BUSINESS

Seemingly unmindful of chronic stock outs since its debut last year, Google’s Nexus 4 is hitting two major retailers in Australia and Canada next week, the development likely in line with LG’s earlier pronouncement that global shipment of the smartphone will normalise beginning in February.

The Android OS has become the world's most popular mobile system platform that it is available to almost any devices and to almost every brand in the market. There are expensive phones which costs a lot offering state-of-the-art technology while other phones are just a quarter of the cost of the expensive unit while providing the Android experience.

The most popular mobile OS platform in the world has too many good reasons why it is better than iOS.

Another device is rumored to be on the works and believed to be the next generation of its kind. Google Nexus 10 was released in November 2012 and the next gen is believed to be under development.

BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) seems to be following the footsteps of competitor Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) in terms of write-downs, firing and commodity production. A week after Rio fired Chief Executive Tom Albanese mainly over the write-down of aluminium assets, BHP said on Thursday that it will likely write off $4 billion of its Australian aluminium and nickel assets by February 2013.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 66 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P gained 0.2% to 1494 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Another financial turbulence has hit the losing Australian flag carrier, Qantas, which reported on Wednesday the end of its multi-million contract with Air New Zealand. As a result, Qantas is sharpening its job-cutting axe.

- Canning Basin highly prospective- Buru a first mover- Macquarie gets on boardBy Eva BrocklehurstMid cap energy stock, Buru Energy ((BRU)), has entered Macquarie's sights as it strives to make a name in Western Australia's Canning Basin.

Midweek has come and gone for the Australian sharemarket and consolidation remains the dominant theme for local investors. At face value the small improvement for the index appears unimpressive, although the increaseD volume points to investor willingness to support the market at higher levels.

Given the speed of lightning exchanges in Twitter, a new research made by the Australian University of Sydney said public health authorities ought to maximise the medium to announce important and updated public health information.

Racing overtime, the World Wildlife Fund and the Australian Marine Conservation Society have merged together to create a conservation campaign, primarily geared towards political leaders, in a futile attempt to save the Great Barrier Reef from being delisted off its World Heritage status.

The full glory of Windows 8 on tablet is on course for a forceful entry as Microsoft indicated that the Surface Pro is all ready for global rollout, initially to be unleashed in North America on Feb. 9 en route to its landing on other key markets.

The popular CyanogenMod 10.1 gained a step higher and is said to be more stable and more reliable than the previous versions. Officially, the ROM is now called CyanogenMod 10.1 Milestone 1 and is ready for flashing on selected Samsung and Nexus devices.

What could have been an otherwise pristine and silent coral reef has been turned into an overnight sensation after a Navy minesweeper vessel by no less than the world's economic giant unceremoniously damaged the protected marine area.

It promises to be a busy 2013 for Samsung as the company reportedly lined up strings of gadget releases in the year’s first half alone, apparently to build up more attention on the Galaxy brand before the rumoured Galaxy S4 crashes into the scene.

The Australian sharemarket is higher for the sixth straight session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.3 per cent or 14.1 pts to 4817.00. This makes it the longest winning streak for local shares in over a month.

Samsung is said to be planning a Q2 2013 release of its latest high-end smartphone, which blog reports suggest will largely assume most of its rumoured specs save for the brand name Galaxy S4.

We’ve heard of the possibility that Apple will bend a bit to market dictates as part of its 2013 roadmap and send out to store shelves two smartphones by second half of the year – the iPhone 5S for its traditional market base and the iPhone Mini for mass market release.

Toward the end of 2012, at the peak of speculations if there would be an apocalypse because of the Mayan Calendar prediction, there was global attention on volcanic eruptions. However, instead of fearing these end-of-the-world portents, amid more reports of increased volcanic activities in different parts of the world, crafty tour operators are benefiting from these potential volcanic blasts by promoting volcano tourism.

The South Korean company, LG, confirmed that their flagship smartphone Optimus G will be sold in Australia exclusively by Telstra. But the device is not yet available until March, and its launch has been delayed due to required network testing.

-Solid quarterly production-Well managed-High quality mines-Nickel price the stumbling blockBy Eva BrocklehurstNickel miner Western Areas ((WSA)) hit all the right notes with the broking community after its solid December quarter production results and evidence of being well managed.

Temple Run's success led to the release of its sequel, Temple Run 2, in the Apple App Store. The game has been downloaded more than 20 million times since its initial release. It became the number 1 Free App within six hours and third-highest grossing app.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 62 points or 0.5% while the S&P gained 0.4% to 1492 and the Nasdaq added 0.3%.

Mozilla Foundation has taken the fight to the next level as it previewed two smartphones operating Firefox OS. The company has invited developers for its new open-source mobile operating system that will challenge both Android and iOS.

Nokia is gradually delivering the so-called Portico updates for international owners of the surprise-hit Lumia 920 some weeks after the same patch were made accessible to U.S.-based users of the Windows Phone 8 handset.

Some countries where the iPhone 5 is being released are coming up with likely contenders to challenge Apple’s smartphone supremacy. In India, the Micromax Canvas HD is set for market launch on February and is touted as the first quad-core handset from the leading Indian phone maker.

The market inertia that dominated the start of the week continued for regional markets on Tuesday. The close of trade for the ASX 200 saw only modest gains on similarly modest volume. The atmosphere of inertia in itself is a test for the overall market. Since November last year, the index has rallied in the order of 10%. The end of 2012 has seen investors become less risk averse with hurdles being navigated successfully. It will be worth examining the behaviour of markets in general in the event...

Samsung has confirmed that it will unleash a new challenger to test the mettle of the popular tablets out there. It will be called the Galaxy Note 8.0, which easily can be lumped with the mini tablet class.

Samsung has once again spiced up its Galaxy S3 Mini serving, this time including near-field capability (NFC) to the small Galaxy S3 sibling, the tech giant said in a press release issued this week.