Jordan Kahn

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Apple began mass production of the iPad mini with a launch expected within weeks. Today, a new report from WSJ said Apple’s supply chain has received enough orders to produce over 10 million units for the fourth quarter alone. The report confirmed, with Asian part suppliers, that production on the 7.85-inch iPad has started, and adding the 10 million-unit figure nearly doubles the orders placed by Amazon for its Kindle Fire tablets during the same quarter:

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Updated with Foxconn denial at the bottom..

With delays and retail shortages reported by retailers and carriers worldwide for the launch of the iPhone 5, reports from today claim that pressure on Foxconn employees in Apple’s assembly factories has lead to a strike among thousands of workers. China Labor Watch (via Gizmodo) reported today that 3,000 to 4,000 workers at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant went on strike earlier today due to overtime demands and lack of training. According to the report, Foxconn has “raised overly strict demands on product quality without providing worker training for the corresponding skills.” This had led to fights between supervisors and workers, and ultimately the strike:

This led to workers turning out products that did not meet standards and ultimately put a tremendous amount of pressure on workers. Additionally, quality control inspectors fell into to conflicts with workers and were beat up multiple times by workers. Factory management turned a deaf ear to complaints about these conflicts and took no corrective measures. The result of both of these circumstances was a widespread work stoppage on the factory floor among workers and inspectors… The majority of workers who participated in this strike were workers from the OQC (onsite quality control) line.

The quality control concerns were apparently related to issues users have reported with scratching on the exterior of the iPhone 5:
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Following reports that Apple would utilize its large retail staff to report issues with the new controversial Maps app, and a promise from CEO Tim Cook that Maps would get better the more it’s used, Apple is quickly responding to corrections submitted by users. We received several tips from iOS 6 users that have noticed Apple fixing problems promptly after reporting them.

One user in New Zealand north of Auckland noticed Apple fixed a problem with a highway exit, as highlighted in the image above. We also received tips from users in Uckfield, United Kingdom that Apple has now corrected the location of the town. This indicates Apple is moving quickly to fix shortcomings of the app even smaller markets.

More evidence that Apple is quickly on top of responding to correction submissions comes from MacRumors. According to the report, Apple has been adding new 3D content, including standard maps and satellite/aerial imagery, for New York, Honolulu, Hawaii, and areas of Los Angeles:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjo7zwrGA8w&feature=youtu.be]

Updates:

Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin: Released today on iOS for iPhone and iPad, Microsoft’s “Tentacles: Enter the Dolphin” was previously only available as a Windows Phone marketplace exclusive. Microsoft made its entrance into iOS gaming with the Kinectimals app released late last year, but that title wasn’t exactly aimed at the hardcore gamers. Microsoft describes the Press Play developed title as an “action packed, top-down platformer with fascinating 3D-animated Vein, Intestine and Brain levels.”

Where’s My Perry?: Disney’s physics-based puzzlers from the developers of the “Where’s My Water” series received an update today with 20 free new levels, new achievements, and more.

Starbucks UK version 2.4: No Passbook support yet.

• Now easier to sign up and start earning Rewards with our new account creation flow
• iOS6 support
• Accessibility, data optimization, and performance improvements
• Multiple bug fixes

1Password for iPad version 3.7:

* Improved VoiceOver support.
* Added ability to see generated passwords.
* Bug fixes.

Verizon FiOS Mobile version 1.3.9: 

In order to improve your FiOS Mobile Remote experience, we have simplified the Set Top Box pairing. Now all you have to do is sign in using your Verizon Account ID and Password.

iOS Game Sales:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAVgM2M4TZc]

Earlier this year, during CES 2012, Behringer built a 700-pound $30,000 iPhone dock that measured  8ft-by-4ft and pumped over 10,000 Watts of power. The dock, dubbed “iNuke Boom,” was only a one-off build, but the company is launching a smaller version of the world’s largest and loudest iPhone dock today with the launch of iNuke BOOM Junior.

