BUSINESS

In the business world, social media is emerging as the great equalizer, especially for small businesses who are flocking to it like . . . well . . . social butterflies.

On the 7th of February, the government of India informed that economic growth would slow down to 5 percent in the fiscal year ending March.

While the big four in Australia in 2012 defied the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) policy decision on overnight cash rate by pocketing some of the rate cuts instead of passing it fully to borrows, the banks appear to have a different approach for 2013.

The Australian sharemarket is improving for the third consecutive session, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) up 0.2 per cent or 11.6 pts to 4967.4, despite a slow start to this morning. Over the past five trading sessions, the XAO has edged higher by almost 0.5 per cent. If the market can maintain its gains for the duration of the session and economic news out of China doesn't disappoint this afternoon, this will make it four consecutive weeks of improvement.

New image renders of the fifth generation iPad suggest Apple is trimming down on the overall size and heft of the upcoming slate without touching its original screen size of 9.7 inches.

Imagine navigating through your smartphone without even touching it? Samsung would love to see such feature via the upcoming Galaxy S4 and the South Korean company is not thinking about a Siri-like addition to its next flagship mobile device.

LG’s Optimus G will soon hit Australian shores but the South Korean is prepping another gorgeous handset that for sure Aussies wouldn’t mind tinkering with – the 5.5-inch LG Optimus G Pro.

Samsung is already used to rumours spreading about every single device it makes, and it cannot be helped if fans, critics, and loyalist keep on looking on every move from the South Korean tech giant.

Motorola is really pushing hard for the updates of its devices that run on Android OS. Since the start of 2013, Motorola has been rolling out updates for Droid RAZR and RAZR Maxx, but still a lot more needs to be done to finish updates for all devices that belong to the RAZR family.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini has easily gained its Jellybean 4.1.2 update, unlike with other devices that were released before it. It is now added to those smartphones list which has received a new update with new features added. Samsung is keeping its word that updates are running on all their devices.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed down 42 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P lost 0.2% to 1509 and the Nasdaq eased back 0.

The local share market consolidated against a mixed picture for International and regional indices on Thursday. Local employment data generated conversation about the RBA's next move on rates whilst corporate news was on tap from a host of corporates including National Australia Bank and Telstra.

War between the US and China - an unpleasant thought, for sure...unless you happen to be a defense contractor. The threat of war could be sufficient to power the US defense industry's profit growth for many years.

Sony is pushing through with the reported Feb 20 preview of the new PlayStation 4 in New York, with a new report indicating that the refreshed gaming console will carry a price tag of just over $US400.

Meet German student Phillip Luepke. Apple credited him as responsible for iTunes’ 25 billion music downloads as of Wednesday this week.

While Gina Rinehart remains Australia's richest person despite the reduction of her wealth by almost $1 billion to $17 billion due mainly to lower commodity prices, the mining magnate appears to be set on recovering her lost fortune.

Standard and Poor’s Blamed For Defrauding Investors

On the 6th of February, ArcelorMittal SA informed that it reported a big loss for the final quarter due to weak Europe's demand for steel and write-downs in the value of its assets. However, the world's largest steelmaker informed that demand for steel would improve in 2013. Also the company's earnings are expected to improve during the year.

The Galaxy Note 2 now comes in pink and will initially release in Taiwan, as advertised by Samsung’s official site in the island nation.

The Australian sharemarket kicked the session off in the red for the third time this week, however is managing to recover at lunch. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is up by 0.1 per cent or 3.9 pts to 4944.4. A number of the largest companies on the local market have issued their profit numbers this morning.

British Petroleum Plc posted a 72 percent slump in the fourth fiscal quarter profits as the company had to pay a heavy fine and restructuring charges regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Also a fall in the production of oil and gas led to weak fourth quarter profits.

Never was working-class Baltimore happier with its lot in life. Neighbors greeted each other with a smile. Co-workers exchanged stories...laughed...and slapped each other on the backs.

Expect no major facelift in the upcoming iPhone 5S following reports that Apple is dialling down its budget allocation for component purchases in Q1 2013.

Want the LG Nexus 4 for roughly $US77? For those able to access T-Mobile’s network the Google handset is up for grabs courtesy of online retailer Let’s Talk, which offers the deal to new and existing subscribers of the U.S. telco.

Australian investors have turned decidedly bullish over the past few months, right along with the improvement in global equity markets.

In today's Daily Reckoning we revisit an old friend: China. That is, we revisit the importance of China to Australia's economic, political, and demographic future. And we'll take a look at China's large influence on Australia's present. And since we're talking Pacific Powers in the Asian Century, Japan will make a cameo appearance.

Android Authority celebrates having 100,000 YouTube subscribers by giving away Google Nexus 4 to its loyal fans. The procedure to get a giveaway is relative easy. It only requires a name and email address in a widget located at the bottom of the promo page.

Samsung’s Galaxy S4 will be introduced a bit earlier, likely on March 15 then the commercial release will follow on the first week of April, according to new reports by Samsung-centric blog site SamMobile.

Dell is taking a tough road this year as it goes private with a $24.4 billion deal. The founder of the computer company, Michael Dell, in partnership with Silver Lake, made a striking deal to take back Dell in the biggest buyback in history since the 2008 global financial crisis.