COMPANIES

Boeing admitted this week that yet another issue hit its Dreamliner production line but one high-ranking executive has assured that no more delays will hamper its delivery calendar in the current year.

Apple has renewed its legal tussles against Samsung with a court filing last week that sought to prevent the South Korean from introducing its new Galaxy products to the American market.

Another fresh war is brewing between Australia's supermarket giants. From fresh produce, Coles and Woolworths are now battling for the title of being the number one supporter of sustainable fish species.

Despite the labor dispute between Qantas and the unions being under Fair Work Australia for arbitration, a word war erupted between Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce and the pilots union.

The local share market is trading flat in the early session, as investors respond to the passing of a new austerity plan by the Greek parliament. Opponents to the plan have rioted in Athens over the weekend, however the vote, which paves the way for a new bailout package for the stricken Eurozone country, is expected to bring some stability to European markets. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up 5.5pts or 0.1pct to 4328.1

Fans of "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars" will soon have physical merchandise from their favorite online games. Hasbro Inc. and Zynga Inc. announced Thursday a deal where the toy company will create games and toys based on Zynga's popular online games including "Farmville" and "Mafia Wars".

Google Inc. is reportedly close to launching its long-rumored cloud storage service, Google Drive that would rival cloud-storage provider, Dropbox.

The Australian High Court ruled in favour of mining workers this week and threw out a Rio Tinto appeal that requests for the reversal of an earlier decision that requires the giant mining firm to honour collective bargaining agreements.

Stocks were dragged down for their worst one-day loss in about six weeks by tumult over the Greek bailout, disappointing readings on the U.S. economy and a downgrade of nearly three dozen Italian banks.

The federal government of Australia launched on Thursday a $340-million energy programme designed to provide energy efficiency to businesses, local government and communities.

More jobs in Australia continue to be placed on the chopping block as the axe moves to the construction industry. Kell & Rigby, one of Australia's oldest building firms, announced on Thursday the loss of 500 jobs.

Google Inc. is reportedly planning to send letters to different standards organizations to reassure them that the search giant would license Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.'s patents on reasonable terms if their planned mergers push through.

To defuse the ticking retail frenzy of grabbing the latest Apple phone- the iPhone 4S-- Chinese authorities and American-owned Apple Inc. have joined forces to tackle the problem of illegally selling the handset in China's black markets.

No more European made Nokia phones in the near future as the company, once the industry leader, revealed its plan of further reducing its workforce by at least 4000 this year, a move that will affect mostly Finnish and Hungarian workers.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ordered safety checks on all Airbus A380 jets following reports that a Qantas A380 plane suffered cracks after it hit severe turbulence over India in January.

Telstra Corporation's investments on new technology started paying off as the company reported on Thursday a significant boost of more than 22 percent on its half-year net income for fiscal 2012.

The Australian stock market is perceived to maintain its current bouyant status thugging within its comfort zone range between 4,200 to 4,300 with the absence of catalysts to bring forth a major boost, analysts said.

U.S. stocks pared losses to inch higher as investors digested headlines over a Greek debt-restructuring deal that would allow the euro-zone country to avoid a default.

Just days after Facebook filed papers to go public, a large California pension fund is criticizing the social media giant for having an all-male board of directors.

Aussies are vacationing in droves overseas with New Zealand, the U.S. and Indonesia as their favourite destinations. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics said that in 2011, Australians made 7.8 million international trips.

Rio Tinto has committed a further US$3.4 billion to the major expansion of its Pilbara iron ore operations in Western Australia.

The positive leads from U.S. markets may not impact much on local stocks especially the currency-sensitive ones with the rate pause initiated by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), analysts say.

Smartphones supplanted personal computers as the bestselling gadget in 2011, with analysts crediting both Apple and Samsung for creating 'hero' handsets that delivered record-breaking results.

Workers in BHP Billiton's (ASX: BHP) Queensland coal mines will hold a week-long strike likely to begin Friday to protest the latest enterprise agreement offer by the mining giant. The workers, members of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), are against some of the pay and work condition provisions of BHP's offer.

Further drops in activity and new orders saw the national construction industry spend another month in the red according to the latest Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®), in conjunction with the Housing Industry Association. The seasonally adjusted index fell by 1.2 points to 39.8 in January, marking the 20th consecutive month that the sector has contracted (readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity).

Does the type of smartphone you have determine your dating style? A new survey from Match.com shows a correlation between the type of smartphone you own and your relationship style.

The Australian stock market is seen to hold firm, but gains are narrowed down by the grim prospects in Greece, that has yet to settle prevailing debt concerns.

U.S. stocks drifted lower as the recent rally paused, with investors shifting focus to wrangling in Greece over fiscal austerity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 38 points, or 0.3%, to 12824 as the last hour of trading approached. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 2.7 points, or 0.2%, to 1342, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 7.8 points, or 0.3%, to 2898.

Job security in bank posts continue to be placed on the line as Westpac announced the axing of up to 400 positions. Most of those who would be laid off are engaged in back office and IT roles, of which 150 would be outsourced to India.