COMPANIES

A fifth Australian bank will likely soon join the ranks of the Big 4, the monicker for Westpac, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ Bank.

Australians will likely be reading more juicy details of the Rinehart family court feud in 2013. On Wednesday, New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Paul Brereton adjourned the multimillion dollar lawsuit over the family trust to March 2013 for pre-trial directions.

Giant miner BHP Billiton, currently the largest mining operator in the world, has refused to categorically confirm reports that the company’s CEO, Marius Kloppers, is on his way out after more than five years of stay that was mostly characterised by incredible growth and expansion.

Struggling Nokia was afforded major boosts in Australia and the United States thanks to giant telcos opting to support new Windows-powered smartphones that the mobile phone maker said will begin rolling out early November.

Microsoft is fully embracing the $USUS8.5 billion internet communication technology that came with its Skype acquisition in 2011, disclosing on Tuesday that the messaging client would be its sole application for hundreds of millions of global users to connect via PCs or mobile devices.

The yearend holiday is fast approaching and this early, some people are drawing up their Christmas shopping list. People, after all celebrate Christmas not only with food, decorations, events, and travel, but also with gifts. Today's techie generation inevitable includes high tech gadgets and devices as much appreciated Christmas gifts.

The tech world constantly produces winners and losers with some twists. The dominant forces of yesteryears now found themselves struggling and barely surviving, which analysts said is the current state of Sony.

News reports have indicated that people lining up for the refreshed regular iPad and the iPad Mini were not as spectacular as the iPhone 5 queues, but Apple reported on Monday that it already sold three million units of all versions of the slate in the first 72 hours of its availability.

Lately he is all over the world and Microsoft big boss Steve Ballmer is a firm believer of the products he sells, which for now hovers only on one ‘powerful’ computing system – the freshly rolled out Windows 8.

Africans are making a bid to be a major hub of mobile gaming. With more than 700 million mobile broadband subscribers in the entire continent, a growing number of young entrepreneurs are going digital and creating innovative and interactive content in their own home market.

Although Karachi authorities assured the Pakistani importer of 21,000 Australian sheep that the animals suspected to be sick would be culled following international standard in exchange for withdrawing a court challenge, evidence indicates otherwise.

Experts believe that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will retain the current 3.25 per cent overnight cash rate when the central bank's monetary committee meets on Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, Nov 6.

Apple, the world’s most valuable company, closed its fiscal 2012 with a whopping net income of $US41.7 billion, a jump of 61 per cent from the $US25.9 billion that the tech giant had netted in the previous year.

More than 30 million hands are fiddling with the Samsung Galaxy S3 at the moment, the South Korean tech giant reported over the weekend, supporting latest data from research firm IDC that showed Samsung once again reigns supreme in the global smartphone arena.

Another teardown of the new iPad Mini revealed that Apple’s Bill of Materials (BOM) for the compact tablet amounted only to $US188, affirming the tech giant’s intent to pocket as much profit as possible from the gadgets it rolls out.

A news application is on sale at Top Nine in Apple Store. Nick D'Aloisio, a 17-year-old Londoner has launched this news application called Summly for iOS users. He has so far received more than $1 million in funding from investors.

The federal government of Australia will launch this November the National Digital Economy Strategy which aims to double the number of Australians who telework to 12 per cent by 2020. The roll out is part of the country's observance of Telework Week from Nov 12 to 16.

Kim Dotcom announced on Friday plans for Mega, a service which will replace the file-sharing site MegaUpload.

The decision of Pentagon or the U.S. Defense Department last week to seek new contracts for its mobile phone needs brings to focus software security. Pentagon has a current contract with Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry, but expressed openness to try other units such as those of iPhone and Androids.

Nokia will soon sell a new handset in selected Asia-Pacific and European markets that is geared for buyers looking to enjoy basic communication features plus the indispensable social media tools.

Toyotsu Rare Earth Canada Inc. ("TRECan"), a subsidiary of Toyota-Tsusho Corp. ("TTC"), has paid US$1.3 million, which is the first of a series of payments for its committed equity acquiring of 49% undivided interest in the Kipawa HREE Deposit of Matamec Explorations Inc.

Microsoft’s global marketing blitz is in full swing, deliberately gunning for every possible market to realise the target numbers earlier set by company CEO Steve Ballmer for the newly-unveiled Windows 8.

Gadget teardown specialist iFixit recently got hold of the iPad Mini and pried open the latest Apple product to hit global stores for the holiday shopping season. So what’s inside the latest Apple gadget?

The United States's Department of Defense or Pentagon is considering ditching its exclusive contract with Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry mobile phone, in favour of new deals with makers of the iPhone and Android cellphones.

Nokia was the holder for several years of the crown of having the most number of mobile phone users in the world. It all changed with the introduction of smartphones, powered by the regal system iOS, and the democratic approach of the Android Project. Nokia has joined the fray with Symbian; however, the phone line ups with this OS didn't last long.

Windows Surface has been released recently together with new Windows version - Windows 8. A lot of computer brands likewise rolled out their own devices such as smartphones and notebooks with the new OS.

The Star Wars storyline will remain faithful to its roots despite fears from hardcore fans that George Lucas yielding the franchise baton to Disney could lead to artistic decline.

Windows 8 is rolling out in stunning fashion, attracting millions to install the newest version of the Microsoft operating system barely a week after its launch, company chief executive Steve Ballmer said on Wednesday.

Apple’s iPad Mini will reign supreme in the 7-plus inch tablet class but it will not kill competitors like Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7 – the smaller iPad is way too pricey to do that.