Tuesday's Afternoon Update

What you need to know about Florida today

| 3/29/2016

If consumers falter, so does the U.S. economy

It has become clear that with U.S. corporate profit growth on the ropes, it's up to continued spending by consumers to protect the U.S. economy from a slowdown. But data released on Monday suggest shoppers are pulling back, putting the entire recovery at risk. More from Money Watch.

U.S. Supreme Court denies Jacksonville's ParkerVision request for hearing on wireless patent infringement

Jacksonville’s ParkerVision Inc. suffered another blow this week in its legal battle over the company’s patents when the U.S. Supreme Court declined a company request to review the claim of patent infringement by mobile communications giant Qualcomm. More from the Florida Times-Union.

Downtown Miami ushers in new hotel boom

Propelled by a population boom that has brought restaurants and attractions to the area, downtown has morphed from a nine-to-five sleepy town to the kind of urban core that is luring hoteliers nationwide. More from the Miami Herald.

SpaceX cargo launch could preview Mars living

Expandable living quarters heading to space from Florida next month could be a precursor to human bases on Mars, a NASA official said Monday. Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace’s module will be part of a resupply mission set to launch in a SpaceX Dragon capsule April 8. More from the Orlando Sentinel.

Why the 21st century will belong to family businesses

In the context of competition in the 21st century, family businesses have innate strengths over others forms of ownership, especially public companies. For most of the last century, companies confronted oceans of opportunities, which meant that winning strategies revolved primarily around size. More from the Harvard Business Review.

Profile
St. Augustine Distillery

St. Augustine Distillery’s Pot Distilled Rum, which was released January of 2016, has been awarded a gold medal at the 2016 San Francisco World Spirits Competition held March 17-20 at the Hotel Nikko in downtown San Francisco, Calif.

» More from Florida Trend.

Technology
Oculus Rift

The first consumer-ready Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset was delivered to a real person over the weekend, and reviewers got their first taste. The initial feedback: It’s a beautiful, wonderful device that immerses you, yet it still has a ways to go.