Apple’s Foxconn factory may not be the best place on Earth for a worker to be, but what comes out of it is certainly loved by millions around the world. Reporter Rob Schmitz, the Shanghai Bureau Chief of Marketplace, recently gained access into the factory and has written a detailed ongoing report about his experiences there. But the video below stands out as it allows us to take a peek at the process of making an iPad.

In the clip, you will see iPads being made via a combination of hand assembly and machinery. The processes shown include the installation of motherboard, display and other components, examination of the back cover for scratches, testing of the gyroscope and screen, and more, and the job is definitely blow-your-brains-out-boring. You will also get to take a look at different areas of the facility.

About the facility, Schmitz says, “The first misconception I had about Foxconn’s Longhua facility in the city of Shenzhen was that I’ve always called it a ‘factory’ — technically, it is. But after you enter the gates and walk around, you quickly realize that it’s also a city — 240,000 people work here. Nearly 50,000 of them live on campus in shared dorm rooms. There’s a main drag lined on both sides with fast-food restaurants, banks, cafes, grocery stores, a wedding photo shop, and an automated library. There are basketball courts, tennis courts, a gym, two enormous swimming pools, and a bright green astroturf soccer stadium smack-dab in the middle of campus. There’s a radio station — Voice of Foxconn — and a television news station. Longhua even has its own fire department, located right on main street”.

The company appears to be spending millions to improve the living conditions at the facility, but Foxconn is still considered as hell by most of the people especially after the suicides that happened some time back.

Head here to read Schmitz’s ongoing coverage of the Apple Economy.

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It appears like Microsoft is slowly losing their love for their Windows Mobile OS as the company is fully concentrating on the Windows Phone platform. What you see above is the full email that is being circulated to WinMo users which details about the company’s decision to officially shut down Windows Marketplace for Mobile 6.x.

According to the email, Microsoft will bring the curtains down on the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace on May 9, 2012. From that day onwards, customers using handsets running on the older platform as well as the developers will not be able to access the store. (In case anyone is having a doubt, the Windows Phone Marketplace will still be there.)

All the apps that are already downloaded will continue to work, although updates will not be available. Therefore Microsoft recommends WinMo users to install available updates before the service goes dark. But new applications might still be available directly from developers.

As you might know, the talks about shutting down the Windows Mobile Marketplace began last year. And the company started giving out hints regarding the matter earlier than the arrival of the email. They have stopped accepting new submissions of applications. The news about the shutdown is certainly not a surprise and most probably won’t hurt anyone, but it is a fact that Windows Mobile played a big role in the evolution of the mobile OS.

Microsoft might be hoping for the best by focussing their whole effort on making Windows Phone a success on the market currently ruled by Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. So far, the company’s OS has failed to become popular despite good hardware from Nokia and other partners. Let’s wait and see what the future holds for them.

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