aluminum

Cuts, scrapes, and scratches are part of what seems to be slowing Apple's iPhone 5 supply.

According to Bloomberg, the smartphone's delicate aluminum housing, coupled with increasingly stricter quality control, has slowed production and added to the device's supply shortfall.

When Apple launched the iPhone 5 last month, fanatics flocked to stores and Web sites to get the device -- but many were met with "sold out" and "check back soon" notices. Early reports said one of the reasons for the shortage of phones was the device's new LG Display technology.

Now … Read more

Apple has reportedly responded to at least one complaint about the scratches and chips being discovered on the iPhone 5.

"Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color," Apple Senior Marketing VP Phil Schiller said in an e-mail, according to 9to5Mac. "That is normal."

Schiller apparently made the comment in an e-mail sent in response to iPhone 5 user "Alex." E-mailing Schiller that he loves his new iPhone, Alex asked about the scuffs, scratches, and marks appearing around the band and wondered if Apple had plans to fix … Read more

Production of the next iPhone has already begun, a Japanese-language Apple blog claims.

And to back up its claim, the Macotakara blog cites listings for iPhone 5 cases on China's Alibaba.com.

The blog goes on to say that the back of the new iPhone has both glass and aluminum. "In the area where aluminum is not used, there is glass." (see image below).

This contrasts with previous reports that claim the next iPhone will have an all-aluminum back like the iPad.

By comparison, the iPhone 4S sports glass coverings on the front and back.

The iPhone … Read more

Apple's outrageous success has a dark side. But does that mean it's time to stop buying Apple products?

Before we go there, let's get a few things out of the way. The focus of the New York Times iPad human cost story was Apple because:

Fame: Like anything that is constantly in the public eye (such as, say, a Republican presidential candidate) Apple is a magnet for reporters. There's lots and lots of reporting about Apple, some invariably negative.

Profits: While analysts and journalists trip over each other to applaud Apple's profit juggernaut, the way … Read more

If you are looking for little ways to get greener in the kitchen, but want to keep using aluminum foil, recycled foil might be one answer.

The makers of one brand of recycled aluminum foil say that making recycled foil uses just 5 percent of the energy required to make regular foil. In this SmartPlanet Smart Picks video, correspondent Sumi Das talks about how recycled foil stands up to traditional foil.

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With the iPad 2 launch in the rear-view mirror, we're back to the iPhone 5 rumors, and this week starts with one out of China by way of Taiwan's Economic Daily News and the Japanese blog Makotakara.

The gist of the talk is that Apple will be abandoning the glass back for an aluminum one, as well as ditching the external antenna, which has been a source of problems for Apple and forced the company to issue free "bumper" guards to prevent signal loss when the iPhone 4 was gripped very tightly.

The loose translation goes … Read more

So as we saw in Monday's video blog, there are some car owners who not only love their Volkswagen Rabbits, but also want to update and upgrade their European bunnies. Well here's another adventurous Rabbit owner who sought to give his cottontail a power boost under the hood and did so with a little help from some independent throttle bodies.

For those of you not familiar, a throttle body controls the air intake into the engine in correlation to the pressure put on the accelerator. And this VW Rabbit gets blessed with a few Suzuki GSXR 650 throttle … Read more

As I continue to wind down Speeds and Feeds, I picked ruggedness as the topic for part 3.

In part 2 of this wrap-up series, I on Tuesday discussed reliability, suggesting that an increasing portion of the transistor budget in personal computers should be used to avoid, detect, and recover from hardware, software, and data errors.

Ruggedness, the ability of a PC to survive adverse physical conditions, complements reliability by further increasing the practical availability of a PC to do useful work.

As with efficiency in power management (part 1's topic), this is an area where PCs can learn … Read more

According to a new study at the Center for Automotive Research's (CAR) Business of Plugging In conference, opting for high-strength, low-weight aluminum over heavier steel structures for plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles can cut vehicle price overall by reducing the battery energy requirements and the associated costs. The study was jointly conducted by The Aluminum Association, Inc. with Ricardo, a leading technical research and strategic consultancy to the world's automotive, transport and energy industries.

According to the study, the driving range of the vehicles could be improved approximately equal to the mass saved. Reduce the mass of the … Read more