Tim Cook at a factory in Zhengzhou (cnn.com via Apple)

Foxconn decided to close down one of its factories in central China this morning after a riot took place in the factory compound late Sunday night, according to the New York Times. The plant in the city of Taiyuan employs about 79,000 workers and the brawl involved 2,000 of those employees. Reuters spoke to a Taiyuan plant worker who said that the factory is one of the plants assembles and makes parts for Apple's iPhone 5.

No workers died in the riots, but three were put in critical care.

Pictures of the incident were shared on a Chinese Twitter clone and show that windows in the plant were smashed and that Chinese riot police were called to the scene.

This riot comes three months after a 23-year-old employee committed suicide a month after he started working at the plant. Back in March of this year, Apple promised to improve conditions at Foxconn factories. The announcement came after the Fair Labor Association found a slew of violations at Foxconn factories including ones related to working hours, compensation and health and safety.

Both the Times and Reuters emphasize that this event represents a shift in the attitude of Chinese workers, highlighting the frustration Foxcon employees feel with factory conditions. Both quote Geoff Crothall, a spokesman for a Chinese labor group, who says, “They’re more willing to stand up for their rights, to stand up to injustice” and "Clearly there is deep-seated frustration and anger among the employees and no outlet, apart from violence, for that frustration to be released."

Unhelpful new map.

Holding the new iPhone in your hand on launch day feels really special. It's dumb to say that, but it's true. Eyes dart in your direction, you get smiled at by strangers. It's kind of awesome. An Italian tourist approached us and asked, with a sparkle and a hint of desperation in his light blue foreign eyes, “How is it?!” Unfortunately, honesty compelled us to shrug and say, “eh, it’s okay.” He looked back at us like we stole all of his luggage and killed his first born.

The truth about the new iPhone is just that, it's okay. It's fine. But as a poor miserable college student who doesn't make that much money, we wondered if it's worth the upgrade? Let's say you're not a stat-obsessed freak and you're not that addicted to upgrading--you're just a regular iPhone owner. Is it worth it for you to make the switch? 

The first thing we noticed is that the LTE (or 4G, or whatever they want to call it these days) service was in fact pretty fast. We were using it in midtown on our current carrier, AT&T, and the speeds pretty much blew our 3G out of the water. Text messages sent from our trial 5 to our faithful 4 arrived in mere seconds. Upgrade? +1

The longer length of the phone was a nice thing. Some of us have really chubby fingers okay? And if you had these hypothetical beefy droits, then you’d know that wrapping them around the 4 is sometimes a little strange looking. The extra length and smaller frame would give you a lovely confidence boost. Upgrade? +1

Apple's brand new headphones are the horribly named "Earpods." They kind of cradle into your inner ear instead of being forcibly jammed in, which is awesome.  However, Apple moved the headphone jack to the bottom of the phone, which wasn't a very good decision. It means that, if you're listening to music and want to put your phone in your pocket, it has to go in upside down, which feels horribly unnatural. Upgrade? -1

It may be jarring to realize that the iPhone 5 doesn't come with a YouTube app preloaded onto the phone. But a quick jump over to the mobile site will solve that problem. Brandy and Chris Brown's "Put It Down," which may or not be your favorite song to walk to class to, loaded really fast and there was actually some noticeable bass instead of the old iPhone headphone's flat sound. Upgrade? +1

It took less than two minutes to set up an email account and fire off a dispatch to a friend. The email's new pull-up-to-refresh feature is really enjoyable. It easily brings back  the childhood satisfaction of pulling a long booger out of your nose Upgrade? +1

Everyone's current nightmare is the new Apple Maps that comes with updating to iOS 6. The 3D views did look really pretty on the new longer screen. A quick tap gives you your location, just like in Google Maps. But searching for an East Village address put the dot right in the middle of Brooklyn. Not a good first sign. Upgrade? -1

Maybe something a little less likely to mess up would turn up better results. A search for "Momofuku Milk Bar" (the most uncommon name ever, right?) came up easily. The driving directions were clear, but there were no transit or walking directions. Fuck everything. Upgrade? -1

The map does label all of New York's neighborhoods and that's a great help for NYC newbies. But nothing is worse than the extremely forced name "LoDel" (Below Delancey). Ugh. Upgrade? -1:

iOS 6 also boasts a new mode called Do Not Disturb, which is a great deal for haters of drunk texts that wake you up in the middle of the night. This is big news when all of your friends are sloppy. A huge plus. Upgrade? +1

