Apple stores across the world are facing possible demonstrations against allegedly poor labor ethics. Apple’s manufacturing partners in China have faced a lot of bad press for allegedly poor work environments in factories building Apple devices.

Siri is rumored to be getting support for new languages. The new languages rumored to be coming include Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Russian language.

Samsung landed a sales injunction in Germany against Apple products having to do with patents for 3G tech Samsung holds. The result is Apple has been forced to pull its products using 3G technology from its German online store.

Rumors are swirling that the iPhone 5 may be revealed in June. If true, the phone will surface for the first time at WWDC.

Apple has landed a new retail chief who came over to Cupertino from European retail chain Dixons. The new retail chief is John Browett.

A new rumor has surfaced claiming the iPhone 5 will have strong NFC support. NFC is required use contactless payments and many other phones already support NFC.

The good news for iPhone users on T-Mobile is that the carrier is planning to improve the support for iPhones starting on January 30, which is today. The carrier is adding a special iPhone support page, which will help iPhone users that need assistance. Alas, the phones was still be only 2G capable. Last week Samsung saw its second 3G patent suit against Apple rejected by the courts.

The suit in question was in German courts, the judge Andreas Voss rejected Samsung claims without a clear explanation of why. I would imagine Apple doesn’t really care why, it’s just glad the claims are rejected. I doubt this is the last time we hear of lawsuits between Samsung and Apple.

T-Mobile documents have surfaced that claim unlocked iPhones have poor network performance. The document says that only 2G speeds are possible with the iPhone on its network thanks to the lack of WCDMA 1700/2100 bands.

If you are hoping for a Lytro iPhone using light filed technology to come soon, you are out of luck. You can read why this is a long ways off here.

Apple’s CEO has admitted that it planned poorly for the iPhone 4S launch in China. The demand and short supply is said to be what sparked near riots in China. There have been shortages in other countries that haven’t led to egg throwing and abused Apple workers so I hardly think this is at Apple’s feet alone.

Apple offered up its Q1 2012 financial figures yesterday and sales for the company were gigantic. The company posted $24 billion in revenue for the iPhone and related products and services.

A new survey of recent iPhone 4S buyers has found that 21% are opting for the 64GB version. The survey also found a significant percentage of them are coming from other operating systems.

So far, a half million iPhone 4S users have taken advantage of the new 4S jailbreak. The jailbreak was a long time coming since the A5 processor was so hard to crack.

Samsung’s first patent suit over 3G tech against Apple has been shot down in Germany. The suit centered on alleged Apple infringement on 3G/UMTS patents that Samsung owns.

A new jailbreak tool for the iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is incoming. The tool is called the Coronal A5 tool and it will let the user hack their device with the A5 processor inside.

That $50 monthly plan also includes tethering for the cost. Thankfully, if you don’t want more data and need the $5 monthly savings you can stay on your existing plan. Those not asking to stay will be rolled to the new plan. If you have an iPhone 4S and an iPod touch you can get Siri on your touch.

In fact, getting Siri on the touch is very simple to do according to a geek going by AppleGordon. All you have to do is run a restore of the 4S backup to your touch and Siri comes along for the ride. We are talking the claim with some sodium though. If you try it out and your device survives, let us know.

The new Renew SleepClock for the iPhone will be coming this March for $199. The clock has sensors for monitoring user breathing and movement to log your sleep cycle.

The Navy is thinking about using iOS devices to allow control of its drone RoboCopters. Having flown toy helicopters that use iOS devices fro control, I hope the Navy has better apps.

After the Chinese launch issues that went on at the iPhone 4S launch with eggs thrown and violence one analyst said the violence was in part Apples fault. Canalys’ Nicole Peng said that Chinese fans don’t want to have to wait for new gadgets.

NASA has launched a cool new app for the iPhone. The app is called Mars Images and shares photos from the Opportunity rover as soon as NASA gets them.

TomTom has unveiled an updated navigation app at CES for the iPhone and iPad. The update will be here soon and allows you to directly navigate to addresses and check-ins on invites from twitter and Facebook.

Rumors are flying that Apple workers are at CES 2012 even though Apple has no official booth. Rumors also claim that the new iPad launching this year is at the show too.

The official price for the smartphone in the other countries is unknown at this time. Apple is optimistic about selling the smartphone in China, it is a huge market. The growth of internet and smartphone uses in China is predicted to be higher than most other countries. You can see the full list of countries that will get the phone on the 13th below.

Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

[via SlashGear]

A new rumor is floating around that a completely new iPhone will be surfacing in the fall of 2012. The rumors point to a new smartphone with an aluminum back more like the iPad.

The reports from Christmas Day are in and apparently iOS devices had record setting activations. On Christmas Day alone there were 6.8 million activations that day alone.

One such unofficial emulator is on the App Store right now. It is called iMAME and it has a virtual arcade cabinet with controls surrounding the game on your screen. We suspect the app might not stay on the App Store very long.

The app has games called Circus, Side Track, and Hard Hat by default. The thing that is likely to get the app pulled is that you can add your own ROMs, thus allowing you to toss other games on and those games could be Atari classics for instance. Grab the app while you can if you are a fan. The app is compatible with the iCade as well.

[via SlashGear]