We haven’t heard from our friends at Foxconn for a little while, so it seems appropriate that we check in at the beginning of this month to see what Apple and company are up to. According to Total Telecom, Apple is prepping to build a new $100 million production plant for iPhones, while renting a temporary production line for 500 Foxconn employees during the factory’s construction.
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Computerworld Speculates: New Foxconn Plant to Produce New iPhones?
Manufacturing Change to White iPhone 4
It’s easy to wonder what the hell is going on with the iPhone 4. You’d think there wouldn’t be much of a difference between the black and white models asides from color, but WhiteiPhone4Now reports that the OEM producing the front frame recently changed their manufacturing process; the frame previously wouldn’t sit flush with the steel band, though that issue is now resolved. Click past the break for a shot of the original damage done.
[via WhiteiPhone4Now]
iOS 4’s Nasty Calendar Bug
I’m looking out for our calendar users this morning suffering from iOS 4 woes. For those dealing with scrambled or blank events in the list view, iTWire quickly details how the problem may be remedied:
Some solutions are showing up. Our calendar is hosted by Google and uses CalDAV to sync to the iPhone. By going into the account settings and deselecting the “Birthdays” calendars the List View is correctly refreshed. So, it would seem that one of the default calendars created by the operating system is to blame.
Neowin suggests that entries older than six months old are also to blame, so you should archive older entries if you can. Though if you’re connected to an Exchange server, there’s not much you can do to fix the issue other than submit your standard Apple feedback report.
Apple Launches 4 New Sections in the App Store
During the weekend Apple introduced 4 new sections in the App Store, both for iPhone and iPad:
When is Apple going to launch a section that collects all the sections they introduced in the App Store, though?
UK Military Implementing iPad in the Classroom?
The iPad is seeing more combat than living rooms The Next Web reports. Young grunts at the Royal School of Artillery are getting key training and are learning faster than ever before via the slick device, thanks to the interaction and presentation of real-world combat situations.
”[…] benefits of iPad use in military training, and any learning experience for that matter, is a decrease in the amount of classroom time required when using the right app for the situation, decreases in costs associated with publishing training materials, and the mobility the iPad offers can transfer learning to any environment.”
Engaging students behind enemy lines, it’s great to see the iPad making waves in education. As colleges begin adopting the device too, I wonder if student performance will see similar increases in the classroom?
[BBC via The Next Web]
Apple Using Own Location Services in 3.2 & Higher
After the purchase of Poly9 and Placebase, you’d think Apple would start implementing their own Map services right? I think you’d be correct. Something’s that flown under the radar is the fact that in April, Apple started dropping the location based services of Skyhook Wireless and Google in order to implement their own. As of iPhone OS 3.2 and now iOS 4, Apple is in complete control of the location services used in the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
[via TechCrunch]
Apple Patenting Mobile App Ideas
This is a scary thought. Apple is interested in patenting mobile applications in three categories: travel, hotel, and fashion. Hip people gotta know where to say and how to look right?
Apple Targeting Crummy Rip-off Marketers
Every time I look for something Apple-ish on eBay, I always encounter dozes of unauthorized accessories sold at a dollar with expensive as hell shipping. Either from Hong Kong or someone unpronouncable name in China, it’s not fun wading through the hundreds if not thousands of illicit items for sale.
Thankfully, Apple is taking on this jackassery via a lawsuit.
Kindle for iPad Gets Dictionary Update, Wikipedia & Google
The Kindle itself may have gotten a $139 update that makes it an affordable competitor to the iPad, though we image you may not have an interest in the new e-reader. iPad converts can find the Kindle app on their device with the same material available as its plastic counterpart, and it’s gotten a nice update that can make your reading experience even more pleasurable.