BUSINESS

Regional markets have started Wednesday's session in cautious fashion as investors wait for US Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke's semi-annual testimony to the US Congress. The Bernanke testimony is split into 2 parts: Prepared remarks are released at 10:30pm AEST; and the committee hearing, which includes the Q & A session commences at midnight AEST. The prepared remarks will likely reflect the views of the FOMC as a group. To this end Mr Bernanke is likely to reiterate the perspective th...

Sony refuses to play safe in the smartphone market. The Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, and the new Xperia Z Ultra boosted Sony’s position in the market emphasizing that the company is a formidable competition for leading phone manufacturers. With already three devices out, Sony is not stopping. The company wants to release another smartphone called the Sony i1.

The PC market has been in a slump for quite some time now and chipmakers especially Intel (INTC) is losing sales. Analysts expect Intel to post another declining sales record for the fourth consecutive quarter.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) will appeal a decision by the New South Wales Supreme Court ordering the company to play Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, $200 million.

Sony's Xperia Z waterproof smartphone will soon hit stores through T-Mobile. As reviews for the Xperia Z offers positive response from the market, the question now is whether Sony’s Xperia Z waterproof line can compete with the likes of Samsung Galaxy S4?

Steve Jobs was a genius and the brain behind many breakthrough technologies, thus it's no surprise that the trailer of his biopic 'Jobs' is the world's first Instagram trailer. The 15-second trailer has scenes of Ashton Kutcher, who is playing the role of Steve Jobs, and Josh Gad as Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 32 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1676 and the Nasdaq slipped 0.

It was another quiet day for the Australian market, with only a 3pt rise for the All Ordinaries index (XAO). On a positive note, equities managed to rise for the sixth session, making it the longest winning streak since mid-January for local shares. Since the start of the year, the XAO is up 6.5 per cent while the US Dow is 18 per cent stronger and the stimulus fuelled Nikkei 39.5 per cent higher.

Consumers shouldn't assume that "baked" means freshly baked, according to Coles. The supermarket chain has defended the allegations made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that they have been misleading the public with "baked" bread labels.

Samsung is popular for releasing several variants of any smartphone offering they have. From the looks it, the company will continue to uphold this tradition. A recent leak indicates that the Korean tech giant is working on dual-SIM version of the Galaxy Mega 6.3.

Today, just two weeks after the end of the June quarter, China will release its second quarter GDP statistics. It's a miracle of statistical compilation.

Start-up companies and small businesses in Australia and New Zealand will have the opportunity to enter Facebook's small business accelerator program.

Australian wine marker Treasury Wine Estates will destroy gallons of wine recently because of weak wine sales in the U.S. The company said it would charge the losses, estimated at $145 million, against its U.S. business for the fiscal year that ended June 30.

With the 28th World Day of Youth (WDY) just a mere six days away, the Vatican has released the itinerary of Pope Francis for the anticipated global event to be held in Brazil from July 23-29.

Since Google's coup with Woolworth's, the tech giant has added thousands of enterprise users in Australia. Among the companies that recently signed up for Google's corporate solutions are Woolworths majority-owned Australian Hospitality & Leisure and top women's fashion retailer Specialty Fashion Group.

Apple and Samsung relationship has been on the news for quite some time. Both companies claim the other violated legal provisions. As the tension continue to intensify, Apple started sourcing out to other parties for the components of their upcoming iPad mini 2 and iPad 5. Can Apple really ditch Samsung and produce their upcoming mobile devices successfully?

Apple promised they will probe into the death of a woman who supposedly died because of her iPhone 5. The woman died while she was charging her phone at home. Initial reports indicate death was due to electric shock.

According to data on the Chinese economy, growth in the second quarter declined to 7.5% from 7.7% in the quarter leading up to March. China is one of Australia's biggest importers of natural resources. Analysts say that demand for Australian resources is still high in China and is unlikely to fall.

Tech manufacturers like Acer are gearing up for the release of Google’s Nexus 7.2. The hype around the device reveals the increasing demand and shifting interest over tablets on the market. Acer is planning to take advantage of this increasing demand – the company plans to release a tablet running on Tegra 4 chipset.

US stocks closed higher again, another record high for the Dow Jones and the Broader S&P 500 indices. Good numbers from Citi group helped send not only the US indices but also the UK banking sector overnight. Boeing shares higher after Friday's slump. The US building sector was held back yet again - as investors start to look at the rising 30 year mortgage rates in the states and weight up the chances of a pullback in home lending rates.

Expect sales of the Ford Focus to zoom because the model just got a poster boy who has 1.2 billion followers. Pope Francis arrived on Monday at the papal summer residence Castel Gandolfo aboard a Ford Focus, which costs $16,000.

By Andrew NelsonWhile anticipation of the upside from Japanese reactor restarts continued to slowly build, spot traders have decided to forge their own path.

Is technology giant mending fences with its competitors after filing lawsuits against them left and right? It appears so based on two news reports that came out on Monday.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 19 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P gained 0.1% to 1682 and the Nasdaq added 0.

- TWE writes down US inventory- management still operating on blind faith- value lies only in corporate actionBy Greg PeelCelebrated British wine expert and TV personality Oz Clarke unwittingly launched Australia's highly successful export wine industry back in the 1980s, according to a recent ...

The phablet war is expected to further intensify in September amid reports that Taiwanese tech firm HTC will launch the One Max on the last month of the third quarter of 2013. The rumour came from Mobile Geeks, a German mobile site.

Local shares managed to rise modestly after economic news in China failed to surprise. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) edged higher by just 0.2 per cent, while the miners and consumer staples were two of the only losing sectors. Equities improved for the fifth consecutive day, making it the longest winning streak for the Australian market in two months.

Asiana Airlines is thinking of suing a San Francisco-based television network over irresponsible racist report

Asus and Google team proved to be successful with the Nexus 7. The market is anticipating their next collaboration as Google is set to release the second Nexus 7. Reports say, it will be called Nexus 7.2.