News

Foxconn is set to break ground on a new iPhone manufacturing facility that will ultimately crank out 200,000 iPhones daily and employ almost the same number of workers. The factory is shrouded in secrecy, prompting speculation over Apple's long term plans for the facility.

Demand for the iPhone 4 surpassed expectations and has set records for Apple, with a three-week wait for the device still posted on the Apple Store online. Production problems and shortages have hampered the company's efforts to launch the white iPhone 4 until later this year. Talk of a 500-worker rented production line already in operation by Foxconn has let some to believe the new permanent factory could be tooled for something special.

Big news in the iPhone jailbreaking world this week. Now that the US government has legalized jailbreaking for smart phone users across the board, Comex has stepped in and released the latest iOS jailbreak solution online. To jailbreak any device running iOS 4 all that's needed is the device itself, no computer required.

The Dev-Team has announced two sites that will mirror the software, accessible by just visiting these links from your Mobile Safari browser on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The new release is called JailbreakMe 2.0 and can be accessed at jailbreakme.com and jailbreakme.modmyi.com.

Unfortunately for some iPhone 3G users the iOS 4 update did not go very well. Reports have surfaced that the new firmware has problems running on the older hardware. The good news is that Apple is working on iOS 4.1, which will alleviate many of the problems with iPhone 3G compatibility.

In the meantime, upgraders have experienced premature battery drain and excessive heat coming from their devices. Performance has slowed to a crawl for some users as speed issues dominate, with many unable to run simple tasks without a headache.

Yesterday, only 2 weeks after releasing iOS 4.1 Beta 1, Apple seeded the second iOS 4.1 beta to iPhone developers. The only official iOS update released thus far (iOS 4.0.1) was a fix for signal bar problems widely reported by new iPhone 4 owners. Though the signal bar issue and the related "death grip" fiasco has gotten an incredible amount of press, the issues this latest iOS update is reported to address may have a far greater impact with iPhone owners.

Despite ongoing manufacturing and inventory problems, Apple is forging ahead with its global rollout of the iPhone 4. Friday July 30 will see the introduction of iPhone 4 smart phones in 17 additional markets. Apple first launched the iPhone 4 on June 24 in the US, with cellular service exclusively provided by AT&T Wireless.

Over three million iPhone 4 units have already been sold. Apple recently announced it was not making the white iPhone 4 model available until later in 2010 due to manufacturing difficulties. The white version was previously expected to hit shelves at the end of July. The next batch of countries slated to receive the iPhone 4 include the following: