Microsoft says sells 1 million Kinect devices - Reuters

Assistants demonstrate the game ''Kinect Adventures'' for Kinect for Xbox 360 during a media briefing at the Wiltern theatre in Los Angeles, June 14, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

SEATTLE | Tue Nov 16, 2010 3:20pm EST

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said on Monday it has sold more than 1 million of its new hands-free Kinect gaming systems in the first 10 days since launch, putting it on track to beat its target of 5 million sales by the end of the year.

The world's largest software company is hoping the Kinect will help revitalize sales of its Xbox game console this holiday shopping season and counter competing motion-based gaming systems from Nintendo Co, which makes the Wii, and Sony Corp, which introduced its Move product two months ago.

"It's a strong start," said Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's game unit, in a telephone interview on Monday. "Consumers are loving it."

The Kinect -- a sensing device you plug into the Xbox which allows you to play games just by moving your body and speaking commands -- is priced at $150 for a standalone unit and $300 bundled with a 4 gigabyte Xbox console.

It went on sale in U.S. stores November 4, although many customers had pre-ordered units, likely causing a spike in early sales. Microsoft is hoping sales will stay hot as the day after Thanksgiving -- one of the biggest shopping days of the year, known as 'Black Friday' -- approaches on November 26.

More than 30,000 U.S. stores are selling Kinect in the United States, including branches of Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Target Corp, Best Buy Co, GameStop Corp and online at Amazon.com. It went on sale on November 10 in Europe and is due to go on sale in Asia on November 18.

Ultimately, Microsoft is hoping the new technology will help extend the role of its Xbox 360, which has sold 45 million units, and introduce a concept that is expected to feature in forms of electronics and computers in the next few years.

Microsoft shares were trading unchanged after hours, after closing down 7 cents at $26.20 on Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Bernard Orr)

View the original article here

NY holocaust fund bilked of $42.5 million, prosecutor says - CNN International

Seventeen people are accused of taking part in the alleged fraudFalse claims were filed to get money from two funds, the U.S. attorney saysThe scheme went on for nearly 16 years, he says

New York (CNN) -- Charges were filed Tuesday against 17 people accused of taking more than $42 million from programs established to help Holocaust survivors, authorities said.

"The alleged fraud is as substantial as it is galling" said Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for New York's Southern District, calling it a "perverse and pervasive fraud committed against a not-for-profit organization of historic significance."

Over a period of almost 16 years, millions of dollars intended for Holocaust survivors "instead found its way into the pockets of corrupt employees of the Claims Conference and an elaborate network of fraudsters," Bharara told reporters Tuesday afternoon.

The money came from two funds managed by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also known as the Claims Conference, a nonprofit that was established almost 60 years ago to assist those harmed by Nazis. The Claims Conference distributes more than $400 million a year from funds provided by the German government to victims of the Holocaust.

Bharara said conference officials first noticed the fraud and went to the FBI in December 2009.

"The Claims Conference is to be commended for notifying us as soon as they found out there were issues," he said.

Six of the 17 people charged Tuesday with fraud and conspiracy are former and currant employees of the Claims Conference, according to Bharara. He called Semen Domnitser the "ringleader" of the fraud, saying that for more than 10 years he served as the director and oversaw both the Hardship Fund and the Article Two Fund.

The Hardship Fund makes one-time payments of about $3,600 to victims who were forced to leave their homes while fleeing advancing Nazis troops. Bharara said some 5,000 fraudulent applications worth $18 million were processed through the fund.

The Article Two Fund gives pension payments of roughly $411 a month to those who earn less than $16,000 after taxes and spent a minimum of six months in a concentration camp or at least 18 months in a Jewish ghetto in hiding or living under a false identity to avoid the Nazis. Bharara said that this fund had processed over 650 fraudulent applications worth more than $25.5 million.

The Claims Conference issued a statement saying that since discovering the fraud, it had implemented numerous steps to strengthen its safeguards.

"We are outraged that individuals would steal money intended for survivors of history's worst crime to enrich themselves," said Julius Berman, chairman of the Claims Conference.

Bharara said that applicants were recruited from the Russian-Jewish community and that fake birth dates, birthplaces and "fabricated stories of persecution, completely made up stories about what happened to these individuals during World War II," were written in their applications.

Bharara said the investigation continues and that some of the thousands of applicants also might be charged. It was unclear in some cases if the applicants knew that fraud was being committed, he said.

Sixteen of the 17 people charged Tuesday have been arrested and four of them have admitted their guilt, Bharara said.

"We will bring to justice all those who would callously line their own pockets by looting an important lifeline for Holocaust survivors," he said.

View the original article here

Verizon Wireless to Pay Up to $90 Million in Refunds - New York Times

WASHINGTON – Verizon Wireless said Sunday it will pay up to $90 million in refunds to 15 million cell phone customers who were wrongly charged for data sessions or Internet use, one of the largest-ever customer refunds by a telecommunications company.

The company’s statement came as Verizon Wireless held talks with the Federal Communications Commission about complaints of unauthorized charges and after questions from about a possible settlement of an F.C.C. investigation into the issue.

Verizon said in its statement that 15 million customers either will receive either credits ranging from $2 to $6 on their October or November bills or, in the case of former customers, refund checks.

In its statement, Verizon Wireless said that the charges affected customers who did not have data usage plans but who were nevertheless billed because of data exchanges initiated by software built into their phones or because of mistaken charges for inadvertent episodes of Web access.

In the last three years, the F.C.C. has received hundreds of complaints from Verizon Wireless customers who said they were charged for data usage or Web access when their phones at times when their phones were not in use or when they mistakenly pushed a button that was preprogrammed to instantly active the phone’s Web browser. Beginning in 2009, The New York Times and The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, among other publications, reported that customers had been complaining of the charges but had often been ignored by Verizon Wireless.

People close to the settlement talks who spoke on the condition of anonymity said they expected the refunds to total more than $50 million.

“Verizon Wireless values our customer relationships and we always want to do the right thing for our customers,” Mary Coyne, deputy general counsel for Verizon Wireless, said in the statement.

The announcement of the refunds might not end the issue for Verizon. People close to the talks said the F.C.C. had been pressing the company to enter into an agreement to pay a penalty for the unauthorized charges, which would serve as a deterrent for companies that might discover similar circumstances but fail to alert customers in a timely manner.

View the original article here

New HP CEO to bank salary of $1.2 million - Reuters

Then-Chief Operating Officer of SAP Leo Apotheker addresses the TMT 2006 Global Tech Media and Telecom Summit in Paris February 28, 2006.

Credit: Reuters/Mal Langsdon

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 1, 2010 9:19am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co will pay its new chief executive Leo Apotheker an annual salary of $1.2 million, plus a signing bonus of $4 million to lead the technology powerhouse after a scandal toppled its last top executive.

Apotheker, the former chief executive of the German software company SAP, will also be granted 76,000 shares of restricted stock, according to an HP regulatory filing on Friday. Restrictions are due to be released on 50 percent of the shares on October 31, 2011.

Apotheker's annual bonus will be at least 200 percent of his base salary, with a cap at 500 percent.

HP also said in the filing it would pay a $4.6 million relocation allowance to Apotheker. No exact figure was given for Apotheker's severance package, but HP said it would not equal more than 2.99 times Apotheker's base salary.

HP on Thursday named Apotheker to succeed Mark Hurd, who quit amid a scandal involving a female contractor.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Derek Caney)

View the original article here