Year: 2012

How did ABC’s documentary ‘A Trip to the iFactory’ make Apple look?

ABC's 25 minute documentary 'A Trip to the iFactory' just aired on Nightline, where correspondent Bill Weir traveled to Foxconn for the world's first full view of the operation inside. For those unfamiliar, Foxconn is the factory where Apple's and other top brands', products are manufactured.

In recent years, the Shenzhen, China based Foxconn has had a negative vibe in the public's view. People have viewed Foxconn as exploiting workers, hiring people underage, and causing workers to become so depressed they commit suicide.

ABC was granted the first inside look at the factory, showing working and living conditions workers are under to produce our favorite Apple products. But did the way ABC portrayed Foxconn match public perception, or did it bring a whole different view (spoiler alert)?

Confirmed: Apple planning to build large data center in Oregon

In December, we heard Apple was looking to buy 160-acres of land in Prineville, Oregon. The new mass of land was reportedly for hosting servers to power Apple's iCloud, much like the $1 billion data center Apple owns in North Carolina.

Tonight, MacRumors points us to a KTVZ article confirming Apple has purchased the land in order to open up a large new data center...

Twitter updates its iPhone app to bring back much wanted features

Twitter today updated its iPhone app, adding new features and more importantly returning old ones to their former glories.

The release, bringing the version number up to 4.1, adds improvements such as better Direct Message handling and improved image quality, but without doubt the two most important features aren't new at all - Twitter has now returned swipe shortcuts and the ability to copy text to its iPhone app.

Both features were removed in a recent app update, much to the annoyance of the app's users and causing many to jump ship to third-party alternatives such as Tweetbot which recently reached a milestone of its own...

FireCore updates Seas0nPass with firmware stitching

Attention all Apple TV jailbreakers, FireCore has just released a new version of its popular jailbreaking utility known as Seas0nPass. The software is the ATV equivalent of an app like Absinthe.

In the latest update, which brings Seas0nPass to version 0.8.2, FireC0re has added in a new stitching feature which makes downgrading to previous firmware versions possible...

Apple and China Mobile negotiating iPhone deal

Last night, it was announced that the iPhone 4S will be available on China's third-largest carrier, China Telecom, on March 9th. Apple has been aggressively attacking China and has been reaping off its benefits. To benefit iPhone sales even more, Apple is continuing to pursue adding more carriers to support the iPhone in China.

Reuters reports China's largest carrier, China Mobile, has been "aggressively negotiating" a deal with Apple, but some technical hurdles are holding back a launch for now...

Man sues Google for overriding Safari users’ privacy

People went into quite the stir, after WSJ published an article reporting that Google had been overriding Safari's privacy settings to track user's web browsing habits. Google used many forms of trickery to bypass Apple's security settings, on both the desktop and iOS versions of Safari. Many users are questioning Google's tactics.

The whole ordeal is now entering court, as Business Week reports that an Illinois man is suing Google Inc. in a Delaware court...

Use your iPhone for self defense with this pepper spray case

Pepper spray is one of the best tools for self defense when being mugged, or worse, by a criminal. However, it's one of those things that you won't always have on you, especially if you're not a female who carries a purse.

Luckily, Swiss manufacturer Piexon has developed the new Smartguard case for the iPhone 4/4S that combines a can of pepper spray right on an iPhone case, leaving it always at your disposal...

Skype for iOS updated with new interface and bug fixes

Skype is one of the best tools to communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. It allows you to easily send messages and call people for free. Skype's iOS app also makes it even easier to communicate on the go.

Today, the Skype crew has released a welcomed update for their iOS app, that includes a new interface and a slew of bug fixes, in version 3.7:

‘WeeRoll’ makes its way to the Cydia store

[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeIxWz_xZYk[/tube]

WeeRoll, the Notification Center animation tweak that we covered last week, has been released on the Cydia Store.

WeeRoll adds over a dozen Animations to Notification Center, it's like a juiced up version of a similar tweak called Flowtation, and gleans inspiration from Barrel.

It can now be downloaded for $0.99 on the ModMyi repo, and works with jailbroken iOS 5 devices. Let us know if you decide to give it a spin.

Qualcomm unveils new chip that works with both 3G and 4G networks

Opponents of the rumored LTE-flavored iPad have argued that Apple will avoid the 4G technology again this year since it's still not widely available. Why would the company complicate its manufacturing process with multiple 3G/4G models?

But what they don't understand is that chips already exist that work with both LTE and 3G networks. Case in point, Qualcomm unveiled a new all-in-one chip today that could very well be what Apple is using in the upcoming iPad...

Microsoft Office might not come to the iPad anytime soon after all, but maybe it is

Remember this article we published earlier today saying Microsoft Office might be submitted to the App Store for approval soon? Well, scratch that because as it turns out, the Redmond company might not even be working on it after all.

According to the New York Times, a spokeswoman for Microsoft commented on the matter saying "The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment."

‘iTunes in the Cloud’ goes live in Japan, iTunes Match to follow

It's been more than a month since Apple's last iTunes Match roll out, but it looks like the company is getting ready to launch the popular music-mirroring service in Japan.

Macotakara is reporting that Apple has flipped the switch on its 'iTunes in the Cloud' component for Japanese users, allowing them to view and re-download previously purchased music...