Bsquare risks delisting

SEATTLE — Bellevue-based Bsquare, which provides software and consulting services for handheld devices, said it received notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market last week that the company's stock had failed to consistently trade above $1 and could be delisted.

The company said it has 180 days, from July 1, to regain compliance. It would qualify if the stock's price closed at or above $1 a share for a minimum of 10 consecutive days, Bsquare said.

The last time the company traded above a dollar for 10 consecutive days was in May. Yesterday, the stock fell 5 cents to close at 94 cents.

Boeing

Jets must post where they were assembled

WASHINGTON — Are America's friendly skies becoming too French?

Next year, passengers will be able to decide for themselves through a new law that requires airlines to include information about each plane's "country of final assembly" on the safety placard inside each seat pocket. Passengers flying on any large jet will learn that their plane is made in France, by Airbus, or in the United States, by Boeing.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure's aviation subcommittee, quietly added the provision to last year's Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act to provide "the consumer with information," he said.

Boeing said it supported the move. Airbus was less enthusiastic. "The safety card is an odd place to put that information," Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said, adding that all commercial aircraft have to meet the same safety requirements.

W3 Data

Directory-assistance firm acquires 411.com

SEATTLE — W3 Data, a Seattle company that owns several directory-assistance Web sites, including www.whitepages.com, said yesterday it acquired another called 411.com.

W3 bought the assets of 411.com from Berkeley, Calif.-based 911. According to research firm comScore Media Metrix, 411.com is the eighth-largest directory portal, drawing more than half a million unique visitors a month.

W3 declined to say how much it paid for the new site, but said it would acquire only the assets and not any employees. Currently it has 55 employees.

Unico Properties

Building planned for U District lot

SEATTLE — Unico Properties unveiled plans yesterday to convert a University District parking lot at the corner of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 42nd Street into a combination apartment, retail and office building.

The Seattle developer, which manages the University of Washington's land in downtown Seattle, plans to build 46 apartments aimed at faculty and graduate students. Part of the six-story building's office space will be leased by the property's owner, the Wesley Foundation. Unico expects to rent the rest to either the university or a company that works with the school. The ground floor will be stores.

Construction is to begin next summer and the building could open in August 2006.

Speakeasy

High-speed access without local line

SEATTLE — Speakeasy, a provider of high-speed broadband services, said yesterday it will offer nationwide ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) service to consumers and businesses in conjunction with Covad Communications Group.

Seattle-based Speakeasy said the service, which will be marketed as OneLink, is the first to offer high-speed Internet access over phone lines without requiring that a local telephone line be installed.

The service could work for someone who uses a cellphone as a primary phone, the company said. Customers could combine the service with voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) technology, which allows computers to make telephone calls over the Internet and avoid the phone company altogether, the company added. Speakeasy is planning to launch its own VoIP service in August.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff and The Washington Post