Few people realize that today nearly all cell phones, regardless of brand, are manufactured in China and even fewer people realize those phones are probably made in consumer electronics sweatshops where the workers endure low pay, poor working conditions and a relentless pace of never-ending work.

The world’s largest electronics manufacturer is the Foxconn Technology Group, and with a work force of over 1.2 million people, Foxconn is China’s largest private employer and biggest exporter of cell phones. Foxconn manufactures cell phones and other products for the U.S. market through contracts with Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Hewlett Packard, Dell and Sony. After a period of numerous worker suicides at Foxconn led to global outrage over worker abuse, Foxconn installed nets on their factories to catch would-be suicide jumpers and the company also solicited the help of social workers, psychologists and even Buddhist monks to stem the suicides. Now it appears the unwanted attention drawn to the world’s largest cell phone manufacturer is having an entirely different effect on the workplace as Foxconn mulls over a new plan to simply get rid of the workers altogether and invest in robot workers instead of humans.

The rising cost of materials in China and increasing worker protests and strikes across the country are adding to Foxconn’s woes. Although any organizing outside of the state-run union system is illegal in China and Foxconn has drawn the spotlight mainly due to its size and high-profile client list, the working conditions are actually standard in an industry where low pay and difficult conditions are the norm. Because of the pressures, many multinational companies are now looking at other places in Southeast Asia for cheaper labor and fewer troubles. At Foxconn however, the long-term bet is now on a one-million robot workforce, who will work for free and won’t kill themselves or demand humane working conditions.

In the last year Foxconn has tried to keep manufacturing costs down by constructing new factories inland where wages are lower by 20 percent, but economists estimate that the wage gap between coastal and inland workers will disappear within three years. The result is that sweatshop conditions are encouraged when retailers don’t share their wealth with the people who produce their products. The majority of the production costs are invested in materials like screens and chips and very little goes to the workers as evidenced by the fact that Apple spends only $9 on labor for every $499 iPad produced.

As the U.S. media focuses on the alleged lawlessness Chinese manufacturers and helps to imply that multinational corporations cannot prevent sweatshops, little is being done to raise pay, improve working conditions and support workers’ right to organize. Going forward, more pressure from consumers can make a difference as more people who are enjoying the new technology take a stand and demand products that are not produced in sweatshops.

Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York recently ruled that cell phone records are constitutionally private and cannot be released without a warrant. Garaufis’ ruling that rejected a federal agency’s demands to order Verizon to turn over location data about a suspect’s cell phone may affect how law enforcement officials are able to use phone data in criminal investigations in the future. The current federal Stored Communications Act states law enforcement must only show someone’s phone records are material to an ongoing criminal investigation in order to be legally searched, but Garaufis said releasing the data violates the Constitution’s “probable cause” standard, and that police still need a proper warrant to search phones.

Garaufis said “The fiction that the vast majority of the American population consents to warrantless government access to the records of a significant share of their movements by choosing to carry a cell phone must be rejected. In light of drastic developments in technology, the Fourth Amendment doctrine must evolve to preserve cell-phone user’s reasonable expectation of privacy in cumulative cell-site-location records.” The judge’s recent opinion shows changes in how courts now treat people’s cell phone information and is mirrored by the ruling in a case in Maryland where a federal judge recently refused a police request for a suspect’s GPS information so they could track him down through his phone. The judge refused the request on the basis that warrants are needed to gather information to investigate a crime and not to track down suspects.

The ruling that cell phone records are constitutionally private and cannot be released without a warrant also negates the argument that all cell phone users waive their Fourth Amendment rights when they disclose personal information to a business. Garaufis said that argument should not apply to widely used communication technologies where service-providers receive and store private user information incidental to the services they provide as their primary business. Judge Garaufis also maintained that cell phone users enjoy a reasonable expectation of privacy because people do not automatically consent to the disclosure of all of their movements when they sign up for cell phone service.

Garaufis’ ruling may concur with other states’ arguments concerning cell phone privacy and law enforcement, but it may be a while before the U.S. courts completely protect phone data. While judges such as Garaufis may rule a warrant is necessary to protect cell phone users’ constitutional rights, there is still no federal law protecting data from search and seizure, with or without a warrant. Various state judges may continue to rule that a warrant is needed to protect cell phone users’ constitutional rights, however there are still no federal laws on the books that completely protect cell phone data from search and seizure, with or without a warrant.

