Business briefs

CA buys software companies

CA Technologies of Islandia this week completed the acquisition of two privately-held software companies, one in Texas and the other in the Netherlands, as part of its move toward a comprehensive range of cloud computing services. The business software company spent $330 million on Interactive TKO Inc., of Plano, Texas; it did not say how much it paid for WatchMouse B.V., of Utrecht. The ITKO buy was announced in July, and that of WatchMouse in March.

"The acquisitions expand the breadth of solutions CA Technologies offers enterprises and service providers for using and providing cloud computing to rapidly deliver business services," CA said in its announcing the moves. CA's two completed buys are among a total of 10 acquisitions by CA in the past 18 months. -- JOSEPH MALLIA

Stores go all out for Halloween

The Fortunoff Backyard Store chain plans on going over the top for Halloween. The Garden City-based company will transform four of its 10 locations into elaborate "Halloween emporiums," with more than 1,000 costumes and more than 200 wigs and mannequins on display throughout October, said the retail chain. It will continue to sell grills and outdoor furniture during this period. The store in Westbury as well as locations in Yonkers, Paramus and Totowa were chosen to become extravagant Halloween shops.

"It's a big and trending business and something we thought we could do well and do it in a way that would be consistent with the Fortunoff brand," said chief executive Bernie Sensale. "I think the customer that walks into the stores will see that this is Halloween like they've never seen it before." In addition to the mannequins, the stores will have a "costume alley" lined with hundreds of costumes available in the stores and feature a makeup artist on Saturdays to help customers enhance their Halloween characters.

-- KEIKO MORRIS

Electric car charger in Albany

Albany is now plugged in -- to an electric-car charging station made by Leviton, the Melville electronics company. The Leviton Evr-Green charging station, available to the public, is hooked up at a Holiday Inn hotel in the state capital. Leviton works nationwide with a network of suppliers and installers. The Albany equipment was supplied by one of Leviton's authorized distributors, Wollberg Electric. And it was installed by Plug-In Stations Online, which Leviton called "a turnkey electric vehicle charging solution provider."

The station gives Albany area residents and hotel guests "a convenient location to recharge in upstate New York," Leviton announced. The new device is located at the Holiday Inn Express on 300 Broadway in Albany, and is compatible with all major electric vehicle models.

-- JOSEPH MALLIA

HP changes course from PCs

In a dramatic reshuffling, Hewlett-Packard Co. said Thursday it will end its tablet computer and smartphone products and may sell or spin off its PC division, bowing out of the consumer businesses. It's one of the most dramatic makeovers in the company's 72-year history and signals new CEO Leo Apotheker's most transparent move to date to make HP look more like longtime rival IBM Corp.

A decade ago, HP emerged from a bitter fight to spend more than $24 billion on Compaq Computer, setting the stage for HP to become the world's No. 1 maker of personal computers. Now, three CEOs later, HP is changing course -- hard. The PC division is HP's biggest revenue generator but least profitable division.

More striking is that HP plans to shutter its fledgling smartphone and tablet business just two years after spending $1.8 billion on smartphone maker Palm.

-- AP