Tag: CONFLICTMINERALS

Apple and Intel have both decided to stop using conflict minerals to manufacture products, as part of the Conflict-Free Smelter program. Conflict minerals include valuable commodities such as gold, titanium, tungsten and tin, which generate massive revenues used to fund wars in Central Africa, and, more specifically, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Beginning next year, all U.S. ...

Left-wing activist pranksters the Yes Men are no strangers to stoking the ire of politicians, companies, and lobbying groups. But they may have thrown stones at the wrong multinational corporation when they targeted Apple with a satirical site extolling the virtues of the iPhone 4cf -- a fictional, "conflict-free" design. A dedicated spoof site promised that the iPhone4cf is exactly like the ...

The violent conflict between governmental and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not make the front pages of many Western news outlets, but it has definitely caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As the AP reports, a newly passed American law, which was signed into effect in conjunction with Obama's economic overhaul, will now require all gadget manufacturers to disclose ...

Highlights from this morning's other big tech headlines.... Google Chrome forcefully and successfully entered the browser battle in 2008, but its overall market share subsequently took a significant dip as the initial excitement waned. Chrome's popularity has certainly rebounded, though, and it has now surpassed Apple's Safari as the third most popular browser in the U.S. Internet Explorer ...

Thanks to Apple's rabid PR push and to media coverage, almost every little detail of the iPhone 4 has been documented -- except for one minor factoid, that is. The phone, like several other luxury electronics on the market, may contain minerals supplied by bloodthirsty Congolese paramilitary groups. Most of us should recall the controversy over the origins of so-called "blood diamonds," or ...