Apple's iPads Now On Sale at Target - PC Magazine

For those with some kind of allergic reaction to Apple's main retail stores, take notice: The company's flagship tablet, the iPad, has jumped ship to yet another retailer in the United States… and it's a big one.

Target—starting today—is the largest chain of brick-and-mortar stores to sell Apple's iPad, and it joins Best Buy as one of only two non-Apple retailers that actually sell the device, period.

There's nothing too fancy about the announcement, however, save for the fact that Apple is ever so slowly diversifying the places you can pick up its products. The same six models of iPad at Target are available for the same six price points that you'd otherwise find at an Apple store itself.

Although, there is one interesting caveat in terms of what you can actually purchase through Target. For starters, no iPads are on sale via the company's retail web site—all iPad purchases must be made and picked up in-store only. Yet, a number of iPad accessories are sold via Target.com instead of actual Target retail locations.

Target is hoping to bolster its holiday sales by using the iPad as a hook to drive more feet into its retail establishments across the United States. And given the relatively high demand for the device—sales estimates hover around 3.27 million units for the iPad's first three months of existence—it's certainly possible that "iPad fever" could work in Target's advantage.

"We hope to sell a lot more later this week, once people are more aware that we carry it," said Chetna Parikh, a Target electronics team member, in an interview with the Associated Press.

Analysts estimate that total iPad sales could jump to 21 million units in 2011.

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Steven Hayes Could Face The Death Penalty - ABC News

Steven Hayes was found guilty today in the deadly home invasion that left a woman and her two daughters brutalized and murdered, making him eligible for the death penalty.

The jury deliberated for several hours before finding Hayes guilty of 16 of the 17 counts he faced. Hayes was convicted of six capital crimes, including the murder and kidnapping of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, all of which are punishable by execution.

As the verdict was read, Dr. William Petit, the only survivor of the slaughter, clutched his sister but remained stoic. Relatives of his slain wife wept while Hayes hung his head.

Hayes, 47, was quickly handcuffed and led out of the courtroom by officers.

As he left the courthouse, Petit thanked the jury for their "appropriate verdict" and said he and his family had kept their "faith in God that justice would be served."

"There is some relief, but my family is still gone. [The verdict] doesn't bring them back, it doesn't bring back the home that we had, but certainly a guilty verdict is a much better sense of relief than a verdict of not guilty," said Petit.

Petit still faces a penalty trial to determine whether Hayes is to be executed or face life in prison. That is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18.

Petit made clear he will also attend the trial for Hayes' accomplice although he said he gets a "little nausea" each time he heads to court to hear the grisly details of his family's murders.

"If your family was destroyed by evil, you would be there for your family. It's the only thing you can do for your family," said Petit.

"Do I look foward to this every day? No," said Petit. "But I do it for my family and I think all of you would do the same thing for your families."

Rev. Richard Hawke, the father of Petit-Hawke, told press gathered by the Connecticut courtroom, ""We are pleased with the verdict… We feel justice is being served."

Hayes was not convicted of first degree arson, a charge that the jury had questioned the judge about during deliberations. Asked by the jury whether Hayes' pouring gasoline in the Petit's home was the same thing as lighting a match, the judge had answered "no."

Petit said he couldn't comment on the not guilty charge and whether he was disappointed by it because he wasn't sure "he understood it."

Only one individual has been executed in Connecticut since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. That execution occurred in 2005 and was of serial killer Michael Ross, also known as the Roadside Strangler.

If sentenced to die, Hayes will join 10 others who are currently on Connecticut's death row.

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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.

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