COMPANIES

About 17,000 New Zealand customers of the ANZ Bank joined a class action suit against the lender over excessive bank fees. The legal action was initiated by Fair Play on Fees Group.

Apple Inc. announces on Dec 16 that BEYONCE’ shatters iTunes Store records with 828,773 albums sold in three days

Google Inc., the world's largest Internet search engine, has just acquired the Boston Dynamics Robotics Company. Part of Google's acquisition are several robots made by Boston Dynamics including Big Dog, a four-legged robot dog that can climb hills and Cheetah, a really fast robot that can outrun Usain Bolt, who is believed to be the fastest human today.

Apple Inc. shares may have regained its momentum after climbing to its new 52-week high. Analysts are expecting the company to sustain its strong stock performance given Apple's massive gains from its iPhone and iPad sales across the globe. Analysts at Jefferies have agreed with others in increasing their long-term predictions and price targets for Apple Inc.

Like Australia which has benefitted from the mining boom, Canada is also going heavily into the resources sector, but similar to the situation of the Land Down Under, Canada too is suffering from skilled labour shortage.

Despite being almost a year old, the game-changing HTC One smartphone continues to impress the world of technology, prompting ZDNet's Matthew Miller to name the device the top smartphone of 2013.

Ward's AutoWorld Magazine has just named its 2014 10 Best Automobile Engines including the Audi S5, the BMS 535d and the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel. Ward's 10 Best Engines is an annual list of the ten best automobile engines available in the U.S. automobile market that are available in regular-production vehicles and are on sale in the U.S. no later than the first quarter of the year. Check out the winners below:

Sprint is considering a potential merging bid with rival telecom carrier T-Mobile.

Fashionistas and beauty junkies need to celebrate the holidays too, especially since it is at this time of the year that a lot of people get dolled up and dressed to the nines for the various Christmas parties that they need to attend. There are a lot of new beauty collections that are debuted during the holidays. These would be perfect as gifts to beauty junkies. For fashionistas, there are a myriad of trendy options to choose from.

If men had been enjoying Viagra and other male erection enhancement drugs for almost 20 years, flibanserin, the equivalent of the sex enhancement drug for women, has suffered from another impasse with the regulator, the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Lite might have a 5.68-inch display with a Liquid-crystal display (LCD) screen? Rumours are swirling about the tech industry that Samsung is planning to launch a new gadget with these particular specs. According to ETN News, a Korean site, this new Samsung device is aimed as a low-cost alternative to its other higher priced gadgets.

Apple Inc's iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5S have finally outwit Samsung Galaxy S4 based on global sales in October, according to Counterpoint's report.

Economic forecaster Deloitte is not limited to projecting GNPs and inflation and unemployment rates, but has also forayed into technology predictions.

With Australia rejecting same-sex marriage and India banning consensual gay sex, nobody needs more gay jokes. Thus, a dollar store in Manitoba, Canada, had to pull out a gag gift that claims to cure homosexuality.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) rolled out on Thursday its tap-and-go service for mobile phone that would deliver users a next-generation shopping experience and makes paying for everyday goods and services simpler, making signatures or PINs unnecessary.

Oil and gas giant Chevron is blaming the high labour cost, logistical challenges on its remote sites and delays caused by weather as the main reasons why its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Western Australia is on a second cost blowout.

Apple is rumoured to be keeping its distance from Samsung to reduce its reliance on the Korean tech giant. However, it seems that despite Apple's attempt to steer clear out of its production, Samsung is reported to manufacture the A8 chip of the next generation iPhone 6.

Apple Inc's employees ranked the company No. 35 in Glassdoor's Best Places to Work 2014. Twitter Inc was voted the best place to work in 2014 with a rating of 4.6 compared to Apple's 3.8.

Toyota, allegedly, is using Holden's closure to compel workers to accept poorer work conditions.

The Smarty Ring Bluetooth-enabled wearable gadget for easy smartphone alert checks and incoming call management is finally here! Move over, Samsung Galaxy Gear watch, Pebble Watch and Sony SmartWatch, here comes the latest wearable gadget designed to work in sync with one's smartphone. It is much sleeker, fashionable and easier to wear than the smart watches out there today. It can be worn even if you are dressed casually or dressed to the nines.

Qantas staff will start wearing the controversial uniform modeled by Miranda Kerr starting Thursday, Dec 12.

The last analogue television (TV) transmitter in Australia has officially been switched off at 9 am on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 in Melbourne, Victoria as well as other communities in eastern and central Australia. It has reportedly been used in Australia for 57 years. What this means is that all the free-to-air TV in Australia will now be available only on digital TV. Their analogue TV can still be used if a digital set-top box is used along with it.

Prime Minsiter Tony Abbott is reportedly replacing Holden cars with BMW bomb-free cars

Ninja Blocks, a Sydney start-up company that was founded by Marcus Schappi with co-founders wife Madeleine and Mark Wotton in January 2012, has amazing gadgets called the Ninja Block and the Ninja Sphere, which are essentially "remote controls" for the home. The company has attracted funding of up to $1 million from companies such as Atlassian Software founders Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Despite the extreme popularity of King's Candy Crush Sage, the game was crushed on Monday by Pretty Simple's Criminal Case which was picked by Facebook as the game of 2013.

A commercial from Australian manufacturer Four Seasons Condoms has been banned to air on the small screen for being too sexy. The controversial ad, which shows a young couple testing out condom sizes inside a pharmacy by engaging in various sexual positions, was deemed inappropriate for television.

Microsoft Non-Security Updates will be released on Patch Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 at 1PM Eastern Time. A brief description of the 16 main updates can be found on Microsoft's Support Page, including updates on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and Windows Servers.

Here is good news for all the fans of HBO’s fantasy drama show “Game of Thrones.” Have you ever dreamt of playing as your favorite character from “Games of Thrones” universe? Your dreams will now be manifested into reality. Along with the New Year, comes a chance to play “Game of Thrones” videogame. Telltale Games, a digital publisher and maker of “The Walking Dead” game has announced the release of the video game in 2014.

About 200 employees are about to be jobless as Wilkie Creek Mine announces closure in Queensland