Briefs

Supersonic flight may be making a comeback. Nine years after the retirement of the Concorde jetliner, aircraft manufacturers catering to CEOs and wealthy individuals are researching ways to break the sound barrier without the window-rattling sonic booms outlawed over land in many countries. Gulfstream Aerospace is experimenting with a telescoping rod protruding from a jet’s nose to disrupt the sound waves that cause sonic booms, and Boeing and Lockheed Martin have devised slender fuselages and rear-mounted engines to reduce the drag that contributes to the noise. Trying another tack, billionaire Robert Bass’s aerospace company, Aerion, is testing a new wing design.

Apple has fired Richard Williamson, the manager responsible for the faulty mapping software on the iPhone 5, as it seeks to win back the trust of users, according to people familiar with the move who asked not to be named because the information wasn’t public. Apple is getting advice from outside mapping-technology experts and prodding map provider TomTom to fix landmark and navigation data that it shares with Apple after critics faulted the company’s maps for unreliable searches. Williamson could not be reached for comment.