Erik Pineda

Acer’s 7-inch Iconia B1 Android is officially out and retailed for a low-price tag of $US150, the device manufacturers said in a released statement on Monday.

Google’s Android platform and all the handsets operating on the mobile OS are dismissed as clones by hardcore Apple fanboys. It might be true years ago but a self-confessed Android convert now attests that Android’s current form “even feels a bit ahead of iOS 6.”

It’s not even an Apple or a Samsung device but Nexus 7, manufactured by Asus for Google, has generated considerable consumer attention and kudos from tech experts. They agree that the Android tablet is a solid lure, thanks to its impressive specs and more impressive price tags.

It is the year of feature-filled and powerful smartphones and the upcoming Galaxy S4 is no exception. Apart from the super specs that blog reports have attributed to the next Samsung flagship phone, this exciting handset will reportedly deploy with more wireless capabilities.

Call it iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 but analysts are firmly convinced that Apple will introduced two smartphone versions this year – a low-end edition and likely to be named iPhone Mini for a still undetermined debut date and the regular configuration that the tech giant aims to rollout as early as June 2013.

The Nexus 7 tablet dock is set to become officially available on Jan 10, 2013, at least for consumers' orders coming from the United States, as recently indicated by B&H on its official site.

Australia is fast gaining the confidence of the international community, a reality signalled by its recent appointment as chair of the United Nations sanctions committee, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on Monday.

Giant Japanese telco NTT Docomo reportedly partnered with Samsung to deliver an Amber Brown Note to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Popular torrent site The Pirate Bay reportedly went offline for some hours beginning Sunday, sparking fears among torrent fans that the free download site is next to go following the demise of Demonoid and BT Junkie in 2012.

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.

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.

Snapchat, a popular tool among teenagers wanting too fool around, is priced for its privacy and security features, which are especially useful for youngsters engage in sexting or the exchanges of sexually suggestive images and videos.

Ending compulsory voting in Queensland would lead to the eventual rise of radical politics in Australia, National Senator Barnaby Joyce said on Friday.

Amidst her personal and legal battles, Gina Rinehart has raked in tremendous windfalls in the past two years that would largely support her stature as the world’s richest woman.

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.

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.

Australia failed to win its Hoffman Cup tie against Serbia but the nation is celebrating the welcome resurgence of a native court star in Bernard Tomic.

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.

Australian astronomers are gunning to detect some 700,000 new galaxies via the $105 million Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) located in the remote desert region of Western Australia.

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.

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.

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.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard stressed on national unity while Opposition Leader Tony Abbott impressed upon Australians that the Coalition’s economy-centric 2013 agenda is “the positive choice.” The two leaders delivered their respective New Year’s messages Monday morning.

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.

Giant Chinese telecom firm ZTE is all set to play the high-end smartphone game with a slew of devices that the company plans to unveil come the 2013 CES gadget showcase next week in Las Vegas.