COMPANIES

Three new Microsoft Surface tablets are reportedly set to be unveiled later this year, joining the first batch that the software giant had simultaneously launched with the Windows 8 in October 2012.

Majority of teenagers now have access to smartphones which they primarily use for basic phone functions, education, social media, and entertainment. But when entertainment needs goes beyond the usual movie and TV fare, pornography is the first thing in mind. Network carriers have filtered these Web sites but teens have found a way around it through sexting - messages and pics that are sexually explicit.

The New Year of 2013 has entered its second week and for many, this week would be back to business as usual. It is another year to make small, medium or large businesses more productive and efficient for loyal customers. Handling a business can be very stressful and demands a lot of time and effort, but through Android and iOS devices and apps, entrepreneurs and corporate executives can enjoy the advantage of having a secret adviser that can do things even when the assistant or accountant is not...

Google has launched an application that lets people follow and track their New Year's Resolution through an online map and also lets them see what others around the world have promised in 2013. The California Internet giant's 2012 Zeitgeist Web site obtained half a million log entries and more than a third involved "to love" or "be loved" entries. The entries are divided into several categories including love, health, finance, career, education and family.

The statement that Gina Rinehart has oodles of money is a given fact. Two years' worth of financial statements published by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) covering the years 2010 and 2011 said that profits of Hancock Prospecting, owned by Ms Rinehart, rose to $1.2 billion as of mid-2011 from $225 million in June 2009.

Mark Zuckerberg should better watch out. His potential successors are getting younger. One such chap even shares with him the same initials - ZM - which stands for Zachary Marks.

HTC M7 will be unleashed first quarter of 2013 but it remains unclear if the smartphone will be previewed on this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas following conflicting reports that the gadget is slated for a Mobile World Congress debut in February.

Samsung is allocating significant amounts of energy to Tizen in 2013, confirming reports that the Asian tech giant is planning device releases this year running on the Linux-based mobile operating system.

There's more to a hotel concierge's job in a busy tourist destination spot like Australia's Gold Coast than just booking car rentals or serving as a go-between for guests and the accommodation.

The global hunt for that elusive Nexus 4 remains an equally exciting and frustrating prospect for fans wanting to enjoy the stock Android rendition on a powerful but affordable smartphone.

It has been six months since the debut of Nexus 7 at the Google's annual developer conference and it is an attractive device especially for readers. Some users are confused if they still want to squint their eyes just to read through the smartphone and suffer a double $200 price tag or get a mini tablet or a bigger one from Samsung.

While the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) next week in Las Vegas is expected to show more cars and fewer electronic gadgets, techies nevertheless are anticipating the annual event.

Its confidence partly boosted by the good showing so far of the Lumia 920, Nokia is aiming to break new grounds by jumping into the global tablet competition, currently the turf that follows the dictates of iOS and Android devices.

The second batch of Nexus 4 deliveries has reached their end destinations and many were elated that the choke on Google’s supply chain seems to be freeing up. But one gripe appears to be emerging – the ‘glitter effect’ on the phone’s back cover was nowhere to be found.

Apple will reportedly issue new smartphones in colourful casings – three in one-tone: pink, yellow, blue; and the rest in two-tone: white & silver and black & slate. These new handsets will be called iPhone 5S and are set for a June 2013 release.

Application developers found something odd in their app usage logs which referenced to a new iPhone identifier - iPhone 6.1 with iOS 7 operating system.

The Digital Age continues in 2013 and will possibly span more decades until everything is about robotics, droids, and artificial intelligence. In 2012, computers have evolved into touchscreen notebooks with flexible form modes such as separating from its keys or forming a tent for better movie experience. Mobile phones have reached the smartphone era with screens responding to touch, social network access, Wi-Fi connection, and several more applications using the smallest sensors.

The use of Wi-Fi cuts down incidents of stumbling around cords and wires at home, in the office or school. It also covers a larger area with more users than using standard wired router. The technology of wireless connection beats almost any odds using the Internet but there are certain things that can slow down the connection or weaken its signal which is a bummer.

Jailbreaking an iPhone is about having maximum control over the device. This includes tweaking a lot of things in iPhone which otherwise the original iOS prevents. Another benefit is the ability to download free apps for iPhone instead of purchasing it from Apple Store. However, one of the major sources of pirated apps for iOS devices is gone. Hackulous, which developed Installous, has finally shut down after years in service.

The year 2012 closed its tech world with highs and lows and the New Year 2013 will present new innovations and new devices that will reach old and new markets.

Toyota Motor Corp., the Japan's biggest carmaker, is to pay as much as $1.1 billion to settle a U.S. class action lawsuit based on alleged acceleration issues in its cars.

Galaxy S3 owners wishing for at least two more solid hours of battery juice can now place their orders on two European online retailers, Mobile Fun in the United Kingdom and Amazon’s operation in Germany.

Samsung’s Asian roll out of the Galaxy S3 Mini comes with the JellyBean flavour naturally whipped out by Google with the Android 4.1.2, numerous blog reports said.

A Forbes.com contributor named the controversy-ridden Instagram as the top tech company of 2012. Tanya Prive, the contributor, said the list was based on exits, valuations by A+++ investors and rapid growth.

Samsung continues to prove that phablet is now a device market mainstay, disclosing earlier this week that the Galaxy Note 2 has garnered more than one million sales in South Korea alone.

Sustaining the interest of such passive gamers, who only tries to pass the time and all of a sudden be muddled in some other work load and day-to-day existence are the source of a major concern for online game creator Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA).

Google’s Nexus 7 is making a splash this New Year – emerging on eBay at discounted price and being ported with a mobile OS from a bygone era.

Apple products remain off limits for family members of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the wife of the software billionaire confirmed in a radio interview Friday last week.

Not to be outdone, Huawei has let loose its own smartphone flavour by image leaks that tech blog sites quickly picked up. It is a supersized 6.1-inch smartphone that numerous blog reports said will be known as Ascend Mate.