Protests against Apple’s labor practices in China continue; Apple factory gets hacked

Your products may be cool, Apple, but your labor practices definitely are not.

That’s the message that fair-labor advocates are sending to the world’s biggest tech company in the latest round of protests against its labor practices. Protesters led by
Change.org delivered a petition containing 250,000 signatures to Apple stores in Bangalore, London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, and Washington DC.

At Long Last, Verizon Reveals the Release Date of Motorola Droid 4

Droid 4, the QWERTY smartphone from Motorola, will hit Verizon stores on February 10. The handset is priced at $199.99 under a two-year contract.

Motorola refers to the Droid 4 as the “the thinnest and most powerful 4G QWERTY smartphone measuring at less than half an inch thin.” However, the phone is still powered by the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread. An update to Ice Cream sandwich will be coming soon.

Other features of the Droid 4 include a 4-inch qHD display, 8MP camera and a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor. The phone unit has access to 4G LTE coverage.

Finally, The Simpsons Arcade Game in Consoles

The long wait is over. Get ready for the arrival of The Simpsons Arcade Game in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this week. The classic game produced by Konami appears in the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network for download. This game is memorable to most people despite the many Simpsons-related games created in the [...]

Epson Unveils the MegaPlex Digital Dock Projector at iWorld 2012

Epson occupied a large area on the second floor where the iWorld 2012 is held to off the MegaPlex Digital Dock Projector. The company has been recognized as a maker of imaging products but it is their first time to launch a project with an iOS device in mind. The projector is designed with a dock where a user can plug in the iPad or the iPhone.

Epson will release two versions of the printer. Once is priced at $799 while the other has a price tag of $699. The difference between the two versions lies in the video support and lumes. The more expensive model will output 720p video at 2800 lumens while the other one supports 540p video at 2200 lumens. Aside from iOS devices, any other video formats like RCA, s-video, VGA, and HDMI is supported by the newest Epson projector.

LEGO and Minecraft Collaboration Takes Shape

It was Minecraft developer Mojang who proposed the idea back in December, and LEGO recently made the official announcement that the company is “developing a concept that celebrates the best aspects of building with the LEGO system and in Minecraft.”

This project was made possible through the community site LEGO Cuusoo. Members of these communities submit their LEGO ideas to the site and top submissions are chosen through voting. The project received an overwhelming number of supporters and then proposal was forwarded to the LEGO jury for assessment.

Apple to Upgrade to a 5G Gigabit Wi-Fi this 2012

According to reports from AppleInsider, the company is planning to integrate a support for the 802.11ac Wi-Fi this year. The 802.11n standard is capable to support a speed of 1 Gigabit per second. The change will be implemented on Apple’s Time Capsule, AirPort base stations, notebooks, Apple TV and mobile devices. Even no official words had been released, Broadcom, one of Apple’s component makers has showcased the chips compatible to the new standard at the recent CES 2012. The new standard, 802.11ac, features improved readability, more power efficient and better networking range.

Will Apple Present the iPad Textbooks this Week?

Several reports are suggesting that Apple is set to introduce a new product at the press conference to be held on Thursday. The company hopes that this fresh innovation will redefine the use of textbooks in schools.

The Wall Street Journal mentioned that Apple will unveil a new digital textbook product this coming Thursday. This new platform will serve as a workplace for publishers to created interactive educational materials that iPad can support.

Microsoft Now Working on Skype for Windows Phone

Skype vice president of products Rick Osterloh hinted during a recent interview at CES in Las Vegas that Microsoft is currently developing Skype for Windows Phone application.

“We’re … working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon,” Osterloh said.

Apple Call Off iPhone 4S Sales in Beijing, Crowd Gets Furious

The iPhone 4S was launched in Beijing last October 14, 2011 and it was only on January 13, 2011 that it goes on sale. Over 300 customers gathered and encircled the Apple store in Beijing’s Sanlitun district in the hopes to score the latest Apple iPhone. According to news, the crowd was composed of workers as well as scalpers who aim to sell the smartphones at cheaper prices.

The Apple store was set to open at 7am but didn’t pusj through. Sometime around 7:15 am, a security guard announced that Apple is canceling the sales of the iPhone 4S for that day. Upon hearing the announcement, the irritated crowd turned wild and began throwing bag of eggs at the store’s interiors.

Nokia’s Lumia 900 to Light Up on March 18

The release date was dropped by Windows guru Paul Thurrott during the Windows Weekly podcast. Thurrott is often relay trusted insider Microsoft information. He already mentioned the said date last December during the discussion of Microsoft’s Windows Phone LTE plans.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley joined Thurrott on the podcast. They based their prediction of the release date of the Lumia 900 on Nokia developer documentation.

The Lumia 900 has several very impressive features like the 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black display, a front-facing camera, 1.4 gigahertz CPU and 1830mah battery.