Sun apparently was given not just one, but 16 prototype iPhones on July 9 or 10 to deliver to R&D, and he reported one missing three days later. He committed suicide early in the morning on July 16, after allegedly suffering through brutal interrogations.

Foxconn's China general manager James Lee told the NYT that Sun had a history of disappearing products: "Several times he had some products missing, then he got them back," and that they "don't know who took the product, but it was at his stop."

The NYT closes with an episode that again shows the kind of people Sun had to deal with: Not long after Sun's father finished telling journalists Foxconn treated the family well, a security guard with two men in Foxconn shirts appeared and threatened to beat up a journalist's translator if they kept asking the family questions. Foxconn swears the guard wasn't one of their guys.

I'm sure he had nothing to do with Foxconn, and was just some dude who asked to tag along with the guys in Foxconn shirts. You know, for fun. [NYT]

"My dear, I'm sorry, go back home tomorrow, something has happened to me, please don't tell my family, don't contact me, this is the first time that I have ever begged you, please agree to that! I am so sorry!"

And in what is reportedly his final online chat—supposedly verified as authentic—Sun tells a friend he never stole the phone, and thinks it was swiped. He also again implies that he was tortured, or at least forcefully detained and interrogated with physical force, clearly contradicting what Foxconn's security chief told a Chinese paper:

"Even at a police station, the law says force must never be used, much less in a corporate office. I was just a suspect, my dear head of security, so what reason and right do you have to confine me and use force?

If Foxconn is directly involved in his death, it and all of its executives could go bankrupt a million times over and that would still not even come to close to justice for Sun Danyong. [The New Yorker]

The latter report is the more interesting of the two, for the glimpse it gives into Foxconn's corporate culture: When Foxconn security manager Gu Qinming interviewed Sun, he says that Sun initially blamed the missing phone on a female colleague, provoking Gu to poke him in the shoulder and ask, "Are you a man?"

According to Gu, it was Sun who suggested that Foxconn search his house, to prove his innocence. Which almost sounds reasonable, insofar as Gu thought Sun was both incompetent and a liar—what else could Sun have done?

Yet, Sun was quoted as saying on a Chinese message board, "Even at a police station, the law says force must never be used, much less in a corporate office. I was just a suspect, my dear head of security, so what reason and right do you have to confine me and use force?"

Keep in mind as well that the latter report is based on the word of the guy who interrogated Sun Danyong before his death and works for a company so secretive it might have driven a man to suicide over a phone. [The New Yorker]

Analysts in the components industry tell DigiTimes that Apple won't switch to a different supplier because "product development involves collaboration on technologies that cannot be easily transferred to other makers."

So, for the same reasons that the stakes are so very high for Foxconn—the forces that essentially killed Sun Danyong—are the same reasons that Foxconn likely won't pay very dearly for their role in the tragedy. From a business perspective, one life is not worth years of secrets, hundreds of millions of dollars.

Which makes his death even more senseless than it already was. He didn't die over a phone, but for something more, and at the same time, far, far less. [DigiTimes]

It may have been a very special phone, and it may have been a phone that would have cost a company and its shareholders maybe upwards of billions of theoretical dollars if it had leaked out into a competitor's hands, but really, it's a phone. Is it worth a life? No. I think this secrecy thing has gone far enough. Especially since nothing stays unleaked ever anymore!

What caused the death? An overzealous security official who used "interrogation methods" to find the phone. A fucking phone. Going to extremes like putting the worker into solitary confinement, searching his house (illegally? legally?) and possibly beating him isn't the way to go about things. I know, the employer probably put a lot of pressure on the security chief to find that phone—maybe even threatening the chief himself with termination if the missing device wasn't found—but he's a grown man. He can make his own decisions about right and wrong. Torturing a guy over a phone is not right. It's just a job. Is it worth a life? No.

But of course the blame doesn't lie only with the security guard. The company Foxconn and its parent company Hon Hai aren't pillars of the Chinese community when it comes to placing the welfare of its employees above how much yuan they squeeze out of them. Foxconn admitted to breaking Chinese labor laws. CHINESE labor laws. If they don't care about their workers under normal, everyday circumstances, how much do you think they'll value a man's welfare if they think a little roughing up will save a multi-million dollar contract and secure future dealings with Apple? It's just money. Is it worth a life? No.

And was this method of interrogation even such a smart idea in the first place? If you're just so compelled to torture someone (which you shouldn't be) don't do it over shit that would be leaked three months down the road anyhow. Think about the last two years: do you remember any Apple product that hasn't had spy shots leaked beforehand that turned out to be real? It's now become inevitable. The CIA doesn't torture someone to stop the sun from coming up. That's fucking retarded.

As for Apple, are they blameless in this? No, of course not. They know exactly what kind of people they're dealing with. Remember that Chinese labor law story linked above? Apple sent a team to investigate Foxconn before the manufacturer admitted to wrongdoings, yet found nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, you could come to the conclusion that having an insanely locked-down company do your manufacturing is the situation Apple prefers, so they can use fear and intimidation tactics to maintain their culture of secrecy. But really, it's just a product. Is it worth a life? No.

