Foxconn Brazil iPad deal facing barriers: reports (Reuters)

Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, aka Hon Hai Precision Industry, assembles must-have electronics for Apple, Microsoft etc at its plants in China. Labor conditions in these factories have come in for Western criticism and forced Apple to step up its audits. But Chinese applicants for assembly-line jobs at Foxconn seem undeterred. Now it may be Indonesia?s turn. ...

Taiwanese electronics assembly giant Hon Hai - owner of Foxconn - agrees to pay Microsoft a patent fee for devices made running Google's operating systems.

A Foxconn plant in northern China halted production Monday following a riot involving 2,000 workers, the latest unrest at the Taiwanese electronics giant, which has come under fire for poor working conditions. The plant also assembles Apple iPhones.

Taiwan IT giant Foxconn -- hit by a spate of suicides at its Chinese plants -- plans to replace 500,000 workers with robots in the next three years, state media reported Monday.Foxconn -- the world's largest maker of computer components, which assembles products for Apple, Sony and Nokia -- plans to use one million robots to do "simple" work, China Business News quoted chairman Terry Gou saying.Gou announced the plan to 10,000 staff at a company event in Shenzhen on Friday, various media reports said.

US telecom titan Verizon Wireless will begin selling iPads this month in a sign that Apple is getting closer to ending its exclusive deal with AT&T regarding service for the firm's mobile gadgets.Models of Apple's coveted tablet computers featuring Wi-Fi connections to the Internet, and not iPads with built-in broadband network capabilities, will be sold at Verizon shops nationwide starting October 28.The same day, AT&T shops will begin selling the three iPad models featuring 3G connectivity along with Wi-Fi capabilities.

Brazil is in negotiations with Taiwan IT giant Foxconn to open two factories to manufacture touch screens in a multi-billion dollar project, a top Brazilian official said Thursday."What is under discussion with Foxconn is a major investment to produce touch screens, which are so far only made in four countries in the world," said Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante."And Brazil would be the first Western country to produce them," he said, estimating the project would be worth several billion dollars.