BUSINESS

Even the high-flying corporate executives of Australia had been hit by the global fiscal crisis affecting most companies and firms to downsize their operational costs.

Apple Inc. is launching the iMessage on Wednesday that will allow users of devices running on the company's mobile operating system to chat SMS-style for free and without limit.

Although the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) cancelled on Monday its planned four-hour strikes, Qantas's labor problems with unions are far from over.

By Greg PeelWhen we talk of talk of "the uranium spot price", we talk of the "U3O8 equivalent" price. However, not all traded and consumed "uranium" is in the form of U3O8, with UF6 being another molecular form.

Australian banks are on a cost-cutting mode in a bid to pare expenditures that soared during the credit and housing boom.

If reports are to be believed Amazon's new Kindle Fire is just flying off the shelves. Amazon is reportedly taking in 50,000 pre-orders of the tablet every day. Analysts estimate that Amazon is on track to sell 2.5 million Kindle Fire units by November. It seems that the Kindle Fire is living up to expectations as Apple's biggest competitor in the tablet market.

BHP Billiton’s multi-billion dollar Olympic Dam Expansion Project has gotten approval from the Minister for Mineral Resources Development Tom Koutsantonis, but still subject to certain conditions.

Sinopec of China acquires Daylight Energy of Canada for C$2.2 billion.

Some of Walmart stores in Chongqing were ordered shutdown due to alleged mislabeling of its pork products and some Walmart officials were detained pending the result of the investigations.

BlackBerry users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India could not email, send instant message and surf the web on Monday.

Emirates Airlines will sponsor London’s new cable car river crossing, to be known as the Emirates Air Line, in a ten year deal worth £36 million, according to London Mayor Boris Johnson.

Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S reached one million on Friday breaking the record first-day sale set by the iPhone 4 last year.

By Christopher Vecchio, Junior Currency AnalystTalks between French and German leaders have led to a wave of parliamentary action across the Euro-zone's members to expand the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

By Greg PeelThe Dow rose 330 points or 3.0% while the S&P jumped 3.4% to 1194 and the Nasdaq soared 3.

Samsung Electronics Co., the biggest rival to Apple Inc. in the mobile devices and which is involved in a number of expensive courtroom battles with the Steve Jobs-founded company, scheduled an Oct. 11 launch for the Samsung Nexus Prime, the first smartphone powered by the Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Apple concept store will open at the heart of Wellington.

AFTERNOON REPORT (4.30pm AEDT)The local share market posted its fourth win in a row today, kick-starting the trading week on a positive note. Investor sentiment remained buoyant after German and French leaders agreed to do all that is necessary to secure the recapitalisation of European banks. Share markets around the Asian region were generally positive, despite ratings agency Fitch cutting the credit ratings of Italy and Spain. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 37.3pts or 0.9pct to 42...

New revelations published about the astronomical salaries paid to Qantas executives, including CEO Alan Joyce, have fueled further anger among Qantas pilots.

Max Payne has undergone a makeover in the years since Max Payne 2. He's shaved his head, ditched his trademark trench coat in favor of a wife beater and he's changed locations to Brazil. But underneath the cosmetic changes, Payne is still the same tortured noir hero gamers have played in two previous iterations and new developer Rockstar Games has kept the same fluid bullet-time combat that made the series a landmark in gaming.

The ongoing economic debacle in Greece is becoming more costly for the nation’s population.

Gold prices regained its footing on Monday posting a 1 percent uptick upon announcement that France and Germany are fast tracking updated fiscal strategies to alleviate the debilitating debt crisis affecting the Eurozone. The spot gold price is predicted to float between $1,596 and $1,677 during the day.

Australia’s suburbs are happy places to live, with 70 per cent of new homeowners saying they have a good or great relationship with their neighbour, a new survey has revealed.

Customers who look beyond the interest rate horizon when choosing a home loan often stand to benefit in the long run, according to Australia's largest independently-owned mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice.

Renewable energy is poised to grow faster than other electric generating alternatives, accounting for nearly one-third of the world's electric generating capacity by the end of 2035, with China and India projected to consume one-half of that energy growth. The burgeoning prices of crude oil and populist concerns over climate change are also seen to boost the shift to use cheaper and cleaner fuels.

Woolworths-owned BIG W discount department stores are recalling the Abode multi-functional blender purchased at stores nationwide due to a potential safety hazard.

Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) Australia has invested $35 million in a new bottle production facility in Adelaide on Monday.

Employees at Toyota Australia’s Altona plant have rejected a new workplace agreement from the car manufacturer in a secret ballot.

Gold Coast start-up IT firm Cake Media launched on Monday an Australian social networking site named Family HQ. The portal, which used Microsoft's Azure software platform, promises more user privacy compared to current top social networking site Facebook.

Fast-changing consumption habits and a host of other factors could further push up food prices, according to a global food firm, which added that rising costs could spawn uprisings in many countries around the world.