Fired Apotheker pockets over $13m

Recently fired Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Leo Apotheker is walking away with more than $13 million in cash and stock as shareholders stew over a rocky reign that saw the technology company's market value plunge by nearly $40 billion in just 11 months, notes the Associated Press.

The parting package spelled out yesterday in a regulatory filing wasn't surprising. Most major companies guarantee generous payments to ousted executives, as long as they aren't dumped for unethical or criminal conduct.

Nevertheless, the details of Apotheker's jackpot probably won't soothe the hard feelings still lingering over HP's decision to hire him in the first place.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has sided with Apple in the company's bitter lawsuit against Psystar, reports Cnet.

Circuit judge Mary Schroeder ruled that Psystar's Mac clones violated copyrights Apple holds, and the ban on sales will be upheld.

According to Schroeder, Psystar specifically violated copyrights Apple holds in Mac OS X, and said the US District Court's ruling in favour of Apple was just.

Microsoft is said to be planning a Web-based pay-TV service that it can build onto its Xbox Live platform, reveals Cnet.

The software company is in talks with two-dozen content companies, as well as Comcast and Verizon Communications, according to a Bloomberg report.

The menu of programming will include music, movies, sports, and TV shows.

Research In Motion (RIM) has sprung into action to deny a report that the company is discontinuing its beleaguered BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, writes V3.co.uk.

The company has issued a statement following a suggestion from an industry analyst that it had ordered its manufacturing partners to stop producing the tablet.

Analyst John Vinh, of Collins Stewart, said manufacturer Quanta had stopped manufacturing and that RIM had halted production plans.