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Fair Labor Association reports Foxconn isn’t complying Chinese labor laws [1]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:39 PM PDT

The Fair Labor Association has just wrapped up its independent audit, commissioned by Apple, of the working conditions at Foxconn. After interviewing over 35,000 workers from three different factories, the FLA said their “nearly month-long investigation revealed serious and pressing noncompliances with FLA's Workplace Code of Conduct, as well as Chinese labor law.” Sounds serious, right? Well, to be fair, the above graph represents the degree to which the Foxconn factories are meeting FLA and standards of national law, and as the FLA had reported earlier [2] , Apple’s factories aren’t doing particularly bad. The FLA established four major areas where Foxconn needed to improve: working hours, health and safety, industrial relations and worker integration, and compensation and social security insurance.

First, average weekly work hours are beyond the legal limits across all factories, and some employees worked 7 days straight, despite the legal requirement to have at least a single 24-hour break. Foxconn promised to be compliant as of July 1… 2013. Apparently they need to hire more people in order to make up for the hours, which lines up with previous reports of a Foxconn hiring spree [3] .

Secondly, workers felt insecure, especially after that explosion caused by aluminum dust last spring [4] . While Foxconn made safety procedure changes following the incident, they’ve promised to keep a sharper eye on safety infractions; instead of just keeping records of incidents when work has stopped, they’re now going to keep tabs on every employee injury.

Thirdly, Foxconn laborers have no say in who is appointed to representative committees, which means they’re more or less puppets to the agendas of managers.  To fix that, Foxconn is going to introduce an election process, and to improve their sense of empowerment, Foxconn is going to give a copy of their Collective Bargaining Agreement, and offer union information during orientation of new employees.

Lastly, Foxconn has been illegally putting interns to work for shifts longer than 8 hours, and no more than 5 days a week. As it turns out, Foxconn has had them working night shifts and overtime. Also, 14% of workers are only paid unscheduled overtime by the half hour, so they don’t get anything for working 29 minutes. Foxconn promises that they’ll knock that down to 15 minutes. Insurance is also an issue. 99% of the workers in two factories are migrants, but since insurance is doled out on a provincial basis, they can’t collect if they ever go hom. Foxconn is going to look into private alternatives.

While there’s some stuff here that needs to be fixed, none of it sounds insurmountable. Even though it sounds like they’re working hard, only 17.7% of respondents said they worked too much, while 33.8% actually wanted to work more. As for the age of workers, the FLA found the average to be around 23, and that the percentage of those aged 16 to 18 to be between 3.6% and 5.5%, depending on the factory.

In any case, it’s really good to see a proper report like this, even compared to Nightline’s piece [5] . Getting into specific numbers and specific processes gives us a much clearer idea of how Apple is churning out millions of iPhones and iPads. Hopefully this level of scrutiny sets a new bar for other electronics manufacturers in China.  It’s good that Apple is being proactive in getting the FLA involved, but it’s hard to tell if they’re getting a little too involved… Would this report have been a little more harsh if Apple wasn’t paying them dues to be in the association?

The FLA will be following up on this investigation to make sure the changes are implemented. You can find the FLA’s full report, complete with appendices over here [6] . It’s definitely worth a gander.

iPhone & iPad Live 287: Next iPhone, iPad mini, Draw Something, Angry Birds Space [7]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:49 PM PDT

Georgia, Seth, and Rene quickly cover the fallout of Chinese factory stories being faked, Apple’s cash balance announcement, and the week’s headlines, then dive deep into the 2012 iPad review, covering technology and experience. This is iPhone & iPad Live!

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You can reach all of us on Twitter @iMore [8] , or you can email us at podcast@imore.com , or leave a comment on the website when the show goes live.

We’re here every Wednesday night at 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern, 2am GMT at www.imore.com/live [9]

For all our podcasts â€" audio and video â€" including iPhone and iPad Live, ZEN and TECH, Iterate, and more, see MobileNations.com/shows [10]

If you haven’t already please subscribe to all our shows in iTunes and leave a rating. It helps people find the show and means a lot to us!

Thanks to the iMore Accessory Store [11] for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now [12]

How to troubleshoot email problems on the new iPad [13]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:34 PM PDT

More often than not, email just simply "works" on your iPad. You input your account information when you setup the iPad and email is received flawlessly.  Occasionally, however, problems do arise and need to be fixed.

Sometimes, it is an issue with the email server, sometimes it is a connectivity issue and sometimes you are just missing a key piece of information in the account setup.

