Workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.

CEO Howard Stringer tells the Wall Street Journal that R&D is focusing on a “different kind of TV set.” He didn’t specify whether he was talking about the company’s efforts with Google TV or any other technology, however he did note the “really well organized” beauty of the iPhone and said that after a five year quest to build a platform that would compete with Steve Jobs, it’s finally ready to launch.

Stalled contract negotiations led thousands of workers in Verizon Communication Inc.’s wireline division to go on strike Sunday, potentially affecting landline operations as well as installation of new services for consumers.
The contract for the 45,000 employees from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., expired at midnight Saturday with the company and the workers unable to come to terms on issues including health care costs and pensions.

Apple and Samsung Electronics ended struggling Nokia’s 15-year reign at the top of the smartphone sales rankings in the second quarter, researchers said on Friday.
Nokia has dominated the smartphone market ever since its 1996 launch of the Communicator model, but competition from its two nearest rivals and a slump in its own sales sent it straight from first to third place in the three months to June as growth in the sector starts to slow.

It’s about keeping up with consumer demand. It’s about giving consumers what they expect–fewer dropped calls, faster speeds, and access to state-of-the-art mobile broadband Internet service.”

Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) is expected to cut thousands of jobs in possibly its worst-ever round of layoffs to meet Chief Executive John Chambers’ goal of slashing costs by $1 billion.

By 2015 today’s global mobile subscriber base will increase dramatically from the current 5.3 billion to a staggering 7-8 billion.

Microsoft showed a video of three people using an Xbox game console with a Kinect camera. One of them, standing in front of the camera, “dodged” balls that appeared on the TV screen, sent by the two other players from their Windows phones.

Indian tax authorities have given Vodafone 30 days to pay a 112bn rupee ($2.5bn, £1.6bn) tax bill, as part of an ongoing tax dispute.

Canada’s trade minister said on Friday he believes Research In Motion will be able to reach an agreement with India that gives police and security agencies access to encrypted BlackBerry communications.