Hasta La Gadget!

Apple’s iPhone 5 is “the most difficult device that Foxconn has ever assembled” the Cupertino company’s production partner has admitted, though there are promises of speedier production as workers get the hang of it. Shortages of the latest Apple smartphone have affected the US and international sales, with a roughly 3-4 week shipping estimate for online orders. That should hopefully ease soon, an unnamed Foxconn exec told the WSJ, with productivity apparently “improving day by day.”

“To make it light and thin, the design is very complicated,” the Foxconn exec told the paper. “It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day.”

As well as refining the production technique, Foxconn has also been adding extra quality checks to address complaints about iPhone 5 units arriving already scratched even though they’re box-fresh. A “new quality check procedure” of an unspecified nature has been slotted into the process, though the exec blames one of Apple’s chosen coatings for the newest iPhone for being more prone to gathering scratches.

“It’s always hard to satisfy both aesthetic needs and practical needs” the exec countered.

Apple has been vocal in its comments around how the iPhone 5 breaks new boundaries in design, with Jony Ive and others insisting that no other company has pushed the boundaries of construction to the same extent. That includes using high-resolution cameras to match up the best fit of back panel to chassis.

The next big Apple event we’re expecting is the presumed iPad mini launch next week, though that too has been pegged with production problems. We’ll be liveblogging the whole event at live.slashgear.com from 10AM Pacific on Tuesday, October 23, so join us for all the news!

If one were to take the headline above in a more literal manner, you can say that a high school student had a say in how your iPhone or iPad was assembled, as Foxconn has confessed that they did employ underaged interns – especially those aged between 14 and 16. Foxconn’s statement mentioned, “An internal investigation carried out by our company has confirmed media reports in China that some participants in the short-term student internship program that is administered at our campus in Yantai, Shandong Province are under the legal working age of 16 years. This is not only a violation of China’s labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions.”

Foxconn intends to carry out a full investigation, although we do wonder why not let a third party perform the investigation instead of doing an internal one, as the first option would definitely sound to be far less partial and more biased. It seems as though a lack in monitoring the IDs of the interns and running on assumption were the main causes of this oversight, although something of this oversight should not have happened in the first place, even if it is in China we are talking about. We do hope that things get sorted out as soon as possible though, it is for everyone’s good, and customers of Foxconn-assembled products can also sleep better at night knowing that the product they hold in their hands was ethically put together.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Foxconn denies strike at China plant, Foxconn riot; will the iPhone 5 be affected?,

Just a week after riots broke out at Foxconn over working conditions at the Chinese plant that manufactures Apple’s glorious new iPhone 5, the company is mixed up in another labor imbroglio. This time, it’s over the admitted use of child labor. But sheath thy pichforks because Foxconn’s not entirely to blame. More »

Saturday Night Live has long been a platform where all kinds of people get mocked, but in the end it’s really all fun and games. The show finally offered its satirical take on the world of tech blogging and the various complaints surrounding the iPhone 5, like Apple Maps, the camera, and the easy exterior scuffing.

The show’s guest host of the night, Christina Applegate, hosts a panel made up of three tech writers on a show called “Tech Talk.” The segment revolves around the iPhone 5, and each panelist takes their turn at criticizing the iPhone 5′s various flaws. It goes rather smoothly and typically as you’d expect.

However, the host brings out three Chinese factory workers who assembled the iPhone 5 (no mention of Foxconn, though) and begin to sarcastically express their sympathy to the bloggers, saying things like, “You want Starbucks and it takes you to Dunkin Donut. That must be so hard for you,” referencing back to the tough working conditions at the iPhone 5 factory.

It’s actually a pretty enjoyable skit, and it makes you realize just how small our problems really are, but the sketch almost makes it feel like that the factory workers are at fault, since the panelists immediately retract all of their previous comments when the factory workers show up, and start to show their regret. In any case, watch the skit and enjoy a good laugh.

Saturday Night Live mocks iPhone 5 complaints is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Foxconn is no stranger to controversy. Workers protests, suicides, threats of suicide, and riots have all marred the Taiwan manufacturer, which is accused of underpaying and overworking its workers while providing harsh, unsafe working conditions. The latest issue? Threatening to cut hospital funding for a worker who was severely injured on the job a year ago.

Foxconn employee Zhang Tingzhen, aged 26, was electrocuted while fixing a light. He fell 12 feet to the ground, and suffered severe, life-altering injuries. Several surgeries later, and nearly half of Tingzhen’s brain has been surgically removed, leaving him handicapped. He has been in hospital care since the accident, and is still not in good enough condition to leave.

Reportedly, Foxconn, who has been paying the medical bills, has been sending the worker’s family messages since July demanding that Tingzhen be removed from the hospital. The company has threatened to stop paying the bills, something that would be lawful under the applicable labor laws, unless Tingzhen undergoes a medical evaluation at a facility located 43 miles away. Due to the severity of his injuries, this is not possible.

Foxconn stated that it would have Tingzhen transported back to the hospital after the evaluation, but doctors fear that the trip could result in potentially fatal bleeding. The Chinese company, while acknowledging that it wants Tingzhen to travel for a medical evaluation, denies stopping payments on the medical bills. At the heart of this issue is a story that’s all too familiar: unsafe working environments, and disregard for workers, something that that seems to be at the core of Foxconn.

[via Reuters]

Foxconn reportedly threatens to cut support for severely injured worker is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.