BUSINESS

A new research of Australia's data usage habits has found that Aussies have been venturing more towards wi-fi hotspots in increasing numbers, which is not surprising since the same study likewise revealed that half of all Australian adults now already own a smartphone. That Aussies will clamor for more free wi-fi hotspots to support their rapid mobile requirements is just a matter of time, so to speak.

Nexus 4 is gone again in Australia after only days of being available. Both the 8GB and 16GB variants of the Google flagship smartphone has just returned to Google Play site, but now buyers are doused with cold water again.

It seems that comparing the price of a US minesweeper and a marine sanctuary is never a good way to earn public appeal as Filipino netizens take on Twitter in response to Donald Trump Jr., reports Inquirer.net.

Sony sent out invites for a New York City event labelled ‘PlayStation Meeting 2013’ which the ailing Japanese consumer electronic firm will stage on Feb. 20. Is this the much-awaited PlayStation 4 unveiling?

Following on from a quick pullback yesterday, the local market is improving for the 11th time in 12 trading sessions. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 0.7 per cent or 36.6 pts to 4937.6. The market is anticipating economic news out of China between 12pm (AEDT) and 12.45pm (AEDT) which could drive markets this afternoon.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 starts rolling out by the second week of April 2013, the projection based on two new reports coming from the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

Nokia is reportedly testing a new Lumia smartphone, triggering fresh speculations that the Finnish firm is pulling off a surprise following its announcement of a Feb 25 news briefing at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck, Editor FNArenaI joined Twitter. Not because I am curious what this celebrity has to say about her kids, or to read that another one is waiting for a connecting flight, impatiently.

On the 30th of January, Imperial Tobacco Group Plc. informed that the first-half profit would decline because of black market sales and the deepening crisis in Europe. Along with the announcement on the half-year profit outlook, the Europe's second-biggest tobacco company revealed that Robert Dyrbus had resigned from his position.

On the 31st of January, Royal Dutch Shell PLC informed that it saw a 13 percent jump in profit for the fourth quarter. As it was underlined by the Europe's biggest energy company, increased costs in both exploration and output were balanced by high refining margins. However the profit for the final fiscal quarter did not meet with analysts' estimates due to weaker prices in North America.

On the 29th of January, Anglo American PLC informed that it would write down $4 billion on its Minas-Rio iron project in Brazil after conducting a review of the scheme.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportThere's no more appropriate time for a market review and outlook statement for the month ahead.

Images of the white Nexus 4 have leaked out, supporting earlier reports that the Google-LG smartphone will be released apart from the original shining black.

A Queensland passenger train lost its brake on Thursday at 7:55 a.m., causing the train to run off the tracks and ram into a station toilet in Cleveland, east of Brisbane. The accident caused damaged to the toilets and injured 14 people.

By Jonathan BarrattCotton has had a really turbulent time over of the last 24 months and so have the producers who at some stage have been producing the commodity at a loss.

A new social photo-taking game app launched by CollegeHumor has been launched for iPhone and it's called Bout. The photo-taking app challenges players to compete with each other by submitting images that answer funny prompts.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 49 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P lost 0.3% to 1498, with the Nasdaq flat.

Escaping from the temple ruins and dungeons while dodging traps beats out the powers of super-powered birds. Imangi Studios made history with Temple Runs2 as it became the fastest growing mobile game, displacing Rovio's pet app. Temple Run 2 soared with 50 million downloads in just 13 days from its release.

The debut of Blackberry 10 and its carrier unit Blackberry Z10 delivered new features, new improvements, and overall changes from its previous generation. Blackberry specialises in maximum security and is mainly used for corporate functions due to its great email features, business tools, and scheduling. iPhone 5 delivers not only the latest technology when it comes to hardware but also fluid and smooth performance for its user.

Financially hard-up Australians could expect better treatment from their banks beginning February 2014 when the updated Code of Banking Practice takes effect.

Like sugar, global prices of coal are expected to go up in the coming months as an aftermath of the flooding of the Australian state of Queensland on the last week of January.

As beautifully as the sun shines, it always sets. This is one way to poetically describe what took place on the Australian sharemarket today. After 10 consecutive sessions of gains, the local market slipped into negative territory. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) eased by 0.4 per cent or 18.1 pts to 4901.0.

The BlackBerry Z10 is officially out and all eyes are focused on what fresh offerings will the new handset bring to the table after successive quarters of struggles and disappointments.

Alicia Keys is now onboard the newest campaign for BlackBerry as the global creative director for the company.

The Australian share market seems unlikely to make it 11 wins in a row, following falls on Wall Street overnight. Despite a flat start and entry into positive territory, stocks are in the red at lunchtime in the East. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 15.7pts or 0.3pct to 4903.4.

Two HTC events will be simultaneously staged in London and New York on Feb 19, that much the Droid DNA maker has confirmed. Almost immediately, the buzz went wild that finally the HTC M7 will arrive following months of frenzied speculation.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 will be a no-show at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, a new report said, but the South Korean will remain an active participant in the annual tech event, showing off other gadget products.

The Samsung Galaxy onslaught continues and the latest to be introduced by the tech giant is the quad-core Galaxy Pop, reportedly for exclusive appreciation of South Korean fans that needs to pay roughly $650 to own the smartphone.

In 2012, a record of 700 million units has been shipped across the globe with Samsung and Apple owning half of the market, according to the new research of Strategy Analytics.