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redletterdave writes "On Monday, Foxconn agreed to invest $210 million to help Apple build out a new production line for 'unspecified components.' The 40,000-square-meter plant plans to hire roughly 35,800 new employees to help assemble parts for either desktop and laptop computers, iPhones, iPads, iPods, or possibly even new products or devices. Apple projects the plant's annual output between $949 million to $1.1 billion, and also estimates the import and export value at roughly $55.8 million."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Popular music streaming service Spotify is now available in Australia and New Zealand, making the platform available in a grand total of 15 countries. Spotify lets its users stream 16 million tracks via its desktop and mobile apps, and the service is updated every week with new albums and releases.

Spotify is a new way to listen to music, giving you instant, on-demand access to more than 16 million tracks on your computer, mobile phone, iPad and beyond, so you can enjoy music whenever and wherever you like.

Offering a truly free music service, Spotify is loved by more than 10 million people across the globe. No gimmicks, no trial period, no catches – just listen and love it, month after month.

Simply search for any artist, song or album and start playing. Create playlists, share music with friends and check out what others are listening to. Spotify’s seamless Facebook integration takes enjoying music with friends to a whole new level. Music has never been this social.

Spotify makes great apps for Apple lovers, including a stellar new iPad app for Premium subscribers. The service also boasts many internal apps for discovering and sharing music. Australia listeners will get the “Triple J” app exclusively, and the “NZ Top 40″ app is only available for New Zealanders.

You can get the recently-updated Spotify for Mac here for free with ads. The iPhone and iPad apps require a Premium subscription, which costs $11.99 per month in Australia and $12.99 per month in New Zealand.

Via: Engadget

May is Mobile Management Month at Cult of Mac, where we will be profiling a different mobile management company every weekday. You can find all previous entries here  and read our Mobile Management manifesto here.

Tangoe is a company with a long history of wired and mobile telecom expense management. The company offers incredible hand-on services for evaluating communications expenses and offering cost saving advice for small/mid-size businesses and large enterprises alike. Tangoe’s biggest advantage is that it offers real-time review of telecom bills tied to specific departments, users, and device – and that it uses that data to build a specialized telecom expense plan for its clients.  The company also offers a solid range of device and app management. However, Tangoe’s real-time expense management capabilities are the company’s signature features.

Company: Tangoe Product(s): Tangoe Type of solution(s): device, app, and expense management

Platforms supported beyond iOS: Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, webOS, Windows Mobile, Windows Phone

Licensing Model: perpetual and recurring licensing options Includes/Offers Maintenance Updates?: Optional Technical support options: 24/7

Deployment options: cloud service, on-premise Windows software

Failover and load balancing options: supports server failover and load balancing

Scalability: supports multiple locations and location-specific administration

Directory system integration: Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP

Administrative tool options: web/cloud

Data export capabilities: device hardware, installed configuration profiles, location and usage tracking, installed apps

Expense management features: track current carrier, alert on roaming, real-time mobile usage data, overall telecom and mobile telecom expense management tracking and savings advisement

Device enrollment mechanism(s): website, iOS app Support for secure/authenticated enrollment?: Yes Security certificate features: Certificates for SCEP enrollment, Exchange, Wi-Fi, VPN

Remote/On Demand administrative actions: remove passcode, lock, wipe

App management options: push apps to device, enterprise app store with custom and public apps, Apple Volume Purchase Plan integration, app whitelist/blacklist options, admin alert on unapproved apps

The iOS 5 Notification Center displays incoming messages in a couple of ways. When you have an iOS device unlocked, a new message can be shown via a small banner notification at the top of the screen. A regular alert can be displayed for certain apps, and incoming notifications are also pushed to the iOS lock screen when a device is locked. The system works well, but Apple restricts the amount of text you can see in a given notification. If you want to read an entire message that’s more than a sentence or two, you have to open the associated app.

The jailbreak community has improved the way Notification Center handles longer messages. A new Cydia tweak called Reveal lets you view long chunks of text from a banner or lock screen notification.

Developed by Joshua Tucker and Conrad Kramer, Reveal is a slick tweak that extends iOS functionality in a way that Apple could have implemented. There are no settings to configure, as Reveal integrates seamlessly into Notification Center.

Have you ever gotten a banner notification and been frustrated that you can’t see the entire chunk of text? If, say, a Twitter message comes in, you can typically just see the @ username followed by the first couple words. With Reveal installed, you can scroll from right to left on the banner notification to read the whole thing.

The same goes for the lock screen. Longer messages can now be read entirely by scrolling inside the notification bubble. The list view for notifications on the lock screen will also show you longer messages. Just tap on the notification to view the entire body of text.

Here’s a video of Reveal in action:

Reveal is available now in Cydia for $2.

As noted by 9to5Mac, the latest developer build of OS X Mountain Lion released last week sets the stage for bringing iOS-like automatic app downloads to Mac App Store purchases.

Like on the iPhone and iPad, when you buy and install an app on one of your Macs, all of your other Macs logged into the same App Store account will automatically install the app too. Unfortunately, the feature does not seem to be working completely. While the App Store will still offer to enable automatic downloads (as seen above), it does not actually install anything when you purchase apps from another computer.

