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Report: Foxconn's Brazil factory ready for business, will begin shipping iPads in December
It appears that Apple is about to expand its manufacturing operations to Brazil, where a new Foxconn factory is already in place and ready to churn out iPads, according to a report from national media outlet UOL. Aolizio Mercadante, the country's minister of science and technology, confirmed the news this week during a hearing held by the Commission of Economic Affairs. "At first many doubted, but it will be the first time that [Apple] will produce iPads outside Chinese territory," Mercadente said. "We are taking a big step for digital inclusion in the country." Located in Jundiaí, the new facility was constructed under a joint venture between Foxconn and the Brazilian government, with the former reportedly contributing $12 million to the initiative. Rumors of a South American expansion began circulating earlier this year, with many expecting Foxconn's Brazil-based operations to get underway during Q1 of 2012, according to DigiTimes. Construction, however, appears to have wrapped up ahead of schedule, with Mercadante claiming that iPad shipments will begin in December. Apple, for its part, has not commented on the report.
Netflix lands in Brazil, 43 other Latin American countries within the week
Netflix promised our friends in Central and South America would soon be able to enjoy the pleasures of Watch Instantly. Starting today with Brazil, and with 43 other Latin American countries to follow before September 12th, the pioneering streaming video service is making good on that promise. Customers in the land of Carnival can enjoy a free one-month trial, after which a subscription will run BR$14.99 a month. The roll out will be staggered over the coming days, with most areas getting a price point equivalent to $7.99 in American currency and some having both English and Spanish language options. For more details check out the PR after the break and the chart above. [Thanks, Nicolas]
Netflix bringing instant streaming to Latin America, global domination plan on track
Soon enough, most of the western hemisphere will be able to enjoy Netflix Watch Instantly without the need for proxies and work-arounds. Later this year the company will add 43 countries in Central and South America, and the Caribbean to its list of supported locales. It will also wrap up its North American expansion by streaming flicks into the heart of Mexico. When exactly folks in Brazil and Trinidad will be able to sign up, and how much it will cost when it launches are still up in the air at the moment. One thing is certain though -- while Hulu is striking deals with the likes of Miramax and the Criterion Collection to bolster its library of feature length films, Netflix is building a global empire.
Nokia outs 1GHz Series 40 handset with ClearBlack display
According to Nokia's Manager of Marketing Services in Argentina, an S40-based mobile phone with a 1GHz processor and ClearBlack display is coming -- and for our part, we're hoping to see it next week at Nokia Connection 2011 in Singapore. There, company leaders (including the outspoken CEO himself), will debut new products aimed at emerging markets. Granted, there's nothing definitive to connect the dots, but given the operating system, it would make perfect sense to get a glimpse at this mystery device -- along with the Nokia C2-06 -- at next week's conference. The Argentina-based tweets that originally outed this handset have been snuffed, but they've been preserved in the form of a retweet and screen caps, letting this casual mistake ripple through the web. Don't feel too bad, Nokia... as mobile fanatics, we're big fans of the unintended reveal. Now, how about outing those sweet Mangoes?
Online Brazilian Apple Store now live
After months of rumors, Apple's official online store for Brazil has officially opened at apple.com/br. It joins the 34 other countries with localized online stores. The Brazilian store is a mirror of many others and joins Apple's effort to establish a presence south of the United States. Presently, there are localized online stores in Brazil, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador among others. Right now, there are no brick-and-mortar Apple Stores in Brazil, but they do run eight "Stores within a store" complexes in association with Fnac (similar to the arrangement with Best Buy here in the USA). Brazilian customers have anticipated the real thing for a long time. Here's hoping you get physical stores soon. Until then, enjoy your online shopping, Brazil! [Via AppleInsider]
Nextar launching M3 navigator into South America
Hey, they don't call this thing the International Consumer Electronics Show for nothing, so it shouldn't come as any big surprise to see Nextar unveiling a trio of new navigators that are destined for routes in South America. PNDs for Argentina (M3-AR), Brazil (M3-BR), and Mexico (updated to the M3-MX1) are all scheduled to go on sale in early 2009, with each model packing its respective country maps as well as a multimedia player, 3.5-inch touchscreen, text-to-speech support, oodles of POIs, an integrated antenna, rechargeable Li-ion and a stylus for no good reason good measure. All three will sell for $249.99, and the full release is after the break.