The iNuke Boom Junior is a 1:23 scale replica of the 10,000-Watt version unveiled at CES and includes a similar 3-way active speaker design, built-in subwoofer, and wireless remote. The full specs and pricing for the device are below:

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Apple appears to be rolling out an update to Apple TV users in Germany that brings access to a TV shows section in the main UI. According to tips from readers and local reports from iFun, it is unclear if the new UI is a mistake. Apple could very well be in the midst of rolling out the update to all users. Oddly, reports also claim the Movies icon has been removed from the main section. Meanwhile, TV shows are only available to purchase and not for renting (as was the case with iTunes in Germany previously). It is likely the removal of Movies is temporary.

iFun also said users are reporting iTunes in Germany, as well Switzerland, now list TV shows as purchased content. This indicates Apple might be preparing to roll out iTunes in the cloud for TV shows in the country. Currently, Apple only lists Music, Apps, and Books support for Germany.

In other TV news, Disney signed a multi-year agreement with Cablevision to bring content to Internet, smartphones, tablets, and other handheld devices. With Apple’s close ties to Disney, analysts are speculating these and other recent Disney distribution agreements (Comast) could “play a major role” in Apple’s TV plans:
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Amazon issued a press release today to announce that its Cloud Drive service is rolling out in Italy and Spain after hitting the United Kingdom, France, and Germany earlier this month. An easier way of uploading iPhoto albums for Mac users is also included in the updated Cloud Drive app release. Clicking the Cloud Drive menu bar item will allow you to select “Import from iPhoto,” and now you can select from multiple iPhoto albums sorted by events before uploading to Cloud Drive. Amazon explained:
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We told you in June that the OS X-based Mac tablet, dubbed “Modbook”, would make a return almost five years after the launch of the original device in 2007. The company recently revealed the new Modbook Pro will include all SSD storage starting at 64GB, but preorders for the 13.3-inch Mac tablet officially go live today. If you want to get your hands on the device, it is going to cost you $3,499 for the base 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 configuration. Pricing then increases for upgrades to a 2.9 Core i7, up to 16GB of RAM, and up to a 480GB SSD. Since the device utilizes a new MacBook Pro for most of its internals, we were not expecting tablet-competitive pricing. The company will take preorders exclusively through its online store, and it is offering custom configurations and the option to preinstall Windows 7:

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Following Apple’s purchase of fingerprint sensor manufacturer AuthenTec for roughly $350 million in July, reports from The Australian today (via ZDnet) claim it is now working with a similar company, Sydney-based Microlatch. According to the report, one of the company’s backers, David Murray, said Microlatch has a deal with Apple to develop fingerprint technology for NFC apps:

APPLE has struck an agreement with an Australian biosecurity start-up in another sign the company is readying its iPhone line for the mobile payment era…Mr Murray said the company had an agreement with the notoriously secretive Apple to develop fingerprint technology for use in near-field communications applications…

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On top of a few apps getting updated today with Passbook support, below is our usual list of new apps, updates, and price drops hitting the App Stores today:

Updates:

Adobe Lightroom 4.2: For those who use Adobe Lightroom 4, Adobe has a big bugfix…Lightroom 4.2 is now available as a final release on Adobe.com and through the software update in Lightroom 4. The goal of this release is to provide additional camera raw support, lens profile support and address bugs that were introduced in previous releases of Lightroom. A long list of additional camera support includes Canon’s EOS 650-D/Rebel T4i, the Canon EOS M, and many others. Camera Raw 7 and DNG Converter 7.2 are also now available through Photoshop CS6.

Amazon has Lightroom 4 for $119.

Square Wallet version 2.3.2: Square is changing the name of its “Pay with Square” app to “Square Wallet” today with version 2.3.2. The updated app also includes an updated Wallet UI that allows you to see more cards in a single screen. Square announced on its blog today it is also launching Square directory:

the first web-based search engine that enables customers to discover their favorite places by location or specific items; as well as find loyalty deals and specials.

