First up, Japanese Apple blog Macotakara is reporting that manufacturing has already begun on the latest device.

According to “Chinese sources,” Foxconn Technology and Pegatrom Technology have already started producing the iPhone 5. The blog also states that the finished phones are not being packaged yet because iOS 5 has yet to be finalized.

Apparently, Foxconn will be producing about 85% of the iPhone 5s while Pegatron will be producing the remaining 15%.

Next, BGR reported yesterday that they obtained a leaked document from a “Best Buy source.” According to that document, the higher-ups at Best Buy expect the iPhone 5 to launch during the first week of October.

They say that pre-sales for the device could begin as early as this week. Another interesting thing about this leak is that Best Buy is also announcing the the iPhone 5 launch will include Sprint. This is not the first rumor we have heard about the new iPhone coming to Sprint.

Finally, it looks like Apple may have started iOS 5 and iCloud training with Apple Store employees.

The timing of the iOS 5 training might be able to tell us something about a possible iPhone 5 release. If history proves correct, the brand new operating system is likely to be rolled out pretty close to the launch of a new device. And, as 9to5 Mac points out, Apples Stores usually being training of new software a few weeks before a product launch. If Apple Store employees are already in training mode, could that signify an earlier release for the iPhone 5?

All of these rumors, taken as one, seem to suggest the already expected timeline of a September pre-order period followed by an early October launch. They add fuel to that already blazing fire. But then again, Apple has yet to say anything regarding the existence of a new iPhone. And of course, that’s what makes the whole rumor process so much fun, and so tedious at the same time.

The companies engaging in such practices have been getting away with it because of terms buried in fine print, where customers accept offers without having to share their credit card info themselves, placing a certain level of trust in the retailers that are profiting off of sharing their info.

The executive summary of the Senate document reads as follows:

In May 2009, Chairman Rockefeller launched an investigation into a set of controversial e-commerce business practices that have generated high volumes of consumer complaints. Since that time, Commerce Committee staff has been investigating three Connecticut-based direct marketing companies – Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty – as well as the hundreds of online websites and retailers that partner with these three companies to sell club memberships to online shoppers. Although this investigation is not yet complete, it is clear at this point that these three companies use highly aggressive sales tactics to charge millions of American consumers for services the consumers do not want and do not understand they have purchased.

Chances are, you’ve encountered the "offers" that utilize this strategy. TechCrunch provides a sample screenshot:

So who are the companies that have been selling credit card information? Well, the following were paid over $10 million each to do so:

- 1-800-Flowers.com
- Buy.com
- Classmates.com
- Columbia House
- Confi-Check
- Expedia/Hotels.com
- Fandango
- FTD
- Hotwire
- InQ
- Intellius
- MovieTickets.com
- Orbitz
- Priceline
- Redcats USA
- Shutterfly
- Travelocity
- US Airways
- VistaPrint

Dozens more were paid between $1 and $10 Million. I won’t name all of them (there is a full list here), but Yahoo is one of them. So is Avon, Barnes & Noble, eHarmony, Half.com, Pizza Hut, TimeLife, and Victoria’s Secret.

People have often expressed concerns about buying stuff online from brands that they haven’t heard of. It turns out that some of the biggest brands are not exactly as trustworthy as some may have thought. Customers are not pleased.

For the offending brands themselves, this has to be a PR and online reputation management nightmare. Read the whole report here (pdf) if you’ve got some time on your hands.

Related Articles:

> Advertisers Scammed By Invisible Impressions

> Email Scams On The Rise?

> Calling it a Scam, Then Selling it

Consumers continued to convert online at a steady rate, although they spent 10 percent less on average per transaction compared with the prior year, according to a report from SearchIgnite.

Paid search spend by retailers is up on average for all of Q4, but a closer look at intra-quarter trends shows differences in retailer’s allocation of spend through out the quarter compared to 2007.

Retailers increased their paid search spend by 15 percent in October and 43 percent in November compared with the same months in 2007. This growth was reversed in December when retailers cut their search spend by 14 percent from December 2007.

Consumers also showed different spending behavior during Q4 as compared with a year earlier. Online transactions increased by 11 percent in October compared with October 2007. Even with heavy promotions by retailers around Black Friday/Cyber Monday, conversion rates fell slightly in November (-2%) before rising again in December (4%).

"Retailers were more aggressive with their paid search spend in the first half of the quarter compared with a year earlier in an effort to capture more consumer dollars ahead of the holidays," said Roger Barnette, President of SearchIgnite.

"This is evidence that the challenging and changing economic environment is requiring retail marketers to adjust their online marketing strategies accordingly. As such, tools for testing and understanding how both search and other online media are performing together will become increasingly important for retailers as they look to make more nimble, data-driven decision about where to allocate their media spend."
 

People who had recently made consumer electronics purchases in a brick and mortar store, 80 percent bought from a store whose Web site they visited first. In addition 53 percent purchased from a retailer on whose Web site they had spent the most time.

The benefits of online sales is not a new concept to retailers, but the ability of the Internet to drive offline sales is increasing. Among consumer electronics purchases, 58 percent said if they had only one channel to do product research before making a purchase, they would choose the Internet, compared with only 25 percent that would choose to do research in a brick and mortar store.

Even in product categories that require less research before purchase, the Internet plays an important part in gathering information.  The survey found 44 percent of pet food buyers went online to find out more about the product. Safety was the main concern for these consumers, who were most interested in nutritional information, product ingredients and recall information.

"A strong Web presence with broad and deep online content is critical for all retailers, including brick and mortar stores," said Ken Cassar, vice president, industry insights, Nielsen Online.

"Surprisingly enough, the industry that retailers should look to for guidance on multi-channel integration is the media industry, which has embraced the notion of content portability, allowing their consumers to easily consume content wherever they are with whatever device they prefer."
 

Only 101 retailers participated in the study, so again, we’re not holding these stats up as a representation of everything, everywhere.  But as another intriguing tidbit, Jack Loechner reports, "Brick-and-mortar stores (20 percent) and websites (22 percent) produced the highest level of revenue in 2007."

Also, a DMA statement pegs websites as the "most consistently used direct marketing channel," while email and direct mail are also popular.

All reservations aside, then, these findings make things look pretty good for the online world.  And although we’re far from hoping for any economic disasters, the outlook might get even better in a recession (with a lack of overheard and no driving required).

The DMA doesn’t delve too far into either predictions or historical data, but as with all Web stuff, we should remember that everything started at "zero" not too long ago.  Future increases in store-less retailers and website marketing seem likely as a result.