Tuesday, September 11, 2007 From: lubbockonline

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Apple Inc. sold its millionth iPhone over the weekend, days after it slashed the price by a third to spur sales.

It took just 74 days for the combination cell phone-iPod to hit the 1 million mark, which Apple had said it would achieve by the end of September. By comparison, it took two years for the company to sell 1 million iPods, Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted in a statement.

Last week, Apple knocked $200 off the price of the 8-gigabyte iPhone, bringing its price to $399, and discontinued the 4-gigabyte version.

Disney plans independent tests of character toys

LOS ANGELES - Following the recall of millions of toys by Mattel Inc., The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it will independently test toys featuring its characters.

The media and entertainment conglomerate will hire companies to randomly buy Disney-branded toys from store shelves and test for lead paint and other safety issues such as small parts that could come loose, Disney consumer products spokesman Gary Foster said.

He said the ultimate responsibility for safety still lies with companies that license Disney characters for toys.

Copper thieves hitting NM farm sprinklers

CLOVIS, N.M. - Thieves are targeting copper wire on pivot sprinklers on farms in Roosevelt and Curry counties.

Roosevelt County sheriff's Chief Deputy Malin Parker said his department averages two calls a week about copper wire thefts.

The Roosevelt and Curry County sheriff's departments have sent letters to recycling companies in an effort to fight the thefts. The letter asks the companies to stop taking copper wire from people who have no legitimate reason to have it, Parker said.

The wire nets around $400 for thieves for about 30 minutes of work. Copper prices have soared from 60 cents a pound in 2001 to around $3.50 a pound currently.