Usually, the solution is simple like a wrong password or switch. We will try to walk you through potential problems and their fixes.

The iPad can't get your mail

iPad gives an error message when trying to retrieve mail

Sometimes, you will start up the Mail app and receive an error message that your mail could not be retrieved.  If this happens to you, the first thing to do is to make sure you are connected in some way to the internet.

Look on your home screen for the WiFi logo and/or the 3G/4G indicator or LTE indicator, depending on what type of connection you’re using. If you do not see either of these then:

1. Go to your Settings app
2. Touch Wi-Fi (for Wi-Fi only iPads) and make sure that Wi-Fi is ON
   1. Then, make sure that there is a check mark next to an available Wi-Fi network.
   2. If there is no checkmark, touch an available Wi-Fi network and "join" the network.
   3. Input a passcode if prompted.
   4. On 4G iPads, touch Settings and then Cellular Data
      1. Touch View Account and make sure that your login information is correct

Verify that Wi-Fi is ON and that you are connected

If you are still having trouble getting email or getting an error message, it is time to go to the actual email settings for the account in question.

1. Touch the Settings icon
2. Touch the Mail, Contacts and Calendars tab
3. Touch the specific email account that is giving you trouble.
4. Touch the Account tab on the next screen.
5. Verify that the Email and Password fields are correct. It is sometimes easiest to simply retype them and see if in the verification process this fixes the problem.

 

Make sure user name and password are correct

When you re-input your Email and Password, you should either see the word "Verifying" at the top and then, hopefully, see some checkmarks saying that the account is working.  If you get another error message or if the screen seems to hang on "Verifying" you will  need to perform the additional steps.

1. Go to the Mail, Contacts, Calendar tab as you did above.
2. Touch the Account that is giving you trouble.
3. Make sure that your account is listed as ON if it is a POP 3 account (like Comcast)
4. Make sure that Mail is turned on in IMAP accounts (like Google.)
5. If you still can't get mail â€" try to Delete the Account and then re-set up
   1. If the account is a Google or other IMAP account, all your messages are saved on the server and they will be reloaded when the account is set up.
   2. After re-setting up the account, make sure that you see the "Verified" check marks during set up and you should be fine.

 

Account is verified, so problems should be fixed

The iPad can't send your mail

 

iPad can't send mail

Sometimes, your iPad will receive mail fine, but it won't send mail.  This is a different kind of problem that involves the SMTP â€" or outgoing Mail server. To try to fix this issue, do the following:

1. Touch the Mail, Contacts, Calendars tab as you did above.
2. Touch the Account that is having trouble sending mail.
3. Touch the tab that says SMTP under Outgoing Mail Server.
4. Make sure that the primary mail server associated with the email account in question is turned On
5. If it is turned Off, touch the tab that says Off and turn the switch to On.
6. If there are other mail servers listed, you can always try to turn one of them On and retry sending your mail.  Usually, if mail is unsuccessful in sending from one server, it tries the other listed servers.
7. If the serer is On and you still have trouble, touch the Primary Server listed and see if in the greyed out field you can see that there is a Host Name, User Name and Password listed. We will show you how to adjust these in the next section.

 

If SMTP server is OFF, try turning it ON to solve the problem

If you have verified that your account is set up and your SMTP server is On and you still can't send mail â€" then we need to dive into the Advanced settings to see if there are any more adjustments to be made.

1. Touch the Account from the Mail, Contacts, Calendars tab as you did earlier.
2. Touch the Account tab and then touch the Advanced tab under the SMTP tab.
3. If the Use SSL switch is OFF, turn it ON
   1. Consequently, if it is ON, try turning it OFF
   2. Touch the Authentication tab and set it to Password
   3. Look at the number next to Server Port
      1. For Gmail, this is usually set to 993
      2. For Comcast and other POP email accounts, this is often set to 110
      3. Other servers use 995 or 587 â€" check with your ISP if you are not sure.
      4. For iCloud accounts, you won't even see this listed.
      5. Make sure that the S/MIME switch is set to OFF. This is for Secure/Multi-Purpose Internet Mail extensions used by government agencies and some high tech companies. Chances are, that if you need this to be ON you know what it is and that you need it â€" most of us don't.

 

Check the Advanced settings if problems persist

Once you make changes to your settings, touch the Done button and you should be all set to go. Go back to your Mail app and try to fetch your email and then try to send a new one. Hopefully, you will be fixed and working.

