Vittorio Hernandez

While Oppositions in Australian politics often paint the current government as a bad one in a bid to wrest power, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) assessment said it is not the Whitlam, Rudd or Gillard Labor governments that there there was wasteful spending, but during the term of former Prime Minister John Howard.

Local stocks closed lower today, after Chinese inflation rose more than expected and as concerns about damage from Cyclone Narelle weighed on mining stocks. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) ended the day's session down 11.4pts or 0.2pct to 4733.8pts, a fall of 0.2% over the week, following last week's 1.2pct gain.

This week has been a balanced affair, with shares losing value on Monday and Tuesday only to make up for the losses on Wednesday and Thursday. At lunch, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) is down just 1.5 pts to 4743.7.

Like other New Years, Jan 1, 2013 started with many people including going on a diet in their New Year's Resolutions. Some will fail in their diets while others may succeed in the next 12 months.

Coles and Woolworths are continuing through 2013 their battle for supremacy in the supermarket industry by renewing their milk price war. Both retailers have cut to $1 per litre their milk products.

Huawei has confirmed and made official that their most powerful smartphone yet will be released soon - the Ascend Mate. But Android users and even iOS should watch out as ZTE will have a device of their own to contend Huawei's outrageous mobile device.

Before, smartphones and tablets were two distinct devices which were separated by their size and functionality. Apps for tablets usually do not run in smartphones until developers made them optimised for it. But with the birth of Samsung Galaxy Note, everything changed.

Alcatel is one of the tech companies that offers inexpensive devices but equipped with decent technology and latest software. Recently, Alcatel introduced their new line up of cheap tablets running Android OS platform called One Touch Tab.

Toward the end of 2012, while the rest of the world was talking about the Mayan prophecy that speculated an apocalypse on Dec 21, 2012, the United States was dealing with a major financial and political problem that led to the popularity of the words fiscal cliff.

In the near future, there are chances that diabetics would no longer need injections to receive insulin. The hope of needle-free insulin shots comes from a research by Australian scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne.

Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao denied he has Parkinson's disease. He clarified his medical status in response to a report by Forbes which cited a prominent Filipino doctor's observation that the eight-division world champion's movements are early indicators of the ailment.

Better than expected Chinese data helped propel the share market today, following a flat start to the day's trade. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) closed firmer by 15.1pts or 0.3pct to 4745.2 after hitting an intra-day low of 4723pts.

A proposal for the U.S. Treasury to mint one trillion dollar coins to address the country's debt limit problem appears headed for defeat despite the support for it by Republicans and some sectors.

Following a slight improvement for the local market yesterday, Australian shares are trading in the red for the fourth time in five sessions. Volume is still light on, however has started to pick up modestly over the past few days. All major sharemarkets around the world are trading normally today.

A report by Commonwealth Bank infrastructure analysts titled Sydney Versus the World, released on Thursday, estimated Australia's premier gateway will reach its full capacity by 2025.

A lot of devices have been announced at the ongoing CES 2013 in Las Vegas and one of them is the ZTE Grand S. The said device has made official as well by ZTE and it's the sign that the company is back in the game.

T-Mobile is the last among four major U.S. network carriers to begin official offers of the famous iOS device - the iPhone. The said network has 1.9 million iPhone units running on T-Mobile network and will make its launch later this year. The carrier will begin selling iPhone within the next three to four months.

There is no stopping Samsung on making awesome innovations and development to maneuver amazing hardware engineering to mobile phones. The Samsung Youm, featuring eye-catching flexible screens, has made its debut at the ongoing CES 2013 in Las Vegas.

Justin Bieber bashing Manny Pacquiao loss memes and tweets are now passé. With photos of the Canadian pop star circulating showing the YouTube sensation apparently smoking marijuana, new weed-themed memes and parodies have started to appear on social networking sites.

Prison term and hefty fines await Jonathan Moylan of the green group Frontline Action on Coal if the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) could prove that he violated laws by sending a fake press released that wiped out $314 million from miner Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC).

The bushfires raging across New South Wales has caused about $1 million damage to the state's stock. Although there are no lives lost or homes razed due to the blazes, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said about 10,000 sheep were lost in Yass shire alone.

Local stocks rose today, reversing most of yesterday's losses, despite falls on Wall Street overnight and weaker than expected retail sales data. By close of trade, the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) rose by 17.8pts or 0.4pct to finish at 4730.1.

Local stocks pulled back yesterday with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finishing down 25 points. At the start of trade today the Aussie market gained 15 points and is currently holding on to these early gains even with the weaker than expected read on November retail sales hitting the market.

To celebrate Australian Day on Jan 26, McDonald's in Australia is temporarily changing the name of 13 stores across the country to Macca's, the Aussie nickname of the popular fast-food chain.

Business apps are almost free to download from Google Play and Apple iTunes which helps users for their needs on inventory, transactions, web conferencing, and even traveling using the latest technology on their mobile devices.

Finally, the process has begun for the update of the last generation HTC One X smartphone. The device can now update its firmware version to Android 4.1 Jellybean owned by customers without SIM-free and unlocked handsets.

There are more than 600,000 applications that can be downloaded from Google Play which support most versions of Android, even the old ones. Most applications downloaded fall under the categories Social, Games, Music, Personalisation, and Entertainment.

In 2012, 23andMe, the world's largest private genomics company, conducted DNA tests on 180,000 people to assess over 200 genetic traits and health risks. Since 23andMe brought down the price of a DNA testing kit to $99, the company expects to be deluged by requests for DNA testing in 2013.

Tweets from number one microblogging site Twitter could reach outer space. This was proven by tweet exchanges between American actor William Shatner, who portrayed Captain Kirk in Star Trek, and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.