Innovators

Los Angeles Times correspondent Barbara Demick has received the Shorenstein Journalism Award for her "innovative and extraordinarily sensitive reporting on Northeast Asia over the past decade. " The award, given by Stanford University's Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, was established in 2002 to recognize journalism that helps Americans understand the complexities of Asia. It comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Demick, a Times correspondent since 2001 and chief of the paper's Beijing bureau since 2008, has reported on human trafficking, corruption and persecution of ethnic minorities in China and on famine and repression in North Korea.

MENLO PARK, Calif. -- Samsung disclosed more details Monday of the company's planned Silicon Valley innovation center, including plans for increased venture capital investment in the U.S. The South Korean tech giant is making a big push to expand its Silicon Valley footprint on several fronts. One effort previously announced was a Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center, or SSIC, located on the valley's famed Sand Hill Road, the epicenter of the region's venture capital industry. However, few details were previously available.  10 tech companies to watch in 2013 Young Sohn, Samsung's president and chief strategy officer, said the center has actually been open at least since August and would be a place where Samsung's nine product divisions can tap into Silicon Valley's innovation economy to help it continue to navigate the tremendous disruption occurring as the world moves into the post-PC era. "That's an opportunity for Samsung," Sohn said.

It was 20 years ago Friday that a bright-eyed, former NBA executive named Gary Bettman officially became the NHL's first commissioner. His self-proclaimed mission: to spread the little-known gospel of hockey and duplicate the boom the NBA experienced by stabilizing the NHL's economic underpinnings and making stars of its underappreciated players. "The fans don't want to read about labor negotiations," Bettman said during his first week on the job. "They want to read game stories and stories about people.

The Justice Department says it's looking out for America's beer drinkers. Officials filed suit Thursday against Anheuser-Busch InBev, the maker of Budweiser, seeking to block its purchase of Mexican beer maker Grupo Modelo, arguing that retail prices of suds would rise if the $20.1-billion deal were finalized. Last summer, AB InBev, which had a 50% noncontrolling stake in Grupo Modelo, maker of Corona Extra, offered to buy the rest of the shares at a 30% premium and had expected the transaction to close early this year.

Cellphone users know that when they sign a contract with a mobile phone company, they're locked into that network for the duration of the deal. What they may not know is that their phone is digitally locked to that network forever. And as of this week, they may no longer have the legal right to unlock it, even after the contract has expired. It's just the latest example of how companies have stretched copyright law to deter competition and innovation, not protect the creators of copyrighted works.

In the market for a hot-water-dispensing refrigerator? That was just one of the innovative and unusual products on display this week at the International Builders' Show in Las Vegas. The annual event, put on by the National Assn. of Home Builders, serves as a massive showcase for new ideas and technology for the home. Here's a roundup of some that are vying for “how did we ever live without it” distinction: In one of the notable kitchen offerings, General Electric Co. brings hot water to the refrigerator door.

Badly matched foundation can look downright scary: too gray, too goopy, too mask-like. This is an area where one size does not fit all. And now the diversifying face of America, the rise of high-definition image technology and a photo-happy population has translated to consumer demand for foundation that's natural looking, full of skin-healthy ingredients and color-customized for the fairest through the deepest complexions. Beauty companies, rising up to meet the demand, have steadily expanded their offerings - and it seems to be paying off. According to market researcher NPD Group, in the 12-month period ending in October, total U.S. foundation sales generated $965 million, up 7% in dollars from the same time last year.

The L.A. Fitness Expo, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center next weekend, is always a good showcase for innovative, far-out and just plain weird new fitness products. Here's a preview of four standouts that tackle full-body and upper-body workouts. Strapping success Mass Suit: A full-body stretch-cord resistance suit makes every movement harder and makes you look like a medieval Terminator. It's composed of eight lengths of rubber tubing attached to a chest harness and ankle, knee and elbow straps.

WASHINGTON - The sharp slowdown in U.S. manufacturing that began last spring appears to be over, setting the stage for moderate expansion in the factory sector in coming months - with a little boost from companies bringing overseas production back to America. Although exports and backlog orders continued to weaken in December, manufacturers reported increasing shipments and U.S. investment heading into the new year, according to a quarterly survey by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation, a trade group.

Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc., two Internet companies that have long cultivated relationships in Hollywood, are nevertheless placing ads on sites that feature pirated movies, TV shows and music, a new report says. USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab ranked Google and Yahoo among the top 10 advertising networks that support major piracy sites around the world, based on the lab's analysis of online ads that receive the most copyright infringement notices. Google took issue with the report's findings, calling its conclusion "mistaken.