Hacker group SwaggSec took a swipe at Foxconn when it broke into the company's servers. The group stole login information and documents, both of which were promptly leaked to the internet. SwaggSec claimed the information would let individuals place fake orders using accounts from Dell, Apple, IBM and Microsoft. As soon as the hack was publicized, Foxconn shut down its servers and pulled down its website.

Though SwaggSec does mention Foxconn's poor working conditions in a letter it posted on pastebin, this was not the reason for the attack against the manufacturer. The group says it hacked the company for the "hilarity that ensues when compromising and destroying an infrastructure." The news of this hack hit the internet at the same time protesters, upset with inhumane factory working conditions, were gathering outside Apple stores in London, New York, San Francisco and other stores worldwide.

[Via Electronista]

Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Foxconn server hacked, CEO's password revealed originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spacetime Studios has hit a pretty crazy milestone, even in the ever-more-massive world of iOS and mobile gaming. The company's MMOs on the iPhone, Android, and Chrome platforms have hit a total of 100 million play sessions, which means people have loaded up and logged into Spacetime's titles more than 100 million times. They're not just checking them out, either: Spacetime says their players are in the game for 25.2 hours a month, which is twice as much as the average gamer plays total. Pretty amazing.

I've said this before, too, but Spacetime really has done all of this way under the radar. The company was originally set to make full MMOs for PC, but after running out of funding, had to spin its scope back down to the mobile platforms. That hasn't stopped Spacetime from creating full massively multiplayer online games, though, first with Pocket Legends, then with Star Legends, and now the company is planning a vampire-themed take on the forumla with Dark Legends. Spacetime has seen some serious growth, and I'd guess it's far from over. We'll be talking to the company at next month's GDC conference, so stay tuned for more from them then.

Spacetime Studios' games hit 100 million play sessions originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Spacetime Studios' games hit 100 million play sessions originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for February 9, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Daily Update for February 9, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple's been going back and forth in German courts over the Samsung Galaxy Tab, suggesting it "borrows" a few too many features from the iPad, but the latest ruling has fallen in Samsung's favor. A German court has now decided that the Galaxy Tab has "clear differences" from the iPad, and thus can be sold in that country.

Note, also, that this is the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, not the original version, so Samsung has already made some changes to the design. And those changes apparently worked, because the court has ruled that sales are on. That's not great for Apple, though Cupertino may likely follow up with appropriate appeals going forward.

Samsung also has its own lawsuit going up against Apple in Germany, claiming infringement on a few of its own patents. The next ruling in that case is apparently due on March 2nd.

Court says reworked Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N can be sold in Germany originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Court says reworked Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1N can be sold in Germany originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whoa! As of this writing (noon EST) Apple stock has reached a new high of US$493.85, which is a record share price. It also gives the company a market capitalization of $465 billion, which exceeds the combined totals of Google and Microsoft.

Apple passed Microsoft in Market Cap back in May of 2010. At the current price, Apple is comfortably ahead of Exxon Mobil, which has a market cap of about $400 million billion.

Just yesterday we reported that Apple had gained $100 in share price since Steve Jobs died last October, but those numbers are already outdated.

Apple stock soars, company worth more than Google, Microsoft combined originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple stock soars, company worth more than Google, Microsoft combined originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Have a bit of time? Want to learn more about Steve Jobs' life than you were able to dredge up reading the Walter Isaacson biography? All you have to do is read the 191-page 1991 FBI background investigation of Jobs that was done when he was being considered for an appointment to the President's Export Council.

The file also include records of a 1985 bomb threat made against Jobs. John Cook at Gawker noted that "I've read the files from a lot of background FBI investigations; it's pretty rare in my experience that this much derogatory information gets dredged up." What kind of derogatory comments? Some of them are classic: "He characterized Mr. Jobs as an honest and trustworthy individual; however, his moral character is questionable" and "They further stated that Mr. Jobs has integrity as long as he gets his way."

But wait, there's more! "Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs' honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals." Yes, the famous Jobs Reality Distortion Field has been investigated by the FBI, but there's no word on whether it was the X-Files team or Fringe Division that was doing the investigation.

