Coming and going -- not actually working -- reaps Nokia CEO $31.7 million

When the former head of Nokia returns to Microsoft sometime next year he will have pulled down $31.7 million from Nokia just for coming and going, according to regulatory filings.

When Stephen Elop left Microsoft in 2010 to join Nokia, his new employer paid him $6.2 million as compensation for legal expenses and salary lost.

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MORE: Microsoft, Nokia may be readying a one-two tablet punch
FAQ:The Microsoft-Nokia deal 

Now that Microsoft has bought Nokia and he's returning to head up its devices division he'll be collecting $25.46 million as part of a Nokia package.

His first-year salary at Nokia was $1.46 million.

According to proxy material for a special Nokia shareholders' meeting to vote on the Microsoft-Nokia deal, he is getting the money through a renegotiated service contract. The contract says he is entitled to 18 months base salary plus short-term management incentives calculated as if he's reached 100 percent of his target even if he hasn't. It also entitles him to vest his outstanding equity awards, the proxy document says.

Microsoft will actually pay 70 percent of that cost as part of the $7.2 billion deal to purchase Nokia.

Elop has a non-compete agreement with Nokia not to work for specific competitors including Microsoft, but that restriction will be lifted when he starts working there, the document says.

Elop's name has been bandied about as a possible replacement for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who has announced he's retiring from the company sometime in the next year.

Tim Greene covers Microsoft and unified communications for Network World and writes the Mostly Microsoft blog. Reach him at tgreene@nww.com and follow him on Twitter@Tim_Greene.

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IBM sells customer care outsourcing unit for $505 million

Citing low profit margins, IBM has sold its customer care outsourcing business to Synnex for $505 million, the companies said Tuesday.

Synnex will combine the IBM business with its wholly owned subsidiary Concentrix, which operates in a similar field. Synnex will pay approximately $430 million in cash and $75 million in stock for the IBM business.

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"One of the most exciting things about this acquisition is being able to broaden our knowledge and vertical industry depth by the talent that is coming across from IBM," Concentrix President Chris Caldwell said in a teleconference.

IBM spun off the business unit as part of a long-running effort to shift its focus to areas in which it would make larger profit margins. It follows its divestiture of other relatively low-margin businesses, such as PCs, hard drives and point of sale (PoS) systems.

"This agreement is good for IBM as it furthers our focus on growing our software and cloud-based CRM [customer relationship management] solutions as part of [our] continuing shift to high value and innovative spaces," said Lori Steele, general manager of IBM Global Process Services.

Despite the sale, IBM says it will remain in the field of business process outsourcing (BPO), in which it runs entire business functions for some customers.

To that end, in 2012 IBM purchased Kenexa for $1.3 billion to strengthen its human resources business process services. And a year earlier it bought Emptoris to boost its portfolio in supply chain management services.

IBM will still have a foot in the customer care market as well, by selling software, consulting and other services that employ analysis software to personalize customer care.

Concentrix will become an IBM business partner and the companies will pursue business opportunities together, they said.

Concentrix runs customer care call centers on behalf of businesses such as banks, insurance firms and health care companies. It also provides front and back office services for retail stores and banks, and processes claims for insurance companies.

The IBM deal should bring it greater economies of scale, Caldwell said. With the acquisition, Synnex expects Concentrix to become one of the 10 top providers of CRM BPO services, a market that generates more than $55 billion in work annually, according to Synnex.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's email address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com.

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If you sell 36 million Samsung or Apple smartwatches, are you successful?

Network World - Sales of so-called "smartwatches" will surge from 1 million to 36 million in five years, according to a speculative new report from Juniper Research. But whether that defines "success" remains an open question.

Yet despite the frenzy of expectation around the rumored Samsung Gear and Apple "iWatch," even Juniper acknowledges smartwatches "will only appeal to a niche demographic when compared to tablet and smartphone for example and hence the market potential will be comparatively limited." There are two reasons for that limitation.

One is that the utility and even usability of smartwatches hinges on their wireless connections with companion smartphones or tablets. Another is that most of the apps touted for the smartwatches appeal to a relatively small subset of consumers, such as heart rate monitors and calorie counters for fitness enthusiasts.

[NEWS:Samsung lays ground for a 'Galaxy Gear' smart watch

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The full market study is available only for purchase, but Juniper posted a "white paper" that summarizes some of conclusions.A

Juniper defines a smart watch as "a smart wearable appcessory that can be worn on a user's wrist, offering a range of smart functionalities in conjunction with an external platform, such as the smartphone or tablet." Those functions include displaying call, text and email alerts, accessing stock and weather information or "any fitness, sports or commerce applications such as heart rate monitoring, payments or ticketing."

