Confirmed: Apple iPhone 6 is much easier to bend than the Apple iPhone 5

Consumer Reports tried to put a positive spin on it, but the truth is the iPhone 6 is one of the more bendable phones. The way major media outlets are rushing to Apple's defense calls into question their motives.

Results of Consumer Reports smart phone bend test

	Deformation	Case separation
HTC One (M8)	70 pounds	90 pounds
Apple iPhone 6	70 pounds	100 pounds
Apple iPhone 6 Plus	90 pounds	110 pounds
LG G3	130 pounds	130 pounds
Apple iPhone 5	130 pounds	150 pounds
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	150 pounds	150 pounds

Interesting: Apple's new encryption will prevent them from turning over user device data even if police have a warrant...

Our governments abuse of our privacy rights is backfiring on them. 

Via WaPo:

Apple said Wednesday night that it is making it impossible for the company to turn over data from most iPhones or iPads to police — even when they have a search warrant — taking a hard new line as tech companies attempt to blunt allegations that they have too readily participated in government efforts to collect user information.
The move, announced with the publication of a new privacy policy tied to the release of Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 8, amounts to an engineering solution to a legal quandary: Rather than comply with binding court orders, Apple has reworked its latest encryption in a way that prevents the company — or anyone but the device’s owner — from gaining access to the vast troves of user data typically stored on smartphones or tablet computers.
The key is the encryption that Apple mobile devices automatically put in place when a user selects a passcode, making it difficult for anyone who lacks that passcode to access the information within, including photos, e-mails and recordings. Apple once maintained the ability to unlock some content on devices for legally binding police requests but will no longer do so for iOS 8, it said in the new privacy policy.

Scary: Apple to begin storing user data on Chinese servers...

What could go wrong?

(Reuters) - Apple Inc AAPL.O has begun keeping the personal data of some Chinese users on servers in mainland China, marking the first time the tech giant is storing user data on Chinese soil.
The storage of user data in China represents a departure from the policies of some technology companies, notably Google Inc GOOGL.O, which has long refused to build data centres in China due to censorship and privacy concerns.
Apple said the move was part of an effort to improve the speed and reliability of its iCloud service, which lets users store pictures, e-mail and other data. Positioning data centres as close to customers as possible means faster service.
The data will be kept on servers provided by China Telecom Corp Ltd 0728.HK, the country's third-largest wireless carrier, Apple said in a statement on Friday.

Rotten Apple

Apples stock has plummeted over 30% recently. There is fear the company has lost it's mojo after the death of Steve Jobs. Adding to thier misery is the news they are using child labor in China.

Apple has discovered multiple cases of child labour in its supply chain, including one Chinese company that employed 74 children under the age of 16, in the latest controversy over the technology giant's manufacturing methods.

An internal audit found a flipside to the western consumer's insatiable thirst for innovative and competitively priced gadgets. It uncovered 106 cases of underage labour being used at Apple suppliers last year and 70 cases historically. The report follows a series of worker suicides over working conditions at Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles must-have products such as the iPad and iPhone, and lethal explosions at other plants.

Apple's annual supplier report – which monitors nearly 400 suppliers – found that children were employed at 11 factories involved in making its products. A number of them had been recruited using forged identity papers.

Did you know federal agencies can only buy "green electronics?"

A few years ago the federal government helped create a green electronics standard that was voluntary. Companies voluntarily had their products rated by the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Of course, the federal government decided to enforce the 'voluntary' standard by using the massive purchasing power of the federal government to punish those who failed to kneel before their new green rulers. Apple has decided to buck this trend. Kudos to Apple.

Via ifixit.org:

Federal agencies can no longer buy Apple products for their offices. According to a recent announcement, Apple will be pulling all of their products from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT), the leading green consumer electronics standard. EPEAT is designed to mitigate the negative environmental and social impacts of electronics manufacturing by requiring that products meet eight environmental “performance categories,” including product lifetime, toxic materials, and recyclability of components and packaging materials.

Since 2007, all of Apple’s new products have been EPEAT Gold Certified, as they’ve widely advertised. EPEAT was developed by the Green Electronics Council, with a grant from the EPA, in 2006. By June 2007, 19 major electronics manufacturers had products registered with EPEAT, including Apple. Voluntary, government-adopted environmental standards such as EPEAT are one of the most effective ways to make the electronics industry greener. The federal government has significant buying power, and federal agencies can only purchase products that meet the EPEAT standard.

Via WaPo:

 The entire federal government is in compliance with the requirement that 95 percent of the products it buys and uses meet the EPEAT standards.

APPLE Board Meeting: Al Gore has become a "Laughingstock"

Apple considers itself a green company. They even put Al Gore on the board. Shareholders are beginning to revolt. One even called Gore a "laughingstock."

CNET reported:

...Gore was seated in the first row, along with his six fellow board members, in Apple's Town Hall auditorium as several stockholders took turns either bashing or praising his high-profile views on climate change...