limousine and car-for-hire industries.

Customers using the service are billed separately by Avis for the rental car and by WeDriveU, a company based in San Mateo, Calif., that provides chauffeurs and has been in business since 1988.

Hilton Hotels

Projects planned in Russia, Britain

Hilton Hotels confirmed Sunday it had reached agreements to develop about 55 hotel properties in Russia, Britain and Central America with a group of partners.

Hilton is expected to announce today that it will partner with London & Regional Properties to develop hotels in Russia. It will partner with Shiva Hotels Ltd to expand in Britain and Ireland.

It will ally with Caribbean Property Group to develop hotels in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad.

The move is one in a series aimed at boosting Hilton's international presence through management contracts and franchises with established real-estate development firms, allowing Hilton to remain "asset light," Vice President Linda Bain said.

Blackstone Group

Equity firm buying brokerage Alliant

The Blackstone Group struck a deal to buy its first insurance brokerage firm, saying Sunday it will purchase privately held Alliant Insurance Services Inc.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a source close to the process said Blackstone will pay $1.2 billion.

Blackstone is buying Alliant from private equity firm Lindsay Goldberg. The deal comes nine months after Alliant announced plans to buy the U.S. operations of London-based Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group for $100 million.

Alliant provides insurance products to more than 20,000 commercial clients.

Sony

$100 chopped from Blu-ray player

With dominance of the market for high-definition movie discs still up in the air, Sony said today it is including a small surprise with the new Blu-ray disc player it is shipping this week: a price tag $100 lower than previously announced.

When Sony announced the BDP-S300 player in February, it put the price at $599. It has now set a list price at $499.

That means the new player costs half of what Sony's Blu-ray player cost when it launched just six months ago, maybe one of the fastest price declines in the consumer-electronics industry. The new player has essentially the same capabilities but is smaller.

The price cut is due to falling production costs and the growing demand for Blu-ray products, said Sony executive Chris Fawcett.

Sony has been undersold in the market for high-definition disc players by Toshiba, which created the rival HD DVD format. Its players are now selling for less than $300.

Internet

Music search terms riskiest, study finds

Search terms related to music and technology are most likely to return sites with spyware and other malicious code, a new study finds.

Nonetheless, the study by McAfee, released today, found it slightly safer to use search engines overall.

Although about 4 percent of search results lead to sites deemed risky, that's down from 5 percent a year ago.

Compiled from Bloomberg News, Reuters, The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and USA Today