It appears an Apple supply manager, Paul Shin Devine, has been arrested and is currently facing severe indictment charges alongside Andrew Ang, of Singapore for kickbacks involving iPhone and iPad accessories. No company is immune to dishonest employees and fraud, not even Apple.

For those of you not familiar with what a kickback scheme is or how it works, it’s basically when a person receives funds for information or assets that don’t belong to them. You typically see this a lot when it comes to taxes or when someone misrepresents a financial position and receives payments for doing so. The unaccounted for money is passed along to another party or the party receives payments (kickbacks) for performing such actions. Most of the time, a kickback will require more than one person’s involvement as most companies have a segregation of duties policy so no one person has too much power or control. These situations typically arise when one or more people abuse their power.

In this case, Devine used his position at Apple to gain confidential information external suppliers would want. He then passed this information along and received payments, aka kickbacks for the information. He allegedly opened several bank accounts, including accounts in his wife’s name in which he received the kickbacks. Devine would use code words with suppliers as to not raise suspicion from coworkers.

There was no comment on Ang’s whereabouts as of yet, but both of them are named in a 23-count federal grand jury indictment case. Devine, of Sunnyvale, is currently being held by the US Marshals Service. The FBI and the IRS worked jointly on the case.  Apple issued the following statement in regards to the situation -

“Apple is committed to the highest ethical standards in the way we do business,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for dishonest behavior inside or outside the company.”

None of the suppliers were referred to by name, but I’m sure that information will come out eventually.

[via Mercury News]

Apple manager caught in elaborate iPhone and iPod accessory kickback scheme is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Engadget has it from a reliable source that there’s a device being prepared by Sony Ericsson that will look like a cross between a Samsung Captivate and PSP Go, run Android 3.0 “Gingerbread” and, enjoy PS titles like God of War.

If it pans out, if they nail the hardware and software, it will be a serious competitor to iPhone and iOS in the mobile gaming space. If Sony can work a little Apple-style magic and get it integrated with the PS3, it could be flat out awesome.

So what do you think, combine this with Windows Phone 7 getting Xbox live features, will Apple, the App Store, and their upcoming Game Center be enough to hold on to the mobile gaming market?

[Engadget via Android Central]

Sony Ericsson prepping Android 3.0 PlayStation Phone to take on iOS gaming? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Why won’t my iPhone or iPad case work with this cable? is one of the questions we’re being asked a lot lately. A naked iPhone can pretty much fit any sync, charge, or media cable you connect it with at home, at work, or on the go. When you start introducing some types of cases, however, and add in different kinds of cables — all bets are off.

The USB to Dock cable Apple includes with every iPhone and iPad box is typically razor thin. It just has an incredibly small profile and will generally fit almost any case you throw at it. [Cheap plug: the Apple USB cable with AC adapter is 50% off right now at the TiPb Store]

Other cables, especially when you get into things like car or video connectors can be broader, thicker and fatter. Maybe it’s a lack of forethought, maybe it’s a matter of shielding, maybe it’s both.

If your iPhone or iPad has a skin shield, it’s basically the same as being naked and not a problem. With cases, your mileage will certainly vary.

Many of the very light, thin cases, especially where they have very large cutouts around the dock, aren’t usually a problem either. It’s when you start getting into the thicker, more protective cases that are cut tighter around the dock that there starts to be a problem. Namely, the thicker cables don’t fit.

In an ideal world all cables would be as thin as possible and all cases would have the ports cut as wide as protection allows. In the real world, here are your options:

• If you want to use one of the cases that offers better protection try to get as thin a cable as possible.

• If you want to use thicker car, media, or other cables, get case that’s cut as wide around the dock as possible.

The same rules can apply to some cases when matched with some headsets as well. It’s a mix-and-match game that accessory makers have forced onto iPhone and iPad users.

In an ideal world, case makers would pay attention and provide ample room around the ports and cable and other accessory makers would pay attention and keep their profiles as slim as possible. And hey, if you’ve run into any problems, writing the accessory maker in question and letting them know might just get them to pay more attention in the future.

Why won’t my iPhone or iPad case work with this cable? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Playboy magazine is coming to iPad by the nudity isn’t coming with it. According to founder Hugh Hefner, who broke the news on Twitter, the reason is:

Steve Jobs has a thing about nudity

So yes, you really will be reading it for the articles.

[@hughhefner via 9to5mac]

Playboy magazine coming to iPad absent nudity is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog