Why does it take an hour to put an album on an iPhone?

    Why does Apple force users into an experience that almost inevitably ends in sadness, if not outright disaster? There's a straight answer to that question and it's what pushed me away from my iPhone 3G and onto a Nexus One in the summer of 2010. 

    The whole point of selling an iPhone/iPod touch isn't to sell a piece of hardware, it's to loop an end-user into a system that continually drains their credit card.

     But here's the thing: what if you don't want to go all-in with that ecosystem? What if you enjoy casually using an app here or there on the iPhone, and what if you just want to throw a record on your device five minutes prior to heading out on a ten-day road trip? What if you want to make quick and subtle changes to your iPod, iPad or iPhone, without iTunes selfishly consuming what's left of your day? That, friends, is apparently an impossible task, especially if you've got a handful of devices or - gasp! - more than one computer that your device talks to.

iPhone manufacturer reports $218 million full-year net loss

    Foxconn, the mega-manufacturer behind all Apple products (more than 1/3 of Foxconn is dedicated to Apple products), posted a $218.3 million net loss for 2010. While the company had previously predicted lower earnings amid suicide-related wage increases and welfare costs, the reported figure is still worse than analysts' estimation of around $202 million, which also far outweighs the prior year's $38.6 million profit. Foxconn puts the blame on higher consolidated income tax and increased competition, as well as "cost streamlining actions" -- a reference to the ongoing relocation and expansion plans, which are also the outcome of the Chinese suicides -- that took longer than expected and led to increased spending along with higher manufacturing overhead. As for 2011, Foxconn said it'll "take decisive actions to conclude our capacity relocation, optimize our cost structure and return to profitability." Of course, further losses could accelerate plans to increase prices, which could ultimately put everyone in a lose-lose situation if Foxconn can't compete. 

     Foxconn plans to develop a robotized product line and mechanize the workforce to slowly replace the slave-like labor in hope to compete with giants like Nokia, Samsung or HTC.

    Of course Apple hasn't done anything regarding worker well-fare, nor have the manufacturing costs increased. Have you ever wondered how come Apple icon products aren't made in good ol' America?

Via: Foxconn International Holdings (PDF)

Why the iPhone 4S is coming out

    Well the white iPhone is finally out and it seems it's nothing like the original iPhone. You still get the antennagate signal strength drop, but the meter has been rigged to show full bars and with an added rubber condom you might even get enough signal to call 911 after an avalanche, or you know, when your private jet crashes on a remote island.

But leaving signal aside because "people don't buy iPhones to make calls" (fanboy quote over) the iPhone 4 white does have a few aces up it's sleeve:

• It's thicker so it doesn't crack as easy as the cheap plastic on the original iPhone 4
• A more recessed camera lens, to get rid of those nasty flash leaks
• A better end improved proximity sensor, see release hardware flaws

"New" MacBook air with fixed display isues at cost of SSD performance

     It appears today that no two Apple products are the same. You know the sayng, if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Apple is moving away from Toshiba's X-Gale SSDs to faster Samsung models for MacBook Air.

    Over the last month, Air models have been shipping with two different SSD, the "SM128C" and Toshiba's "TS128C." The SM implies Samsung is the manufacturer, says MSNBC.
    The Samsung drive, when benchmarked, shows off 260MB/s read and 210MB/s write speeds compared to the Toshiba which has 210MB/s read and 185MB/s write.
     The speed difference is minor and it's best to wait for the new new MacBook Air that will come mid 2011 to fix the hardware flaws introduced with the new MacBook Air series.

Via: 9to5 Mac, macotakara.jp, MSNBC

[iPhone jokes] The only friend you will ever have

The Apple/iOS user tracking & privacy breaking roundup

    You’ve probably heard by now about the detailed log your iOS device keeps of your movements, but it's about time a roundup o the whole story was made. Now there’s a tool to prevent that plus some more clarity on the issue, which like all freedom on Apple products, requires jailbreaking.

    Apple's location services pinpoint your location using GPS, Cell-ID and Wi-Fi hotspots. Early devices used Google and Skyhook databases to do that, but since iOS 3.2 Apple has been building up their own database - you become their Guinea Pig (read: lab rat).

     A file kept unencrypted on your iProduct holds a record of all your movements from about an year ago and that file is copied to any computer you’ve synced it to and any backups you might have made.

As usual with Apple software, there's no security between anyone and your private data (called consolidated.db), either by copying it from a computer that contains a copy of the file or simply stealing the device itself, can easily extract a log of your whereabouts over the last year.(red more about Steve Jobs's opinion and Android below)

Midnight repairs

Here's probably what the Specialists are up to...

    For a start, someone needs to tell some dickhead at Apple that 'same day' repairs and 'within 24 hours' ARE NOT THE SAME FUCKING THING. If you dropped your computer off at lunchtime on a Thursday to be told it will be ready and repaired on the same day, too fucking right you're gonna expect it to be ready on Thursday evening. If Apple can get it ready for you Friday morning, they consider that 'same day'!! It's fucking laughable! What fucking planet are they on. Friday is not Thursday, thus not SAME DAY. Stupid. Cunts.

In order to get these topcases switched over by the next morning, you may find that as a Genius, you need to be repairing until midnight. After a long day of swapping phones, I can say they last thing I wanted to do was start repairing computers. I'd probably spend 2 hours replacing a screen on a unibody white MacBook and give the manager some bullshit story about how "the DFI ribbon-micro cable is really difficult to fit on this model", whist thinking "I'm secretly lolling in your face right now"

Seriously though, who wants to spend their life repairing shit computers until midnight? You're not gonna get in until 1, asleep 'til 2, and if you're on a clopen, then you're fucked mate.