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World Business Quick Take

■ Fast Food
McDonald's eyes Armani
McDonald's Corp is seeking a high-profile fashion designer to give its 300,000 US restaurant workers a trendy, stylish new look. The nation's largest fast food chain says Tommy Hilfiger and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs are among its top choices to design new employee uniforms. "It's about taking the contemporary look and feel of our restaurants and embodied in our advertising and incorporating that into our employees' business attire. The desire is to create uniforms that our crews would want to wear outside the restaurant environment," McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman said on Tuesday. He said the company has not yet chosen any designers. New York brand consultant Steve Stoute said possible candidates include Russell Simmons' "Phat Farm" label, Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, American Eagle and P. Diddy's Sean John label.

■ Mobile Phones
New battery lasts longer
A Japanese company said yesterday it has boosted the life of a fuel-cell battery for mobile telephones to eight hours, offering more power as handsets get ever more advanced and hungry for energy. Japan's top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo unveiled the battery in September. It generates power through methanol, billed as less expensive and longer-lasting than conventional lithium-ion batteries. Yesterday, NTT DoCoMo said it and Fujitsu Laboratories had improved the battery to last eight hours, three times longer than the original prototype, and would carry out further work by next April. The demand for power is rising as third-generation mobile telephones provide new services such as videophones and offer flat-rate billing that makes advanced features more affordable.

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