One category of smart watch is what Juniper calls the "dashboard/console watch," which is simply a "dumb terminal" acting as a display for information and data from another companion device. One example is the CooKoo watch, with the CooKoo Connected App for iOS. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 LE wireless technology to connect with Bluetooth SMART READY devices including iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad mini, and 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation iPads.

The CooKoo displays incoming calls, missed calls, Facebook messages and posts, Twitter mentions, Google Voice SMS, email notification and more. Press a button and you can check-in to Facebook, remotely snap photos or record video, and control music played on your phone or tablet, and tag your location on the CooKoo Connected App map.

By contrast, according to Juniper, "multi-function" smart watches can do a bunch of things on their own, in addition to working with the phone or tablet. Juniper didn't give an example but the Pebble E-Paper Watch, a Kickstarter darling, is certainly one, offering "beautiful downloadable watchfaces and useful internet-connected apps," according to the website spiel. "Pebble connects to iPhone and Android smartphones using Bluetooth, alerting you with a silent vibration to incoming calls, emails and messages." Another is the Italian-designed i'm Watch.A

Reprinted with permission from NetworkWorld.com. Story copyright 2012 Network World, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Privacy groups criticize proposed $8.5 million Google settlement

Five U.S. privacy groups have opposed a proposed $8.5 million settlement with Google in a class-action lawsuit over search privacy, as it fails to require Google to change its business practices, they said.

Google was sued in October 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Internet giant allegedly transmitted user search queries to third parties without their knowledge or consent in order to enhance advertising revenue and profitability. Google shares search queries "via referrer headers," according to a court document.

[ Also on InfoWorld: Google to pay record-setting $22.5 million fine over privacy practices. | For a quick, smart take on the news you'll be talking about, check out InfoWorld Tech Brief -- subscribe today. | The Web browser is your door to the world -- and to many security threats. Learn how to secure your browsers in InfoWorld's "Web Browser Security Deep Dive" PDF guide. ]

The headers identify the address of a Web page that linked to the current page. When a Google user clicks on a link from Google's search results page, the owner of the website that the user clicks on will receive from Google the user's search terms in the referrer header because the search terms are included in the URL.

The search terms can contain users' real names, street addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, and Social Security numbers, all of which increases the risk of identity theft, according to the original complaint. Those queries can also contain highly personal and sensitive issues, such as confidential medical information, racial or ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs, or sexuality, according to the complaint.

On Monday, the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit filed a motion for settlement. Google has agreed to pay $8.5 million in cash into a settlement fund, according to the motion.

The proposed agreement provides for a single settlement class, in this case all persons in the United States who submitted a search query to Google at any time from Oct. 25, 2006 until the date of the notice of the proposed class-action settlement, according to the document.

The money however will not be divided among all Google users in the United States, but rather be paid to organizations that can protect the interests of individuals.

Part of the settlement fee is meant to cover settlement administration expenses and part will be paid to the World Privacy Forum, Carnegie-Mellon, Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and Stanford Center for Internet and Society among others, according to the document.

The recipients must agree to devote the funds to promote public awareness and education, and/or to support research, development, and initiatives, related to protecting privacy on the Internet, according to the proposed settlement.

Besides a monetary settlement, Google also agreed to notify users as to its conduct so that users can make informed choices about whether and how to use Google search.

But the settlement proposal is not good enough, according to privacy organisations including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Consumer Watchdog, Patient Privacy Rights, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

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Mascara Monday: L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Excess.

This new L’Oréal Paris mascara is not for the faint of heart. If you are looking for the biggest, boldest lashes and can handle a big brush, then this mascara is for you. Introducing L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Excess.

Voluminous Million Lashes Excess Mascara brings together extreme definition plus intense volume in one formula. This mascara features the same Clean Sweep Wiping System as the legendary Million Lashes mascara but this one has a bigger brush. The bigger brush makes it easy to get maximum separation for an a defined look, while the formula plumps lashes to the excess - all in one coat.

In fact, the brush has 50% more bristles than the original. It has both long and short bristles to separate and coat each lash from root to tip. The brush grips lashes to create clean, over-the-top volume without ever flaking, smudging or clumping. Plus, the pure black, high-coverage formula better adheres to lashes, leaving them with up to 7X more volume.

L’Oréal Paris Voluminous Million Lashes Excess retails for $8.95 at your favorite drugstore or mass retailer. Choose from Black or Blackest Black.

A press sample of the product featured may have been provided by brand or brand representative for editorial consideration. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links may have also been used in the post. Please see disclosure policy for complete information.

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