Things for iPad version 2.1: Things for iPad gets a nice update that brings Reminders integration and iOS 6 support. The iPhone app is also updated today with the same features and iPhone 5 support:

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Following several reports that third-party manufacturers would have trouble creating accessories and cables for Apple’s new Lightning connectors, iLounge reported today that Apple is making major changes to its ‘Made For iPad/iPhone/iPod (MFi)’ policies. According to the report, Apple will have to approve manufacturing facilities creating Lightning products—something that sources indicated will not happen until November:

One source notes that Apple is planning an MFi “seminar,” where it will discuss changes to the program and the rules for Lightning accessory development going forward. The seminar will be held in November in China, notes the source, after the point at which third-party Lightning accessories could be manufactured in time for holiday sale. Sources have further noted that the Lightning connector has proved difficult to copy, reducing the near-term likelihood of unauthorized third-party connector cables.

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In the wake of Apple’s Maps controversy, CEO Tim Cook noted in an apology to customers that the company is “doing everything we can to make Maps better.” Today, reports from both ifoAppleStore and MacRumors claim Apple is testing a new program that will see retail employees test the maps and submit corrections to Apple on company time:

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Together, with HealthyStuff.org, our friends at iFixit have just completed a chemical analysis of 36 smartphones, including the iPhone 5 and previous generations of the device. Each device was ranked from 0 to 5 (with 0 being best) based on a number of common hazardous materials including lead, bromine, and mercury. In the image above, we see a breakdown on which components of the iPhone 5 have the highest concentration of those chemicals. The findings show Apple is making good in its commitment to greatly reduce harmful chemicals in its products, with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 ranking significantly better than previous generations. For instance, the iPhone 2G lands itself at the bottom of the list with a “high concern”—not far from Nokia’s N95.

The iPhone 4S was able to outrank the iPhone 5; indicating Apple was not able to significantly reduce hazardous chemicals in the new device. However, all iPhone models were behind the Motorola Citrus—a device Motorola specifically markets as an eco-friendly option. While iPhone 4S came in second behind Citrus, the inexpensive LG Remarq and Samsung Captivate were able to beat out the iPhone 5. When it comes to Apples’ biggest competitors, such as Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S III and higher-end devices from HTC, the iPhone 4/4S/5 all outrank the competition.

As noted by iFixit, each year only about 8 percent of the 130 million discarded cellphones make it to proper recycling facilities. With Apple likely to build a 100 million new iPhones in the year to come, Apple’s commitment to make the “most environmentally responsible products in our industry” is certainly an important one.

iFixit explained the method used to rank the phones:

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Update: Earlier this week we shared the full hour-long Steve Jobs speech from the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen. At the time, we mentioned John Celuch of Inland Design, who provided the recording to LifeLibertyTech, actually met Jobs at the conference. John apparently approached Jobs at the conference in order to obtain an item to place in a time capsule. Today, LifeLibertyTech posted the full story, revealing Jobs gave John the mouse from the Apple Lisa he was using to control a 6 projector setup during the conference. The time capsule is still unrecovered (and possibly lost), but there is an effort to find it underway.

We posted a link to a rare audio recording in August of Steve Jobs speaking at the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen. A roughly 20-minute audio recording of Jobs’ speech was available from the Center for Design Innovation’s website. In the recording, Jobs predicted the explosion of the personal computer market, the need for better product designers, and the MIT project that would eventually contribute to Google’s StreetView. While we did not realize at the time, it turns out the audio recording is closer to an hour in length and includes a Q&A discussion following Jobs’ 20-minute prepared speech.

It turns out attendees were given cassette recordings from the conference. LifeLibertyTech.com got its hands on the full audio recording and shared it with 9to5Mac. The image above is courtesy of Arthur Boden, who also attended the conference, and it appears to be the only floating around of Steve Jobs speaking at the conference in 1983. During the previously unheard Q&A, when asked about voice recognition, Jobs talked about the difficulties of the technology, saying, “This stuff is hard.” He noted it is likely close to a decade away from reality. He also talks about wanting to get a computer like Lisa, which cost close to $10,000 at the time, into a book design for under $1,000 within 5 years to 7 years.

Other topics include: home networking, which Jobs correctly predicts was about 10 years away, Jobs’ vision of future pocket-size computers, and typefaces and graphic design.

Unfortunately, many of the questions are hard to make out, but you can mostly tell from Jobs’ answers what the topic of conversation is. The man who provided the audio recording to LifeLibertyTech, John Celuch of Inland Design, apparently met Jobs at the conference:

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