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Apple reportedly moves iPad battery orders from Simplo to Dynapack
Digitimes is reporting that due to defective Lithium-polymer battery packs in some iPad 2s, Apple has shifted some orders for the battery packs from Simplo Technology to another producer, Dynapack International Technology. The defective batteries may have leakage problems. Digitimes notes that these problems can cause short circuits in the batteries, which can cause problems with recharging. Lithium-polymer batteries use very stable chemical materials, so the leakage cannot cause explosion or fire hazards. Simplo has been supplying Apple with batteries for a number of devices for years, including the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. It is believed that the problem with defective batteries has now made Dynapack the predominant supplier for the iPad 2 batteries.
iPad 2 will have rear and front-facing cameras, say multiple sources
Hey, it's December, what else are you going to do but monger rumors of the next iPad? Reuters has rounded up no less than four sources from within Apple's component suppliers, all expressing their belief that the hallowed tablet will be refreshed some time in early 2011. A pair of the tipsters could only go so far as to say that production at places like Wintek and Simplo is expected to ramp up in the first quarter, while the other two were more decisive in identifying the cause for the extra activity as Apple's next tablet iteration. As to the future iPad's camera or cameras, one source says it'll feature both a back-mounted and a front-facing module, with Largan and Genius identified as having received new orders from Cupertino for churning out imagers. Notably, the latter is currently also supplying the iPhone 4's photon collector and there's no confirmation that whatever they produce will inevitably land in an iPad 2, but the tea leaves seem to be in agreement: parts are targeted for a February shipment in preparation for an April iPad refresh. Whether the new slate arrives at that time, however, will be another matter altogether.
Laptop battery shortage should end by Q3
After a fire at LG Chem, li-on batteries have been hard to come by for companies like Asus and Quanta. But fear not, laptop lovers, because it looks like the battery plant is getting things back in order. According to Sung Fu-hsang at Simplo -- a battery manufacturer that relies on LG Chem -- the li-on supply will return to normal by Q3 2008. So how bad is the current shortage? Asus CEO Jerry Shen noted that his company could have sold a lot more than 5 million Eee PCs were it not for the problem.
