BUSINESS

Android in Australia is now growing according to recent survey reports. This means that Google's Android system is now working its way on top of the smartphone war, thus, is it really close to overtaking Apple as the number one smartphone not only in Australia but all over the world?

There is too much milk supply available globally that Dairy Australia warned Aussie farmers to expect a 10 per cent to 15 per cent drop in milk prices in 2013.

The Australian government said on Thursday that issuing much affordable cigarette brands in the market was an act of desperation coming from the British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), which recently unleashed a new brand that sells for only $11.50.

Samsung Galaxy S III was released early in London much to the delight of customers who pre-ordered the latest smartphone recently.

A Macquarie consortium purchased for $4.1 billion the gas grid of German energy firm E.ON. Open Grid Europe runs Germany's biggest gas transmission system and is about 12,000 kilometres long.

Samsung is the king of smartphones for the first quarter of 2012, based on the latest global sales data released on Thursday by Gartner.

St Hilliers Construction, which two months ago won major public housing projects in New South Wales, went into voluntary administration on Wednesday. The move created havoc on the company's building projects in Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Coffs Harbour and Victoria.

Apple will issue a new iPhone version later this year and based on reports that emerged, the hit gadget will come with a bigger screen, ditching the standard screen size that the smartphone has been carrying since its 2007 market debut.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 33 points or 0.3% while the S&P lost 0.4% to 1324 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.

Tech giant Apple, Inc. (NYSE:AAPL) will be introducing its new operating systems and MacBook Pros at this year’s WorldWide Developer’s Conference but iPhone 5 will not be included in the surprises.

Australia belongs to the Apple universe, according to Google, which means more iPhones have been activated in the country than Android-powered smartphones as of the first three months of 2012.

In the last 10 years, Australians have been issuing lesser cheques by over 60 per cent. The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) said the irreversible decline of the cheque is due to a change in consumer preference for electronic payments systems such as the use of debit and credit cards.

Officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in Sydney to conduct stress test on ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac.

Consumers were not buoyed by the huge rate cut handed down by the Australian central bank earlier this May despite the slight climb in the current month's reading of Westpac-Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Confidence.

U.S. auto giant General Motors (GM) reportedly plans to halt its advertising presence on popular social media site Facebook, a move that the carmaker said was part of an ongoing review on its marketing approach and expenditures.

Australia's fourth largest bank, ANZ, said on Wednesday that it would invest million more on its China expansion venture. In 2010, ANZ initially invested $395 million which resulted in the opening of six branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongquing and Guangzhou.

If 2011 was a bad year for Australian retailers, the industry should not expect an improvement for 2012 since new research shows that Aussie consumers plan to hold tighter to their purses this year.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 63 points or 0.5% while the S&P fell 0.6% to 1330 and the Nasdaq lost 0.

The Minecraft Xbox 360 release date is one of the most anticipated events in the world of gaming. This is evident through the figures released stating that the game has already sold more than 1 million copies since it was released in the market last May 9, 2012.

Facebook has generated enough market excitement that experts said its public offering debut would easily attract total buys that would kick up the company's value at around $100 billion.

Australia's general trading environment is far from being ideal but Coca Cola Amatil (CCA) is upbeat that profit gains will mark the initial half of its calendar 2012, which will be anchored on specific expansion moves.

Credit unions have long been touted as an alternative to banks, though only recently have more and more customers made the switch over to the financial cooperative.

Australia's mining sector continues to gallop, while the rest of the economy trails behind.

By Greg PeelIndustry consultant TradeTech reports five transactions in the uranium spot market last week totalling 500,000lbs of U3O8 equivalent.

Concerns about Greece's possible exit from the euro zone helped to push U.S. stocks to three-month lows, as the Dow industrials lost ground for the eighth time in nine sessions.

U.S. financial firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc has more than doubled its exposure to short-term Italian government debt over the first quarter of this year.

A quick preview of the key economic events for the upcoming week!

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 125 points or 1.0% while the S&P lost 1.1% to 1338 and the Nasdaq dropped 1.

This week, three seemingly unrelated stories hit the news.