GLOBAL TECH WRAP: Galaxy IV tipped for March 14 unveiling

Samsung's Galaxy S IV - successor to its iPhone-slaying S III - will "definitely" be announced on March 14 claims US tech site The Verge. Or at least something will be announced on that day, The Verge, says, siting a source close to the action, and it assume it'll be the S IV. "The leap in cool new features from [Galaxy S III] to the next flagship will be bigger," says sources. Said sources sound suspiciously like members of Samsung's marketing team - but there's no denying this is the handset with the biggest buzz of 2013 so far.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard talked met with Google chief financial officer Patrick Pichette and discussd Google's tax bill - or lack thereof on its estimated $A1 billion in down under revenue. Pichette "agreed tax issues for multinationals need to be addressed through international forums," according to Gillard's Twitterstream.

Afterward, the PM goofed around with Google Glass - the search giant's protype smart specs that display an internet feed on one of their lenses. 

She became one of the first people in Australia to be distracted from a serious tax discusssion by a photo op tech demo trial the new gadget.

ABOVE: Gillard with Google CFO Patrick Pichette, and Google Glass.

The Australian leader was also good enough to tweet a link to Google's official promo clip for Glass. To wit:

Microsoft has begun transitioning 300 million users from Hotmail to Outlook.com. People can take their Hotmail addresses with them, Time reports (or indeed their MSN address or Live.com address, depending on which point in the tangled Microsoft email story they signed on). Time's Harry McCracken notes some features, including Skype video calling and a calendar, are still on the way. He's sticking to Gmail for now.

Meanwhile, Time is sniffy about Scroggled, a site set up by Microsoft to attack Google's alleged lack of search privacy - and at the same time promote its own Bing. Microsoft is not an objective observer, apparently.

Following rumours the next Xbox will refuse to play second-hand games (sparking a minor social media hate-fest) comes a Wall Street Journal story that says Sony's PlayStation 4 will stream games. The Journal sites sources familiar with Sony's new console which, like the new Xbox, is due at an unknown time later this year. Kiwis can start saving for those data cap-busting broadband bills now.

The New York Times has linked a Chinese army unit to cyber attacks on US companies.

Google is planning retail stores in the US, The Wall Street Journal says.

Even without Motorola products, there would be a lot for the company to display in its own retail stores, the Journal reports.

Google's Android division has been developing home-entertainment devices, and in recent years it has worked closely with hardware manufacturers to build Android-powered smartphones and tablets under the Nexus brand that Google has sold through its website.