Earlier this year consumers discovered that Apple’s popular iPhones were storing large amounts of GPS coordinates for each iPhone for a period of up to one year. Researchers Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden used a Mac app to reveal GPS coordinates that showed nearly everywhere a user had been for the last year, although there was no direct way to access the data from an iPhone itself without hacking the device.

Nonetheless, the discovery created a lot of controversy along with accusations that Apple was secretly tracking iPhone users’ locations. The issue caused US Sen. Al Franken to ask Apple about the data collection because he noted that “anyone who gains access to this single file could likely determine the location of the user’s home, the businesses he frequents, the doctors he visits, the schools his children attend, and the trips he has taken over the past months or even a year.”

The concerns about user privacy spread everywhere Apple’s iPhone is popular and led to international investigations by the governments of France, Germany, Italy, and South Korea. Apple explained to Congress that the location data collected only represented the GPS locations of nearby cell towers and WiFi base stations used to improve GPS accuracy and speed. Apple maintained that it was not tracking iPhone user and that the collection of cell tower location information is anonymous and encrypted. Apple did admit to bugs in the cache of locations and that locations were being downloaded even when location services were turned off. A later Apple update claimed to have fixed the bugs by limiting the size of the cached information, encrypting it on the device, and deletes the cached location data when location services are turned off.

However, the update was a little late and Apple already had trouble brewing in South Korea. The Korea Communications Commission fined Apple $2,800 for collecting the location data even when location services were turned off. Next, one South Korean lawyer took Apple to court over the issue as well. Attorney Kim Hyung-suk said that the methods of data collection and storage prior to the update had violated Korean privacy laws. As a result, Apple was ordered to pay $933 to Kim Hyung-suk’s “Mirae Law” law firm.

Although $933 doesn’t seem like much of a fine for a global company like Apple, when you multiply that figure several thousand times, it becomes more significant. After winning the first judgment against Apple in the South Korean courts, Mirae Law began recruiting thousands of plaintiffs for a class action suit against Apple by utilizing a website that stated, “Finally, the real action against Apple. Now available here.” After Mirae Law signed up 27,000 plaintiffs the lawsuit was filed in Changwon. Now, Mirae Law is seeking the same award that Attorney Kim Hyung-suk had received earlier in the year, for each of the 27,000 plaintiffs.

The total liability for Apple now totals about $25 million in the South Korean courts and may have to face similar class action complaints in the US. Now that two Florida residents have filed a lawsuit over privacy invasion and fraud due to Apple secretly recording iPhone user locations.

The smart phone in your pocket probably contains some sensitive data that you really don’t want other people to see. Even though the U.S. Constitution is clear about the issue of individual privacy and the Fourth Amendment states that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,” it is a bit disturbing to consider that in certain circumstances, law enforcement authorities can search your cell phone even if you don’t give them permission to do so and even if they don’t have a warrant.

Fortunately, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has recognized the problem and has taken steps to help you protect that vast amount of data you have stored on your phone. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has long been a defender of electronic rights and now the group has created a legal guide to help consumers understand their rights and learn when police can, and cannot legally confiscate or search your personal electronic devices.

The smart phones people carry around with them can contain a huge amount of sensitive personal information and it can be difficult to remember exactly what your rights are and how to exercise them. The EFF guidelines can help teach people the difference between when the police can search your phone whether you like it or not, and when they can’t.

Some of the key points covered by the EFF’s legal guide to your phone rights are:

Never agree to a voluntary search. You should always say “no” when law enforcement asks if they can search your cell phone because if you give them permission, they don’t need a warrant.

If the authorities actually do have a search warrant to search your phone, always request to see it because you do have the right to see it firsthand before any search is conducted.

Read the warrant to make sure any searches are confined to those areas outlined in the warrant.

Do not volunteer any information and try to remain silent during a search. You do not have to help law enforcement do their job or answer their questions. This also means that you do not have to give them your encryption keys or passwords either.

If you do talk to law enforcement during a search, do not lie because lying to the authorities is a crime in almost all jurisdictions regardless of the agency involved.

If you have advance warning or notice of a search, try to consult with a lawyer before the search is begun.

In this digital age when you are asked to show your “papers please” the legal requests can now extend to include your data-filled electronic devices too and the best protection is to know what your rights are in the first place before any searches are conducted.

A recent report released by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), put the spotlight on possible dangerous radiation from cell phones. However any implications that you can actually get cancer from cell phone radiation are completely inconclusive and a lot more research needs to be done before anyone needs to start panicking or throwing their cell phones away. Whenever the word “radiation” is used people associate it with nuclear bombs and overcooked microwave foods. The reality is that the term ‘radiation’ can be used to describe any traveling wave or particles, and it does not necessarily mean bad effects on human health.

