After enduring weeks of criticism over the working conditions at the Chinese factories that make its products, Apple has asked the Fair Labor Association to look into the matter. The FLA will audit the plants where 90% of Apple products are assembled, including the embattled Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu. More »

Pegatron Technology has reportedly received a small volume of orders for the upcoming iPad 3, which is set to launch in March, according to Digitimes. Apple has reportedly revamped the company’s outsourcing strategy and will have Pegatron focus on production of the iPad series, with Foxconn serving serving as an auxiliary in 2013. Foxconn‘s primary focus will be the iPhone, with Pegatron only producing a small number of smartphones. The new strategy is meant to decrease risk and increase the quality of products, according to the report. The Cupertino-based company has already visited Pegatron‘s plants in China several times. The publication also claimed that Pegatron is expected to see a “significant increase” in orders for an iPad 4 launch reportedly scheduled for October with an initial volume of 7-10 million units. However, last week John Gruber of Daring Fireball called the March launch of the iPad 3 “completely accurate,” but claimed an iPad 4 report was “completely made-up nonsense.”

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We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget inquiry is coming to us from Ryan, who can't wait to get his kid fixated on the wonderful world of computers. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

"My son (five years old) has commandeered my wife's laptop for his game-playing pleasure lately, and it's been driving her batty. He basically only plays the games she does (Plants vs. Zombies, Zuma, etc.). So far he's able to find the games he wants (by their icons) and open them without issues using Windows 7, but now that I'm looking into getting him his own basic computer I'm beginning to wonder if there isn't something more kid-friendly out there. I've had cursory experience with OS X and Linux (Ubuntu), and I'll be doing all the installing and setup myself. Any thoughts from parents? Thanks!"

Kids and computers. Now that's a recipe for awesomeness. Any new(ish) parents out there have any experience on their kids loving / hating a certain OS? Feel free to drop your advice in comments below -- let's keep it intelligent, okay?

Ask Engadget: best desktop OS for kids? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 03 Sep 2011 23:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LG Display has decided to drastically cut its expenditure target for 2012, in yet another sign that the LCD market is going through some tough times. Today, the manufacturer announced that it will spend only three trillion won (about $2.8 billion) on its production facilities next year -- a 33 percent decrease from its previously revised budget and LG Display's lowest expenditure target since 2009. The company also said that it has no plans to build a new LCD plants in 2012, suggesting that it may already be facing excess panel supply. Analysts are predicting that demand will remain subdued throughout the end of 2011, though LG Display CFO James Jeong had previously said he expects things to pick up by the beginning of next year.

LG Display cuts spending targets for 2012, amid sagging LCD demand originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketplace is now home to more than 25,000 applications, according to the app tracking website WindowsPhoneAppList. That’s a rapid jump from the 18,000 applications that were available in May but it’s still a far cry from the competing app stores offered by Apple and Google. The Android Marketplace is populated with more than 200,000 applications, and Apple said in May that its iTunes App Store boasts more than 500,000 apps. The top-5 paid apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace are all games. Angry Birds is the most popular download, followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1, Plants vs. Zombies, Doodle Jump, and Pac Man Championship Edition DX. Microsoft has yet to officially announce having reached the milestone.

[Via TNW]

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Electronic Arts is set to purchase PopCap Games for $1 billion, according to TechCrunch. PopCap Games is best known for titles such as Plants vs. Zombies, Peggle, and Bejewled, all of which are available on a number of platforms, including the PC and mobile devices. It’s unclear what the motivation behind the purchase is. EA has a number of hits available in the iTunes App Store, including NBA Jam, The Sims, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, but perhaps it could use PopCap’s expertise in the casual market to create an entity capable of competing with the likes of Zynga — a firm that relies on in-game purchases to make money. Neither Electronic Arts nor PopCap Games has confirmed the purchase.

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Continue reading Treebot climbs trees, is a robot (video)

Treebot climbs trees, is a robot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 May 2011 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can't have a 9.0 magnitude earthquake without breaking a few factories, particularly ones that produce fragile liquid crystal screens, and this week Toshiba, Hitachi and Panasonic are each reporting damages that have forced them to close LCD production facilities affected by the tsunami and quake. Panasonic isn't sure when its plant in Chiba prefecture might resume production, telling Bloomberg that "there has been some damage, though not a fire or a collapse," but both Hitachi and Toshiba will reportedly halt some assembly lines for around a month to deal with damages. It's probably still too soon to talk about panel shortages -- though that seems likely -- but we'll let you know how things progress.

Toshiba and Hitachi LCD plants damaged, will shut down for a month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The next hydrangea you grow could literally save your life. With the help of the Department of Defense, a biologist at the University of Colorado has taught plant proteins how to detect explosives. More »

Today, Google announced that its Goggles image search feature is immediately available in the App Store for Apple’s iPhone smartphone. The new feature, which will be bundled into the Google Mobile App, will support iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 devices running iOS 4 or higher.

“Computer vision is a hard problem and Google Goggles is still a Labs product. It works well for things such as landmarks, logos and the covers of books, DVDs and games. However, it doesn’t yet work for some things you might want to try like animals, plants or food,” explains Google.

Slap on those beer Goggles and get Googling. There is a brief video waiting for you after the break.

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For you iPad owners who want to be extra cheeky about the fact that you're helping books go the way of the dodo, TwelveSouth's BookBook case wraps your tablet in hardback leather. Think War and Peace: Plants vs. Zombies edition. More »

Powered by nothing but pipe dreams and plants (and a smattering of wishful thinking), the Photosynthesis Car would use solar panels and somehow, yes, photosynthesis, to move about town. More »

Energy - Business - Renewable - Solar - Electric

This flying greenhouse is the latest project from La Machine, a French street theater company famous for their grandiose creations. The future of gardening: one part Up, one part Wild Wild West, and two parts, um, plants. [Wired, Jordi Bover] More »

Garden - Wild West - FAQs Help and Tutorials - Recreation - DNA

Katie and Sebastian are just two children who love to explore. They're fascinated by creatures, plants, and their respective taxonomies. They're charming and relatable! And then there's the giant mechanical squid. More »