Oh boy, more wind blown to the rumor mills grinding out hopes for a 3G iPhone, says we. But this one looks more promising, because it's allegedly pointing now at Foxconn, the manufacturers behind the first iPhone. The Taiwan-based company is expected to rev up its iPhone churning machines again, but this time for 3G-capable units that are reportedly slated to ship in June. Let's spin the mill faster and get a load of more speculations at the full story, shall we?

And Nintendo's supply efforts continue unabated today, as news coming in from the Eastern hemisphere places both Sunplus Technology Co., Ltd. and Wistron Corp as potential new suppliers of outsourced components for the Nintendo Wii.

 

Steadily outselling any next-gen console yet drastically short of supply, the Wii is now reinforced with hardware aid from one of Asia's major hardware manufacturing countries, Taiwan. With the infrastructure, resources and experience in place for dedicated hardware supply, there's hope that Nintendo could raise their monthly output further to achieve their Q4 goal by late December.

Wistron will soon be joining the likes of Foxconn Technology - a regionally well-known motherboard manufacturer - of the Hon Hai Group to assemble Wii machines, while SunPlus Technologies will continue to share supplies of controller chips for the Wii, together with pre-market supplier PixArt Imaging, Inc.

The first generation of the Nintendo Wii console will be those tendered with the original PixArt controller chip, while SunPlus, together with other potential suppliers, will provide an after-market supply of replacement controller chips which will be prevalent in the reportedly "updated" version of the console. The first batch of these replacement chips are expected to ship this quarter, and local industry analysts point out that the shipment may win SunPlus original manufacturing orders for the Nintendo Wii.

Lite-On was reportedly close to the heels of the two companies, planning to enter Nintendo's orders for power supplies for the new batch of game consoles. If successful, the company well known for their optical drive manufacturing portfolio will diversify Nintendo's options for the console's power supplies, a product line once controlled solely by PS2 and Xbox 360 power supply manufacturer Delta Electronics.

 

The DigiTimes reports that Apple plans to launch new iPods featuring Wi-Fi by the second half of 2007.  Universal Scientific Industrial is reportedly set to produce the Wi-Fi modules needed for the new iPods and Foxconn will contribute as the OEM system assembler.

Don't expect to see the new Wi-Fi iPods as soon as the second half of the year starts though, because while USI will begin their shipments this April, Foxconn may only do so come the third quarter, or so the DigiTimes reports.

Given that Sony and Samsung are also planning to offer similar Wi-Fi products, the feature could be mainstream by the end of the year.

This one goes way back. You might have forgotten about this already but the PlayStation 3 (PS3) consoles are being built by Asustek Computers. It was actually a fitting choice for Sony, as the former is regarded as one of the biggest computer components producers in the world.

Back then however, Foxconn Electronics, which also helped making some of the console's key components, somehow took a back seat as it was not given any allocation assignments. The reports mentioned that Foxconn will start producing units when the demand eventually rises.

Well, the long wait for Foxconn is finally over as Sony just handed a production certification to the Taiwan-based component developer. The reports added that Foxconn's contract will begin during Q3 and Q4 2007, in anticipation of the upcoming peak season this fall.

Foxconn Electronics was founded in 1970 and started as a manufacturer of plastic products, most notably connectors. Today, it services various products like motherboards, graphic cards, and even PS3 rival consoles Xbox 360 and Wii.

If this report is true, by 2007, we'll have a new contraption to tinker with and love. The China Times reported that Apple's hyped and anticipated iPod cell phone will arrive either on the late first quarter or early second quarter of 2007. According to the said report, the device will merge iPod technology with traditional cell phone capabilities and will reportedly sport a 2 mega pixel camera.

The report also mentioned that Foxconn will begin delivering around 500,000 - 600,000 iPhones per month beginning in February 2007, to the Steve Jobs camp, from their Fushikang manufacturing facility.

This indicates that the Apple mobile thingamajig will initially be available only in a single model. Aside from that, the makers of the iconic iPod reportedly enlisted the guidance and expertise of several component suppliers in the hope that they would bring fresh inputs and ideas to the table.

Some of these tapped "experts" is Foxconn's subsidiary AlusTech, which will be helping out in the fabrication of the digicam module; Largan, which will supply the camera lens; and Micron which will take care of the CMOS image sensor. There were also reports that big-time companies such as Intel, Sharp, Tripod Tech, Broadcom, and Sunrex will also be on board as they will help out in the memory, LCM display, circuit board, baseband chip and keypad. Surely, Apple is not taking any chances on this one.

