Briefs

Apple’s largest supplier, Foxconn Technology Group, improved conditions at its China factories, the Fair Labor Association said on Aug. 21 in the first report following an audit that had found more than 50 breaches of regulations at three Foxconn plants. Since the audit, Foxconn redesigned equipment deemed dangerous and is working with authorities to get migrant workers access to unemployment insurance. It also reduced overtime to an average of 20 hours per week and has pledged to trim it to the legal weekly maximum of nine hours by July 2013. According to China Labor Watch, however, employees clocking fewer hours must still complete the same amount of work as before.

BMW is reviving its scooter ambitions after a nine-year hiatus. The German automaker has long produced a line of powerful motorcycles for highway riding, but the new so-called maxi scooters aim at a younger, more urban crowd. They’re speedy and powerful but also feature heated seats and grips. Two models, the C600 Sport and C650 GT, went on sale for as little as €11,100 ($13,800) in Europe in July, and BMW is developing an electric scooter called the C evolution, slated to launch in 2014.