BUSINESS

American retailers including Wal-Mart and Gap launched a five-year plan to make safety improvements to Bangladesh clothing factories.

Huawei brings to Australia its Ascend P2 and P6 devices

Two years after the great 9.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan and the resulting tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, its operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) finally admitted on Monday that the stricken facility had likely poured contaminated radioactive water into the ocean waters.

Both the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) and the ASX200 (XJO) are trading above 5000.0pts, for one of the first times in a few months. The XAO is up 0.5 per cent with almost all sectors trading higher. The energy sector along with the utilities are losing ground.

Still reeling from the devastating floods in June, China has been struck again with another catastrophe. On Monday, China's western Gansu province was hit by two earthquakes, killing 89 and injuring more than 500 people. Authorities feared the death toll could go up as about 1,200 buildings had collapsed and tens of thousands more badly damaged.

The technology world has barely recovered from the news that a Chinese woman died from electric shock when she used her iPhone while it was being charged. On Tuesday, a similar story jolted Apple users again.

With Aug 1 identified as the launch date for Google's Moto X and New York as the venue, the next questions on techies' minds is how much will the new smartphone be priced and how what does it look like?

Samsung sits at the forefront of the tech and mobile phones industry. It has managed to transform itself as the biggest consumer electronics manufacturer today beating and challenging sales of some of the biggest companies in the world like Apple and Google. In its bid to become the top player in the tech industry, the Samsung will also be holding its first global developer conference.

Samsung sits at the forefront of the tech and mobile phones industry. It has managed to transform itself as the biggest consumer electronics manufacturer today beating and challenging sales of some of the biggest companies in the world like Apple and Google. In its bid to become the top player in the tech industry, the Korean tech giant will also be holding its first global developer conference.

Consistently shunning preferential treatment and special attention, Pope Francis has done what most heads of state would not. For his first overseas international trip since becoming the 266th pontiff, Pope Francis opted to carry his own luggage bag, fall in line and then wait for his turn to board commercial aircraft Alitalia for his week-long visit to Brazil in celebration of the World Youth Day 2013 festivities in his home continent.

Google Inc. just confirmed that the company will be unveiling their Moto X phone on August 1. The Motorola division of the company has sent out email invitations to the media last week indicating the words "Moto X." The event will take place in New York City and will finally unveil the smartphone from Google.

By Andrew NelsonThe crack appeared the week before last. Sellers started to buckle under the strain and gave in to lower prices.

A woman who sought to order from McDonald's drive through restaurant in Great Manchester on Saturday was not served because the fast food establishment's rules exclude people aboard horses from ordering at its drive-through window.

Apple fans should expect the release date of iPhone 6 sometime between September 22 and December 20.

The frequently belittled Chinese tech company Huawei may just surprise techies and take centre stage in 2020 when it makes available 5G technology. The hint of being on the forefront of technological advancement from the Chinese tech giant comes even if 4G has barely landed.

IT exporters like Infosys are looking into strategies of stalling their employees from working overseas, as calls for immigration reform have urged politicians to respond to loss of jobs and a pushback in the economy.

The Australian government should make a bigger push to make the plain packaging of cigarettes uglier to cut the country's smoking rate. A study released on Monday found that more Aussies are thinking of quitting their nicotine habit not because of fear of acquiring lung cancer as the images and words on the cigarette packaging warn, but due to the ugliness of the wrapper.

The quarterly State of the States report issued regularly by CommSec once again named on Monday Western Australia as the strongest state in the Land Down Under.

Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969 and nearly 600 million television viewers watched the historical event live across the world, including a five-year-old Jeff Bezos, now the CEO of Amazon. A day before the 44th anniversary, Bezos disclosed that the two rocket engines that his team had found from the depths of the Atlantic are from Apollo 11.

There is already a device allowing people to print 3D liquid metal. The new patent sighted under Apple hints that liquid metal will be hitting the mobile market soon. Could the next iPhone feature liquid metal?

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up one point, while the S&P gained 0.2% to 1695 and the Nasdaq added 0.3%.The Aussie has been ping-ponging between the mid 91s and the mid 92s these past few sessions as Fed tapering confusion abates and focus turns more specifically towards China.

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.

By Ashley Jessen23 July 2013 ASX Market Summary ? Invast Financial ServicesSubdued market action overnight in the US combined with new recent one month highs across many commodities gave mixed signals to local traders keeping an eye on the S&P/ASX 200, which climbed steadily over the start of the tr...

By Ashley Jessen23 July 2013 ASX Market Summary ? Invast Financial ServicesSubdued market action overnight in the US combined with new recent one month highs across many commodities gave mixed signals to local traders keeping an eye on the S&P/ASX 200, which climbed steadily over the start of the tr...

Intel’s CEO Brian Kranich had his first earnings call. The chip giant’s head post revealed his strategy on pushing Intel’s growth and development. For the second quarter of 2013, Intel reported $12.8 billion in revenue. Net income came at $2 billion for the current quarter. This is 2 percent down from 2012’s record.

Sony Alpha Rumors reported that Sony will be revealing a new high-end smartphone featuring a “lens camera.” Based from the information, it seems like Sony will be including a DLSR in a camera – it is an excellent feature that can put the company ahead of the race.

The supportive tone seen in the early part of the local session remained in place over the course of the afternoon although the prospect of key company and economic reports in coming days, both locally and elsewhere kept buyers from extending gains. The end result paints a picture of the ASX200 index still consolidating around the 5000 mark.

The United Nations has issued a warning to all 750 million smartphone users around the world to be wary of the removable SIM card on their smartphones. A German research firm has discovered a flaw in the old encryption technology used to make the device operational, enough to make it susceptible to the illegal activities of hackers.

People lined up the streets to wait for the release of the first iPhone in 2007. From the time Steve Jobs unveiled one of the world’s most popular mobile handset, people have always anticipated product releases and announcements from Apple. To many businesses like shopping stores and developers, whatever Apple puts out is their bread and butter. Is the same still going on today?