If you still have trouble sending or receiving email, it is possible that either the port settings or one of the other advanced settings needs to be adjusted according to the settings for your ISP.

POP3/IMAP Account	Server Type	Incoming Server	Incoming Port	Use secure server	Verify Certificate	Outgoing Server	Outgoing Port	Use secure server	Verify Certificate
Aim.com [14]	IMAP4	imap.aim.com	993 (or 143)	Yes	Yes	smtp.aim.com	465 (or 587)	Yes	Yes
aol.com [15]	IMAP4	imap.aol.com	993 (or 143)	Yes	Yes	smtp.aol.com	465 (or 587)	Yes	Yes
Aim.com [16]	POP3	pop.aim.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.aim.com	587	Yes	Yes
aol.com [17]	POP3	pop.aol.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.aol.com	587	Yes	Yes
att.net [18]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
bellsouth.net [19]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
charter.net	IMAP4	mobile.charter.net	993	No	No	mobile.charter.net	587	No	No
charter.net	POP3	mail.charterinternet.com	110	No	No	smtp.charterinternet.com	25	No	No
comcast.net	POP3	mail.comcast.net	995 (or 110)	No	No	smtp.comcast.net	587	No	No
cox.net [20]	POP3	varies by location [21]	995 (or 110)	Yes	Yes	varies by location [22]	587 (or 465)	No	No
earthlink.net [23]	POP3	pop.earthlink.net	110	No	No	smtpauth.earthlink.net	587 (or 25)	No	No
excite.com	POP3	pop3.excite.com	110	No	Yes	smtp.excite.com	25	No	Yes
flash.net [24]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
gmail	IMAP4	imap.gmail.com	993	Yes	Yes	smtp.gmail.com	465	Yes	Yes
Go Daddy Accounts [25]	POP3	pop.secureserver.net	995 (or 110 w/out Secure connection)	Yes	Yes	smtpout.secureserver.net	465 (or 25 w/out Secure connection)	Yes	Yes
hotmail [26]	POP3	pop3.live.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.live.com	587	No	Yes
lycos.com	POP3	pop.mail.lycos.com	110	No	Yes	smtp.mail.lycos.com	25	No	Yes
mac	IMAP4	mail.mac.com	993	Yes	Yes	smtp.mac.com	25	No	No
me	IMAP4	mail.me.com	993	Yes	Yes	smtp.me.com	25	No	Yes
mindspring [27]	POP3	pop.mindspring.com	110	No	No	smtpauth.earthlink.net	587 (or 25)	No	No
msn.com [28]	POP3	pop3.live.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.live.com	587	No	Yes
netzero.net	POP3	pop.netzero.com	110	No	Yes	smtpauth.netzero.com	587	No	Yes
optonline [29]	POP3	mail.optonline.net	110	No	No	mail.optonline.net	587	No	No
pacbell.net [30]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
Roadrunner [31]	POP3	varies by location [32]	110	No	No	varies by location [33]	587 (or 25)	No	No
sbcglobal.net [34]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
snet.net [35]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
swbell.net [36]	POP3	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	Yes	Yes	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	Yes	Yes
verizon.net	POP3	incoming.verizon.net	110	No	Yes	outgoing.verizon.net	25	No	Yes
windstream.net [37]	POP3	pop.windstream.net	110	No	No	smtp.windstream.net	587	Yes	Yes
yahoo.com [38]	IMAP4	imap.mail.yahoo.com	143	No	No	smtp.mobile.mail.yahoo.com	587	No	Yes

Source: Motorola Global [39]

Did this solve your problems? Are you still struggling with email settings? Check out out this forum thread [40] for even more advice.

How to DIY replace the vibrator assembly in an iPhone 3G & iPhone 3GS [41]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 11:09 AM PDT

If your iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS isn’t vibrating even when the vibration setting is on, the vibrator assembly motor may have burnt out. Lucky, it’s a quick and easy DIY repair [42] that most users can handle on their own. Here’s how.

Symptoms

• Your phone never vibrates even if vibrate is on in Settings
• Even if you flip your phone from vibrate to loud, you never get any feedback from the vibrate function

Disclaimer: As with any repair, iMore nor PXLFIX [43] can be held responsible for any damage you may do to your device. It's also worth considering that opening up your device to perform any repair or modification can and will void your Apple warranty. If you don't feel comfortable opening your device, don't. Use extreme care and caution when performing a repair on any device.

What you need for a DIY vibrator assembly repair

PXLFIX recommends using only quality and genuine parts from a reputable supplier like eTech Parts [44] . They have quality parts, tools, and much more for all your repair needs.