Although cell phones do emit some electromagnetic waves, much like AM and FM radio waves, cell phone waves do not have enough energy to damage human tissues and simply pass right through without ill effects. Cell phones do not utilize the same types of wavelengths as X-rays and other types of equipment that produce powerful ionizing radiation that can create of chemical free radicals in the body that are responsible for gene mutations and cancers. X-rays have much more penetrating power due to shorter wavelengths that carry more energy.

Cell phones emit non-ionizing energy waves, but so do microwave ovens, and you wouldn’t want one of those right next to your head while in operation. The question is really whether the radiation emitted by cell phones is enough to cause heating that could damage human tissue and eventually cause cancer. Because cell phones are used so close to the head some researchers have theorized that even small amounts of heat could lead to health troubles over the long term. Any real link between cell phones and cancer will be hard to prove because the incidence of brain tumors is very small and difficult to study in large numbers. A number of other factors can affect the results as well. A person’s family health history, prior exposure to chemicals or radiation, the amount of radiation coming from the phone, the amount of time used, and wave frequency are just a few of the many possible variables that must be considered.

As a result, all of the research surrounding cell phones and radiation has been completely inconclusive and the latest IARC report only classifies cell phones as “possible” causes of cancer. This means cell phones join coffee, artificial sweeteners and diesel fuel as other “possible” causes of cancer as determined by the IARC. At this point, the IARC says there may be a weak association between cell phone use and the incidence of benign brain tumors, but adds that there are many other factors that can contribute to the development of brain tumors. This all translates to the fact that millions of people use cell phones safely everyday and there is no need to panic about the dangers of radiation until more thorough research has been completed in the field.

An unlikely team of three research assistants at Ulm University in Germany has discovered a new security breach in Google’s Android operating system for smartphones. The flaw allows hackers to access a users’ personal information and intercept data from many of Google’s applications, including Gmail. The researchers found that 97% of Android users running versions 2.3.3 are vulnerable to attack when they are connected to unencrypted Wi-Fi networks. Unsecured wireless access points that imitate public WiFi hot spots allow hackers to capture a phone’s authentication data which can then be used to access and modify data in Google’s Picasa photo site, Calendar and Contacts applications.

Business customers using Google apps on Android devices will not be affected by the flaw because all business traffic is encrypted by default. However, just about every non-business user is vulnerable and once a device is breached, anyone on a network could modify or delete Android users’ calendars, photos and contacts. As a result, many Android smartphone users are advised not to use public WiFi networks. Fortunately, users of the latest Android 2.3.4 operating software and anything that comes after it will not be affected by the breach. Google is well aware of the issue and is working on fixing it. So far Google has removed more than 50 applications that could have leaked data from tens of thousands of Android devices. However, the team of German researchers said the flaw still affects most of the Google smartphones that are still running the older versions of Android today.

This latest security breach shows that Android users need to be even more careful with their phones than they are with their PCs and that for the time being, users might want to avoid open WiFi networks altogether. The German researchers suggested that Android users turn off the automatic synchronization feature in the settings menu when utilizing unsecured WiFi networks as well as letting their phones forget any open wireless networks they might have used in the past.

Packing a world phone whenever you go on an international trip can be a convenient and essential tool whether you’re traveling for business or recreation. A good cell phone is always a huge convenience when traveling abroad. A world phone makes keeping in touch with business associates, other travelers, and the friends and relatives back home, a simple task. Like ET, you can “phone home” as well as make business and entertainment reservations, and perhaps most important of all, a world phone can be critical in case of emergencies.

However, one thing not everyone is aware of is not all cell phones will work in all locations overseas, and no one carrier will offer coverage in every country you may need to visit. Things are not as complicated as they might seem tough, as there are really only two main cell phone networks in widespread use across the world today. The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the first and largest global technology provider today. GSM is the main provider in Europe, Canada, Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and has coverage in parts of Asia and the Middle East too. AT&T and T-Mobile are the main GSM network providers here in the United States.

The second main network is known as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Although CDMA has far less coverage worldwide than GSM, CDMA is the main network here in the United States where it is supported by Verizon, Sprint and several other smaller providers. I addition to coverage in the United States, CDMA is also employed in Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Latin America.

