BUSINESS

ew Zealand clients of the big 4 Australian banks filed on Monday a class action suit over charges that the lender have collected from them $800 million in excessive default fees.

It could be that wireless charging will skip out the upcoming iPhone 5S but two new powerful features will come rolling out with the Apple smartphone by mid-year, new reports said.

Hancock Coal and rail freight company Aurizon inked an agreement for the joint development of new rail and port facilities in Galilee Basin. The project is estimated to cost $6 million.

Now is the sweet time to own Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2, which U.S. telco AT&T now sells for only $US.0.99 with a two-year contract.

By Andrew NelsonThe Chinese started the shift from central planning to market-based economic reforms back in 1978 and since that time China's economy has grown 28 times larger.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 50 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P gained 0.3% to 1556 and the Nasdaq added 0.

BHP has made strategic shale acquisitions in the US. It's also been absolutely caned on those acquisitions, writing off $2.84 billion from its Fayetteville Shale assets late last year. This cost Marius Kloppers his bonus for 2012, and arguably his job for good.

Kia Australia has ruled out importing any more variants from the European-focused Kia Cee'd range beyond the Pro_Cee'd GT hot-hatch it has recently confirmed for the local market.

Despite a flat start, the Australian share market has closed higher thanks to strong gains from financial stocks and another rise on the Japanese sharemarket.

Official data showed that China enjoyed strong exports in February, highlighting signs that the economy was deliberately rebounding. Yet, China's imports were weak, missing analysts' expectations.

Is this the end of recession? At least, latest data indicated that. According to the revised survey, Japan saw its economy expand in the final quarter of 2012. Certainly, the news is a good sign for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who is focused on getting Japan out of two long decades of deflationary stagnation.

Fancy for a Facebook-dedicated smartphone that actually dishes other servings aside from making sure you are attuned 24/7 to the hugely popular social media site?

Apple fanboys should discount the possibility that wireless charging will come right out of the box for the rumoured mid-2013 release of the iPhone 5S, and the same goes with its budget version.

A new Google patent application revealed a new way to control future Android devices – by tapping its back cover. It is likely that the new feature will first see implementation on the upcoming Nexus 5 or the Motorola X-Phone.

The Australian sharemarket started session largely flat for much of the morning following mixed economic news over the past three days. The All Ords is a touch higher though, adding to last week's 0.75 per cent improvement. On Friday, a report showed that there were around 70,000 more jobs created in North America over February than expected, while the jobless rate improved to 7.7 per cent. This was the first time since March 2012 that more than 200,000 jobs were added in one month.

End of this week the wait for Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is over but as we get to know the specs and features from the new Android handset, another dilemma sets in. Should we take the plunge now or wait a few more months?

One explanation why Samsung is getting a larger cut of the smartphone pie is that the South Korean tech giant has affordable units that offer the same technology and similar specs to high-end units of competitors.Reports said that Samsung will again roll out another easy-on-the-pocket smartphone in May - the Galaxy Pocket Neo.

As Canberra turns 100 on Monday, Australia's capital turns 100 on Monday, there are some interesting facts that one ought to know about this city girded with parliament halls.

The beauty about concept phones is they push the limits of imagination, which is exactly how the new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 render came out – packed with specs that exceed the supposed muscles that the Galaxy S4 will flash this week.

Mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) forecast over the weekend another slump in iron ore prices in the next 18 months. Viviel Tulpule, chief economist of Rio Tinto, estimated the price of the key steelmaking ingredient would decline to just above $100 per tonne by September 2014.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley warned that the price of iron ore in the global market has reached a peak and will average $133 per tonne for the rest of 2013.

Using Android phones means you are on the popular zone as the Google mobile platforms remains the king of smartphone. But there is a downside and a huge one at that – the threat of suffering security attacks.

Australia's competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has postponed to release a decision on Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd's planned takeover of Tiger Airways Australia, stating it wants more time to review the alliance.

More signs are emerging that Apple has indeed spawned a killer device in the iPad Mini, eating away sales and market turfs that previously were enjoyed by the gadget that started the global tablet phenomenon.

It's been a week since the resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, citing declining health, took effect on Feb. 28. And it seems the cardinal electors now huddled in Vatican could take another week to choose and elect the new 266th pope, dousing earlier expectations of a March 11 start of a papal conclave.

A new case intended for use on Samsung’s Galaxy S4 emerged anew, pointing to a new high-end Android phone that is smaller but boxier.

The Gorilla Glass is famous and common to most premium smartphones today, used by branded devices such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony. The glass is also used to protect laptops, tablets, computers, and windows. But how much punishment can it take before getting destroyed?

Roman vendors selling their different wares in and around Vatican City are praying for divine intervention not only for a new pope but for their respective businesses to likewise pick up in the days leading to the start and conclusion of this year's papal conclave.

Samsung’s 10-inch Galaxy Tab 3 is reportedly making its way to global markets soon following the leak of a listing from Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) that pointed to the underway development of the tablet.