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Amazon, DOJ ask consumers to report coronavirus price gouging
Since the coronavirus outbreak began, Amazon has seen a "significant increase in demand," especially for medical and cleaning supplies. It has also seen third-party retailers raising prices on things like masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays. Now, Amazon is asking consumers to cooperate with a Department of Justice (DOJ) probe into coronavirus price gouging.
DARPA wants to build vehicles that disappear after delivering supplies
What if the vehicle delivering the goods to a remote village or group of soldiers could just vanish after it made the drop? Sounds crazy, right? Well, DARPA is hoping to do just that. The research unit it looking to develop solutions that can carry supplies to their intended destinations and then disappear. Named for the story of a man who's wings of feathers and wax melted when he flew too close to the sun, DARPA's new ICARUS program that'll examine the possibilities is an extension of its VAPR project. Of course, we expect DARPA is aiming for a more positive outcome. VAPR, which stands for Vanishing Programmable Resources, has developed self-destructing electronic components since it began two years ago. Aside from the obvious military uses, DARPA says a vehicle that vanishes in to thin air could also offer an unmanned solution for taking critical supplies to hard to reach areas in the aftermath of events like a natural disaster. Once the load is delivered, personnel wouldn't have to worry about getting the vehicle back out of the area. [Image credit: SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images]
Foxconn reportedly producing 150k iPhone 5s a day
A report from Taiwan's Digitimes says that Foxconn is churning out the unannounced iPhone 5 hardware at an alarming rate -- over 150,000 units a day. That's crazy, and it means Foxconn is racing to get shipments up to 5-6 million units total by later on this month. All of Apple's contractors are working around the clock as well, funneling components into Foxconn to create the new iPhones. This may not all be for the rumored September release; reports are also saying that Pegatron Technology has been contracted for about 15 percent of Apple's iPhone orders, though Pegatron may not start shipping those orders until sometime next year. That doesn't mean we won't see an iPhone 5 announced as expected, just that Apple's setting up for some major demand, even off into the future.
Low Mac Pro, Mac mini server supplies suggest pending refresh
Supplies of Apple's Mac Pro and Mac mini server lines are reportedly constrained, indicating a refresh is likely in the near future. According to 9to5 Mac, a source indicates these two product lines should see updates within the next month or so. 9to5 Mac doesn't give any info on the current supply status of the non-server versions of these two Mac models, but it's a safe bet that the standard and server lines will see updates at around the same time. We already expect to see a refresh of the MacBook Air line relatively soon, and the Mac Pro and Mac mini are due as well, having last been refreshed nearly a year ago. It's a given that all of the forthcoming Mac model refreshes will include Apple's new Thunderbolt I/O port, and the Mac Pro and Mac mini are also likely to have their CPUs updated to Intel's Sandy Bridge architecture. 9to5 Mac also notes that Apple's AirPort equipment supplies are still constrained, which may indicate that those products are still due for the refresh that many (including us at TUAW) expected to see at WWDC. With Mac OS X Lion due for release next month and a bevy of product refreshes expected soon, it's shaping up to be a busy couple of months for the Mac.
Breakfast Topic: Are you a hoarder?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. It began innocently enough. My first toon was a druid who, like all druids, started collecting off sets. As the soulbound epics began to pile up, I rolled a bank alt to store the herbs and other sundry BoE items she amassed. And then I started collecting alts. And professions. And materials to level just about anything you could imagine, from reputation to first aid. Before I could intervene, the bank alt formed her own guild simply to manage the inventory. On impulse one day, I decided the hoarding was too much. How many Bone Fragments does anyone really need, after all? Over the next few weeks, I auctioned off every item not directly related to profitable endgame crafting, making a substantial amount of gold in the process. There was order and storage and sanity -- until the turtle mount obsession kicked in. Maybe it's just me, but I'm incapable of vendoring potentially useful materials. Potions of Speed sell nicely, but not as quickly as the aptly named Pygmy Suckerfish float in, and a thousand hours of Guru's Elixir seems a tad excessive even for nine alts. Do you too have a hoarding problem? Glacial Bags across the board filled with complete tier sets from every level? Rare materials of dubious value looted while getting Loremaster? Stacks of epic gems you can't auction off rapidly enough? Fel Armaments in case someday you might want to become exalted with Aldor? Rows of Northsea Pearls you have no idea what to do with? Am I really the only person whose fifth guild bank tab is given over to something as questionable as Pygmy Oil?
