BUSINESS

Rival cellular smartphone makers Apple and Samsung have responded to clamors to create anti-theft features on their products. Top prosecutors from the U.S.' San Francisco and New York City states said law and security enforcement officers will now road test the efficiency of the new safety elements of the smartphones.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 78 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P gained 0.5% to 1689 and the Nasdaq was relatively flat.

The Bernanke speech may be in the rear view mirror now, but having navigated the main risk hurdle of the week markets have remained subdued. For much of the day the local index traded in a narrow range and volumes were equally constrained. The question to pose now: What's the next catalyst?

While its competitor Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) was short of its iron ore production for the first half of 2013, largest miner BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) had a strong year of production as it reported the miner's full 2013 financial year results.

The staff of Lonely Planet in the travel guide company's Melbourne headquarters is bracing for the upcoming job cuts expected to be announced on Thursday. At least 100 employees will lose their jobs after Lonely Planet will issue the order.

HP recently revealed new touch-based products. These include a range of all-in-one PCs and notebooks. As the company offers devices like the Envy Rove, the Pavilion 11, SlateBook x2, the Split x2 and the Envy TouchSmart 14 Ultrabook, including the Slate 21 All-in-One, one thing is clear – HP is ready to join the competition.

Local stocks were enjoying some modest gains at lunchtime on Thursday reflecting the response to the Bernanke testimony overnight. The fact that price moves in the aftermath have been modest, in the main, indicates that investors are getting comfortable with the US central bank and its perspectives on quantitative easing. The real test will come when the Fed finally reduces the size of its monthly asset purchases from the current levels of $85bln.

In North Carolina, customers still eating dinner at the Hops Grill and Brewery were suddenly asked to immediately leave the premises when the authorities came to shut down the restaurant. The Hops management then informed their patrons that the restaurant was closing permanently.

Despite a steadily rising number of deaths now at 45 worldwide, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is still not considered a global health menace, a panel of experts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.

Pope Francis, who had earned a reputation for keeping his security detail on their toes whenever he goes out of the expected cordon sanitaire during events in Vatican, will be doing the same for his first international trip. On Wednesday, the Vatican announced this year's newly-installed spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic church had just dumped the idea of riding the ever famous bulletproof popemobile for his Rio de Janeiro, Brazil trip in observance of the World Youth Day 2013 festivitie...

The University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) entered a deal agreeing to commercialise their intelligent robots to clean around Sydney

Public nurses and midwives across the state of New South Wales in Australia have decided to take their employment-rant related concerns to a higher level. Patients confined at NSW state hospitals and community health service centres may expect work disruption as the nurses have voted to a state-wide strike action on July 24.

By Jonathan BarrattCopper has managed a bounce from what many thought would have seen the commencement of another major leg lower.

By Jonathan BarrattCopper has managed a bounce from what many thought would have seen the commencement of another major leg lower.

Windows-based PC sales continue to decline but Chromebooks are experiencing otherwise. For the last couple of months, shipments for Chromebooks have been increasing. Analysts expect the shipments to increase by as much as 200% to 300%. This trend now shifts the focus of companies. As Lenovo, HP, Acer and Samsung capitalize on launching Chromebooks, can Windows 8 devices survive?

American upscale fashion retailer Nordstrom recently admitted that they are experimenting with Wi-Fi and advanced video surveillance to track customers as they shop.

Although China's Internet penetration rate was 42 per cent as of last count, the South Asian giant continues to hold on to the number one post in terms of users. A report from China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) released on Wednesday said the penetration rate went up by 2 per cent to 44 per cent as number of users rose to 591 million.

The Amazon Kindle Fire is one of the tablets that reportedly will have a next-generation model, which is why tech experts recommend for people who are on tighter budget and want to take advantage of price cuts on 2012 models to consider this gadget.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 18 points or 0.1% while the S&P gained 0.3% to 1680 and the Nasdaq added 0.

FNArena is surveying investor sentiment in Australia in an effort to generate, over time, a guage similar to the AAII Investor Sentiment Survey in the US.

It seems Android will be taking the market by storm. Several devices running on the Android OS will hit stores this week and the coming months. Namely, Sony just introduced the Sony Xperia Z LTE, LG will be unleashing the G@ and HTC One will be featuring pure Android or Sense.

The pattern of trade seen this morning continued over the remainder of the day as investors turned over the possibilities to emerge from Fed Chairman Bernanke's semi-annual testimony to the US Congress later tonight local time.

U.S. carrier Verizon has scheduled an event on July 23, Tuesday, and hinted it would be the release date for three Motorola DROID phones.

The market previously only offered a limited number of tablet-sized smartphones. Gone are those days as companies like Asus and Sony reveal their plans about releasing phablets some time soon. Specifically, Sony will introduce Xperia Z Ultra whereas Asus will release the Fonepad Note FHD 6.

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?