And since the iPod has become so popular largely because of its sleek design, the Cupertino based company also asked for the help of Catcher Tech to mold and manufacture the phone's outer housing. 

With all that info, we think that the only missing tidbit here is the price tag. Let's wait for more developments as the days come by.

Alright, after ALL of those rumors about the possibility or existence of the legendary iPhone (or for the nit-picky, "a mobile phone unit made by Apple") here comes yet another piece of meat to add to the already neck-high stack of so-called juicy bits.

Forbes.com has reported that the Taiwanese company Hon Hai (otherwise known as Foxconn in other countries) has just won a contract from Apple which will have the company churning out 15-inch Macbooks for delivery in January, as well as "12 million mobile handsets that also function as music players". Oooh. The report then goes on to say that the said mobile handsets are expected to be launched by the first half of 2007, though no other details of the deal have been revealed.

On the other hand, many are still speculating if perhaps this could all just be a mistranslation, and that "mobile handsets that also function as music players" may actually have been more of "handheld MP3 players", or iPods.

iPhone, are you for real? Once again, it all becomes a matter of waiting for official announcements. Until then, we can just wonder of Apple's phones will be using a click-wheel.

Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., the contracted manufacturer of Apple's iPod media jukebox have filed lawsuits against two Chinese journalists who wrote articles about working conditions at factories where iPods are made. According to Chinese press, Hongfujin, which is a subsidiary of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd.’s Foxconn Technology Group, is seeking 30 million renminbi (US$3.77 million) in damages from the two journalists.

Published articles written by the two journalists accused Apple and Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. of exploiting workers at their factory in southern China. The Shenzhen Intermediate Court, which accepted the case, froze the assets of the two reporters, Weng Bao and Wang You. The journalist rights group Reporters Without Borders have requested that the iPod contractor drop the lawsuit, but as of yet no news on Hongfujin Precision Industry Co.'s reply has surfaced.

Good news for Sony fanboys and girls: production of the PlayStation 3 has begun! Apparently, Asustek Computers, considered one of the biggest computer components producer, has already shipped PS3 consoles to Sony. If this is true, it can only mean one thing: the November launch is pushing through (Yey!).

With the 200,000 component sets shipped to Asus in June, a small volume has already been assembled and shipped back to Sony early this month. The number of consoles to be built by Asus is said to increase as the launch date approaches, with September and October marking a shipment to Asus of more than one million component sets.

There have been no reports regarding Foxconn Electronics, which was also reported to help build Sony's next-generation console, receiving any PS3 component parts. Chinese newspaper Apple Daily writes that Foxconn will start assembly operations when demand rises.

A couple of weeks ago, Apple responded to iPod "sweatshop" accusation and reassured the public that the company is committed to ensuring that workers are treated with respect and dignity. It didn't take long for Shanghai Business Review to defend Apple to defend Apple, even saying that quality of factories in China are better than in Europe. Of course, the accused, Foxconn had already spoken. And it continues to speak, but this time, bashing domestic and international media for the irresponsible reporting without independent verification of the actual working conditions in Foxconn's iPod plants.

Edmund Ding, speaking on behalf of Foxconn Electronics (registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry), has submitted a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange strongly criticizing the media for erroneously reporting less than humane conditions in its iPod factories in China. Again, Foxconn has denied allegations of sweatshop conditions in light of reports that the company has admitted to breaking labor laws in China, by asking employees to work 80 extra hours every month and only giving an equivalent of $50 in pay.

In response, Ding stated that Foxconn pays an overtime rate equivalent or better than that required by Chinese laws. He further stated that "Foxconn does not comment about customer information, much less make a public announcement on behalf of a customer."

Despite earlier denials, Foxconn, an original equipment manufacturer for Apple's iPod, reportedly admitted it is breaking labor laws in China, according to China CSR. China CSR is a corporate social responsibility website that mainly focuses on labor situations in the most populous nation on Earth.

Foxconn allegedly 'fessed that their employees work about 80 extra hours each month, a practice which is not legal in China. According to Chinese labor laws, employees cannot be forced to work more than 36 extra hours a month. However, Foxconn says its complicated salary structure has caused misunderstanding among the media, and the company has paid the workers according to the minimum salary standards of the Shenzhen local government. 

The company also claimed Apple has already sent a special investigation team but found no evidence of the allegations of the sweatshop conditions at iPod City. While the China CSR report has surfaced on various sites, it cannot be confirmed if the reports were true.