Oh boy, more wind blown to the rumor mills grinding out hopes for a 3G iPhone, says we. But this one looks more promising, because it's allegedly pointing now at Foxconn, the manufacturers behind the first iPhone. The Taiwan-based company is expected to rev up its iPhone churning machines again, but this time for 3G-capable units that are reportedly slated to ship in June. Let's spin the mill faster and get a load of more speculations at the full story, shall we?

"Made in Vietnam" could be the newest thing you'll see printed on the back of your iPhones or Nintendo Wiis in the near future. Taipei-based Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry), the world's largest contractor for electronics, announced that they will be expanding their operation to Vietnam.

Responsible for the production of products such as Apple's iPhone and iPod, as well as Nintendo's Wii console, Foxconn decided to continue to diversify their plant operations to Vietnam to maintain their cost-efficient business practices within the most efficient manufacturing area outside of China.

A deal was already signed last August 29 with Foxconn's chief executive Terry Gou and Vietnam's Ministry of Planning and Investment investing a US$ 5 billion contract into various high tech and supporting industries projects. Also, Foxconn has invested US$ 160 million in two plants in the Que Vo Industrial Zone, as well as hiring about 500 local university graduates with plans of hiring up to a maximum of 300,000 employees.

Tung Kim Nguyen, a partner at Indochina Capital, had this to say about Vietnam:

Vietnam is the next outsource manufacturing centre of Asia, this is because of a China-plus-one strategy that manufacturers are adopting and a response to anti-dumping suits that will be hitting the Chinese point of origin manufacturers hard over the next few years

Intel has already had their eye on Vietnam for some time. They announced that they would build a US billion plant near Ho Chi Minh, prompting other manufacturing giants such as Toshiba and Matsushita to pledge future investments.

Just when we thought we've gotten the first confirmation that "iPhone" is in the works, here comes news that would put the phone back in the "mystery files" folder.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (a.k.a Foxconn International) has won a contract that will have the company manufacture Macbooks and, to quote Forbes.com, "12 million mobile handsets that also function as music players".

We did warn about a possible mistranslation from the original source, and that the mobile handsets could probably be just MP3 players. We didn't put much thought about it until Hon Hai declined to comment on the announcement, saying that it doesn't respond to "market rumors". So, there goes our supposed confirmation.

And to keep the iPod phone shrouded in mystery,a Foxconn spokesman said that the company provides mobile phone manufacturing services to Motorola and Nokia Ojy. He added that Apple is not one of Foxconn's existing customers (in the mobile phone business, that is).

Now, we're back to where we started from. The best thing to do? What we usually do. Wait.

Alright, after ALL of those rumors about the possibility or existence of the legendary iPhone (or for the nit-picky, "a mobile phone unit made by Apple") here comes yet another piece of meat to add to the already neck-high stack of so-called juicy bits.

Forbes.com has reported that the Taiwanese company Hon Hai (otherwise known as Foxconn in other countries) has just won a contract from Apple which will have the company churning out 15-inch Macbooks for delivery in January, as well as "12 million mobile handsets that also function as music players". Oooh. The report then goes on to say that the said mobile handsets are expected to be launched by the first half of 2007, though no other details of the deal have been revealed.

On the other hand, many are still speculating if perhaps this could all just be a mistranslation, and that "mobile handsets that also function as music players" may actually have been more of "handheld MP3 players", or iPods.

iPhone, are you for real? Once again, it all becomes a matter of waiting for official announcements. Until then, we can just wonder of Apple's phones will be using a click-wheel.

Hongfujin Precision Industry Co., the contracted manufacturer of Apple's iPod media jukebox have filed lawsuits against two Chinese journalists who wrote articles about working conditions at factories where iPods are made. According to Chinese press, Hongfujin, which is a subsidiary of TaiwanÂ?s Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd.Â?s Foxconn Technology Group, is seeking 30 million renminbi (US$3.77 million) in damages from the two journalists.

Published articles written by the two journalists accused Apple and Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. of exploiting workers at their factory in southern China. The Shenzhen Intermediate Court, which accepted the case, froze the assets of the two reporters, Weng Bao and Wang You. The journalist rights group Reporters Without Borders have requested that the iPod contractor drop the lawsuit, but as of yet no news on Hongfujin Precision Industry Co.'s reply has surfaced.

A couple of weeks ago, Apple responded to iPod "sweatshop" accusation and reassured the public that the company is committed to ensuring that workers are treated with respect and dignity. It didn't take long for Shanghai Business Review to defend Apple to defend Apple, even saying that quality of factories in China are better than in Europe. Of course, the accused, Foxconn had already spoken. And it continues to speak, but this time, bashing domestic and international media for the irresponsible reporting without independent verification of the actual working conditions in Foxconn's iPod plants.

Edmund Ding, speaking on behalf of Foxconn Electronics (registered trade name of Hon Hai Precision Industry), has submitted a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange strongly criticizing the media for erroneously reporting less than humane conditions in its iPod factories in China. Again, Foxconn has denied allegations of sweatshop conditions in light of reports that the company has admitted to breaking labor laws in China, by asking employees to work 80 extra hours every month and only giving an equivalent of $50 in pay.

In response, Ding stated that Foxconn pays an overtime rate equivalent or better than that required by Chinese laws. He further stated that "Foxconn does not comment about customer information, much less make a public announcement on behalf of a customer."

There have been so many rumors about the release of the next iPod  - none of which has been confirmed, not a single one. Whenever someone from Apple tries to answer those backfence talks, their replies usually result in more speculation - thus it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that they are not speaking up.

Just like this one, we have already featured in our earlier reports about some weird Apple patents that have something to do with the body's motion. Apparently, in a recent statement by CEO Terry Gou of Hon Hai (iPod makers for Apple), it was implied that Apple is about to unveil the next generation of the iPod, the best-selling music player in the U.S., using a "none-touch" concept. The "none-touch" part sent the rumormongers running to their blogs.

Maybe something's just lost in translation. But the only sensible possibility is that the next iPod will feature an internal motion sensor somewhat similar to the one Apple already uses in its laptops and along the lines of the upcoming Nintendo Wii controller. If this one is proven to be true, I'd be one of the many applauding Apple! But since this is just a rumor, we leave the speculation part to you. What do you think about this rumor? Would you like it or is it a bad idea? Let us know through your comments.