The new panoramic function on the camera app isn't worth checking out,  because there were always a bunch of apps available for download to stitch together panoramic shots. Not impressed by that feature at all. Upgrade? -1

That leaves the decision to upgrade at a 5 v.s. 5 split, but there's still one question left to answer.  Is the ability to impress good looking tourists worth the $200 dollars that you really don’t have? Well, the striking Italian didn't give out his number or dish out anything more than a smile, so you should just stick to your old 4 for now.

(Photo: twitter.com)

Instapaper, the hugely popular read-later app, recently announced on their blog that they have made their app compatible with the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. Along with that news, Instapaper founder Marco Arment revealed that users would now have the option to use Open-Dyslexic font, an open source font that makes things easier to read for people with dyslexia.

In his blog post, published yesterday, Mr. Arment asserts Instapaper's commitment to help the disabled:

Many people use Instapaper for improved accessibility, especially customers with low or no vision. Given what Instapaper does — capture any web page and present it in a consistent, adjustable, customer-controlled environment — it’s a natural fit for bringing improved accessibility and legibility to anyone who needs it.

Other similar apps, like the Android version of Pocket, have taken a big leap forward as well and gave their products text-to-speech capabilities.

Fortunately the iPhone has a wealth of tools for the visually impared. Along with Siri's dictation abilities, the iPhone also includes a feature called VoiceOver, a touch-to-speech software that reads your phone out loud for you.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated in the headline and text that Apple didn't have sufficient options for disabled readers. In fact, Apple has a lot of options for disabled readers and Instapaper can in fact use text-to-speech in conjunction with VoiceOver. Betabeat regrets the error.

Ew, no. (Photo: twitter.com/DiarioLaPrensa)

Our Apple overlords finally announced the arrival of the iPhone 5 this morning and we couldn't be more excited to shell out another $200 for the privilege of owning an annorexic version of something that we already have. But there's a major problem with the iPhone 5 that's much sadder than ending your press conference with an acoustic Foo Fighters performance. Google Maps is going away with the introduction of iOS 6 and will be replaced with Apple Maps.

Oh, what's that? Everything Apple makes is perfect and works seamlessly into your life? Not if you've enjoyed using your phone to get around the city.

A Hacker News commenter who's been beta testing Apple Maps in New York reports Blackberry-esque functionality:

To talk about the software, I've been using Apple Maps in beta for the past couple of months, and having no transit directions while living in NYC is enough for me to consider a switch to android.

Trying to take the subway to unfamiliar parts of the city forces me to use google maps in the browser. Addresses seem to be hit or miss -- I've often spent time searching for an establishment or address just to give up and use google maps in the browser.

I've basically had to revert to how I got around the city prior to having a smartphone -- use my computer and remember how I need to get there before I leave.

Apple Maps is potentially a huge fail for anyone living in a major city.

Steve Cheney, head of business development at GroupMe, is practically quaking at the (lack of) possibilities.

Living in NYC, I am terrified of iOS 6 / iPhone 5 for this one reason news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4512316

— Steve Cheney (@stevecheney) September 12, 2012

For all of the iPhone 5's upgrades and improvements, mapping (a primary use case for a computer in your pocket) has taken a turn for the way worse. Buzzfeed John Herrman, who has been testing the service for awhile, says:

But it's actually worse, in a lot of ways? Like it doesn't do public transit directions. It uses Yelp for restaurants and stores and points of interest, which seems to be missing a lot. I've been using it for a few months and it's been pretty frustrating.

Besides switching to Android, your options are downloading a bunch of apps to make up for the lost functionality: HopStop for subway directions, AT&T for Navigator for walking directions, and Foursquare for better location based recommendations.

If not, there's always a compass. No rapture required.

What do they have to do, Apple?! (Photo: flickr.com/mac_ivan

Earlier this week, Apple rolled iTunes out to 12 Asian nations, including Singapore (Eduardo Saverin, sans Snoop Dogg singles no more), Vietnam and Cambodia. However, several big countries did not receive invitations to the iTunes par-tay, including both China and India. Understandable, since adding a couple billion new users is probably something of a logistical challenge.