And finally, there's this gem: "He characterized Mr. Jobs as a deceptive individual who who (sic) is not completely forthright and honest." While the names of his friends and associates have been redacted from the report, it's apparent that they -- at least back in the 1990s -- didn't have a lot of trust in the late Apple CEO.

Steve Jobs' 1991 FBI file has been released originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Steve Jobs' 1991 FBI file has been released originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google is in the process of acquiring Motorola and its 17,000 patents. Everyone from analysts to tech pundits are wondering if the search company will adopt the handset maker's aggressive patent litigation strategy.

Legal experts criticize Motorola for violating the terms of FRAND, which requires patent holders to license standards-based patents to other companies under fair and reasonable terms. Motorola reportedly uses FRAND patents to sue rivals and asks for unreasonable royalty fees which seek compensation based on the selling price of a product, not the core technology it is licensing.

In a letter sent to the IEEE standards organization, Google confirmed it would follow Motorola's lead in asking for a 2.25 percent royalty fee on the final selling price of a product. FOSS Patents likens this to MotoGoog wanting 2.25 percent of the selling price of an iPhone because it uses UMTS. Google also said it reserves the right to seek an injunction against a company that does not agree to these terms.

Google's stance goes against the idea of FRAND licensing, says Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents. It also exacerbates the growing problem of FRAND abuse. Microsoft, Apple and Cisco have taken a stand against this abuse and support the principles of FRAND patent licensing.

Google wasn't always this way, points out MG Siegler. When Google and its hardware partners were the target of several patent infringement lawsuits last year, Google legal counsel David Drummond spoke out vehemently against companies that litigate instead of innovate. Now that Google may soon have a heap of patents in its coffers, it's apparently becoming one of these lawsuit-hungry companies it recently condemned.

[Via Fortune Apple 2.0]

Google after 2.25% of every iPhone sale originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google after 2.25% of every iPhone sale originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has delivered a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute asking for basic principles for that region of the world on patents and their licensing, according to the Wall Street Journal. The letter asks for consistency across the board in how patents are owned and shared, and it also asks for specific rates to be set on possible patent royalties for everyone to follow.

As smartphones and other mobile technology continue to develop and grow, patents on the many components are becoming increasingly more important, both in terms of determining ownership for the research and work put into development and for the licensing fees afforded to those with high profile patents. Apple obviously has good reason to see standards in this area, given how well-heeled it happens to be in the world of patents and innovations.

We'll have to wait and see if the board decides to set up a program of standards as Apple suggests. Even if the board agrees to set standards for these things, it could be a long time before those standards are actually decided on and published.

Apple shows interest in European patent laws originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple shows interest in European patent laws originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Life is a bit difficult for Apple's Premium Resellers in Europe now that the company is expanding retail locations throughout the continent. A post by France's Les Echos profiles a complaint by eBizcuss, the largest and first authorized reseller of Apple products in France (through their ICLG subsidiary), about the impact that the popular Apple Stores are having on the company. TUAW first covered this story in December, when we noted that eBizcuss has filed a lawsuit against Apple.

eBizcuss saw sales fall 22 percent in the third quarter of 2011, and the company is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. The company has 200 employees and 15 stores throughout France, but has had its stock price drop by 50 percent in the last year.

This isn't happening only in France -- AppleInsider reports that a person contacted the blog claiming that resellers in Sweden and Germany are also in jeopardy of going bankrupt, and that Apple's resellers in the Netherlands are concerned about the imminent opening of the first Dutch Apple store on February 18.

The resellers are saying that they're not only seeing a continuing shortage of product in their stores, but they're being held to incredible standards that are almost impossible to meet. Apple audits the resellers, sending in mystery shoppers to make sure that resellers meet the standards. The French resellers are complaining that the inspections are being done by a British firm rather than Apple France.

Some stores have been asked to change locations, because the ceilings weren't high enough to pass Apple's muster. In other cases, furnishings for the retail outlets have have to be ordered from an Apple-specified German furniture company, and Apple requires that products be displayed in an obsessively detailed way.

