We’ve come to known about it months before it’s launched in March, but the rumours of iPad 2 has come to a sad ending. Three employees of Foxconn, which manufactures Apple products and other electronics, are said to have been charged for violating the company’s trade secret agreement by allegedly leaking design details of Apple’s iPad 2 to the media ahead of its release.

Chinese news site Sznews says that the three workers have been arrested by local police in Shenzhen, China in December of last year, and were formally charged last week. Apparently they’re the origins of the mock up and iPad 2 cases that we saw, as the alleged leaks gave several accessory makers time to draw up designs ahead of the iPad 2′s unveiling.

We can probably blame the accessory manufacturers for so impatiently revealing an accessory case of a product that has yet to hit the market. Then again, publicity stunt will greatly bump the brand name of the company so nobody’s to blame.
While some of those designs did not match up to what Apple eventually unveiled on March 2, a handful nailed features like the cameras, rounded back, relocated speaker and microphone, and thinner enclosure.

Following controversy over worker suicides at the manufacturer, Apple, Dell and HP began investigations into working conditions. Apple released its report based on audits of 127 facilities back in February. Foxconn has since raised worker wages, with Apple working to train workers and supervisors alike in worker rights, labor laws, and safety measures. That’s why we’re seeing less ’14 floor’ cases from Foxconn, but then again I don’t see huge improvement in the environment.

SOURCE via CNET