Ford cuts pay for CEO after falling short of targets

Ford Motor Co. cut Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally’s compensation by 29 percent last year after the second-largest U.S. automaker fell short of its targets for profit, cash flow and market share. Mulally received $2 million in salary, $3.95 million in bonus and $15 million in stock, options and other compensation, Dearborn, Michigan-based Ford said Thursday in a regulatory filing. That compares with $2 million in salary, $5.46 million in bonus and $22 million in other compensation for 2011.

MobilityMarch 17, 2013

Peter Schreyer fatigue?

Without a doubt, Peter Schreyer, the top design executive for both Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, was the central architect behind Kia’s rare success with the “K series.” Among the series, the K5, launched in 2010 and known as the updated Optima in overseas markets, became the series’ flagship model.On the back of this success, Kia turned around its sales revenue, recording an increase of 43 trillion won in 2011, with operating profit reaching 3.5 trillion won.  The famous Tiger Nose grill which

MobilityMarch 17, 2013

THX, founded by George Lucas, sues Apple in patent case

Apple Inc. (AAPL) was accused by THX Ltd., a company founded by “Star Wars” producer George Lucas, of stealing speaker technology used in iPhones, iPads and iMac products. THX holds a 2008 patent for a speaker unit that can boost sound output and attach to computers or flat-screen televisions, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in San Jose, California. Apple products that incorporate the speaker units infringe the THX patent, causing the company “monetary damage and irrepa

TechnologyMarch 16, 2013

SC Bank warns of excessive competition in savings market

SC Bank Korea warned that the banking sector’s provision of high initial interest on savings, such as those offered for the disputed long-term property formation savings, may end up eroding their profit margins. The property formation savings is a long-term savings plan that is designed to support low-salary earners. They guarantee high, fixed amount of interest rates in the first three years and lower them significantly afterwards. The bank has given up aggressive promotions of this savings pla

March 15, 2013

Octa-core Galaxy S4 set for Korea in April

Samsung Electronics is expected to roll out its new Galaxy S4 phones equipped with octa-core mobile processors in Korea as early as next month.The latest flagship 5-inch display smartphone the IT behemoth unveiled in New York on Thursday, local time, will feature the upgraded processor running on the fourth-generation Long Term Evolution network due to the specific local demand, according to industry sources here.The company also announced Friday that it will start mass producing its octa-core E

IndustryMarch 15, 2013

Choi Soo-hyun promoted to take over FSS

Deputy Financial Supervisory Service Gov. Choi Soo-hyun is expected to succeed Kwon Hyouk-se, the current chief, who offered to step down from his post on Friday, the watchdog said, amid a personnel shake-up of government agencies by the presidential office.Kwon’s resignation came after President Park named Vice Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon as the nominee for Financial Services Commission chairman early this month.The FSS is the executive body of the policy-making FSC, and the head of the FSS i

March 15, 2013

Doctors against prescribing 'study drugs'

 Prescribing drugs to boost memory and thinking abilities in healthy children and teens to study is misguided, U.S. researchers say. Study author Dr. William Graf of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., said some parents request doctors to prescribe attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder drugs for their children who don't meet the criteria for ADHD, to help them study for tests."Doctors caring for children and teens have a professional obligation to always protect the best interests of the chi

TechnologyMarch 15, 2013

Chinese zoo shows pandas ‘porn’ to get them mating

A Chinese zoo recently tried an unusual method to encourage its giant pandas to mate: showing them a panda version of a porn video.The zoo -- which is located in Chengdu -- managed to get the pandas to mate after showing them a video of other panda’s copulating, according to the English edition of Chinese daily Global Times.Zoo officials said every time male panda Yongyong tried to mate with his companion KeLin, she would fight him off. Since the mating period for a panda is relatively short, Ke

TechnologyMarch 15, 2013

Study: Early birds possibly had four wings

Early birds evolved from feathered dinosaurs with four wings but soon ditched "training wheels" for more efficient two-winged flight, Chinese scientists say.In 2003, a group of Chinese researchers excavated six fossils of flying dinosaurs with wings on their hind legs, dubbing them Microraptors."When we published that ten years ago there was some suspicion whether the fossil was faked," Xing Xu from Linyi University in Shandong province said.Now Xu and colleagues have described another find supp

TechnologyMarch 15, 2013

Answering messages while driving like DUI

    Using a hands-free kit on a cellphone or texting affected driving as much as being above the legal alcohol limit, Australian and Spanish researchers say.　　Several Australian universities and the University of Barcelona measured the reaction capacity of 12 healthy volunteers who participated in a driving simulation test lasting two days, each a week apart.　　Study co-author Sumie Leung Shuk Man of the University of Barcelona said the drivers took the test having consumed alcohol, and then usin

TechnologyMarch 15, 2013