BUSINESS

A worse than expected reading on the health of China's manufacturing sector coupled with sluggish US jobs growth are dragging Aussie equities lower at lunch.

QinetiQ North America (QQ) a world leading defense technology and security company providing satellites, drones and software services to the U.S. Special Forces deployed in Afghanistan and Middle East suffers humiliation as intelligence officials confirmed that China was able to steal the U.S. classified documents and pertinent technological information - all this because of QinetiQ's faulty decision-making.

Big numbers don't always translate to greatness, at least in the case of the shipments of tablets by Apple Inc in the first quarter of 2013.

Taiwan did not surprise when it released its data on the economy, showing that GDP slowed in the first quarter on a year-on-year basis.

Often unknown and forgotten unsung heroes have repainted the picture of the world. We can find most unsung heroes in almost every field of human history, including business. Those most unheard heroes have changed it seeking neither applause nor reward, often staying in a shadow, giving room to others.

By Jonathan BarrattAs we mentioned last week when you have a metal that is trading just above its cost of production there is bound to be some form of response.

Developers of CyanogenMod custom ROM finally made Samsung Galaxy S4 compatible with the firmware. CyanogenMod 10.1 features Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, tweaking & customisation and less bloatware found in the stock ROM of Samsung Galaxy S4.

Australian clothing companies allegedly use cheap labor to produce their garments.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has just spiced up the raging smartphone war between Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc., with Blackberry sure to be a potential casualty of war, as the Pentagon announced it is currently working to award separate security approvals to the two companies as part of a wider plan to improve its communications network.

By George Leong, B.Comm.What's all of this fuss about earnings helping to drive up the stock market?The first-quarter earnings season has been OK, but not great.

Who says that Facebook is losing its popularity? While some young people may have stayed away from the world's most popular social media site, Facebook continues to dominate with monthly active users now reaching 1.11 billion.

Despite the delays in its production due to parts shortage and the non-repairability due to its unique body case, HTC One emerged again as the best phone, according to tech experts.

By Greg PeelThe Dow fell 138 points, or 0.9%, while the S&P fell 0.9% to 1582 and the Nasdaq lost 0.9%.

The Aussie market failed to make it three straight days of gains, with a slightly worse than expected Chinese manufacturing report together with profit taking slamming the breaks on the improvements. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) slipped by 0.5 per cent, wiping out close to half of yesterday's gains.

The going public of basketball player Jason Collins about his being gay has reopened the debate on whether a person's sexual orientation is important to his career.

Australia's first ever banknote is scheduled to go on sale and expected to generate some $3.5 million for its current owner.

A federal judge ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive available for girls as young as 15 years old to be purchased without any prescription.

Local shares are slipping for the first time this week despite firmer global markets overnight. A lower than expected reading for China's official manufacturing PMI has kept investors in a selling mood. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down 0.3 per cent or 18 pts to 5,150.6.

HTC must be pleased to hear the positive feedbacks now surrounding the recently launched HTC One smart phone after the unsuccessful HTC Thunderbolt release with owners complaining about poor battery life and performance as well as incompatible update cycle. Though it is not an official statement from HTC, an employee bravely acknowledged the Thunderbolt issue and apologized on the social news and entertainment web site “Reddit.”

Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie seems to suffer several delays after rumours had spread regarding its upcoming debut on Google I/O event. As fans worldwide anticipate its arrival, another version of the Jelly Bean has been detected carrying the assigned number - Android 4.3. Is this the "Ultimate Jelly Bean" of the Android OS?

The famous cosmetic brand manufacturer Johnson & Johnson loses its license in India due to an ordered case by the Food and Drug Administration after 15 batches of baby powder products were found sterilized by an irritant and cancer-causing component.

-Earnings growth unlikely in FY13-Austen quarry has key to price upside-Challenges for clinker production-Hostage to housing improvementBy Eva BrocklehurstQuarry, concrete product and cement producer Adelaide Brighton ((ABC)) used a tour of its Austen quarry, NSW, to let brokers know that the going ...

Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) opened on Tuesday its $2.2 billion diamond mine in Argyle, Kimberley, Western Australia with a tradition ceremony to ward off evil spirits.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 21 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P added 0.3% to 1597 and the Nasdaq jumped 0.

Is BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins being prophetic or simply sourgraping? That question will definitely be on the mind of techies and geeks alike after Mr Heins forecast the tablet will be dead in 2018.

The Australian sharemarket made it two straight days of gains, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rising by 1.2 per cent. US markets hit fresh record highs thanks in part to improved corporate earnings, while the financials led local stocks higher in Australia today.

Hewlett Packard is preparing for a high-end tablet with 10-inches of screen display and running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Moreover, the device seems to have Nvidia Tegra 4 chipset clocked at 1.8GHz and its performance has been discovered via AnTuTu benchmark app.

Airline travelers frequently passing through Australia's Darwin International Airport may expect to experience improved changes as the airport starts next month its planned $75 million expansion upgrade.

While global attention is on the intense rivalry between South Korean tech giant Samsung and California-based Apple, two phone manufacturers are getting more notice from techies for outstanding features of their devices.