the iPad factory explosion kills three, could cost Apple 500 000 tablets

An explosion engulfed a plant for the production of iPad Friday, killing three workers and injuring 15 more in Chengdu, China.

Apple (AAPL) and Foxconn Technology Group, the owner of the factory, are not certain what caused the explosion, but the closure resulting may have a serious effect of the iPad 2 s everywhere in the world, according to a Bloomberg story. The plant already has been forced to close and is not expected to reopen for about a month.

That could mean a loss of 500,000 iPads for Apple during a time when the company is still struggling to meet the orders and prices for the hot-selling device on the sites of the auction like eBay (EBAY) are still well above retail. The actual losses to Apple will depend on how long the plant remains closed, according to market research firm iSuppli.

Foxconn has another plant in Shenzhen, China iPad, but iSuppli notes that it might not be able to withstand the weight of the two plants. That could reduce the number of manufacturing Apple iPad 2 below the 7.4 million predicted by iSuppli as hitting the stores at the end of June, and it could put a damper on the device supplies in at least in some regions.

Analysts appear divided about a significant impact in how the explosion might have on Apple and the iPad, however. On the one hand, tech Analyst Mike Abramsky of RBC markets of capital think if Chengdu was primary Apple iPad supply factory (instead of Shenzhen), losses could pile up to 1.8 to 2.8 million iPads – fall much less shipments of iPad expected Abramsky 8 million at the end of the quarter.

On the other hand is analyst Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee. A report, he wrote today puts Apple on sale late June 6.8 million iPads and iPad said production is already be increased to cover the shortfall of Chengdu.

Latest IPad of Apple has been in high demand since the day when it was announced in March. Since then, pre-orders of Apple online retailer were empty for weeks due to high demand and resellers made some of the devices available on sites such as eBay to capitalize on the hype. Things have slowed since then, with iPads showing the Best Buy (BBY) and target (TGT) stores as well as in Apple and Apple Portal online stores. But if the losses for the supply of Chengdu are important, it is not crazy to assume iPads might be short offer once again, as the bears summer, potentially having an effect on Apple and its plans for the device as it is in its Conference of developers around the world in June.

Microsoft, not Facebook, could actually buy Skype

Rumors are swirling on the acquisition of VoIP giant Skype, and reliable reports are now pointing to Microsoft as new possible Skype owner. Four days earlier, we heard that Facebook offered would have between $3 and $4 billion to acquire Skype or (perhaps more plausible for a start with 2 billion in annual revenue) that Facebook could simply construct a kind of joint venture with Skype.

[More from Mashable: Microsoft opens PC store user [video]]

Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is paying in the neighbourhood of $ 7 billion purchase of Skype. The newspaper without name sources "close to the case", indicated that negotiations were Monday evening, but that an announcement could be made as early as Tuesday.

We will continue to keep you updated on the possibility or evidence of an acquisition of Skype. This series of rumours may indicate a bidding war, in which case the result will be entirely certain until representatives of confirm or set aside an agreement - and none of the above companies are willing to talk immediately.

MODULATORS of Graphene could break the limits of network speed

Optical fibre networks are at the forefront of Internet record-setting speed. Now, scientists from the University of California, Berkeley have developed a modulator of Graphene that could push the curve forward by a bond multiplied.

The listening team electrically layers thick carbon atom to absorb light at wavelengths used in data communications. The middle of Graphene was then shaped MODULATORS and placed in cables and optical network tiny for light transmitting data outside.

"Graphene allows us to modulators that are incredibly compact and potentially engaged at speeds of up to ten times faster than that current technology allows," explained Professor of engineering UC Berkeley Xiang Zhang, who led the research group. "This new technology will significantly strengthen our capabilities in high-speed optical communication and computing."

Data transfer speed depends on the speed with which the modulator can pulse light. Indoor optical cables, a modulator switches of transparent and opaque than its electrons are charged. Researchers have discovered that modulator of Graphene reached a speed of 1 gigahertz modulation and theoretically could reach as high as 500 gigahertz (500 billion cycles per second).