• A sad iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS
• A replacement vibrator assembly â€" iPhone 3G & 3GS vibrator assembly [45] â€" The part is the same for both
• A #00 Phillips screwdriver
• A suction cup
• A plastic pry tool or spudger

This repair will be performed in exactly the same manner regardless whether you have an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS.

Power off your iPhone

Before performing any repair or removing any screws or parts, always power off your device.

Remove the dock connector screws

Using your #00 Phillips screwdriver, remove the 2 screws located on each side of the dock connector.

Remove the digitizer & LCD assembly

This part can be a bit tricky so please do this with extreme care so you don’t tear any cables during the process.

The easiest way to remove the digitizer assembly is by using a suction cup.

1. Position the suction cup on the screen directly above the home button.
2. Using your other hand, hold down the frame while gently pulling up on the suction cup.
3. The goal is to get the bottom of the digitizer loose. Do not pull directly up. There are 3 cables attached in the top right of your iPhone. You do not want to tear these. Just pull up until the bottom of the assembly pops out.
4. After you have the bottom up you can remove the suction cup.

Remove the cables that attach the digitizer assembly to the logic board:

Once you have the bottom of your digitizer assembly popped up we can remove the cables attaching it to the logic board.

1. Gently lift up your digitizer enough to have a clear view of the 3 cables in the top right of your iPhone.
2. With your plastic spudger or pry tool, you’ll need to pry up the first two cables that attach the digitizer and LCD. They should be labeled with orange stickers numbered 1 and 2. Simply pop them off the logic board gently.

3. Underneath these cables you’ll see one other labeled as cable 3. This one is a bit trickier as it is clipped down. You’ll need to gently pop up the clasp holding it into the fastener. It is a tiny white clip. Simply pop it upwards and the number 3 cable should then slide right out.
4. Remove the digitizer & LCD assembly and set it aside.

Remove your SIM card

Using your SIM tool or a paperclip, either works, remove your SIM card and tray from your device.

Unclip cables from the logic board

1. Towards the top left of the logic board, use your pry tool to pop up the two cables labeled 5 and 6.

2. Towards the bottom of the logic board, 3G owners will only see one cable to the left labeled 4. 3GS users will see two cables (one on each side of the dock connector) labeled 4 and 7. 3G users will just pop up the number 4 cable while 3GS owners will need to pop up both the number 4 and 7 cables.

Remove your logic board

1. Remove the 8 screws outlined in the video that hold the logic board in place. One of the screws is under a Do not remove sticker at the bottom right by the dock connector. Obviously you’ll have to remove the sticker to get to it.

2. Make sure you place the screws in an order you will remember. They are different sizes in some instances so you’ll need to make sure you put them back in the correct order.

3. Notice the screw holding the camera in place has a metal bracket underneath it. Just take care not to lose this as you’ll need to put it back during reassembly.

4. Gently pop your camera up with your spudger or pry tool. Do not completely remove it. Just flip it up out of the opening so it will come out with the logic board.

5. Insert your pry tool in the space between the dock connector and logic board and gently pry upward to loosen the logic board.
6. Gently grab the bottom of the logic board and slide it out downwards to remove it.

Replace the vibrator assembly

The vibrator assembly is located on the right hand middle side of your iPhone. We will remove the old one now and put in the new one.

1. Remove the two screws holding the vibrator assembly in place.
2. Gently lift the old vibrator assembly out of your device.
3. Line up the new vibrator assembly and screw it down.

Reassemble your iPhone

In order to reassemble your iPhone, just follow these directions in exact opposite order or watch the video above, which includes reassembly instructions.

And …done!

Now that your phone is complete re-assembled you can power it back on to test the vibrator functionality. If all went as planned, your phone should be back to working order. If you do run into any problems, let us know or check out our forums below where members will be more than willing to lend a hand.

For questions or to inquire about mail-in repairs through PXLFIX, please follow us on Twitter [46] , like us on Facebook [47] or e-mail us directly! Of course, you can like us and follow us just because you think we’re cool too!

Additional Resources:

China Vice Premier pledges IP protection during Tim Cook visit [48]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 10:42 AM PDT

Apple CEO Tim Cook is visiting China, having recently toured Foxconn facilities, but so far his most interesting meeting has been with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang. Li committed to improving intellectual property protection for international companies like Apple, who is currently duking it out with a local LCD vendor over the iPad trademark [49] . The Vice Premier said specifically:

To be more open to the outside is a condition for China to transform its economic development, expand domestic demands and conduct technological innovation.

