Bankoh board adds health company CEO

Raymond Vara, president and CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health, was elected by shareholders Friday to serve his first-ever term on Bank of Hawaii’s board of directors. He was selected for a one-year term along with 13 other holdovers who won re-election.

"Ray is a veteran of the health care industry whose extensive accomplishments and expertise will provide valuable insight and perspective," said Peter Ho, chairman, president and CEO of Bank of Hawaii.

Hawaii Pacific Health is the state’s largest health care provider and parent company of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, Pali Momi Medical Center, Straub Clinic & Hospital and Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai.

Honda recalls nearly 46,000 Fit Sports

DETROIT » Honda is recalling nearly 46,000 Fit Sport small cars in the U.S. and Canada to fix a problem with the electronic stability control system.

The recall affects cars from the 2012 and 2013 model years. Honda says the stability control system can let the car tilt too far before it applies the brakes to prevent a crash.

The defect was discovered in government testing of models with a particular type of tires. Honda says it doesn’t know of any crashes or injuries from the problem.

Honda dealers will update the system’s software free of charge. Owners will be notified starting in mid-May.

Activision CEO gets eightfold raise to $64.9M

Robert Kotick, president and CEO of Activision Blizzard Inc., increased his pay almost eightfold to $64.9 million last year, becoming one of the highest-paid CEOs in the U.S.

The bulk of the increase for Kotick, 50, came in stock awards, valued at $55.9 million based on regulatory reporting rules, according to a filing Friday by the video-game software company. His pay last year totaled $8.33 million, filings show. He signed a new four-year contract in March 2012.

The payday would put Kotick at No. 2 in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index if the company were a member, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison leads with 2012 pay of $96.2 million including options and other extras. Kotick could get another $16 million if he meets the highest performance targets, according to the filing.

Deals site LivingSocial says it’s been hacked

WASHINGTON » Online deals service LivingSocial said Friday that its website was hacked, and the personal data of more than 50 million customers may have been affected.

The company said customers’ names, email addresses, dates of birth and encrypted passwords may have been compromised by the cyberattack. But it said the database that stores customer credit card information was not accessed or affected. The company said it was working with law enforcement officials to investigate the attack.

AT&T to sell home security, automation

NEW YORK » AT&T Inc. launched its home security and automation service in 15 cities Friday, with an eye toward getting customers hooked on security cameras, thermostats and locks they can control from phones and tablets.

AT&T’s "Digital Life" packages will be sold in cellphone stores in markets including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Miami. The company plans to roll out the offering to 50 markets by the end of the year. The home monitoring and automation field is dominated by security firms such as ADT Corp. Other phone and cable companies sell security packages, but AT&T is going further than competitors by developing its own technology and selling it nationwide, not just where it provides local phone service.

Japan approves return to air of Boeing 787

TOKYO >> Japanese authorities formally approved Boeing’s fixes to the batteries on its 787 Dreamliner jets Friday and declared the aircraft fit for use, clearing the path for its biggest operators to begin flying the planes again following a grounding that began in January.

U.S. and European regulators already have approved Boeing’s plans to add safety features to the 787’s lithium-ion batteries that would minimize the odds that they would emit smoke or catch fire, after two units overheated on separate planes in January. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines own about half of the 50 Dreamliners delivered.

Smartphones top ‘dumb’ phones worldwide

NEW YORK » Research firm IDC said more smartphones than "dumb" phones are being made this year, a milestone in a shift that’s putting computing power and Internet access in millions of hands worldwide.

Manufacturers shipped 216 million smartphones worldwide in the first three months of this year, compared with 189 million regular cellphones, according to a study IDC released late Thursday. IDC said smartphones made up 51.6 percent of the 419 million mobile phones shipped.

In the U.S., smartphones overtook regular cellphones in 2011. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said the shift to a global majority of smartphones is now being driven by consumers in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.

ON THE MOVE 

Hawaii State Federal Credit Union has hired Allison M.C. Maertens as its new marketing director. Maertens is responsible for developing and implementing all of Hawaii State FCU’s external and internal marketing strategies, communications and public relations activities. She previously was marketing manager at Roberts Hawaii and at Mobi PCS.

M. Dyer & Sons has announced that Ian "Scott" Ross has rejoined the company as a military moving consultant. He worked for M. Dyer & Sons from 1973 to 1988. Ross has more than 40 years of strategic military planning and operational logistics experience.

Castle Resorts & Hotels has announced the appointment of Dean Anderson to vice president of sales and marketing. He has 12 years of experience in the hospitality industry and specializes in sales and marketing and revenue management. Anderson previously served as director of revenue and reservations at the Trump International Hotel in Hono­lulu.

Hawaii’s Ace Hardware stores donated $36,722 to Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network in support of Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. The donation ranks Hawaii Ace Hardware stores at No. 15 out of 170 markets in North America to give to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.