As for eBizcuss, their store at the Hotel de Ville in Paris is nearly empty, with no iPhones in stock. The nearby Apple Store at the Carrousel du Louvre? Packed, with iPhones and iPads in profusion. Things will only get worse for the Authorized Resellers, as Apple has noted that they want to open "dozens" of new stores in France.

Apple resellers in Europe say inventory delays affecting business originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple resellers in Europe say inventory delays affecting business originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Elmer-DeWitt remarks that the share price of AAPL on October 4, 2011, the day before Jobs passed away, was US$372.50 and that the market capitalization of the company was about $347 billion. Now, just four short months later, the stock price is (as of this morning) $472.66, over $100 greater than before Jobs died. That puts the market capitalization of Apple, Inc. at about $440 billion -- over $90 billion of growth in just four months.

Those numbers are staggering. $90 billion is about nine-tenths of the value that Facebook has been given in advance of its upcoming IPO. Elmer-DeWitt notes that it's hard to argue that Apple is overvalued. He quotes Erik Savitz of Forbes noting that even after backing out Apple's $100 billion cash horde, valuation of AAPL is just 2.6 times revenues and 10 times earnings.

The Apple 2.0 post ends on a rather dour note, with Elmer-DeWitt noting that "two prominent Apple bulls" agree that Apple's shares are ready for a sell-off.

Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple stock gains nearly $100 since Steve's passing originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for February 8, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Daily Update for February 8, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While some tech pundits are bemoaning Apple's lack of ads during the Super Bowl on Sunday (the company hasn't run an ad during the big game for years), The Street's Jim Cramer is taking another view and one that is much more rooted in reality. Apple didn't need to pay for expensive Super Bowl air time, because the World Champion NY Giants provided tons of free advertising for the iPhone.

As Cramer noted, "... there was one ad that struck me as the most honest, most riveting and most compelling of all. You see, the game had just ended, and Colts great Raymond Berry ran the Giant gantlet with the Lombardi Trophy. Suddenly it seemed like every other Giant pulled out an Apple iPhone to snap pictures of the moment. One after another after another. And I said to myself, there it is, not some pet dangling a bag of chips or some headlights killing vampires or King Elton getting trapdoored. Nope, there was an ad worthy of Steve Jobs and the company he built."

Cramer went on to say "To me, the endorsement of Apple by real athletes who were not paid, especially when contrasted with the gift of the GM Corvette that Eli Manning didn't even seem to care about -- 'Eli, the keys, the keys, don't forget the keys!' -- said it all ... when everyone else is paying $3 million per commercial, Apple paid nothing and easily had the best ad of all."

To see what Cramer's talking about, just check out the YouTube video below and count the number of iPhones that you see snapping photos and shooting video of Raymond Berry and the Lombardi Trophy. Amazing...

Apple enjoys free Super Bowl advertising courtesy of NY Giants originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple enjoys free Super Bowl advertising courtesy of NY Giants originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mashable's Lance Ulanoff raises the question of whether Apple should have advertised during Super Bowl XLVI. He points out that 28 years after the debut of the "1984" commercial that Apple sat on the sidelines and allowed its rivals to mock it during the most-watched show in U.S. television history.

"By not appearing at the Super Bowl, Apple is letting its competition frame the discussion. Founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, who died months before the Samsung ads started airing, would likely have wanted to create some sort of counter attack. He was, after all, the chief architect of the Macintosh and the remarkable first ad promoting it," Ulanoff argues.

Jobs also knew when to back away and let the buzz build.

Right before the Super Bowl, Tested posted a look at the same sort of ads that aired during the game from the iPhone's competitors, as well as other offerings. The ads are fun to watch, Ryan Whitwam points out, but they don't represent the product well. Even in the much-touted Super Bowl ad, the Galaxy Note spends seconds on screen. Instead, you get a huge street party with a chorus and dancers.

Apple's iPhone ads, by contrast, show off how the phone works. This is what makes people want one, Whitman said.

