Getting Ahead

WHAT’S NEW

Sprint Nextel Corp. is upgrading one of its cellphone models so it can connect to a faster data network, doubling its download speeds and boosting upload speeds by about eight times.

Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless operate so-called EV-DO Rev. A networks, but have used them only for laptop cards. Their fastest phones have used the older and slower EV-DO Rev. 0 network.

Sprint said Monday it was releasing a software update for the Mogul phone, made by HTC Corp. of Taiwan, that will enable the phone to connect at Rev. A speeds. Downloads speeds should be 600 kilobits per second to 1,400 kbps, up from a range of 400 kbps to 700 kbps with Rev. 0. It will be capable of uploads of 350 to 500 kbps, up from 50 kbps to 70 kbps.

Sprint said its broadband network now covers 234 million people, and the vast majority of it has been upgraded to EV-DO Rev. A, short for Evolution-Data Optimized Revision A.

The Mogul is a smart phone that runs Windows Mobile software and can be used as a modem for a laptop. It costs $199.99 with a two- year contract and went on sale in June. The software update will be available immediately from HTC’s site.

MOVERS

Gina Villiotti of Pompton Lakes was appointed vice president of Valley National Bank, Wayne. She is in charge of shareholder inquiries and stock transfers, employee stock options, media requests and the newsletter Valley Voice.

Prior to May 2006, Villiotti was a senior account executive for a public relations agency in Morristown.

NEW JERSEY BRIEFS

NFL Films cuts staff by 7 percent

MOUNT LAUREL NFL Films, the National Football League’s documentary company, laid off 7 percent of its workers last week.

Twenty-one of 283 employees at the company were let go, one month after Time Warner Inc.’s HBO cable network canceled its 31-year-old “Inside the NFL” television program, which used highlights from NFL Films. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said the job cuts affected a variety of positions and came as the 44-year-old professional football documentary company was adapting to new technologies and a slowing economy. NFL Films has won 84 Emmy awards since 1979, according to its Web site.

Bloomberg News

AEP quarterly net income falls

SOUTH HACKENSACK AEP Industries Inc., which makes packaging products for the beverage industry, said net income for the fiscal first quarter plunged to $2 million, or 29 cents a share, from $10.7 million, or $1.35, from a year earlier because of the higher costs of resin.

Sales for the period through Jan. 31 rose 14 percent to $205 million, from $179.3 million, the result of a 7 percent increase in average selling prices combined with a 4 percent climb in sales volume. The increase in net sales also includes a positive impact of foreign exchange of $5.6 million, reflecting the impact of the stronger euro and Canadian dollar.

By The Record’s staff

Orbcomm reverses downturn of 2006

FORT LEE Orbcomm Inc., a provider of satellite-based data communications, reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.1 million after posting a loss of $4 million from the same period a year ago, boosted by the standardization of its service, the company said Tuesday.

For the full year, losses narrowed to $3.6 million from $11.2 million in 2006 as subscriber communicators jumped 56 percent to 351,000. The company said Caterpillar Inc.’s equipment tracking and management systems helped standardize Orbcomm’s communication system on its U.S. and Canadian machines. Strong service revenue boosted sales in the fourth quarter and full year. Service revenues in the fourth quarter rose 47 percent and for the full year gained 53 percent. Fourth-quarter revenue climbed 38 percent to $8.7 million, from $6.3 million; full-year sales rose 15 percent to $28.2 million, from $24.5 million.

By The Record’s staff

TODAY

Greater New Jersey Estate Planning Council, “Retirement Ideas,” 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., Bacari Grill, 800 Ridgewood Road, Washington Township. Speaker: John Shuman From Massachusetts Mutual Co. Cost: $40, including lunch, for non-members. E-mail davidlyttle@optonline.net.

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Citi Smith Barney, “Retirement Plans,” 7 to 8 p.m., Public Library, 7 Brophy Lane, West Paterson. Speakers: Seth Finkelstein and Bryan Dunst. Free. Call Barbara Shaker, 973-890-3023.

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