COMPANIES

Large bricks-and-mortar retail shops in Australia would likely be both happy and sad with more foreign fashion brands opening stores in the Land Down Under.

Australia's car manufacturing would die by 2017, while about 50,000 workers from the supporting industry would become jobless. That would be on top of 2,500 Toyota employees also joining the ranks of the unemployed in less than four years from now.

Apple Inc has bought back $14 billion of its stocks in the past two weeks. The recent move has increased Apple's total stock buyback to $40 billion shares in a span of 12 months. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, remarked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that it was a record-breaking buyback for a company in a similar period. He said Apple will reveal more updates on its stock buyback by March or April 2014.

"The Vampire Diaries" (TVD) star Ian Somerhalder tweeted about fashion retailer Lands' End banning the sale of items with Angora fur after seeing a PETA video of Angora fur farm cruelty. Somerhalder is a certified animal lover and the co-founder of the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF) which was started to help animals, the environment and people as well as educate and empower mankind to make compassionate and sustainable choices for the planet earth and its inhabitants.

Apple Inc.'s CEO Tim Cook has revealed Apple will introduce products in new categories in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Like in any interview, he avoided getting into the specifics but only hinted that Apple is working on "really great stuff."

Apple removes Bitcoin programme Blockchain from App Store, while Malwarebytes accepts Bitcoin as virtual currency.

A small telecommunications company in New Zealand is now accepting Bitcoin as an alternative mode of payment. Auckland-based 2Talk announced it will be the first company in the local telecommunications industry to allow the digital currency as payment.

In his paper titled, "2014 Innovative Displays and Display technologies, Smartphones, Tablets, TVs and Wearable Displays," Dr. Raymond Soneira has warned Apple may suffer the risk of falling behind Samsung and Amazon in display technologies.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL) is still a good buy even if it reaches $700

Sony has decided to shut down its PC products as it is expected to slash 5,000 jobs.

Because lowering the threshold from the current $1,000 for online purchases made by Australians would only cost more than the federal government would earn, the consumer action group CHOICE proposed a flat tax rate of $14 on parcels.

Three hundred Ford workers in Victoria will become jobless beginning in May and run through the end of the year when the automaker axes their posts through redundancies due to declining demand for vehicles. The soon-to-be affected workers are deployed at the Geelong and Breadmeadow manufacturing facilities.

Are your friends’ Facebook or Twitter profile picture suddenly turning purple? It is not yet another craze that has hit the web; they are doing it for a good cause.

Kalgoorie Super Pit extends mining to 2029, the company announces

Kiwis once again are saying their stern no to the Ozs.

Google has just announced the launch of the ultraportable HP Chromebook 11 in Australia.

Apple Inc's iOS platform share continues to grow in the United States while Android is showing a slight decline. Based on comScore data, Apple gained 1.2 per cent in three months with a total platform market share of 41.8 per cent. Google's Android OS lost 0.3 per cent in the same period with a total market share of 51.5 per cent.

Satya Nadella, the 22-year Microsoft veteran, has been declared as the CEO of Microsoft.

Analysts from UBS looks at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as not being ripe for growth but remains a good stock nonetheless.

Bill Gates quits Microsoft and takes new role as Microsoft names Satya Nadella new chief executive

The Fin Wearable Ring Transmitter is the latest wearable technology that enables palms to be used as a digital touch interface and numeric keypad. It is different from the other wearable gadgets that are mostly worn on the wrist as smartwatches. It is a gesture-based gadget that is best worn on the thumb. Read on to learn more about this amazing technology!

As Apple Inc commemorated 30 years of Macintosh in January, rumours had begun to spread that the company will release a Super Bowl ad which is reminiscent of the desktop computer's 1984 commercial. Apple might use the Super Bowl again to pay homage to its famous desktop computer. While Apple Inc did not show the ad in honor of Macintosh at the Super Bowl, the company chose to post a new commercial on its YouTube channel and called it "1.24.14."

Telsytes survey finds that Australians are the quickest subscribers to switch from one provider to another.

Canada's Quebec have enough heavy rare earths minerals to spur the demand for electric cars in the future, a study made by the KPMG-SECOR commissioned by Matamec Explorations Inc. and Toyotsu Rare Earth Canada (TRECan) had revealed recently.

Barbie dolls often receive bad rap when it comes to positive body image influences for little girls. With its impossibly thin build, the buxom doll simply has unrealistic body proportions. According to Barbie makers, the iconic toy’s design isn’t meant to be a realistic one. Her controversial disproportionate measurements are apparently a practical choice.

In the Land Down Under, Westpac, Australia New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and the National Bank of Australia (NAB) are collectively known as the Big 4 because they dominate the country's banking system. But side-by-side with global banks, the 4 lenders are just the Small 4.

Apple Inc shares declined 8.24 per cent after the opening bell on Feb 2 as investors continue to be disappointed of the company's smaller than expected iPhone sales last Q1 FY 2014. Apple's Q2 guidance also did not meet investor and analyst expectations.

Maleny Dairies has issued a recall of its three milk products due to a possible contamination with E.coli bacteria in Queensland, Australia. According to Queensland Health, Maleny Dairies will be pulling out three of its products from Coles, Woolworths, IGA and other stores.

Optus, a telecommunications company in Australia won a five-year satellite and broadband contract with NBN Co., a corporation owned by the Australian government who is assigned to design, build and operate the National Broadband Network (NBN) in Australia. The said deal between the two Australian companies was announced by NBN Co. on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014. Optus reportedly won the NBN Co. contract after a competitive tender process.