COMPANIES

Apple practically confirmed Samsung’s stature as currently the biggest smartphone maker in the world but that reputation was tarnished, the tech giant insisted, when the South Korean firm “chose to compete by copying Apple.”

National Australia Bank (NAB) announced on Tuesday that it will increase on July 30 its interest rates on business loans by 20 basis points. The bank explained it had to hike rates because of strong competition for deposits and higher funding costs.

Local stocks managed to finish in positive territory today, as investors embraced better than expected Chinese economic data and as merger and acquisition activity boosted retail players. By close the All Ordinaries Index added 2pts to finish at 4161, a pretty positive outcome given the weak offshore lead and fact the market was trading down to the tune of half a percent at one stage during the day. The benchmark ASX 200 Index (XJO) added 4pts or 0.1pct to 4133.2.

he Australian share market remains in the red in the early session, but importantly the selling isn't as significant as what we saw on US and European markets overnight. Investors there sold out of equities on ongoing concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis and after companies missed earnings expectations, including bellwether McDonald's. Locally, investors are treading water ahead of the release of the flash HSBC manufacturing gauge out of China, and a speech by RBA Governor Glenn Stevens...

There is no stopping Apple and Samsung from waging their legal battles as top executives by both firms failed anew to seal a deal that could end their year-long conflict, according to reports by Reuters.

More charges of Health Services Union (HSU) funds misuse were confirmed Monday on union officials, similar to charges made by HSU Executive President Kathy Jackson on embattled MP Craig Thomson.

A UBS forecast that banks in Australia would axe several thousands of positions over the next two years was validated by a National Australia Bank (NAB) executive on Monday.

The more than two weeks industrial action at Coles warehouse in Somerton, Melbourne finally ended on Monday night. The workers agreed to terminate their strike, lift the barricade and accept the wage increase offer from Toll Holdings, the operator of the largest warehouse of Coles in Australia.

European debt concerns once again weighed on investor sentiment today, causing the local share market to post its biggest once day loss since early June. After rising almost three percent over the course of last week, the best weekly gain since December, the share market today fell 1.7pct on the back of losses on European and US share markets. That was the biggest one day drop on our market since June 4th. Fears the European debt crisis continues to grow saw investors bail out of equities across...

Problems on its supply chain and early screen complaints apparently overwhelmed the normally cool internet giant as Google announced on Monday that will stop taking online orders for the hit Nexus 7 tablet.

German safety pioneer Mercedes-Benz will start fitting inflatable rear passenger seatbelts to its vehicles, in a move that will make the brand the second automaker to employ the safety technology behind Ford.

The Australian share market opened weaker this morning after overseas markets sold off on Friday. Once again European debt concerns and a pull-back in global iron ore and coal prices along with end of week profit taking took its toll on markets.

Samsung predicted right about the new Galaxy S3 – that it will push out at least 10 million units worldwide in the initial months of its global debut.

ANZ Chief Executive Mike Smith doused on Sunday speculations that he would leave the Australian bank and move to Barclays. Mr Smith said his job at ANZ is not yet complete and he does not want to live in London, where Barclays is based.

The ongoing strike and barricade of Coles warehouse in Somerton, Melbourne entered its third week on Monday as the industrial dispute goes back to Fair Work Australia (FWA).

The Australian sharemarket lost a little ground for the second time this week, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) easing by 0.1 pct or 5.8 pts to 4230.6. Keep in mind that shares yesterday recorded their best daily improvement for the month, with the XAO jumping by close to 2 pct. Over the past five days, stocks rose by 2.7 pct, making it the best weekly gain since late February this year.

Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's newly-installed CEO, could earn as much as $US100 million over the next five years, that is if she managed to stay that long in a chair that has seen five bosses in the same number of years.

One day consumers are giving up their SUVs, and the next day they want them back. It's enough to drive an auto company CEO crazy. The bottom line: Watch what consumers do, not what they say.

The Australian share market closed higher yesterday and overnight the European and U.S. markets gathered pace, but our market lost ground at the start of trade, even with higher gold, metal and oil prices overnight.

Google came out Thursday blazing with impressive numbers as the internet giant reported a general profit of $US2.79 billion in the second quarter, which was backed by an overall revenue of $US12.21 billion.

As more Australian consumer opt to shop from online stores than bricks-and-mortar outlets, the federal government decided to monitor the sector in a bid to understand better the behaviour of shoppers amid the slump in the country's retail industry.

The Australian share market moved back into the black today, following strong production reports from energy players and a positive offshore lead. Strong earnings results from a number of US companies, including chipmaker Intel, saw the Dow Jones Index rose almost 1pct. Locally the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rallied to close higher by 80pts or 1.9pct to 4236.4.

Qantas Airways, one of the biggest Airline companies in Australia, recently disclosed that they are ditching RIM's Blackberry over Apple's iPhone for their employees. Qantas Airways also revealed that they have selected Microsoft Office 365 platform over Google for their upcoming hybrid cloud computing environment.

The sentiments aired by the late Steve Jobs about Apple's rival operating system, Android, will not be considered once the Apple-Samsung patent contest begins at the end of the month.

Are You Stalking Your Ex in Facebook? New Research Shows 88% Stalking Their Ex in Facebook

Microsoft Corp. have finally announced the official release date for their latest OS, Windows 8. Windows 8 would be officially be available on October 26, 2012.

IBM recently disclosed the company's second quarter financial report and revealed that IBM experienced growth in terms of profit but had a revenue drop in terms of hardware.

The U.S. Apple online store went offline a while ago for a site update and it's "We'll be back" message was translated in 18 languages. After it went back online by 6:00 a.m. Eastern (3 a.m. Pacific), it now offers a text messaging update service for customers.

The new Metro user interface will indeed light up computer screens in late October as Microsoft confirmed in a blog post on Wednesday that Windows 8 will roll out starting the 26th of July, likely reinvigorating the world's flagging interest on personal computers.