BUSINESS

The local share market pulled back today following three consecutive sessions of gains, as investors elected to be cautious despite gains on Wall Street overnight. Weakness in mining stocks dragged on sentiment, as index leader BHP Billiton (BHP) fell close to the $30 per share level for the first time in more than three years. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished down 18.9pts or 0.5pct to 4156.4, after hitting an intra-day low of 4154pts.

The latest Android version from Google which is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean was first revealed during the Google I/O conference. This new Android version is said to be a "step up" from Android ICS and would bring about new and improved features.

A new report done by World Bank and infoDev revealed that 75 per cent of the world's population are using mobile phones and have mobile access. This means that mobile communications is now entering a new and bigger level.

Dell is unfazed by projections that the global PC market will continue to shrink as consumers jump over to smartphones and tablet computers, according to company founder and chief executive Michael Dell.

Google has just unveiled the latest Android version which is Android 4.1 Jelly Bean which would bring about new and improved features. Aside from improved features, Googel also assures users that the Android Jelly Bean is the most secure version of Android they ever released.

Microsoft has just released the beta version of MS Office 2013 and the new version has incorporated new features which makes it using it as a "brand new experience". The new features for MS Office 15 goes hand-in-hand with the newest OS from Microsoft which is Windows 8.

Shell is about to begin exploratory operations in its first offshore drilling in the Arctic in two decades. The oil company, which has drawn a lot of flak for its drilling pursuits, has been spoofed by Greenpeace. But Shell has decided against taking a legal action against the environmentalist group.

Yahoo recently appointed Marissa Mayer, a former key employee of Google, as its new Chief Executive. This appointment for Marissa Mayer would be a big challenge for Mayer-both professionally and personally.

Qantas Airways is set to become an Apple world, in large part, as the national carrier disclosed plans to replace the mobile handsets that were being used by company employees with iPhones, which emerged as the preferred smartphone in a recent Qantas internal survey.

A new study by global firm Right Management found that soldiers were the most engaged among Australian employees. The soldiers were followed by insurance workers and accountants.

McDonald's announced on Wednesday that it will hire more than 3,000 young people throughout Australia until the yearend. The 3,000 will be added to the 90,000 people on the fast food chain's payroll, mostly performing crew tasks such as cooking burgers, taking orders, serving the meals and cleaning the stores.

By Andrew NelsonWith little to no growth on offer in the developed world, and with volatile markets jumping from risk-on to risk-off faster than rats up a drain pipe, the global economy is facing down an increasingly ugly scenario that is upsetting and confusing investors the world over.

The issuance of an order by the Victoria Supreme Court for striking Coles warehouse workers has failed to end the deadlock in Somerton. The picket and blockade continues and entered its 10th day on Wednesday with Coles trucks still unable to enter or leave the compound.

By Greg PeelThe Dow closed up 78 points or 0.6% while the S&P gained 0.7% to 1363 and the Nasdaq added 0.

By Chris Tedder, Research Analyst FOREX.comPrice action was fairly muted during the session as investors attempted to read between the lines of Bernanke's cryptic testimony to congress.

A Chinese executive with holdings in Australia's mining industry advised on Monday Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Perth business leaders for Australia to prepare a back-up plan in case the mining boom ends.

People who are always experiencing a "no reception" problem when riding the Sydney train could now rejoice as network companies are now providing full high-speed 3G mobile broadband reception.

The beta version of the newest MS Office which is MS Office 15 has been released today. In this new version, additional and more improved features has been incorporated in order to make MS Office updated with today's growing market.

Major economic indicators showed that the country's current cash rate of 3.5 percent will hold in the aftermath of the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) board meet next month.

Billabong, a popular Australian clothing retailer, was a recent victim of online hacking wherein 35,000 of Billabong username and passwords were exposed online. Despite the hacking being exposed last week, the hacked usernames and passwords are still visibile online.

Online job trends now favor what the technology landscape dictates, according to the latest Freelancer.com data collating some 190,000 jobs posted on its site creating some 2.3 million projects in the first six months of 2012.

Airline passengers flying via Virgin Australia have been assured they will continue to enjoy the extra legroom seats in the front row of the economy section on its Boeing 737-800 aircraft at no extra cost.

They're selling like hotcakes, media reports said, as U.S. retailers, both online and physical stores, reported running out of stocks for the newly-shipped Google Nexus 7, indicating a rousing reception for the mini-tablet.

Skype, the popular online calling service recently identified a "message privacy bug" in their system thus causing Skype users to raise privacy and security issues with its services.

Microsoft will soon retail its in-house tablet computer Surface and the company is making sure that the brick will be supported by its internal product lines, foremost of which is the hugely successful Microsoft Office productivity suit.

Yahoo is betting its fortunes on the proven talent of a former Google executive, Marissa Mayer, who for more than a decade has steered the internet giant's search division into the most successful web-based business in the world.

Microsoft Office is finally getting a much needed upgrade with its newest version which is MS Office 15.

Yesterday the Australian share market improved for the second consecutive trading session and the market started off well this morning. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) opened 20 points higher, helped by gains in banking and insurance stocks. The mining sector was a little mixed ahead of major quarterly production numbers over the next 2 days and transport stocks also lower.

The stifling effect of Europe's sovereign debt crisis and weakness in developing nations led the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to downgrade its global growth forecasts on Monday to 3.5 per cent for 2012 and 3.9 per cent for 2013.