The tiny size of 25-square-micron of the Graphene modulators, optical cables would finish with modulators of measurement in millimetres used today. Indeed, optical cables could be stalklike which could potentially reduce their ability - the ability to hold an electrical charge - and lead to faster data transmission.

Colleague Zhang Feng Wang, assistant professor of physics and head of the Nano-optical ultrafast Berkeley group, added that the Graphene could be granted to other frequencies. "Graphene can also be used to modulate the new frequency varies, as medium infrared light, which is widely used in molecular detection.".

Graphene itself is already a highly regarded in electronics since its discovery in 2004. as it is flexible, the crystalline material more thin and more strong, pliable as rubber, compatible with silicon and an excellent conductor of heat and electricity. In addition, the research applied material Graphene is producing cheap and easy.

Liu Min, a researcher postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory author and co-lead for Zhang of the elaborate study on "the graphite in a pencil can provide enough Graphene to make $ 1 billion optical modulators.".

Next iPhone set to could live day

The day where you do not connect iPad, iPhone or your iPod to your computer to update its operating system might be at hand. There is a report that iOS 5 will be able to live updates. According to multiple sources of 9to5 Mac, Apple has negotiated with Verizon Wireless to provide live updates, but sources would not comment on whether the same negotiations take place with AT & T.

IOS updates be delivered online, Apple will have to make fundamental changes in the way of working of its updates. On the one hand, Apple will have to stop requiring a download of any operating system for a simple update.

My take: Today, I've updated my iPhone to iOS 4.3.3 (fixing of this problem that caused such outcry recently from tracking) and as he always does, the phone data was saved on my laptop, and then all iOS 4.3.3 has been downloadedall 662.3 MB of it. That will not be easy to do on the air, especially if you use 3 G or 4 G.

[More from Mashable: transform your iPad Planetarium Into a Music-Filled]

Perhaps Apple will leave these updates take place only on the Wi - Fi connections, as it does for some great app downloads. Even if this is the case, for the sake of efficiency, it would be a good idea to send incremental updates, similar to the way in which Microsoft has been updating its operating systems for years, in small pieces as they become available.

This would be a capacity both expected and welcome - a feature which is commonplace in the Android operating system. Then how long is the wait? Of course, Apple was not saying, but general consensus is that iOS 5 will launch when the iPhone 5 vessels, and now the latest iPhone rumor is that happens in June or July, that many had hoped. Another recent report, said that the next iPhone might be shipping in September.

Next iPhone set to could live day

The day where you do not connect iPad, iPhone or your iPod to your computer to update its operating system might be at hand. There is a report that iOS 5 will be able to live updates. According to multiple sources of 9to5 Mac, Apple has negotiated with Verizon Wireless to provide live updates, but sources would not comment on whether the same negotiations take place with AT & T.

IOS updates be delivered online, Apple will have to make fundamental changes in the way of working of its updates. On the one hand, Apple will have to stop requiring a download of any operating system for a simple update.

My take: Today, I've updated my iPhone to iOS 4.3.3 (fixing of this problem that caused such outcry recently from tracking) and as he always does, the phone data was saved on my laptop, and then all iOS 4.3.3 has been downloadedall 662.3 MB of it. That will not be easy to do on the air, especially if you use 3 G or 4 G.

[More from Mashable: transform your iPad Planetarium Into a Music-Filled]

Perhaps Apple will leave these updates take place only on the Wi - Fi connections, as it does for some great app downloads. Even if this is the case, for the sake of efficiency, it would be a good idea to send incremental updates, similar to the way in which Microsoft has been updating its operating systems for years, in small pieces as they become available.

This would be a capacity both expected and welcome - a feature which is commonplace in the Android operating system. Then how long is the wait? Of course, Apple was not saying, but general consensus is that iOS 5 will launch when the iPhone 5 vessels, and now the latest iPhone rumor is that happens in June or July, that many had hoped. Another recent report, said that the next iPhone might be shipping in September.