Sharon Olalia

Tourism Australia has launched a Facebook application in a bid to rally support for the country’s two finalists in the remaining five months of the global New7Wonder of Nature campaign.

Last week at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2011, technology giant Apple took the wraps off OS X Lion, saying it has 250 new features. Aside from the price tag set for this new OS – an electrifying $29 or $100 dollars less than the previous $129 Apple operating systems – here are 10 reasons why Apple fans should consider upgrading:

Ash from a Chilean volcano, which is streaming over Adelaide and Tasmania, continued to disrupt airline services in Australia and New Zealand.

Beef cattle producers in Australia can expect an increase in projected farm cash incomes in 2010-11 as a result of improved seasonal conditions according to a new report released today by ABARES.

Vegetable prices in Australia had now promptly returned to pre-flood levels after short-term price increases in early January and February this year, official industry reports said.

Apple's iPad is one of the fastest-selling devices in history. But just because most people bought iPad doesn't mean you should. There are now many iPad contenders in the market. Here are just five of them:

At the E3 Expo, Nintendo has introduced a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment: Wii U, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen.

An ash cloud from a Chilean volcano has expanded to cover all of Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria overnight.

Parents wanting to take advantage of fortnightly child care rebate (CCR) payments should do so before end of Friday June 17 or miss out for 12 month, advised Queensland’s peak child care body, Childcare Queensland.

While Australian wheat is highly regarded in Asia, there are buyer concerns about increasing levels of screenings and foreign matter, a new market research supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has revealed.

At the World Wide Developers Conference, Apple announced that iOS5 will have some 200 features but only ten of them were named at the event. The two-hour affair focused mainly on iCloud and OS X 10.7 “Lion”. However, there are other iOS5 updates to look forward to.

Male teenagers mostly from Queensland recently created sex-rating pages called “root rater” Facebook groups. In relation to this, page users were affiliated through universities, geographical location or sexual preference.

The Westpac Group (ASX: WBC) has confirmed it was initiating a token replacement program, as a result of the recent RSA security issue. Customers the world over have been left wondering whether to trust RSA's security tokens since March 2011, when the company admitted it had been hacked and issued a warning.

Ongoing discount interest rate home loans have become the top choice for majority or about 33 percent of new borrowers, according to May 2011 data from Australia’s largest independently owned mortgage broker, Mortgage Choice.

The Reserve Bank of Australia mulls over capping hefty credit card fees amid claims that consumers are being gouged for excessive charges. The central bank has launched a review of credit card surcharging, highlighting concerns that some establishments are using fees as a means of increasing profits, instead of covering the cost of the transaction

Despite widespread speculation that Apple’s iPhone 5 is facing delay, there is still hope that the most anticipated smart phone could make a June/July debut, according to some industry watchers.

Australia’s unemployment rate eased at 4.9 percent in May as some 7,800 were employed raising the total to 11.445 million, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced on Thursday. Nevertheless, the type of jobs created by the economy has been eroded with lesser full-time jobs and more part-time work offered to residents.

An unusually large solar flare exploded from the surface of the sun, putting a tremendous amount of solar material into space, material which is on a collision course with the Earth.

The banking industry is set to review the long-term future of paying by paper as the chequebook's days are numbered while PINs continue win over pens.

The current conditions in the commodity markets may represent an unsustainable bubble which is open to a sudden correction, warns a new report from Standard and Poor’s global rating service.

While many people are controlling their urges to grab a hold of the iPhone 4 thinking the iPhone 5 will be launched in the near future, the actual release of the highly anticipated smart phone remains a whodunit.

Apple iOS 5, the newest Apple operating system, brings a range of changes to the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch ecosystem, including more than 200 new features. Here are seven improvements that would make you want to upgrade:

Better seasonal conditions combined with higher grain and oilseed prices are anticipated to lift cash incomes for grain producing farms in 2010-11, a new report released by ABARES says.

The Federal Government has suspended Australia's live cattle trade to Indonesia effective immediately for up to six months after a nationwide outpouring of rage at the airing of footage showing cattle being brutalised and tortured on ABC’s Four Corners.

Annual wages growth for white collar professionals in Australia is forecast to increase at a rate that exceeds the RBA’s underlying inflationary target range of 2–3 per cent, a new survey suggests.

Ahead of the central bank’s decision, the Australian dollar was over a third of a US cent trading at 107.13 US cents down by 40 US cents from Monday’s 107.53 US cents.

Yesterday’s WWDC conference confirmed the many speculations that there won’t be any Apple iPhone 5 release this summer. More so, the waiting for the latest mobile sensation begins from now again. Until when? No one knows.

Economists heralded that the current condition of home owners being spared from another interest rate increase this month is only for a short time.

The Greens, under the leadership of Adam Bandt, will release today a proposal that would introduce a new profit tax on Australia’s four largest banks.