Competition

Moviegoers can expect a real horror show in theaters this weekend, but the fierce duel isn't between some ax-wielding assassin and a resourceful teen. Instead, it's a showdown between the scary-movie powerhouses "Saw VI" and "Paranormal Activity." Prognosticators say the clash for box-office supremacy could be remarkably close, with several giving a slight advantage to the micro-budget, essentially homemade "Paranormal Activity," which continues to defy all expectations, even within Paramount.

With another tough holiday season looming, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is ratcheting up a price war that could be good for shoppers but has competitors fearing the worst. The world's largest retailer has for years snatched sales from department stores, discounters, supermarkets, electronics sellers and mom-and-pop shops. Its intensive markdowns helped drive chains such as Circuit City and Mervyns out of business over the last year. Now Wal-Mart is using its enormous clout to wrest the advantage during what is expected to be another weak Christmas season.

Jonesboro, Ark., sixth-grader Morgan Sims knew how to spell "debacle," but she got an unfortunate lesson in its meaning when her school district forgot an important entry fee. Morgan correctly spelled "debacle" -- meaning failure, in an often ludicrous way -- to win the Craighead County Spelling Bee on Friday. But her school forgot to pay the $100-per-school-building entry fee to the Scripps National Spelling Bee required to advance to the state competition. Second-place finisher Elizabeth Kaffka, a fifth-grader at another school, is heading to the state competition instead.

The Federal Communications Commission has launched an inquiry into why Apple Inc. refused to allow Google Inc. to distribute its Google Voice application at its App Store, thereby shutting out iPhone users from easily tapping the much-anticipated Internet phone service. Apple's decision this week sparked an outcry. On Friday, the FCC sent letters to Apple, Google and AT&T Inc. asking that each of the companies answer a series of questions about their part in the decision. They were sent by James D. Schlichting, the acting chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

Three gas stations vie for customers along Interstate 5 in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, but Cheryl Ahern-Lehmann usually bypasses the Chevron and Arco in favor of a station she once spurned as too pricey. That station in north San Diego County, a Texaco for years, won her business after it became a Valero in 2003. "It just appeared here . . . I didn't know what it was," Ahern-Lehmann said of the gasoline brand.

Had pundits bet on the HD DVD camp folding its hand in Las Vegas, they would have lost their shirts. None of the corporate giants that back the next-generation DVD format have jumped ship at the Consumer Electronics Show here. But the huge momentum shift toward the Blu-ray format has at least one studio strongly considering a switch. Warner Bros.'

Mavericks, a rock-studded, once-secret surf spot named after a dog, looked for all the world Saturday like the Super Bowl of big wave riding as thousands of people streamed to this fishing hamlet to see two dozen surfers challenge one of the world's most dangerous breaks.

Consumer electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Monday that it was slashing prices of its HD DVD format players by 40% to 50% as major Hollywood studios move to embrace Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format for high-definition DVDs. Toshiba America Consumer Products said it cut prices of its HD DVD players effective Jan. 13 to boost market adoption of its next-generation DVD players by mainstream consumers after what it said was a successful fourth quarter in unit sales.

Netflix, seeking not to be bypassed in the transition to digital distribution of movies, removed limits on how many films and TV shows subscribers can watch over the Internet. The move comes as Apple Inc. is set to unveil plans for users to rent major Hollywood movies online through its iTunes Store. Netflix, which pioneered the online movie rental business in 1997, had capped the number of hours available to its 7 million subscribers based on the price of their monthly plan.

The competition for the Pentagon's biggest contract in years intensified Monday as European aircraft maker Airbus said it would assemble commercial jets in the U.S. if it won the $40 -billion award to build aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. The announcement marks the latest effort by Airbus and its partner Century City-based Northrop Grumman Corp. to upset rival Boeing Co. to build the planes that would be used to refuel fighters and bombers in midair.