COMPANIES

ExxonMobil Corp., the world's largest integrated oil and gas firm, would have to shell out $134 million to clean up the oil spill in Yellowstone River, Montana last July.

The leading US product critic, Consumer Reports takes a better look on iPhone 4S and found out that it's still not as good as its Android competitions.

HP's popular defunct TouchPad tablet is returning but only for developers with a coupon for the tablet.Hewlett Packard is selling the TouchPad to developers with the coupon for the 32Gb TouchPad. In the site, HP thanked developers for their interest in the TouchPad but announced that they have more coupon requests than they have devices.

Apple may have won a temporary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab but don't expect retailers or determined buyers to take the ban lying down. Australian electronics retail websites like MobiCity and Dmavo are still selling the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 despite the injunction and Apple's threats to sue.

Barnes and Noble has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into Microsoft's patent licensing agreements with electronic devices running on Google's Android OS as anti-competitive.

Apple has updated its Apple Store mobile app with a new feature that turns your iPhone into a wallet. EasyPay, built into the latest version of the Apple Store mobile app allows users to use their phones to buy Apple products and items from select partners without interacting with Apple employees in the retail store

Nintendo intelligently managed to secure their sales for the holiday season with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii.

More options are now available for Aussie air travelers with the entry of China Southern Airlines into Australian skies. The air carrier made its maiden flight which arrived Wednesday morning in Perth.

The popular online game Angry Birds will be one of the drivers of the projected 18 per cent compound annual growth rate of the digital games market in the Asia-Pacific region.

The various and extensive use of permanent magnets in electronic gadgets, radars, hybrid cars, energy efficient solar panels and wind turbines will continuously push the demand and price for rare earths in 2012.

Despite the hurried city life, a new study released on Wednesday said that urban Aussies prefer freshly brewed coffee while their rural counterparts favour instant coffee.

A California doctor has developed a laser procedure that turns brown eyes to blue that an eye specialist warns may be risky.

An online consumer electronics retailer continues to sell the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1in Australia despite a court ban on its sale in the country and is now facing a lawsuit threat from Apple Inc.

Tourism New Zealand expects to increase revenue by ten times with low-cost airline Jetstar. The airline has agreed to partner with the NZ government for a three-year campaign deal, in which Tourism NZ and the airline will each spend $1.5 million for traditional and online campaigns that will draw foreign visitors to the country.

The chair of the ongoing media inquiry proposed on Tuesday a new industry levy to strengthen the Press Council, Australia's newspaper watchdog.

An escort agency selling the virginity of a 19-year-old Chinese student of Sydney University has outraged the Australian Family Association (AFA) and the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL).

The first airplanes in U.S. commercial aviation to use biofuels took off this week from Houston. United Airlines Continental flight 1403 flew from Houston to Chicago powered by the first 100 percent algae-derived jet fuel. Alaska Airlines will also fly two flights from Seattle to Washington and Portland powered by a blend of biofuel made from cooking oil on Wednesday.

Developers have ported Apple's virtual assistant to other iPhone versions namely the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS and even on the iPod touch.

With the tough competition of tablet computers in the market, Panasonic brought again its Tough technology and launched the Toughpad that could out battle even the toughest environment in mobile computing.

Google's Ice Cream Sandwich is the latest update to its Android OS and many Android owners are already wondering when their own phones will get the update.HTC answered this question by announcing on Monday in their Facebook page that they are releasing eight devices in 2012 with the Android Ice Cream already installed. HTC listed the following phones including the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, as well as the HTC Rezound, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G and HTC Amaze...

A battle is brewing between wine producers and proponents of a coal seam gas project in Hunter Valley as the vineyard owners seek to stop AGL Energy from exploring and putting in gas wells through the area's vineyards.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the first airliner made mainly from carbon composite materials, suffered its first trouble on Monday when one used by a Japanese airline failed to release its landing gear and the pilot had to manually deploy it.

Mindoro Resources (ASX: MDO) announced on Tuesday three new high-grade gold intercepts from two further drill holes at its mine in Batangas province in the Philippines. The gold intercepts are part of the infill and extension drilling of the Southwest Breccia (SWB) epithermal gold shoot at the town of Lobo.

The marketing war between Apple and Google over a larger share of the smartphone and tablet computer pie has give rise to a new culture in the workplace. Independent technology analyst Ovum calls it the "Bring your own device" (BYOD) phenomenon.

As the Australian Senate votes on the carbon price on Tuesday, the Labor government said it will stick to its proposed $23 per tonne price.

The third quarter was another bad period for Australia's retail industry, except for online sellers, as supermarkets and department stores recorded declining sales.

Nintendo intends to launch its next generation console the Wii U next year on April 2012.

The specs for Barnes and Noble's new tablets was leaked a week ahead of its official announcement and it looks like it's aimed as a direct competitor to Amazon's Kindle Fire.

The destructive floods in Bangkok and Thailand's northern provinces have disrupted global supply chains as major production hubs for electronic supplies and automotive parts are now submerged.