This may have started about a missing phone, but in the end, it all boils down to being about money. Someone was indirectly killed, through a sequence of sad and unfortunate events, over money. You know who kills for money? Criminals. So please, Apple, stop doing business with criminals. And get your own priorities straight. A phone is not worth dying, or killing, over. [iPhone leak suicide coverage @ Giz]

According to the latest intelligence report, the new missile—a modified Dong Feng 21—can strick carriers or any other warship within a 2,000 kilometer range from its launching point. The new super-weapon carries a warhead powerful enough to sink a supercarrier in a single strike, travelling at mach 10 (ten times the speed of sound), which enables it to reach the maximum range target in less than 12 minutes.

Even worse: its combination of a complex guidance system and high maneuverability makes it almost impossible to intercept. Let's hope that the US Navy admirals are good at playing Battleships. [Defense Tech]

Yesterday, a reader jumped on the tips line saying:

OMG! I FOUND THE NEW IPHONE NANO! CHECK IT OUT MAN! THIS IS THE REAL THING! I BOUGHT THE ORIGINAL IPHONE 3G FROM THEM! AND THAT WAS REAL! THIS HAS TO BE REAL! CAN'T YOU SEE IT?!?!?! OMG! ASDADGAFAAEFGASDGADFASDHHHHH!!!

I tried to put some sense into him: "Dude, do you think a chinese supplier would have an Apple phone before Apple themselves?" But he wouldn't have it: "COME ON! I KNOW IT'S REAL! IT HAS TO BE REAL! I BOUGHT THREE OF THEM FOR MY FRIENDS FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL IN TEXAS!!!" After a while, I was polite and said good night. It was Christmas Day after all.

It's not anymore. [China suppliers—Thanks JC—not Jason Chen—and good luck with those amazing iPhone nano 3G with optional Java games and 64 polymorphic tones!]

Update: Here's a second iPhone Nano shot someone sent to our tip line. How's that look to you?

Even though the number of people dissatisfied with something in polls is usually higher than the actual percentage (dissatisfied people are more likely to complain), it's really interesting that that many residents think this is an infringement on their rights. I guess getting your mug on record as being a camwithher viewer is more tangible evidence of the internet crackdown than sites being blocked? [Times Online]

For the Chinese version, you've got the choice of either handwriting or using Pinyin, which is like spelling out the word you want and choosing the correct character. Would Apple add all this Chinese and Japanese support if the iPhone wasn't coming to China and Japan officially? No, probably not. [Wretch via Macrumors]

I'd definitely enjoy carrying around a watch and no keys, until the time I realized that I need my house keys too, which means I'm still carrying around some keys and this whole invention is only cool to show off to your friends from out of town who haven't seen this on the internet. That'll be the only thing to shield you from the derisive comments about you driving a Chinese car in the year 2008. [The Tycho via Jalopnik]

Rat Prankster: Remote Control RatA wireless remote control and a giant rat that responds to it will surely get you dumped, but hell, it's worth the laughs. Plus, she was way out of your league in the first place; she's bound to leave you at some point, it may as well be down to a $14.99 giant pest-joke. Verdict: At least the rat has a sense of humor. [Gagworks]

Rat Enemy: Rentokil Wireless Rat Trap SensorsWe heard about these Rentokil Pestconnect rat traps way back in 2005, but they are still the enemy! The rodent destroyers set traps all across your infested pad, once a successful catch is made an alert text message is sent to a designated mobile phone (email option also available). That can mean only one thing for our furry lil' buddy... Verdict: The rat perishes—oh noes! [Rentokil Pestconnect]

Rat Hybrid: Rat Heart Powered RobotsIt was only a few weeks ago when scientists in Korea managed to complete work on a crab-style microbot, which was smaller than the thickness of a fingernail. What was so special about this bot? It was powered by cardiac tissue from a rat. The researchers from Chonnam National University were able to articulate the robot's motion using contractions from the affixed cardiac muscle. The itsy-bitsy robot moved through a solution at a steady 100 micrometers per second, and it is hoped the project will give rise to faster, site-directed, clot-targeting microbots for the arteries of red-meat eaters. Verdict: The rat's got heart. [Discover]

Rat Royalty:iRiver MplayerThe Year of the Rat is also slightly less well known as the Year of the Mouse. As in Mickey. Since it's got a Disney partnership (at least in Asia), iRiver is commemorating this particular Chinese New Year with a gold-plated Mplayer. You'll only be able to grab one of these in China, so if a shiny Mickey MP3 player is all you have ever wanted, get importing or get a plane ticket. Verdict: The rat blings. [iRiver Mplayer]

Rat Rocks: Rat SpeakersThe USB Rat Speakers have a built-in amplifier, 6W total power output, volume control with blue LED indicator and retail for a rat-tastic $26.99. Sure, these speakers may sound mousy (ha!) but can you afford not to have their blue hue adding spirit to your cluttered desktop? Probably, but let's stay in the spirit of things, m'kay? Verdict: The rat's got soul. [Kleargear]

Traditionally, the rat is seen as a lucky character in Chinese culture, so we very much hope we have not come across as jackasses (any more than usual). We just wanted to find a Gizmodo way to say Gong Hei Fat Choy to y'all! And that's a rat, folks. (Sorry.)

[Geekmatica]