According to the New York State Attorney General, AOL's policy to discourage dial-up customers from disconnecting service resulted in bad judgement -- Every company wants to retain customers. But AOL Inc. went too far when it tied employee compensation to minimum �save� percentages. So says New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who this week announced a $1.25 million settlement with the online giant. The deal resolves a probe into complaints that AOL�s telereps failed to honor cancellation requests. The payment, covering $1.2 million in penalties and $50,000 in investigative costs, is the least of it: The company will also have to restructure its bonus plan. And it will have to implement third-party verification of member�s consent to continue services. Finally, it must repay New York customers for up to four months of improper post-cancellation charges. How did AOL get into this mess? AOL�s retention program has long been based on persuading people who call to cancel into staying. That entails finding the �sweet spot� that will appeal to individual subscribers, and is similar to others in the online industry, says spokesperson Nicholas Graham.
The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...