BUSINESS

After the unexpected firing of Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) Chief Executive Tom Albanese, it was the turn on Wednesday of BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) Chief Executive Marius Kloppers to step down.

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 53 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1530 (another new 5-year high) and the Nasdaq added 0.

-Brokers raise earnings estimates-New JV in the UK-Solid leasing outlook-More organic growth to comeBy Eva BrocklehurstMacmillan Shakespeare ((MMS)), which provides workplace benefits administration services, has pleased brokers with its strong first half.

-Brokers raise earnings estimates-New JV in the UK-Solid leasing outlook-More organic growth to comeBy Eva BrocklehurstMcMillan Shakespeare ((MMS)), which provides workplace benefits administration services, has pleased brokers with its strong first half.

The Australian sharemarket has improved for the 15th time in 20 trading sessions, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.4 per cent or 18.1 pts to 5101.00. Local shares are now hovering around their best levels since August 2008. Global markets were quiet overnight due to the U.S President's Day public holiday which kept American markets closed.

China has bested the United States of America to now become the world's biggest market for smartphone and tablet devices, a no mean feat since it is by far the world's most populous country.

If you think pharmaceutical drugs, vaccines, and various other instruments of modern Western medicine are responsible for improving quality of life and increasing the average lifespan in America, think again.

The HTC M7 will circulate after all with Europe as its prime destination, new reports said, complementing the HTC One release that will attempt to break new grounds in the United States.

New Zealand's major telecoms players, Telecom, Vodafone and Telstra, announced on Tuesday that they have entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding that would pave for the construction of a new $60 million worth fiber-optic cable connecting New Zealand with Australia. Opposition parties in the country immediately slammed the concept as furthering the already monopolistic nature of connectivity and pricing that they already have.

Project Butter and JellyBean 4.1.2 are all geared up to inhabit your still trusty Galaxy Note from Samsung as the company announced the gradual deployment of the official Android jump for the device that set off the phablet fever.

Aside from being mostly in scarce supply, no major complaints have been aired about the LG Nexus 4. Additionally though, the camera shooter of the Google smartphone is much left to be desired, experts said.

Local stocks are slightly firmer in the early session, consolidating four and a half year highs reached on the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) yesterday. It's a significant consolidation given Wall Street was closed overnight for Presidents' Day holiday and European markets closed in the red for a third consecutive session.

In the darkness of the night on the 17th of February, RDA Holding Co., publisher of legendary Reader's Digest, filed for Chapter 11 protection to cut as much as $465 million in debt. It is the second bankruptcy of the over 90-year-old magazine in nearly four years. The publisher of Reader's Digest has informed that it will focus on electronic media as the shift from print to digital media is inevitable.

Germany recently made big news by announcing its plan to bring home part of its massive gold reserves. By retrieving 300 tons from New York and all 374 tons from Paris, 19% of its holdings - $36 billion worth - will be repatriated. By 2020, Deutsche Bundesbank expects to have 50% of its gold reserves stored in its Frankfurt vaults.

It’s being lined up as the strongest rival to date of Apple’s iPad Mini and true enough the Galaxy Note 8.0 from Samsung will retail at about the same pricey level of its chief competitor, at least $US300 for the basic configuration.

Windows Mobile was one of the smartphone OS available dated back in the 90s and basically runs PDA devices. Unfortunately, the OS turned out to be a disaster and became a deserted system within such time. Windows Phone came back with new style, new features, and new system to join the competition of mobile OS in the market. It is in the fourth position challenging Android, Blackberry OS, and iOS for global domination in the mobile tech industry.

Thailand witnessed strong growth in the fourth quarter of 2012 as industry recovered from effects of severe floods. The result of 3.6 percent growth topped analysts' estimates. The Thailand's economy and other Asian countries demonstrated resistance to the struggling global economy as local and domestic demand increased.

The common debate regarding mobile operating system is the Android vs. iOS topic and no yet has ever won from the argument. It is always up to the users which work for them in terms of usage and functionality. The iOS has many amazing features which what makes it one of the top in the mobile technology market, but even something that looks perfect have several flaws hiding behind the curtains.

Today, we hold our hat in our hand; we bow our head...and let our mouth fall open in amazement. Our Lenten programme of fasting, prayer and meditation is producing results. We are lightheaded from near-starvation and alcohol deprivation. But our thoughts are clear. Or else, we are hallucinating.

A ‘Mini’ war is unfolding between Apple and Samsung even as reports suggest that the two titans will wage a scaled-down version of their increasingly fierce product competition this year.

The good news is, it's easy to predict what will happen to the world economy in the next few years. The bad news is, the governments won't let it happen. And who knows what they'll come up with instead?

Carlsberg witnessed a decline in its quarterly profits as sales slumped in the Russian and Northern European markets. Similarly, shares of the company shrank following lower-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and high beer making expenses.

They are not really so much fans of the world's most popular social networking site but almost half of American parents admitted that the main reason they signed up for an account with Facebook is to spy on their children's online activities.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron arrives in India on the 18th of February with the biggest ever trade mission and will take part in three-day talks with Indian authorities.

iPad Mini 2 release date has been consistently pegged in the final quarter of the year, specifically in the month of October. Meanwhile, analysts are saying the new small Apple tablet could be more expensive by 30 per cent.

A study by the University of Queensland released on Tuesday said that Australia would have to include coal in its power generation mix until 2035. Coal is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions and supplies 80 per cent of Australia's current power requirements.

A leaked photo of the motherboard of Apple's iPhone 5s confirms rumours that the device will have an A7 quad-core CPU and GPU and 2 GB of RAM.

Unwrapping of the Galaxy S4 is on March 14, reports said, and what the world will get from Samsung is a far different handset from the rumours that have been circulating for months.

By Andrew NelsonUranium trading was pretty steady last week, with six transactions reported and just under one million pounds changing hands.