COMPANIES

HTC recently announced the upcoming release of the HTC J Butterfly, with the first stop in Japan and then to the entire global market. Sony will also release a version of another Xperia in Japan and then to rest of the world. While both are still coming soon to retail outlets, these upcoming devices are already set to face off each other.

ASUS surprised techies by launching the successor of the Padfone, only this time much bigger and better in many ways. And this bigger and better unit has powerful technologies inside it, from the processor and memory to camera and resolution shots. The new challenger in the Android smartphone war meets up with another powerful device, the LG Optimus G.

The world is over the billion mark, that is the number of smartphones in circulation as of the September 2012 quarter, creating an impression that we are more digitally connected than in the previous decades, a new report said.

What we’ll have is a ‘shooting war’ between Asus and Sony if we are to compare head-on the upcoming PadFone 2 and the Xperia Acro S.

So the media invites are out, which confirmed earlier reports that Apple will host an event set for Oct 23, most likely to enthrall the world again of new products to be pushed in time for the 2012 holiday rush.

It took Chinese PC manufacturer Lenovo almost six months to transform the IdeaTab S2110 to go from CES reveal to retail outlets. During that time, ASUS managed to announce and ship a new hybrid tablet of its own, the Transformer Pad TF300 , which is a keyboard optional rival offering the same 10-inch, Android 4.0 experience with quad-core Tegra 3.

To take full advantage of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system which integrates touchscreen functionality, some PC manufacturers are offering new touch-enabled devices that are designed to run it.

Japanese carmaker Nissan is gunning to roll out safer cars and its basic concept: less human intervention as possible, more safety vehicle functions and features.

Samsung had introduced the phablet concept, having a smartphone and a tablet in one gadget, but Asus thought splitting the two but allowing them to dock and work in unison is a lot better. Thus, the birth of Asus PadFone 2.

Global quality furniture retailer IKEA said on Tuesday that it will expand its store in Australia to 11 with the addition of two locations in Melbourne and Sydney. At the same time, the premier retailer announced deep discounts of up to 50 per cent covering 900 items to remain competitive.

To indicate their dislike of telemarketers, 5.4 million Australian households have since signed up with the national Do Not Call Register. The list just breached the 5 million mark since the registry was started in 2007.

Security experts have always warned that risks constantly hound an online lifestyle and mobile computing is not spared from the ever-present threats that come with the expanding ecosystems.

A bit of data from Google Picasa Album revealed the latest LG Nexus 4 device coded as E960 by the company. This is the remodelled version of the LG Optimus G device.

After HTC announced on Monday a new dual-SIM smartphone called HTC Desire SV (aka Magni) which is a low budget gadget, Samsung leaked the next day a new affordable smartphone which also has dual-SIM functionality. The device is dubbed as Star Deluxe Duos S5292 and reportedly scheduled for launching in December 2011 in emerging markets.

Next week is a busy week for the tech world. Windows 8 is coming out and shortly after, devices on the new Microsoft platform will roll out while Apple is reportedly pulling down the cloak on its new gizmo – the iPad Mini.

Windows 8 launches in a few days but doubts remain if the multi-platform operating system, touted by Microsoft as the biggest revamp ever of its core product, will indeed carve a noticeable spot in the computing world increasingly dominated by Apple and Android gadgets.

In spite of an online sales campaign patterned after the successful Click Monday in the U.S., a survey released on Monday said that it will still be a bleak Christmas season for Australia's retail sector.

Zune is dead, Microsoft declared on Monday, and in its stead, the software giant will offer the Xbox Music, which owners of the hardcore gaming console will start enjoying Tuesday this week.

HTC will be coming up with the latest smartphone called as HTC Desire SV aka Magni, which supports dual-SIM function. This device is a mid-range device and has the model detail as T326e.

The HTC Sensation XL is a larger version of the HTC Sensation XE, which by itself is an upgrade to the original HTC Sensation. HTC Sensation XL is branded as one of the costliest Android smartphones in the world. On the other hand, the LG Optimus EX is one of the powerful devices from LG which packs a dual core processor in it as well.

Some of Australian retailers will reduce their online prices for 24 hours on Nov 20 in a sales promotion called Click Frenzy. The promo is patterned after the U.S.'s Cyber Monday shopping holiday.

ANZ Bank joined the rest of the big four on Friday by announcing a 20 basis points rate cut for its standard variable rates. With the decision, ANZ pockets 5 basis points out of the 25 basis points cut made by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week.

Google's partnership with Samsung for a tablet computer is expected to yield some cutting-edge component tech, one of which is the pixel-packing display.

Mobile phone users thinking of getting the newly announced Galaxy S III mini because it has 8GBs of RAM may need to look again. The official specifications on the Samsung Web site lists the model as having 8Gb of RAM, which could misleading because that actually stands for gigabits, and not gigabytes. Eight gigabits is equivalent to 1 gigabyte, or 1GB.

Apple has become so arrogant that it deliberately ignores glaring consumer preferences, according to the tech giant’s co-founder Steve Wozniak.

The Australia Post reported on Thursday that it registered an overall yearly net profit of A$281 million or a 17 per cent rise compared to a year ago. The significant increase in its income, while its counterparts in the U.S., UK and Canada are suffering due to technology, is mainly due to Australians' growing love for online shopping.

First Australia then the United States, now China’s Huawei Technologies must contend anew with fresh regulatory hurdle that likely would come from another key market – Canada.

In less than four weeks, Microsoft is set to launch Window 8, which would likely result in the web being flooded with prices of new PCs suited to the latest OS.

As Microsoft moves from Windows 7 to 8, the tech giant is faced with the huge task of teaching people how to use the new operating system, CNET reports. Leaked training videos give a peek of how Microsoft intends to accomplish that huge task.