BUSINESS

After the economic repercussions brought by the Fukushima and Miyagi earthquakes, the Japanese economy had its first positive outlook in two years.

Fuel prices in New Zealand increased 4 cents per litre in June due to weakening of the New Zealand dollar and rising prices of commodities. Today, fuel prices rose again by another 3 cents along with the scheduled annual rise of petrol tax.

Intel's chief technology officer Justin Rattner has stepped down from his post because of his age. The company forbids any employer to be beyond 65 working still. Rattner will be on extended leave. Intel did not provide details about his return and to what his return will account for.

Nokia has raised up its stake at the mobile broadband industry as it purchased the remaining stake of Siemens in their joint partnership for 1.7 billion euros.

Due to consumers' perception that the Galaxy S4 is not much different from previous smartphones released by the South Korean tech giant, Samsung sales are on a downward trend.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 65 points or 0.4% while the S&P gained 0.5% to 1614 and the Nasdaq added 0.

Sellers returned from the weekend a little bolder. The result was that the market was in steady decline for much of the day. The main catalyst for the selling was the weaker manufacturing data out of China. This data point served to remind investors of the weight of economic news which will be released both locally and elsewhere over coming days, culminating with the US Jobs report on Friday evening local time. Investors will continue to calibrate their expectations of the Fed's retreat from ...

Google (GOOG) decided to turn off their Google Reader for good. The product previously helped people go through feeds from multiple sites in a snap. Reader compiles RSS feeds and delivers them according to the preferences of the users. Apparently, Google thought their Reader “was not good enough” and decided to kill the application once and for all.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 gets a $100 off from eBay with free shipment. The device cost $299.99 only with manufacturer's refurbished model and 16GB internal storage.

Several Myanmar nationals, particularly the religious and its supporters, express their criticism regarding their country's national mobile phone deal with a Qatar-based firm.

Saudi Arabia, determined to control the possible spread of the fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) to the other global nations, has imposed a 15-day limit observance of the Umrah pilgrimage.

A new report indicates that Samsung is working on IPS LCD screen panel besides the traditional OLED display for the upcoming Galaxy Note 3. The Korean tech giant is being linked to two Japanese companies to implement new display panels for the phablet device and one of them is Sharp.

Imagine a kid driving a Corvette around neighborhood – it will definitely make heads turn. The 2014 Corvette Replica can make any kid the envy of the entire neighborhood and all for a friendly price of $275.

Investors seem to be kicking off the financial year with a sour taste in their mouths. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down by 1.6 per cent at lunch. The banks are the biggest culprits when it comes to the losses, with the big four down by as much as 2.9 per cent.

Off The Forex Desk from PhillipCapitalEconomic News & ReleasesUS markets closed the Financial year on a negative tone with the Dow falling 115 points or 0.

'U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) higher for a second day, as China's cash crunch eased and slower-than-forecast economic growth fueled speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain stimulus.' - Bloomberg News

How quickly it all turns from gloom and doom to rainbows and bunny-rabbits. Well it's not quite that rosy, but the last couple of days have been a little more positive in markets. That makes us happy, and if you're a politician, you'll likely attribute it to something you think you've done well.

Speaking at a financial forum in Shanghai, head of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan said investors can no longer depend on cheap cash to fund riskier operations, cautioning that the central bank will conduct pre-emptive adjustments to liquidity in the banking system to keep financial markets stable.

The mobile industry has never been dull. Almost every other day, companies will come out with nw announcements and products. So far, Sony Mobile is putting out two highly anticipated phones on the market: the Sony Xperia Z Ultra and the highly speculated Sony i1 Honami camera-phone.

The yellow metal continued its downward trend after the spot price of bullion hit a three-year low over the weekend to $1,180 an ounce. Since January 2013, gold price has retreated 29.5 per cent while the FTSE Gold Mines index of gold equities has declined 52 per cent.

A few years can make a different especially in computers. Intel’s latest line of Haswell processors changed the way laptops and similar devices work. These processors made it possible to work with lighter and thinner computing devices – they can also last for more than half the day. Heralding a new era of technology, ultrabooks are now the standard for computers. Tech giants like Samsung and Asus are boosting their line to satisfy this increasing demand.

Microsoft announced the previous version for Windows 8.1 is now available. As the name implies, the Windows 8.1 is the upgraded version of the Windows 8 system. The company made a number of interface changes and upgraded applications to maximize user experience and generate more appreciation.

The Australian dollar may be losing its momentum as three major banks in Australia have lowered their forecasts due to the phasing out stimulus of the US Federal Reserve and China's commodity prices.

The upcoming Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS has been spotted running the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition and also works on one of the two variants of the flagship phone - the Snapdragon-powered version.

Happy End of Financial Year! It was a fairly uninspiring session on the Australian share market today, but over the course of Financial Year 2013 the market rose 15 per cent.

Intel is not just working on new chips to surprise both the computer and mobile phone industry – it is also investing on research for road safety. Recently, researchers from Intel are now focusing their attention on how drivers think. The company aims to gain more understanding on how drivers behave on the road and what can make roads safer.

LG admits interest with the next-generation Nexus 5, and it is now rumoured to have a Nikon camera lens, Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie and October 2013 release date.

Acer India has unleashed a series of Windows 8 devices all boasting of touch-enabled features. These devices have a slim design and offer dual functionalities for excellent computing experience. The launch of these tablet and touch plus notebook computers herald a new era of computing devices and experience.

Massive defence spending in the Asia-Pacific region is driving an "explosion" in the global arms trade, and Asian military budgets are likely to eclipse the United States' by 2021, a study by respected analysts IHS Jane's showed on Tuesday.