IBM has secured a multi-million dollar deal to develop a complete cross-channel retail platform for Australia’s longest-standing department store group, David Jones, which IBM says will allow consumers to buy on their terms, according to their preferences.

LinkedIn reached a global milestone today with 150 million users worldwide now signed up and using the online professional network, including more than two million in Australia – about 10 percent of the population – LinkedIn devotees.

New Zealand IT decision-makers are optimistic, but cautious, about their investment plans this year, and an analyst report just published suggests that businesses will just get on with business as usual and still spend on IT despite the prevailing caution.

An analyst is tipping Lenovo as a future global number one PC vendor.

One of the founders of MYOB has boosted his stake in cloud accounting provider Xero.

Australian ICT infrastructure solutions and services company, UXC Connect, has secured four contracts to the value of $8 million to provide its campsite entertainment solution to thousands of workers located in four remote mining camps across the Pilbara in Western Australia.

Asia Pacific buyers of IT services and products seem to be hesitating on new purchasing commitments as the region appears to have been negatively impacted by the current global economic conditions, according to a new report just published.

Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.

Communications minister Stephen Conroy is expected to announce today that US satellite manufacture Space Systems/Loral has been awarded a contract worth about $600m for two geostationary satellites to deliver NBN services to about three percent of homes beyond the economic reach of wireless or fibre services.

Gold Coast-based IT firm Mercury IT has just finalised a two-year technology transformation of Queensland’s largest regional taxi service.

The technology sector is still the most trusted industry sector in Australia, as revealed in a global survey which found that last year people in countries around the world blamed their governments, more than any other institution, for the financial and political crisis they endured, including in Australia where only one-third of the general population trust the institution of government to do what is right.

Fuji Xerox has won a competitive tender to provide the federal government’s Department of Human Services with dynamic content publishing software and services to be used by Centrelink, Medicare Australia, and Child Support.

A burgeoning market for healthcare peripherals and increasing smartphone processing power will result in the number of patients monitored by mobile networks to rise to three million by 2016, according to a UK market report.

The Axe Group software company’s eClaims software system has been implemented by life insurance company, AIA Australia, and made available, through their portals, to the 2.2 million members of AIA’s client companies, REST and GESB.

Australian-listed enterprise software company, TechnologyOne, continues to win business with Government legal authorities, securing contracts with the Legal Aid Commissions of Western Australia and South Australia to modernise their legal aid grants management systems.

Online group buying has taken off in a big way in the Australian market, with the market now worth nearly nearly half a billion dollars and significant growth predicted over the next 12 months and beyond.

Aussie-owned and operated group buying company, Scoopon, has for the second year running outperformed multinational players LivingSocial and Groupon, to retain overall leadership in the Australian group buying market.

High profile telecoms industry figure, Justin Milne, has resigned from the board of Internet kiosk maker PieNetworks, less than a year after joining the board and being appointed its chairman.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a new Aussie startup incubator will be starting in March.

Primus Telecom has won a contract from energy retailer Australian Power & Gas (ASX: APK) to provide an Australia-wide voice and data network.