He also called on foreign companies to care for Chinese workers, which has been a concern for Apple at Foxconn for awhile now, but has become a big subject of public attention lately. Cook promised to keep working honestly within Chinese law, and maintain a healthy level of cooperation with the locals. Li would like to see international companies partnering with Chinese ones for product development, and said the government aims to strengthen emerging industries and innovation.

Apple has invested a ton of money into Foxconn, and by association, the Chinese economy; it’s expected that they’re also on good terms with the government, and that they’ll keep up those relations to make sure iPhone and iPad production continues unabated. That said, I can’t help but wonder who needs who more as far as economics go: China for the money Apple’s bringing in, or Apple for China’s supply chain?

Source: Xinhua [51]

[50]

Paper by 53 for iPad review: The best way to get what’s in your head onto the screen [52]

Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:56 AM PDT

If you’re looking to turn your iPad into a blank slate that you can easily, beautifully be filled with anything from a sketch to a flow-chart, a list to an diagram, get Paper and get creating.

Paper by 53 for iPad is exactly what the name implies, a fresh canvas ready and waiting for your ideas, inspiration, and art. While hand drawing and handwriting note-taking apps [53] are nothing new to the iPad or App Store, Paper feels qualitatively different in kind. It has a focus, a flow, a humanity, and a technology about it that somehow come together to create one of the most natural creative experience I’ve had on the iPad to date.

When you launch Paper you’re greeted with a series of beautifully rendered books. (They look so good they almost overcome the shadows behind them not falling at a precise 90 degree angle. Almost.) There are three pre-populated for you: Sketches, Ideas, and Making Paper. Sketches and Ideas are empty and waiting for you to fill them with wonders of your own devising. Making Paper is pre-filled with samples of what those creations can involve: pretty much anything you could whiteboard, scribble, or sketch.

Tap or pinch open a book and it unfolds in front of you into a browsing and sharing mode. You can quickly leaf through the pages, add or delete pages, or share pages via Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or Email. There’s no save to Camera Roll, unfortunately, but you can take screenshots of the pages to work around that.

You can easily share Papers to Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or via Email, but you can't save them to Camera Roll without taking a screen shot

To start creating, tap it or pinch on an open book and the page fills the screen and becomes editable. That’s it. There’s no user interface unless you call it up or leave the page. It’s just you and the glowing electronic paper.

To leave a page, pinch it closed. To move between pages, swipe from one side to other in the direction you wish to go. (This has been problematic for me, often resulting in unintentional lines being drawn instead of pages being flipped.) To bring up the tools, swipe up from the bottom up. To close the tools, touch them and swipe back down.

Paper comes with two free tools: Draw (an ink fountain pen) and Erase. Additional tools are available for $1.99 each via in-app purchase and include Sketch (a pencil), Outline (a marker), Write (a pen), and Color (a water-esque brush).

You get Erase and Draw for free, but other tools like Write, Sketch, Outline, and Color are $1.99 in-app purchases.

Each tool does pretty much what you’d expect them to do. Which is a remarkable achievement. Almost immediately I was able to break down motion lines and poses and build up structures and forms with the sketch pencil tool, and it felt right in a way no other iPad app has ever felt. Likewise inking with the draw fountain pen tool was great. Pages even simulates stroke width. The accuracy was terrific, better than any other app I’ve used. The line just went where I expected it to go and looked the way I expected it to look.

Swipe up to reveal the tools and color palette.

Color was a different story. It might simply be my lack of skill with water colors, though I’ve used them quite a bit in the distant past. I immediately missed controls I’ve come to depend on in Photoshop â€" brush size, opacity, and custom colors. I immediately lost the incredible connection the other tools had given me. Without real world palettes and water to mix and thin and perfect my media before applying it to the page, and no digital controls, it just didn’t click. Still, it seems like something that can be figured out.

Also requiring some figuring out is the undo/redo metaphor. You touch two fingers and trace a counter-clockwise circle to “rewind” actions and a clockwise circle to “replay” (though still labeled as “rewind”) them. It… takes some getting used to. While the idea is like a dial, there’s no real delineation between the steps you’re undoing or redoing, and the control doesn’t feel particularly fine grained. So, I was constantly undoing or redoing not enough or too much. A jog shuttle isn’t truly useful unless it has those little notches to give you precise feedback for each frame or step.

Instead of undo, you have rewind, which is a great concept but suffers from the lack of fine grain control