DirecTV HD comes to Argentina
The world is evidently DirecTV's oyster, as the satcaster has now launched an HD web portal for Argentinians just a week after going live with HD service in Latin America. Details about actual high-def offerings (outside of Fox HD and DirecTV HD Showcase) are still vague at the moment, but we are told that those who opt for the service will be handed an HD DVR capable of storing 400 hours of SD content and 100 hours of HD footage. Let us know if you gather up the courage to bite.[Via The Argentine Post, thanks Santiago]
Cinpolis and RealD to bring 3D cinema to more of Mexico
Funny story -- so just four months back, we were seriously wondering if 3D theaters could truly thrive. Here we are just a season later, and the answer is looking clearer all the time. Cinépolis, the planet's fifth largest cinema exhibitor, has just announced in conjunction with RealD a new partnership that will bring 500 new 3D screens to locales in Mexico, South America and Central America. Six of the new screens have already been installed, while the remainder will continue to be rolled out until 2010. Exact cities weren't mentioned, but we are told that those who get 'em before December can expect to see Disney's BOLT in eye-popping 3D this Christmas.[Image courtesy of HomeTheaterBlog]
LG CU500 + Argentina = MU500
Not too far removed from its North American launch in CU500 guise, LG's metallic flip with the rotating cam is heading to South America -- this time as the "MU500." Much as the CU500 was North America's first HSDPA handset at retail, the MU500 will allegedly be Argentina's first, offering the same 1.3 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, and external music controls as its English-speaking cousin. Unlike the CU500, though -- and any phone launched since on AT&T, for that matter -- the MU500 supports video calling, a feature native to UMTS that most 3G carriers choose to deploy. Look for it to launch on Argentina's Personal network.[Via Mobilewhack and Telecoms Korea]
Nintendo DS tops 10 million in the Americas [update 1]
Coinciding with its recent 10 million in Europe milestone, the Nintendo DS has also topped 10 million "in the Americas," according to the latest press release. Playing the numbers game yet again, Nintendo claims to have sold nearly nine DS or DS Lite units every minute.The DS launched earliest in the US, on November 21, 2004, close to 795 days ago. That number converts to approximately 1.145 million minutes, which would give Nintendo sales figures of 10.3 million portable systems -- certainly a lot more precise than previous ventures by Nintendo into the magical world of Arithmetic. Still, who are we to judge Nintendo's math skills when scientists are working to define a new number that explains the DS's sales numbers in Japan (sources tell us they'll likely go with "Nintend-illion").[Update 1: Title used to refer to Western Hemisphere, which was used to reference the Americas but not any portion of Europe or Africa that subsequently lie in the West. Headline has been changed.]
South Americans countries hem and haw over HDTV standard
While it's admittedly unfortunate that the world just can't agree on a single high definition broadcast format to use around the globe, boundaries have already been laid across most of the first world nations. Many South American countries, however, still haven't chosen which format to support, and proponents for both ISDB and DVB are lobbying intently to get their support business. As we suspected early last year, Brazil has finally made its choice, and will take in ISDB as it looks to create more local jobs by manufacturing the equipment from within in new construction factories. Brazilian officials were even able to solicit $2 billion in Japanese funding to erect a "local semiconductor factory be financed by Panasonic, Toshiba, NEC, and Sony." Argentina, however, wasn't swayed one way or the other by the snazzy presentations it saw, and enters 2007 with an "undecided" bid. So as unfortunate as it may be, it looks you'll probably be picking up a separate portable tuner for almost every nation you visit, but hey, at least some things are universal, right?
HDTV World Cup madness sweeps the world...but not South America
With World Cup action just a week away, HDTVs are flying off store shelves and broadcasters are gearing up to provide high definition signals worldwide...but not quite. If you live in the Americas south of Mexico there will be no high-def broadcasts available to you as the governments there have not agreed on a broadcast standard. As the article notes (and we've noted previously), Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Colombia are looking into it, but will not have anything set until well after this summer's sports action has ended. Unfortunately, the people of futbol-crazy South America won't get the same broadcast quality available elsewhere, at least in Europe people will go to bars or even movie theaters to catch the HD game. Our government (with quite a bit of prodding from CE manufacturers) at least has a standard set so we can watch HD, now if they can just work something out so cable subscribers can get more channels.Read (Translated by Google)
