BUSINESS

As suspected, Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is equipped with monster features that allowed the upcoming Android smartphone to top the list of handsets recently tested for browsing brawns.

Sony reportedly plans another smartphone release this year that will serve as its 2013 flagship handset, belying earlier suggestions that the water-proofed and iPhone look-alike Xperia Z is the Japanese firm’s best bet against the current gadget giants.

Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0 was a sight to behold in immaculate white but another looker is on its way – a charcoal black of the latest mini tablet, which also doubles as a big-sized smartphone, from the Asian tech giant.

First Monday of March and the 115 Catholic cardinals responsible to elect the new pope are getting ready to work in a series of meetings in Vatican City.

HTC One release date will fall on March 15, according to reports anticipating the arrival of the latest HTC flagship smartphone. 'One' is expected to go on sale at AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile customers in the U.S. by mid-March. Reports suggest a one-calendar-date international release in several other countries.

Although Chinese tech giant Huawei has been making some noise in the global smartphone market with the unboxing of the Ascend 2 smartphone at last week's World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, the company's CEO has the ambitious dream of becoming the world's number one in smartphone sales across the world.

More embarrassing leaks of Hope Welker's broken personal life came out on Monday amid reports that financial hardship caused the second youngest daughter of Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart, to drop the lawsuit she filed against her mother in 2012.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is practically a heartbeat way from being unleashed but many of the over 40 million owners of its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, will likely stick with this proven winner of a handset for a bit more time.

Aussie market hit by weak metals and dividend payments. US markets were hit by lacklustre trading as investors waited to see what would happen to the planned spending cuts in the US. By the close Wall Street closed slightly higher boosted by better than expected economic data and end of week buying. European Market hit by falls in key banking stocks and the news Eurozone unemployment had hit 11.9% in January.

On the 28th of February, Rio Tinto Plc informed that Chris Lynch, a former BHP Billiton Ltd. executive, was named its new chief financial officer. Chris Lynch will replace the much-respected and committed employee Guy Elliot who informed about his intention to step down back in July 2012.

Purported release dates have become staples of tech news about Apple but new suggestions that the tech giant is pushing for an August 2013 outing for two new iPhone models also pointed to fresh and interesting power-packed features.

Even though many years have passed since Frank Sinatra's song New York, New York had its debut, its verses are still actual. Certainly, New York can be described with many words but homogenous. The city, which seems to be magical as it lures businessmen, tourists and those who want to just simply live there, is full of opportunities also for business.

The Australian dollar has started the day's trade above 1.0400 after a brief dip on Friday night into the high 1.0300's.

Friday night saw both the Dow and the S&P 500 finish in the green, with the Dow rising to its highest level in five years.

The US ISM manufacturing index rose from 53.1 to a 20-month high of 54.2 in February, ahead of forecasts for a result near 52.5. US construction spending fell 2.1pct in January. Consumer sentiment rose from 76.3 to 77.6 in February. US vehicle sales rose from 15.23 million to 15.38m in February, above forecasts. US personal income slumped 3.6pct in January (forecast -2.2pct) but consumption rose 0.2pct.

Gina Rinehart, Australia's richest person and once the world's richest woman, may have lost last week the Rhodes Ridge iron ore mine to Wright Prospecting, but over the weekend she won a more important battle.

The local share market battled calendar headwinds today stemming from the end of week and the start of a new month. The ASX200 fell 0.35 per cent to 5086; the All Ordinaries index slipped 0.38 per cent to 5100.9 points. A consistent theme for the local market this year has been the willingness of investors to support the market in the face of weakness. This remained the case on Friday. Almost $6 billion shares were traded during the session. There were just over 2 billion transactions, 416 stock...

The Hurun Report has released its Global Rich List 2013 where it stated that most of the world's top billionaires are found in Asia.

In a move that goes against global trends, Vodafone, one of the largest telecommunications service providers in the world, announced it would move call centre jobs from India to Australia.

The Australian sharemarket is pulling back for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) down 0.4 per cent or 18.4 pts to 5102.0. The market has been losing ground for much of the morning ahead of two important economic reports out of China. The official government report out at 12pm (AEDT) was worse than expected and came in at 50.1. This is a sign of only modest expansion whereas the market was expecting a reading of 50.5.

We know that the Episode 1 launch planned by Samsung on March 14 is for the Galaxy S4, but is it possible that the flagship device’s little twin brother, the Galaxy S4 Mini, will crash the party too?

Now that Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger has formally relinquished his papal duties as the 265th pope, all focus is now on who will emerge the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The anticipation is not only felt by believers of the faith but also by punters who aim to earn cash as the stakes go higher and higher at online betting forums.

Samsung will limit the colour variants of the Galaxy S4 to black and white, likely ditching the colourful flavour mixes that partly made the Galaxy S3 a global hit, a new report said.

Apple is wrapping the next generation iPad in a complete package, adding a magnetic stand for its leading tablet computer as shown by recently published patent application.

Apple intends to crash into the entry-level market but its debut will likely come next year via an iPhone built on polycarbonate material and priced $US330.

By Andrew NelsonIf China ever had an economic golden age, it was the 2000s. The poor moved to the cities, the cities sprung up like grass, the infrastructure reached many that were left in the hinterlands, millions were lifted out of virtual serfdom and per-capita GDP just about quadrupled.

By Peter Switzer, Switzer Super ReportWas Friday's market comeback of 38 points, after the 2.3% loss on Thursday, one of those sucker's rallies? Are we ripe for a pullback and is the US expert Dennis Gartman right when he tips a 7% slump in stocks is on the cards?Right now I am as popular ...

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 20 points, or 0.2%, while the S&P lost 0.1% to 1514 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.

The analyst principally responsible for the production of this research report is: Howard Humphreys, Director & Lead Research Analyst, Seismic ResearchAsian stocks mixed ahead of U.