Apple says it is expanding iPhone features

Apple Inc. is broadening the ways that third-party software programmers can sell content on the iPhone.

Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) says software developers now will be able to create applications that have items for sale within them, such as electronic books or additional levels of a video game.

he company unveiled the new tools along with the third generation of software for its iPhone during an event for journalists at its headquarters in Cupertino.

Apple launched the most recent iPhone last summer. The company sold 13.7 million iPhones in 2008.

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- What recession? Christie's, the famed auction house, this week sold a nearly 36-carat diamond for $24.3 million, which it said was the highest price for a diamond sold at auction.

The 35.56-carat diamond dates back to the 17th century.

The previous record was a mere $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995, Christie's said.

"In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond," said Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie's Europe and auctioneer for Wednesday's sale.

The 35.56-carat Wittelsbach blue diamond, dating to the 17th century, was purchased by international jeweler Laurence Graff, the auction house said in a release. Graff was bidding against Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading, a professional of Russian origin based in New York, Christie's said.

"Known as 'Der Blaue Wittelsbacher' since 1722, it is one of very few diamonds which can claim 17th century heritage, incredible rarity and exceptional beauty."

The diamond, mined in India nearly 400 years ago, has been privately owned since 1964. Until 1723, Christie's said, all diamonds worn by European royalty came from India.

The diamond has a royal lineage. Christie's traces it thus: King Philip IV of Spain (1605-1665) selected the diamond in 1664 as part of a dowry for his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa (1651-1673). She had become engaged to Leopold I of Austria (1640-1705), who later became Holy Roman Emperor. When she died in 1673, her husband retained the diamond, which was passed on to his heirs.

In 1722, the diamond entered the Wittelsbach family when the Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria (1701-1756) married the Bavarian Crown Prince, Charles Albert (1697-1745). It was worn by successive rulers until the abdication of King Ludwig III (1845-1921) in 1918.

The world's largest deep blue diamond is the "Hope Diamond," a 45.52-carat stone housed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

Diamonds apparently are recession-proof. Christie's reported jewelry sales of $226 million for the first half of 2008, calling it "the best jewelry season ever seen at auction." Sales for the first six months of this year marked a 32 percent increase over the same period in 2007, Christie's said.

According to Christie's, key diamonds the company sold in the first half of 2008 included a 13.39-carat fancy intense blue diamond that fetched $8.9 million in Geneva on May 14 and the pear-shaped potentially flawless 38-carat Onassis diamond, which sold for $7.1 million on June 11 in London.

Wal-Mart will start selling iPhones by the end of the year, but it is unlikely that they will be available in time to take advantage of holiday sales.

Of more importance, perhaps, is that the phone may be sold for its lowest price yet—$99.

The rumors started circulating last week that a partnership between Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ) may be in the works, but Bloomberg confirmed today that employees at five California stores said that Wal-Mart will offer iPhones by the end of December, likely after Christmas.

Two of the representatives said the store will carry two models.

Bloomberg said analysts are suspecting that Apple may use the partnership to sell a discontinued 4-gigabyte version, which will allow it to hit what is considered a low price point for a smartphone.

Wal-Mart will be the second outside chain to be allowed to sell the device, following Best Buy (nyse: BBY - news - people ).

Currently, two models are for sale—an 8-gigabyte and 16-gigabyte version for $199 and $299.

Today Edward Liddy, AIG’s new CEO, announced what the troubled insurance company is putting up for sale, and it’s a lot. Other than the company’s US property and casualty businesses, and its international general insurance business (companies with a combined annual revenue of about $40 billion) most everything is on the block. He is hoping to retain a majority interest in the company’s top notch international life insurance business as well.

He wants to do big deals and do them quickly, in a bid to pay off the expensive bridge loan the company got from the New York Federal Reserve two weeks ago. AIG has already pulled down $61 billion of the $85 billion offered, at an interest rate currently around 12.5%. The company is also paying 8% interest on the balance it has not drawn down.

In his first conference call with investors, Liddy fielded a good numbmer of questions about why the company didn’t put the Fed deal to a vote of shareholders. Many analysts concluded their exchanges with the CEO with a wistful “Good luck.” Clearly it’s a tough market to be selling anything especially with lending so restrained.

But Liddy’s tone was unrelentingly businesslike and matter of fact. He promised in conclusion to be in better touch with them than perhaps the company had been in the past. “A strong viable and nimble AIG will emerge from this crisis,” Liddy promised. He encouraged investors to think of the Fed deal as an essential lifeline and one that would have suffered for waiting days or weeks for a shareholder vote.

One of the thorniest issues for AIG is the one that brought is to its knees in the first place: the rapid rise in collateral it has had to post to cover credit default swaps. Most of the $61 billion drawn down, Liddy said, has done to its securities lending arm, AIG Financial Products, “in round numbers $53 or $54 billion,” he said. “I liken it to filling up a bathtub, you fill up initially and then it starts to slow down.” Though he did clearly say AIG expects to borrow more from the Fed, he didn’t say how much. When asked if he might have to go back for more than $85 billion, Liddy said he never likes to say never, but that they hoped to borrow as little as possible. He noted that an analysis by Blackrock of these deals showed that even under the worst case thought possible, the “intrinsic value is significantly above where we have those market. The question is can we retain some of the upside?” And that’s a question Liddy can’t answer.

For Liddy and his managers the biggest challenge right now is keeping the various companies operating at a high level and that means keeping people. As of today some know they will be leaving the mother ship no matter what. “Certainty is better than uncertainty,” said Liddy. “So by declaring today what businesses are a part of us going forward and which are not, at least it lets people know where they sit.” Just to be sure they stay seated, he’s put in place “a full array of retention agreements and enhanced severance agreements. “For many reasons, for our people and our policy holders, selling the businesses to brand name companies, with strong ratings, strong balance sheets, and well capitalized, that is a key.”

These businesses could be game changing for the buyers who get them he notes, and he says he’s heard from dozens of interested parties already.