Violent strike racks Apple's touchscreen supplier
Workers at a Wintek Corp factory in China have gone on strike this week, some of them destroying equipment, according to China Daily. Workers are reportedly protesting poor work conditions and alleged deaths from overexposure to toxic chemicals. The chemical in question, hexane, is used for cleaning touch panels. Wintek is the world's largest supplier of touch screens for mobile phones, including Apple's iPhone. This isn't the first time labor disputes have arisen within Wintek. Last year, protesters gathered at Apple's offices in Taiwan to force Apple into pressuring Wintek to clean up alleged workplace labor and safety violations. Back then, protesters appeared to be using the popularity of Apple's brand name to get attention to their cause.This time things have unfortunately escalated to violence. There's no immediate word on how the strike will affect Apple's supply of iPhone screens. We're hoping it ends in a manner that's beneficial to everyone. [Via AppleInsider]
Apple amps up iPhone production
In preparation for the holiday rush, Apple has stepped up iPhone production, according to ITProPortal. Specifically, Apple has supposedly increased orders to both Primax Electronics and Foxconn Electronics (both companies manufacture iPhone components) from 17% to 20%. In a recent quarterly earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook noted that iPhone 3GS supplies were short in September, but noted that supply lines have been restored and he expects Apple to meet the demand of this year's shopping season. In other words, If you're hoping to receive an iPhone this year, know that Apple has done its part. Now it's up to you to badger your gift-giving loved ones. [Via Macsimum News] Gift image: stock.xchng
Wrath Dailies: Preparing for the Worst
Quick! Utaik needs your help! Gather eight of the Kaskala Supplies for him or the families of the Kalu'ak town Unu'pe will starve. This daily quest is simple yet surprisingly annoying. It's one of those that can quickly get under your skin as more and more people do it. Want to run around pickup objects while ten other people on your server do it at the same time? Then this quest is for you!Quest Giver: Utaik, Kaskala, Borean TundraReputation: Kalu'akReward: 500 rep & 4.86g at level 80Minimum Level: 68Required Chain: None!Read on after the break for our walkthrough of the quest, complete with a few tricks you can do to get it done quickly and easily.
Gamestop CEO: Wii shortages have no 'end in sight'
GameDaily recently sat down with GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo to discuss, well, things that a CEO of a huge company would discuss. What is of note to us Wii enthusiasts, however, is his grim outlook for the future. He doesn't see store shelves stocked full of Wii consoles anytime soon, unfortunately. "I don't see a near-term end in sight for Wii shortages, not unless they really ramp up supply," DeMatteo said. "I think they've ramped it up 20 percent or so, but Nintendo is fairly cautious by nature. They ramped it up 20 and it's still evaporating."This is only one man's opinion, but based on how much money he probably makes each year, we're sure his estimate is better than ours. So, for you holiday shoppers that have someone on your list asking for Wii, better get to hunting one down now. In little over a month, we're sure they're going to be a lot harder to track down.
Forum Post of the Day: To each according to his need
It seems the vast majority of drama we've heard regarding guild banks comes from ninja schemes and disgruntled members. Vaela of Hyjal expressed her exasperation with guild banks in the Guild Relations forum. She feels that there is an imbalance between players who donate resources to the guild bank and those who make the most withdrawals. The original poster asked for suggestions on systems to fairly distribute guild bank resources. The responses focused on cooperation and reciprocity with the guild bank. The purpose of the guild bank is to fun the guild's activities and exchange objects of value. In the end, the system comes off as a communist type of public ownership arrangement, as opposed to the free trade system that rules the auction house. To quote Karl Marx, "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Communism as we've known it has largely failed, most likely because people don't fully buy into the system.
Pachter: Shortages coming to an end later this year
Michael Pachter is at it again. This time, of all people, he spoke with a writer for the Dallas Morning News. Now, we're not experts in this institution that reports real world news, but we do know that video game news tends to usually fall below their radar. But they care about the Wii because, well, everyone and their grandmother bought one.Regardless, Pachter did, and he is saying that those of us in the U.S. need to blame it on the rain the Brits. You see, his estimation is that due to the weak U.S. dollar and high demand for the console in the UK, Nintendo has been shipping more consoles over there because they profit more from sales in that country. This has supposedly been the reason that store shelves in the U.S. still don't have the console stocked. His belief is that the console will be more readily available in the U.S. later on this year, when the dollar is expected to bounce back some. Based on the fact that the console released over a year ago, though, we're not going to hold our breath.[Thanks, Matt!]