A phone that uses GSM is the best if you want to be able to get service in the largest number of countries, but not every GSM phone will work. The GSM networks use four main bands at levels of 850, 900, 1,800, and 1,900MHz. Because North America utilizes the 850MHz and 1,900MHz bands, and Europe mainly uses the 900MHz and 1,800MHz bands, in order to have a truly world capable, world phone, you’ll need one with all four bands. This is where GSM really shines. An unlocked phone that has no carrier restrictions will allow you to switch carriers any time you want simply by changing out your normal SIM card to a prepaid SIM card for the country you’re traveling in. The pre-paid SIM cards are more prevalent than you might have thought and are now available in different minute increments at stores and phone shops all over the world. Although a prepaid SIM card will save you money when calling locally while you’re traveling, it will not save you anything on calls made back to the United States. In fact, when you are traveling with a prepaid SIM card installed, you may not even be able to receive calls made to you U.S. phone number at all.

The carrier you use must have a roaming agreement with the different carriers in each country you travel to in order to get through properly. Whether you use GSM or CDMA, the quality of the connections and service can vary according to the country you’re in and the carrier you’re using. Unlocked phones that are activated for worldwide use are widely available in the United States today, although they might be a bit more expensive than locked phones because they don’t come with any of the service or incentives that a dedicated, carrier-backed phone might have. A cell phone that you purchase from a specific carrier will come locked to that provider. You can ask your carrier to unlock your phone or you can pay someone else to do it for you if you. If you buy a dual-SIM-card cell phone you will be able to make both U.S. and local calls, but remember that international calls will not always be cheap. Roaming charges up to $3 per minute are not unusual and it doesn’t take long to run up a big bill. Sending text messages will be cheaper overseas, but they will still cost more to send abroad than they do here in the States.

World Phone Connection Tips:

• Calls to and from different countries will require the appropriate country and area codes.
• If your phone does not automatically search for available networks in a given country, you can do it manually.
• Your normal carrier should notify you anytime your phone begins to roam internationally.
• All calls to your carrier’s customer service should be free, but calls to your voicemail will not always be free.
• Not every country uses the same method of dialing and you may have to learn what is being used in your area.
• The free mobile-to-mobile minutes on the same carrier that you enjoy in the United States will not apply outside the United States.
• Remember that your phone must support international data networks in order to get a true 3G connection when traveling abroad.
• Roaming charges can take as long as a month to show up on your normal wireless phone bill.

If excellent audio quality is what is most important to you, then the Motorola v180 is the world phone to select. This world phone also comes with a gamut of features, including speakerphone, external display, Java 2.0, MP3 ringtones and changeable outer shells. Its 65k color display makes Motorola v180 a great purchase.

Motorola v180 World Phone

The Motorola v180 world phone is one of the best ways of staying with connected while traveling around the world. This phone offers several features, such as GSM, GPRS, polyphonic ringtones, reverse lookups, AOL Instant Messenger and an external caller ID display.

Features of Motorola v180 World Phone

Motorola v180 is a world phone with the excellent triband (GSM 900/1800/1900) feature. This feature provides sharp audio quality even if you are calling a location thousands of miles away. The phone has dimensions of 86 x 45 x 25mm and weighs only 92 grams.

The appearance of the Motorola v180 is not highly attractive. The phone has flimsy plastic material covers on its inside and the back. While the display of Motorola v180 supports 65K colors, the world phone’s 1.5-inch-diagonal screen is small. The phone has a five-way navigation key that makes it easier to access the phone book, messages, call log and ring style. The key pad of the phone has two soft keys and this makes it easier to use the T-zone application, instant messenger and activate the speaker phone during a call. The phone has a good memory space of 1.5 MB and can save up to 500 numbers at a time, along with 250 numbers on the sim card. Ringtones can be assigned to caller groups. The phone comes with 28 monophonic or 20 polyphonic ringtones. Various other ringtones can be downloaded and some can also be composed by using the Motomixer application. For music lovers, the phone has a MPEG4 player.

Contacts can be combined with a picture, but they are not displayed on the external display. This world phone can be personalized through a variety of color styles, wallpapers, screensavers, sounds and menu styles. Users can use the phone to play Java games, such as Billiards, because of its J2ME technology.

Though Motorola v180 does not have a camera, one can edit images and pictures with the FotoFunPack2 software. The phone has significant battery life of 210 standby hours or a talk time of 4 hours.

Other features include the AOL Instant Messenger, USB capability, speaker phone (inbuilt speakers), voice dialing, WAP 2.0 wireless Web browser, text and multimedia messaging, calculator, calendar and alarm clock.

Nokia N95 GSM World Phone

The Nokia N95 GSM World Phone is a next generation phone, with an ultimate media player. The phone has a built-in TV quality digital camcorder and a 5 mega pixel digital camera with high quality camera-style lens. For better internet connectivity and broadband speed, the mobile phone has a speed WiFi/WLAN adapter and GPS receiver.

