Apple has removed the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) certification from 39 of their product lines, including displays and computers. The Wall Street Journal quotes Robert Frisbee, CEO of EPEAT:

"[Apple] said their design direction was no longer consistent with the EPEAT requirements," Frisbee said. The company did not elaborate, Frisbee said. "They were important supporters and we are disappointed that they don't want their products measured by this standard anymore."

The general assumption seems to be that with products like the new iPad and the Retina MacBook Air, Apple's design and manufacturing process is emphasizing thinness and lightness over recyclability and repairability. This may or may not matter to consumers, who are increasingly faced with disposable, appliance-like consumer electronics. However, some private and public organizations require EPEAT certification for bulk purposes. Would they bend or break their own rules just to get Apple products on the floor?

iMore's Ally Kazmucha, who also operates iOS device repair shop, PXLFIX, has previously taken issue with Apple's increasing divergence from repairable technology, as has iFixit's Kyle Wiens writing for Wired, and Richard Gaywood at TUAW.

These certifications are only part of the typical environmental checklist Apple presents during new product announcements. Whether Apple decides they're important enough to go with a different certification, to create their own, or ultimately to blaze ahead with no particular environmental certification remains to be seen.

iPhones and iPads aren't certifiable under EPEAT to date, and they've done spectacularly well on the market anyway. Would lack of EPEAT certification stop you from buying any other Apple products?

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Kevin from CrackBerry.com, Phil from AndroidCentral.com, Daniel from WPCentral.com and Rene from iMore.com talk Google I/O, Windows Phone 8, WWDC, BlackBerry 10, 7-inch tablets, and media streamers. This is Mobile Nations!

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Agenda

• Google I/O 2012
• Android 4.1 Jellybean
• Google Nexus 7
• Google Nexus Q
• Microsoft Surface
• Windows Phone 8
• BlackBerry 10
• WWDC 2012
• iOS 6
• iPad mini

Hosts

• Phil Nickinson (@philnickinson) of Android Central
• Kevin Michaluk (@crackberrykevin) of CrackBerry.com
• Daniel Rubino (@Daniel_Rubino) of WPCentral
• Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) of iMore

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Got something to say? Agree or disagree with something we said? Have something you want us to discuss on a future show? Don't just sit there yelling at the screen, dammit, let us know!

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Credits

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p>Our music is pROgraM vs. Us3R by by morgantj.

Thanks to the Mobile Nations network of store for sponsoring this podcast, and to our fantastic live chat members for keeping us honest and making us smart!

iPad mini rumors will not go away, with the latest set centering around it being manufactured exclusively in Brazil. According to Macotakara, this information comes from a "Chinese reliable source". Here's just some of what they had to say:

This source, who seems to look a prototype, told that new tablet (iPad mini?) had same hight with Nexus 7 and slight larger width. Even though front projection size is larger than rivals, thickness of that new tablet is considered to be thinner than current most thinnest tablet Kindle Fire, and to be similar with iPod touch (4th generation) by this source.

Foxconn has invested heavily in iPad production in Brazil.

With regards to the 7-inch iPad being same height as the Nexus 7 but slightly wider, the width increase would make sense as Apple prefers the 4:3 aspect ratio for iPad screens where as other manufacturers seem to like the 16:9 ratio. 16:9 is the standard for movies but not the best ratio for apps, web surfing and most other tasks.

iMore reported on the 7-inch iPad pricing and release date back in may. The date we are hearing is October 2012, which would put it right alongside the new iPhone. Our sources also told us that the iPad mini would be identical to the current iPad but, just a scaled down version.

Source: Macotakara

Pimp!t is an app for creating wallpapers for your iPhone. It has a lot of a great backgrounds, shelves, and icon skins that can be mixed and matched to create something that reflects you. You can also browse through user-created templates for inspiration or to use.

When creating a wallpaper, there are three different categories: backdrops, shelves, and icon skins. To switch categories, just swipe up and down. Swiping left and right will switch between choices in the current category. The selection of backgrounds is really great and most are nice and simple without busy, distracting elements that clash with icons.

The user-created section is awesome for people who just want to find something completed and ready to use. What's really great about this part of the app is that you can scroll though a list of thumbnails. I can usually tell from a thumbnail if I'm not going to like it, so being able to skip those choices is convenient.

After creating your own wallpaper or finding a user-created one you want to use, just tap Pimp!t to save it to your Camera Roll. Pimp!t will also give you directions on how to set your saved photo as your wallpaper. You can also select a box to opt-in to share your design with other Pimp!t users.

The good

• Great selection
• Mix and match backgrounds, shelves, and icon skins
• Browse through user creations

The bad

• Can't mark favorites
• No thumbnail view to see many options in a category at once. It would be nice to scroll though them all.

The conclusion

When I first learned about Pimp!t, I admittedly wasn't too excited about the idea because there are already so many other apps in the app store with similar functionality. But a big problem I have with many of those other apps is that I don't like their selections. With Pimp!t, I have a completely different problem -- the inability to decided between the many different wallpapers because I like so many of them. Because of this, I wish there was a way to mark a background as a favorite so that I could easily compare the ones I like most side-by-side.

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- Can a "new" iPad roam on an extended network yet with a prepaid plan?
- Is the iPad 3 wifi antenna the same as the 4s?
- Siri Won't Call My Dad
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Even though Apple recently showed off Passbook as part of iOS 6, they'll reportedly be taking a slower, steadier approach to integrating system-wide mobile payments. According to a lengthy article on The Wall Street Journal, NFC and retail transactional systems have been explored, but aren't imminent.

Holding back in mobile payments was a deliberate strategy, the result of deep discussion last year. Some Apple engineers argued for a more-aggressive approach that would integrate payments more directly. But Apple executives chose the go-slow approach for now. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on the decision-making process. Apple's head of world-wide marketing, Phil Schiller, in an interview last month, said that digital-wallet mobile-payment services are "all fighting over their piece of the pie, and we aren't doing that."

Passbook isn't written in stone, however. Apple typically builds technology and API (application programming interfaces) in abstracted enough manners that newer, more advanced systems can fold in over older systems. Just like 3G was added to existing location services like Wi-Fi mapping and cell tower triangulation. If NFC/RFID hardware is included in a future iPhone, it's not hard to imagine the user-facing aspects slotting elegantly into the Passbook app and Pass Kit APIs, not to mention iTunes transactional system.

iOS already has many applications that can handle mobile payments on the iPhone -- everything from Starbucks to Paypal to Square. Passbook will already aggregate a lot of existing mobile payment and mobile commerce content, and make it more easily and more highly available.

Whether Apple expands to full, system-wide transactional support in the future remains to be seen. Given adoption rates today, slow and steady could well win the mobile payment race.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Breakout indie gaming hit Tiny Wings was a 2011 iMore Editor's Choice Award winner, so you better believe we're looking forward to Tiny Wings 2. July 12 is the big day, according to developer Andreas Illiger.

Part of what made the original Tiny Wings so great was its simple, hand-crafted charm. Just a bird, momentum, mountains, and a race against the setting sun. That same charm positively explodes from the old fashioned teaser just released for the sequel.

So for some paper craft animation and punch hole music at its finest, as well as an almost literal easter egg at the end, check out the video and then start saving your pennies. If Tiny Wings 2 is even half as enthralling as the original, we'll be in for some long gaming sessions, and late nights come next Thursday.