iLounge

Three employees of Apple assembler Foxconn have been arrested in relation to early leaks of the iPad 2’s design. DigiTimes reports that the three employees were arrested on December 26, 2010 and were charged on March 23 for violating company trade secrets; the three reportedly leaked the design to outside accessory companies in China, allowing them to begin producing cases for the iPad 2 prior to its public unveiling.

Apple was a main subject of the season 15 premiere of the animated series South Park, which aired last night. In the episode, entitled “HUMANCENTiPad,” Kyle failed to read the terms and conditions of the latest iTunes update, thus allowing Apple to track his location and subjecting himself to a human experiment meant to become Apple’s latest product. The full episode is available for viewing online at southparkstudios.com; some of the material may be objectionable to some readers.

Apple is in the process of testing iOS 5 with third-party applications, according to a new report. Citing the logs of WhereTo developer FutureTap, the new OS is being tested by both Apple and AT&T, on both the iPhone 4 and first-generation iPad. Apple is widely expected to preview iOS 5 at its Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

Momentum from the launch of the Verizon iPhone allowed Apple to gain on Android in U.S. smartphone sales for the first time since Q209, according to the latest data from NPD’s “Mobile Phone Track” service. As reprinted by MacDailyNews, Apple’s iOS accounted for 28 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales in Q1 2011, up nine percent from the prior quarter, while Android’s share of sales dropped three percentage points to 50 percent. Overall, Q1 2011 marked the first time a majority—54 percent—of new mobile handsets sold in the U.S. were smartphones.