But of those that were left out, it's Apple-crazed Indonedia that's the most devastated by this insensitive act of neglect, reports the Wall Street Journal, resulting in widespread "disappointment and confusion."

What must Indonesia do to prove its love, Apple? Fans have:

proved their loyalty to the company by waiting months after product launches to get their hands on devices such as the iPhone 4S, which was first released last October but didn’t arrive in Indonesia until late January, since Apple typically releases its products later there.

If that's not enough:

Many Indonesians also pay a high premium for new Apple products like the iPhone 4S, which has sold for up to $1100 locally despite a retail price of $850 for an unlocked, contract-free version of the top model in the U.S.

That sure sounds like loyalty to us. We're not paying more than a grand for anything less than Google Glasses, and we're only shelling out then if they throw in some skydiving lessons.

Even worse:

Adding salt to their wounds, some Indonesians said, is that even smaller economies such as Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam made the list with new versions of iTunes, though two other giant markets – China and India – were left out along with Indonesia.

One Indonesian tech blogger told the Journal that, “It really makes sense for Apple to be here” and that, "All the fanboys are hugely disappointed.”

Ladybeat respects their right to feel their feelings, but isn't regular disappointment just built into the fanboy lifestyle?

Bet you big bucks that cardigan cost more than that suit. (Photo: EOnline)

Even as we speak, you are leaving digital bread crumbs scattered all over the Internet, there for the taking by marketers. Nor do the details have to be anything particularly consequential to translate into a money-making opportunity.

For example: Orbitz has realized that customers who visit its site from a Mac tend to spend more money on hotels. The company is therefore adjusting its search results accordingly.

Reports the Wall Street Journal:

"Orbitz found Mac users on average spend $20 to $30 more a night on hotels than their PC counterparts, a significant margin given the site's average nightly hotel booking is around $100, chief scientist Wai Gen Yee said. Mac users are 40% more likely to book a four- or five-star hotel than PC users, Mr. Yee said, and when Mac and PC users book the same hotel, Mac users tend to stay in more expensive rooms."

Execs 'fessed up to the Journal, but added that users can tinker with their search results so they're ranked by price. Nor are they assigning two different prices to the same hotel room.

OK, Mac users, we can all admit that this isn't exactly surprising, right? This is a safe space, where we can all acknowledge that maybe something without a pretty, pretty user interface would have gotten us to the Internet just as fast as that Air.

Nor is Orbitz the only retailer looking to capitalize on these techniques:

The effort underscores how retailers are becoming bigger users of so-called predictive analytics, crunching reams of data to guess the future shopping habits of customers. The goal is to tailor offerings to people believed to have the highest "lifetime value" to the retailer.

In fact, we can think of a few sites that might benefit from just straight ripping off Orbitz's Apple strategy. For example:

• American Apparel, because hipsters love hoodies.
• FreshDirect, because yuppies love fancy cheeses.
• Etsy, because graphic designers love putting a bird on it.
• Bloomingdales, because hey, Carrie Bradshaw used one.

Mr. Gad. (Twitter.com)

The indie Steve Jobs biopic continues chugging along, locking in cast members with an eye to that award-season-friendly timeline. With Ashton Kutcher firmly ensconced in the lead role, the latest addition to the cast is Book of Mormon star Josh Gad. Variety reports he’s in talks to play Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. But how's his tango?

Here’s what we know about the film so far: It’ll cover the stretch from 1971 to 2000. That means sugar water and insanely great are in, but there’ll be no triumphant unveiling of the iPod, iPhone, or iPad. (Which is actually a reason to rejoice, because how cliche of an ending would that be?) Joshua Michael Stern--of Swing Vote fame--is directing. It’s due to hit theaters at the end of the year. And the working title is supposedly, God help us all,  Jobs: Get Inspired.

Mr. Gad is actually a pretty good get for the film, as his star certainly seems to be on the rise. His Book of Mormon role netted him a Tony nomination. He’s also got other film and TV projects in the works, including an NBC comedy pilot and a movie about sex addiction. That said, both Mr. Gad’s background and that of Mr. Kutcher (currently the star of Two and a Half Men, for the cordcutters out there) are awfully heavy on comedy.

Hang on. Could it be this is going in a different direction, tone-wise, than everyone assumes?