Type of Article: MacTech Blog

Over the weekend it was reported that Apple admitted that child labor had been used at the Chinese factories that build its Macs, iPods and iPhones. Now the company is being urged to disclose more details about its suppliers. But is that necessary?

At least eleven 15-year-old children were discovered to be working last year in three factories that supply the company. Workers’ rights groups want Apple to disclose more info on its suppliers, reports “Bloomberg” (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aUbDxIWdQCKg).

I work out of a home office. Do you? If so, you’re in a growing group. And the trend can only be good for the environment as it cuts down on the costs of transportation.

The world’s mobile worker population will grow to nearly 1.2 billion people — more than a third of the world’s workforce – by 2013, according to a new forecast from the IDC research group (http://www.idc.com).

According to BoomBox, a month report from Myxer on mobile entertainment consumption habits, iPhone dominates states across the country, but Android users have closed the gap and have actually surpassed iPhone users in eight states, with seven of them coming from West and Midwest states including Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Apple — or, at least Steve Jobs — obviously loves touchscreen devices, so it’s just a matter of time until we see a touchscreen Mac. I suspect the iMac will be the first to make the move.

As we reported Thursday (http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive/apple_patent_hints_at_touchscreen_displays_for_computers/), there is an an Apple patent involving touchscreen displays for computers. And earlier this year there were reports that Apple plans to launch a 22-inch touch-enabled iMac in addition to the current non-touch 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs.

Several Apple patents have appeared at the US Patent & Trademark Office. Here’s a summary of each.

Patent number 201004862 involves personalized streaming digital content. It’s for a method for generating personalized streaming content, the method including the steps of analyzing a digital library of a user associated with a user account, generating recommended digital media based on analysis of the digital library, generating personalized streaming content that includes digital media from the digital library and recommended digital media. The inventor is Rhan Graeme Dixon.