The Australian, Entrepreneur ONCE, the only way to find a business on the move was to call a directory on a mobile phone. But the arrival on July 11 of Apple iPhone -- it is 3G, has WiFi and is GPS-enabled and integrated with Google Maps -- is about to change the way people use mobile devices and find businesses through map-based online listings. The big difference is that, through Google Maps on an iPhone, users can ...More »

Herald Sun, foodextra Ed Charles dishes up the latest on Melbourne's food and wine McConnell's moves Chef Andrew McConnell this month steps down as executive chef of Circa, the Prince to concentrate on his latest ventures. The imminent launch of his all-day breakfast cafe and wine room, Cumulus Inc on Flinders Lane, and the move of his restaurant Three, One, Two from Drummond St to Gertrude St later this year are his focus, he says. Circa's head chef ...More »

The Australian, Entrepreneur MARKETING fads come and go but YouTube and the internet look as if they are here to stay. YouTube is about rich interesting content rather than rich video production companies that usually make expensive TV ads. And this makes it an ideal medium for the small to medium-sized business, according to Sydney-based Laurel Papworth, a social media consultant and evangelist. "One of the things I like about small business is that they don't do ...More »

The Australian, Entrepreneur AS was first the case with computers and mobile phones, it's difficult to know where in the technology cycle to dive into global positioning systems. GPS has only become popular in Australia in the past two years, with the sales value of GPS devices now overstepping digital music players. There are about 1.5 million GPS devices in Australia. About 600,000 were sold in 2007, and over 1 million will be sold this year, says Adrian ...More »

Herald Sun, Citystyle Home cooks are spoiled for choice when it comes to equipping their kitchens. ED CHARLES looks at the essentials, and the tools we love to use WE'VE come a long way from cooking in a bush oven over an open fire. The question is whether all our progress has been positive, with kitchen fads changing as frequently as hemlines. Glossy food magazines and products endorsed by celebrity chefs drive our desire to clutter our kitchens. Our ...More »

Herald Sun, Citystyle There's a new generation of discerning drinkers, writes ED CHARLES ANDY Roche had never bothered with red wine until last year. The 26-year-old fashion designer had found his niche with white wines, specifically semillons or sauvignon blanc semillons, his favourite being Evans & Tate. But last winter became an odyssey as he discovered the range of flavours of pinot noir and occasionally, the boisterous shiraz grape. "I hadn't really had it before," he says. That was until he ...More »

INTHEBLACK > In the trenches Service is one of those funny things. Some companies care a lot about it and others don't. But as far as the customer is concerned it can make or break a relationship. Nowhere is there a more concentrated microcosm of the good and the bad of customer service than the restaurant. You almost certainly have been exposed to it yourself. And you may have seen it on reality TV in Gordon ...More »

The Australian, Entrepreneur FOOD franchises are the fastest-growing franchises. On the league table of fastest growers, six are taking some sort of health angle on food: Sumo Salad, Big Dad's Pies, Healthy Habits, Noodle Box, Pizza Capers and Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar. Tim Dixon, CEO of consultant Franchise Works, says the high street is so dense with food outlets that new ones need new angles. With long work hours and healthy eating becoming hot topics, they are ...More »

The Australian, Wealth - Gold report THERE are two stories about gold coins, no matter how you look at it. There are the bullion coins linked to the rocketing gold price. Then there is the price of numismatic or collectable coins, which are not directly linked to the gold price but which are outperforming. The underlying fact is that when anything goes wrong in the financial system, investors turn to gold and gold coins. There are other investment ...More »

The Australian, Wealth - Gold report THERE are many ways to buy gold and unless you want some complicated financial instrument the Perth Mint pretty much offers all of them, despite the fact that it owns very little gold itself. "We don't own any gold, or virtually none at all," says Perth Mint treasurer Nigel Moffatt. The reason it doesn't own much gold is that it either borrows at an interest rate of about 15 basis points, holds ...More »