Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs announced a new line of iPods on Wednesday, including a Nano model that has a touch screen and lacks buttons.  Jordan Robertson and Jessica Mintz of AP report that, like previous versions, the Nano has a built-in FM ...

Supermodel Kate Moss is stepping down from her design position at Topshop after three years with the fashion retailer.  Moss has pulled in a reported $A5.25 million for her best-selling clothing ranges but has decided to end her partnership ...

Young men are now spending more on looking good than women, according to a UK survey.  From across the UK, 3000 18 to 35-year-olds were questioned about their health, fitness and beauty regimes, revealing a narrowing in the gender divide. ...

One in four shopaholics continues to spend, despite having run up a four-figure debt, a survey of British shoppers suggests.  Around 16 per cent of women are defined as being shopaholics after building up hefty debts in the pursuit of fashio...

Intel Corp is making the biggest acquisition in its history with the $A8.54 billion takeover of computer-security software maker McAfee Inc - an expensive example of Intel's commitment to serve an increasing array of internet-connected devices. ...

With the economy only limping along, Americans are once again being choosy at stores, many of them buying only at deep discounts because they can't shake uncertainty about their jobs.  Retailers around the country posted a sales increase of ...

Twitter's 20 billionth message didn't make much sense, but it spoke volumes about the rapid global growth of the microblogging service, writes Tomoko Hosaka of AP.  It came on Sunday (at 0144 AEST) from user "GGGGGGo-Lets-Go" in Japan, where...

Microsoft says its net income surged 48 per cent in the most recent quarter, the latest sign that businesses are again spending money on technology.Strong sales of Windows, particularly to Microsoft's corporate customers, helped boost results in the ...

Beauty product direct marketer Avon has purchased the privately held jewellery company Slipada for at least $US650 million, an Avon spokeman said on Monday.  Silpada is a direct seller of sterling silver jewellery in the US, Canada and the U...

Lego has released its first line of adult jewellery in the form of sterling silver rings adorned with the children's construction block.  The jewellery is part of a trend towards "kidult" play-themed products, according to department store S...

Swatch Group, the world's largest watchmaker, said it has appointed Nayla Hayek to succeed her late father, Nicolas, as chair of the company.  Nicolas Hayek died unexpectedly of heart failure on Monday at his office in Biel, Switzerland. He ...

Nicolas Hayek, chairman and former chief executive of the giant Swiss watch-manufacturing firm Swatch, has died. He was 82.  Swatch Group said Hayek died unexpectedly of heart failure on Monday at his office in Biel, Switzerland. "Nicolas...

Japan's retail sales expanded for the fifth straight month in May, though growth in spending lost momentum as government stimulus measures fade.  Retail sales rose 2.8 per cent from the same month a year earlier, the government said Monday. ...

A price war is heating up in the electronic reader market, as Amazon cut the price of its Kindle e-reader below $200 on Monday just after Barnes & Noble did the same with its competing Nook device.  The rapid-fire moves are fanning flame...

Retail sales in Britain increased in May as shoppers snapped up new televisions for the World Cup, official data shows.  Sales grew by 0.6 per cent last month, but were revised down to a flat reading in April, the Office for National Statist...