I agree with Whitman. The ads are eye-catching in the way that Apple's "1984" ad was 28 years ago, but times have changed and people are a lot more savvy when buying tech now. Apple now has the winning strategy of showing off what their devices can actually do, and that pulls in the sales. Plus, Apple particularly isn't hurting in the sales department. They needed the Super Bowl in 1984. They don't need it now.

View Poll

Should Apple have advertised during the Super Bowl? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Should Apple have advertised during the Super Bowl? originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for February 7, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Daily Update for February 7, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two years ago, Tristan Schaap joined Apple's Platform Technologies Group as an intern. During his 12-week stint with the Core OS division, he worked on a project to get a piece of Mac OS X running on an ARM processor, says a report by iMore. Most people were not aware of this project until recently, when the Netherland's Delft University of Technology made Schaap's thesis available to the public.

Schaap's project was very specific - he worked with Darwin and ported it to a Marvell ARMv5te processor. Some of the ARMv5 code was present in Darwin and his job was to get it to work in both single-user mode and multi-user mode.

His report doesn't say why Apple assigned him this project, but as OSNews points out, it's possible Apple wanted to test his mettle and introduce him to the company during his 12-week tenure. Technically, Apple couldn't use his code because the project's Marvell ARMv5 processor is not found in any Apple hardware. It even predates the Samsung ARMv6 core which powered the original iPhone. Also, it's highly unlikely Apple would assign an important project like the OS X/ARM port to an intern.

[Via AppleInsider]

Apple intern thesis bears on porting Darwin to ARMv5 chips originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple intern thesis bears on porting Darwin to ARMv5 chips originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple and the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) both received criticism last year for a sweetheart deal in which Apple paid less rent per square foot for the Grand Central Terminal retail store space than other tenants in the facility. Well, the deal is starting to pay off for the MTA as expected, since the popularity of the Apple Store at Grand Central Terminal appears to be improving sales for other retailers.

While the trend is based on data from only one nearby restaurant, it's expected that the Apple Store is attracting business to other stores and restaurants in Grand Central Terminal as well. Crain's New York Business says that sales at Michael Jordan's The Steakhouse N.Y.C. have increased by 7 percent in the last seven weeks. A co-owner of the restaurant, Peter Glazier, says the improvement in sales isn't just because Apple displaced another high-end restaurant, Metrazur. "The jump only happened after Apple opened," according to Mr. Glazier.

Apple not only pays less rent than other tenants, but does not contribute to a revenue sharing agreement that most of the other tenants of Grand Central do. The MTA believed that the flagship Apple Store would attract significant numbers of new customers that would benefit the other tenants and the entire facility as well. For every 1 percent increase in sales for the terminal's retailers, the MTA stands to gain $500,000 in rent due to the revenue sharing agreement.

If the experience of Michael Jordan's The Steakhouse is an indication of increased sales across the board, then the Apple agreement will certainly pay off dividends to the MTA.

Apple's Grand Central neighbor sees sales increase originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple's Grand Central neighbor sees sales increase originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you're looking for coverage of working conditions at Foxconn and other Apple manufacturing partners, there's plenty to go around. The drumbeat of sharply critical stories continued today with CNN's interview of a Foxconn worker; this follows a scathing New York Times story from late January that explores the gulf between electronics companies' best intentions regarding working conditions at contract facilities, and the incessant pressure to innovate and squeeze costs out of the process.

Fairness, though, requires a few reminders. There's social and political argument over the ultimate value of sweatshop labor conditions in developing countries, with the pro-sweatshop side citing enormous economic benefits for countries that can capitalize on an inexpensive and inexhaustible labor force. Even if you buy the hypothesis that cheap labor isn't necessarily good for China, it's true that Apple isn't the only Foxconn client by a long shot, and the electronics manufacturing sector may actually be one of the brighter lights for worker's rights in China. Nevertheless, the company's high-profile and highly profitable products combined with its longstanding penchant for product secrecy have made it a lightning rod for "Applerousing" activism and anger.

