Twitter makes collecting tweets easier

Twitter introduced a tool called custom timelines Tuesday that allows its users to drag and drop tweets to form custom lists of Twitter messages on whatever topic interests them.

The idea — to make it easy for anyone to create a "best of Twitter" list — could be especially appealing to news organizations and other heavy users of Twitter who constantly scan the service looking for interesting nuggets and then share them with their own followers and fans.

A user of custom timelines could create a list of anything on Twitter, from news about major events, like the destruction caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, to less weighty matters like the best cat jokes ever posted on Twitter.

Custom timelines also help Twitter address one of its biggest problems: It is often hard to find meaning amid the chaos of a half-billion Twitter posts a day.

New Apple-Samsung trial gets underway

SAN FRANCISCO » A federal judge and lawyers for the world’s two biggest smartphone makers began picking a jury Tuesday to determine how much Samsung Electronics owes Apple for copying vital iPhone and iPad features.

The retrial to determine damages is underway in San Jose, Calif.

A previous jury had awarded Apple $1.05 billion after determining 26 Samsung products had infringed six Apple patents. But a judge found the jury miscalculated $400 million in damages for 13 products and ordered a new trial to determine how much Samsung should pay.

Samsung and Apple have been locked in bitter legal struggles around the world as they fight for supremacy of the more than $300 million smartphone market.

Despite the amount of money involved, the current proceedings are somewhat of a warm-up for a much larger trial scheduled for March. That trial will focus on newer products still on the market, while the current trial is a battle over products that are several years old and no longer sold in the U.S.

Apple is asking that Samsung be barred from selling some of its current devices in the U.S., and more money will be at stake as well.

Injury to NFL star sidelines unusual IPO

SAN FRANCISCO » A season-ending injury to Houston Texans running back Arian Foster has also sidelined an IPO proposing to sell a stake in the football star’s future.

Tuesday’s postponement of the initial public offering comes less than month after San Francisco startup Fantex Inc. announced an unusual deal that would have allowed people to invest in Foster, one of the top running backs in the National Football League.

Fantex warned prospective investors that the IPO posed significant risks, a point that it didn’t take long for the violent sport of football to vividly illustrate.

Foster, 27, suffered a hamstring injury in his first game after Fantex began promoting the IPO. When he returned to the field for the Texans’ next game on Nov. 3, Foster hurt his back so badly that it will require season-ending surgery to repair. Although back pain had caused Foster to miss much of the Texans’ training camp, he had been among the NFL’s leading rushers until the latest injury.

Fantex is still hoping Foster will have a fruitful football career, enabling the company to resurrect the IPO in the future.

Fantex had struck a deal to pay Foster $10 million for 20 percent of his future income tied to his football career, including a possible foray into broadcasting. To pay Foster, Fantex had planned to sell 1 million shares for $10 apiece.

J&J agrees to $4B hip implant settlement

Johnson & Johnson has tentatively agreed to a settlement that could reach up to $4 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits filed by patients injured by a flawed all-metal replacement hip, said two lawyers briefed on the plan.

The tentative plan, which must win court approval, represents one of the largest payouts for product liability claims involving a medical device.

A spokeswoman for the company’s DePuy Orthopaedics unit declined to comment on the possibility of a settlement. An announcement about the plan is expected in the coming days, the lawyers said. The agreement will include those patients who have already been forced to have the device, known as the Articular Surface Replacement, or ASR, removed and replaced with another artificial hip, said the lawyers. Under the deal, each patient would receive about $350,000 on average in compensation.

The precise value of the settlement is unclear because lawyers for patients are still trying to estimate how many of the 12,000 related lawsuits involve patients who had a replacement. Lawyers believe that number may be between 7,000 to 8,000 cases.

ON THE MOVE

HUGS has announced the appointment of Joan Naguwa as its new executive director. Her experience includes serving as president and executive director of the Children’s Alliance of Hawaii, executive director of Waikiki Community Center and vice president of programs for Helping Hands Hawaii.

Honolulu HomeLoans has announced that Erika Joy Ordo­nez has joined the team as a loan officer. She will specialize in residential mortgage loan origination. Ordo­nez previously worked for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and Bank of Hawaii. 

Miki Wakai has been hired by the Hawaii Tourism Authority as tourism brand manager to oversee the Japan market. She will work collaboratively with HTA contractor Hawaii Tourism Japan to ensure marketing efforts are in line with the HTA’s strategic plan and drive demand and revenue for the state. Prior to joining the HTA, Wakai worked at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club overseeing the marketing and sales office in Hawaii while re-establishing its presence in Seoul.

SHIP AHOY!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: