BUSINESS

Details about Sony ‘s latest rumored phablet Sony i1 codenamed "Honami" were linked online. The upcoming device joins the surge of tablet and smartphone products pouring into the market. With a 5-inch 1080x1920 display plus 2000:1 contrast ratio, Sony is gearing up for this year’s battle of tech manufacturers. Can the company win?

The Australian share market is being heavily sold off on Thursday, with weaker than expected Chinese manufacturing data (PMI) exacerbating the selling.

On Thursday, ANZ spokesperson Stephen Ries denied earlier reports that the company is closing its Mulgrave call centre in Melbourne and transferring jobs to New Zealand and The Philippines. "We're not going to speculate what's going to happen in the future," he said. He assured Australian customers that ANZ's call centre headquarters would remain in Melbourne.

HTC finally reaffirms Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update for their flagship smartphone HTC One. This means that the handset will receive the latest Android features such as Actionable Notifications and Quick Settings.

The AUD has fallen below USD 0.9300 for the first time since September 2010 after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced that the US Central Bank's stimulus measures would end in mid-2014.

IBM Australia is looking to let go of 1,500 jobs in a move to send jobs offshore to New Zealand and Asia. Local jobs held by around 1,200 to 1,500 Australians are affected as their jobs have been found to be redundant. The figures are comparable with Ford's plans to cut 1,200 jobs when the company leaves Australia in 2016.

As expected, QE tapering is coming; as expected, $85 billion a month is here to stay in the interim; as expected, a timeline was given and as expected these changes to the current programme are conditional to the state of the underlying economy.

ANZ Bank considers cutting 600 jobs and plans to send head office jobs to New Zealand or the Philippines as part of its cost-cutting measures.

Nexus 5 is now linked to the Sony i1 Honami as the device goes live revealing specifications. Ever since LG announced that no Nexus is being manufactured from their houses, spectators are now searching which company is going to make the upcoming Nexus 5. Are Sony and Google working on it?

In US economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke reiterated its commitment to buying $85 billion in bonds per month given still-high unemployment. However the Fed did highlight that risks to growth and employment have lessened in recent months and as such it was likely that it could slow the pace of its bond purchases later this year and look to end the QE program by mid-2014. The Fed will not raise interest rates until unemployment fall below 6.5pct or provided inflation remains below 2.5...

Motorola handset XT1055 has been spotted paying a visit to FCC requesting compatibility with LTE networks of AT&T, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon which indicates that Moto X Phone will become available to most U.S. network carriers.

FCC listings indicated that Asus is reportedly working on a mysterious tablet that can potentially or directly go against the line of Google’s Nexus. With the pending release of the Google Nexus 7.2 and increasing hype, Asus is testing the waters to penetrate the same market. Only a few weeks before the release of Nexus, speculations are also increasing that Asus is gearing for another global launch.

The Australian Dollar has fallen to its lowest level this morning but analysts say that this was offset by commodity price falls

All eyes are on the forthcoming baby of Prince William and Kate Middleton even as the royal couple prefers not to know in advance through technology the gender of their baby. However, there are speculations the baby would be a girl based on an alleged slip on the part of the mother.

By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit ConfidentialChina's economy is slowing, but the rich in that country continue to get richer and are growing in number.

By George Leong, B.Comm. for Profit ConfidentialChina's economy is slowing, but the rich in that country continue to get richer and are growing in number.

By Jonathan BarrattOil has gradually being trading higher over the course of the week and as it knocks into resistance at US98.

The fortunes of Australian mining billionaire Nathan Tinkler continues to reverse after financiers seized on Wednesday his $600 million 20 per cent controlling stake in Whitehaven coal.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 206 points, or 1.4%, while the S&P dropped 1.4% to 1628 and the Nasdaq lost 1.

New Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean firmware update has been released for Sony Xperia SL and Acro S, featuring a number of bug fixes for both devices.

Screen Australia reveals the results of its report handled by the Bureau of Statistics. Data shows most sectors of the TV and film industry in Australia have grown despite the complaints of some industry players about tough times.

The behaviour of financial markets in recent months has been defined by one issue. What will the Fed do with Q.E. To this end it's interesting to note how composed the markets have been in the last day given the import of the day ahead in the US. Wednesday in Washington will see the Fed conclude its 2 day meeting with a press conference. In this forum the US Fed Chairman is expected to provide some clarity in relation to its bond buying program. 'Tapering' has been an expression frequen...

Asus announced that their Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Extreme motherboard has achieved overlocking supremacy at the Computex Taipei 2013. The motherboard, powered by Intel Z87, delivered 91% success rate at the convention. Asus also achieved several world records at an event hosted at the company’s headquarters.

Tizen OS has been depicted as to be a future enemy of the Google Android OS which teamed up by Samsung and Intel. Coming very soon is the first Tizen-based smartphone powered by Exynos 4412 quad-core processor.

Apple announced its plans on increasing expandability of Mac Pro. This will enhance the professional work desktop station by 1/8th of its predecessor. The company is gearing up on boosting the product selection by providing incredible internal expansion space. People can expect a lot from the 2013 Mac Pro.

Candy Crush Saga hired banks to handle U.S. initial public offering or IPO.

Samsung Galaxy S3 glass screen repair is being offered for only $149 by Gophermods. The repair service provider also gives shipment insurance and one year warranty for free.

Efforts to improve and expand Brisbane Airport are right on track. Today. Virgin Australia becomes the first airline to pledge support for the airport's development project by signing a 10-year deal with Brisbane Airport Corporation.

Australian shares are trading close to the highest levels of the day, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.5 per cent. There still is significant hesitation ahead of the Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy due at 4am (AEST) tomorrow morning. Investors are hoping for further clarification on the US central bank's plans on stimulus in the future.