Apple CEO Tim Cook, the man most responsible for assembling Apple's supply chain into a strategic advantage for the company, reportedly sent a very strongly worded email to all Apple hands, noting that "any suggestion that we don't care [about the welfare of workers in our supply chain] is patently false and offensive to us.... accusations like these are contrary to our values. It's not who we are." In addition to the company's annual Supplier Responsibility Reports and auditing programs, Apple has recently taken another couple of steps that put it out in front of other consumer electronics firms; it released its supplier list for the first time, and it's the first sector company to join the Fair Labor Association. These changes should, in theory, make it easier for third parties to look into workplace issues within the Apple supplier universe.

You can get a very different take on the relative impact of Apple's policies, and the human cost of making insanely great products for entirely sane prices, by spending an evening at the Public Theater in New York City with monologuist Mike Daisey watching The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Be warned, however, that it is not so easy to leave the show with the same nonchalance about Apple's products and their origins as you might have when you arrive.

The first thing that audience members will notice as they take their seats before the start of The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs is the cubical and spare set. With rectangular frames in a back LED wall and a glass/chrome desk atop a glass platform, there's a definite echo of a familiar retail aesthetic; it's as if the designer was instructed "Make it look a little like an Apple Store, but don't spend much."

The mood is also evoked, carefully, with sound. The music playing before the show includes both the OS X Leopard post-installation track "Exodus Honey" and Jonathan Coulton's geek anthem "Skullcrusher Mountain." Coulton's song even gets a nod during the monologue itself, when Daisey refers to Apple as a company full of "mad geniuses" who, after Steve's involuntary departure in the 1980s, could finally realize their plans to combine a monkey with a pony.

The next thought, as the show begins: Mike Daisey is a large, loud, sweaty dude who sits in a chair and talks at you for two hours. Although this may sound like a rough session of detention with an angry phys ed teacher, or an afternoon with your conspiracy theory-obsessed uncle, the performance Daisey delivers is heartfelt, intelligent and ultimately completely watchable. His show, which was excerpted on the January 6 episode of the public radio program This American Life, recounts both his decades-long fascination with Apple, including the unforgettable arc of the late co-founder Jobs, and also Daisey's half-cocked but surprisingly effective gonzo investigation of labor conditions at Foxconn and other electronics manufacturing contractors in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

Referring to his handwritten notes as he goes -- the performance is extemporaneous, so there is no canonical scripted text and the narrative has evolved over the 18 months that the show has been touring -- Daisey wants to make one thing abundantly clear. If you cut him, he would bleed six colors. To establish his bona fides as a true member of the Apple faithful for a civilian audience, he claims that sometimes after a show he relaxes by "field-stripping my MacBook Pro into its 43 component parts," cleaning each one before reassembling the laptop. "It soothes me," he purrs, stroking his chest with his fingers.

While I don't know that many Mac geeks who relax by taking apart their MBPs, it's evident from Daisey's frequent, coherent technical asides that he isn't putting on airs (or Airs). His heartfelt memories of his family's first computer (an Apple IIc, considered so pricey that it merited its own "computer room") will resonate for plenty of TUAW readers of a certain age. I may have been the only audience member who involuntarily nodded and muttered "yes, of course" when Daisey shared his favorite Mac of all time, but that was only because his choice, the compact yet powerful (for its day) SE/30, was so obviously right.

It's Daisey's love for all things Apple that makes his perception of the company's fall from grace all the more stinging. Starting with the inadvertent leak of several testing photos taken on the iPhone assembly line, Daisey's curiosity about the process and the people behind Apple's products drove him to research the circumstances of where all our stuff comes from.

In 2010, Daisey traveled to southern China and literally drove up to the gates of the massive Foxconn plant in an effort to talk to production line workers; he was in country shortly after the cluster of Foxconn employee suicides and during the incident when a Foxconn employee died of exhaustion after a multi-day workshift. He posed as an American industrialist to gain access to other companies' facilities (including dormitories with beds crammed to the ceiling), and also met with labor rights activists and workers who, despite enormous legal and personal risks, have tried to form labor unions in Chinese factories.

Daisey's recounting of his conversations with these workers is sometimes poignant and often shocking. He met laborers exposed to the neurotoxic solvent n-hexane (now banned from Apple's supply chain, but originally used as an iPhone screen cleaner) who now shake so badly they cannot hold a teacup. He spoke with underage workers outside the plant gates, although follow-up investigations by This American Life indicated that the hiring of minors is far less prevalent than it once was and that Foxconn is relatively well-positioned on that score (some independent organizations dispute this, noting that audits are easy to deceive). Daisey's own translator wonders if all these people can possibly have been through what they say, expressing shock that so many tell the same stories of mistreatment, forced/unpaid overtime and bad working conditions.

As Daisey has performed this piece around the country over the past two years, he might have been considered a lonely voice in the wilderness. (TUAW interviewed Daisey at Macworld Expo 2011, while he was performing the show in Berkeley, CA.) Circumstances have changed quite a bit since he began, however. The radio broadcast was a turning point in the show's reception, according to a flyer handed out by ushers after the performance; it was the most downloaded episode in TAL's history and, Daisey's flyer claims, was heard by many Apple employees and their families. This created what Daisey's sources call "a morale situation" within the company, and he asserts that this internal circumstance was a factor in Apple's subsequent decision to join the FLA and open its supply chain to additional scrutiny.

It may not be as simple as Daisey wishes for Apple to effectively address the condition of a massive Chinese labor force that, in the final analysis, does not actually work for the Cupertino company. His suggestion of a 'dividend for change,' where Apple would directly invest five billion dollars of its cash reserves into the supply chain, would certainly be worthy of a company founded by a Zen-loving college dropout who urged customers to think different -- but it's surpassingly unlikely. Still, public awareness and action on the question of humane labor overseas (whether contracted by Apple, HP, Asus, Sony or any other company) will make a difference in the months and years to come. As Daisey says in his online response to Apple's recent moves toward further supply chain glasnost:

If Apple would spend less energy finessing its public image, and instead apply its efforts to real transparency and accountability, it could be a true leader for the electronics industry. Apple today is still saying what it said yesterday: trust us, we know best, there's nothing to worry about. They have not earned the trust they are asking for."

Mike Daisey's monologue The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs continues through March 4, 2012 at New York City's Public Theater. The show runs approximately two hours and is performed without an intermission. Tickets and information: http://www.publictheater.org

Mike Daisey's "The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" is funny, forceful agitprop originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mike Daisey's "The Agony and The Ecstasy of Steve Jobs" is funny, forceful agitprop originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stick with us on this one -- it seems unlikely, but this case could have some wider consequences. Last year, Apple filed a lawsuit against a company named Proview Technology Shenzen in China. It was pretty common by Apple's standards: The company was using the name iPad, and Apple was trying to keep them from doing so.

While this was all going on, Proview Taiwan (only loosely affiliated with the Shenzen division) sold the trademark to "iPad" in China to a UK-based company named Application Development, which then sold it right back to Apple. All of this would normally be fine and dandy except for one thing: Apple lost the original lawsuit that was supposed to prevent Proview Shenzen from using the name.

As a result, Proview Shenzen is arguing that it still retains the rights to the "iPad" name on the Chinese mainland, and Apple may be fined as much as 2.4 billion yuan ($380 million US). Obviously, this is a tangled legal issue, and I'm sure Apple still has options in the fight before they need to cough up the fine. But there's obviously something here that needs to be worked out, and if it isn't in time, Apple could be prohibited from selling or marketing its tablet under the name "iPad" in China.

[via Gizmodo]

Apple could be forced to stop selling "iPads" in China originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Apple could be forced to stop selling "iPads" in China originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's been a long, cold winter for TUAW. As days lengthen and Spring becomes less of a dream and more imminent, our thoughts turn to new technology. What do we expect to see in the next generation iPad and when do we expect to see it? Preorders in March, pickup in April?

You tell us. Place your vote in this poll and then join in the comments with all your predictions.

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You're the Pundit: iPad 3 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

You're the Pundit: iPad 3 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world.

You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here.

No Flash? Click here to listen.

Daily Update for February 6, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Daily Update for February 6, 2012 originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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