Nokia N95 GSM World Phone

The Nokia N95 GSM World Phone is a sleek dual slider phone with 99 x 53 x 21 mm, 90 cc dimensions and 120 grams weight. The phone has a TFT, 16M color display, with a 240×320 pixels display. It has a normal T9 keypad that slides out from under the phone when pushed upwards. The other keypad is a media keypad that slides out from the top when the phone is pushed downward.

Features of Nokia N95 World Phone

The Nokia N95 GSM World Phone is a 3G (third generation) cell phone, packed with a gamut of exciting features. First of all, it’s a quad band phone with GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 mhz frequency. The Internet is activated on the mobile phone through GPRS Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 – 48 kbps supported by Class 32 (296 kbps) EDGE and HSCSD technology. For excellent broadband connectivity, this world phone uses Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology and has WCDMA2100 (HSDPA) and UMTS adapter.

To surf the net in a better way, the Nokia N95 has a WAP 2.0/xHTML browser. Users can not only read emails, but can also download MS Office files using the Office document viewer. The built-in GPS receiver supports the use of Nokia N95 across 100 countries. A special feature of Japan coverage is provided for making the coverage hassle free in this country.

Data from the phone can be transferred using Bluetooth (v2.0 / A2DP), Infrared Port and a miniUSB. For messaging, the phone supports SMS, MMS, email and instant messaging. For saving you cherished memories, this world phone has a built-in TV quality digital camcorder with a 5 mega pixel digital camera. The camera has 2592 x 1944 pixel resolution, with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video (VGA 30fps) and flash. The camera can also be used for video calling. For saving videos and photos, the Nokia N95 has an internal memory of 160 MB. The phone memory can also be extended by the microSD card (with memory space of up to 2GB) and hot swap. This world phone comes with a 128 MB card.

The Nokia N95 has a good FM radio. For music lovers, this world phone offers in-built MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ and WMA players. For better audio experience, the phone also has a 3.5mm audio output jack.

The Nokia N95 has Java MIDP 2.0 enabled, which supports J2ME games. Other Java games can also be downloaded through the Internet.

An added feature is the Symbian OS 9.2, S60 rel. 3.1, which supports associated libraries, user interface frameworks and reference implementations of common tools.

Some other features of the Nokia N95 are a call record, a phonebook, a vibrating alert, an organizer, voice memo, built-in handsfree and ringtones (Polyphonic, Monophonic, True Tones and MP3).

The battery of the Nokia N95 is a Li-Ion 950 mAh (BL-5F) battery, which supports a stand-by time of 220 hours and a talk time of 6 hours 30 minutes.

Siemens AF51 is a chic clamshell world phone with dual color displays. This world phone is meant for the entry level user and offers some really great features.

Siemens AF51 World Phone

The Siemens AF51 world phone not only has several exciting features, it can boast of being the first to offer them. The contemporary style of this world phone is coupled with a reliable connectivity network. The phone is available with a high-quality finish, with the satin metallic colors of Dolphin Grey and Panther Black, which make the cell phone appear elegant. This small pocket-sized world phone, with 79 x 41 x 19.55 mm dimensions and a weight of merely 80 grams, has an integrated antenna that is suited for keeping in touch with family and friends.

Features of Siemens AF51World Phone

The Siemens AF51 world phone comprises of several exciting features, although it is not a 3G set. The phone has advanced GPRS Class 8 (4+1 slots), 32 – 40 kbps capability and enables MMS messaging. The phone supports GSM 900/1800/1900. Users can also play Java games, given its J2ME support.

This world phone has an excellent internal display as well as a fantastic external display, with 65k colors and a dual color display. The internal display, with 130 x 130 pixels dimensions, is more durable and is guarded by scratch resistant glass. The external display, with dimensions 96 x 64 pixels dimensions, has a classic mirror effect.

An added advantage in this phone is the Incite Service Light Indication LED, which informs the user about incoming text messages and missed calls even if the lighting in a place is not good. The speakerphone provides the facility of voice dialing. Its Li-Ion 620 mAh battery offers a standby time of up to 220 hours and talk time of up to 5 hours.

The keypad is highly advanced, with a four-way navigation key and two soft keys. Siemens AF51 supports a T9 feature that enables users to enter text more rapidly.

Siemens AF51 also has some general features, such as calculator, calendar, birthday reminder, currency converter, phonebook, polyphonic ringtones and an organizer.