Apple has been issuing regular updates of OS X Mountain Lion to its Mac developer community, and the company is expected to offer many more details on the next-generation operating system at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. OS X Mountain Lion is currently scheduled to see a public launch in "late summer" of this year and will bring a number of enhancements including several features drawn from iOS such as Notification Center, Game Center, Messages, and Reminders. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only • Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management" • China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple • In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge" • iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

Facebook has launched its official iPhone app for managing Pages. After a slow rollout throughout other parts of the world, Facebook Pages Manager for iPhone is free and available now in the U.S. App Store. If you manage Pages on Facebook, this app will let you check statistics, post, comment, and more on the go.

Pages Manager helps admins connect with their audience and keep up with activity on multiple Pages, all in one place.

Features: - Post new updates and photos as your Page - Get notified about new activity on your Page when it happens, no matter where you are - Respond, post and comment as your Page while you’re on-the-go - Manage all your Facebook Pages from one app - View your latest Page Insights

Just install Pages Manager and then log in using Facebook to quickly access and manage all of your Pages from wherever you are.

Unfortunately, the new app is only available on the iPhone.

Facebook’s official iOS app doesn’t let you manage Pages, so the Pages Manager app fills that need. One glaring omission from the app is the ability to check Page messages. Facebook will hopefully fix bugs and add more functionality in the next update. You can get Facebook Pages Manager for free in the App Store.

Update: Readers are saying that the app is showing up in the App Store, but you can’t actually download it at this time. Facebook seems to have pulled it again right after going live. Check back for updates.

Panic, the company behind popular Mac app Coda, has announced the second major version of its prized web development tool. Coda 2 for Mac will launch on May 24th alongside a new app for the iPad called Diet Coda. Version 2.0 of Coda is “better at everything,” according to Panic, and Diet Coda will allow you to preview your code live on the iPad as you write on the Mac. The iPad app will also let you make quick edits to your code on the go.

You code the web. We revolutionized that process in Coda, putting everything in one place. An editor. Terminal. CSS. Files. But we knew we could do better. With Coda 2, we went beyond expectations. With loads of new, much-requested features, a few surprises, and a seriously refreshed UI, this update is, truly, major.

Coda 2 comes with over 100 new features, including a built-in MySQL editor, live code hints, iCloud sync, live CSS updating, code folding, smart tabs, keyboard shortcuts, better site management, and more. Panic also says that Coda 2 is “Retina-ready.”

Diet Coda looks like the perfect iPad companion app.

Diet Coda takes everything we’ve ever learned aboutworld-class web code editing, and wraps it up to-go. It’s packed with features, bathed in fun, ready to work. So go on, take a vacation and only pack your iPad — you’ll get your job done, quickly and delightfully. It’s so good, you might never touch your desktop again.

A flagship feature is AirPreview, allowing you to view the site you’re coding wirelessly on the iPad. Panic calls it “post-PC perfection” for only $10.

Both apps will go live on Thursday, May 24th. For the first 24 hours, Coda 2 will be half off at $49. Version 2.0 is a paid upgrade for all existing users.

Mark your calendars!

Source: Panic

This post is brought to you by FakhrApps, publisher of the My English Translator app.

Language translation software can easily make you appear to be saying something downright preposterous. It can also get you a slap in the face when smiles and hand gestures would have done a better job of getting your intentions properly understood by your non-English-speaking foreign acquaintance.

But here comes a dependable mobile translator: the just-released $0.99 My English Translator, which aims to put an end to English incomprehension everywhere you go with a new app for iPhone / iPad.

The app can translate any text or idiomatic expression in fifty-nine different languages including Arabic, Chinese, Filipino, Portuguese, Hindi, Russian, Yiddish, Norwegian… even Latin. My English Translator works in real-time as you type for instant translations, and its voice feature speaks the results in the correct pronunciation.

If you are the average Anglo-American tourist or businessperson, let’s face it, you will have virtually no grasp of foreign languages apart from a smattering of French, German or Spanish. When you are on vacation, it’s embarrassing traveling to Europe, Asia, Africa, anywhere really. And if you are on business, it’s frustrating. But with My English Translator to point to on your iPhone or new iPad, it actually makes linguistic ignorance cool.

Apart from polyglot translation capability, My English Translator also has a large collection of idiomatic expressions in the app’s phrasebook, divided into useful scenarios both good and bad: in the restaurant, in the hotel, out shopping, in the health clinic. These are set sentences that you can translate and point to on your mobile device’s screen or get it to utter on your behalf as needs be. The phrasebook portion of the app does not need an Internet connection.

Users can save their favorite expressions for reuse while out and about, as well as send them through SMS or e-mail or post them on Facebook.

I tried out the app using my own language proficiency (Japanese). The Japanese was good, both written and spoken on the app’s voice feature. Furthermore, the voice was not squeaky and irritating, but sounded suitably serious and to the point.

In my next experiment, I messaged Basia, my friend from Poland, in Polish. She did not blink an eyelid to note that I had suddenly mastered her native tongue. The translations on this app are pretty reliable. And furthermore, My English Translator provides an occasion to show people around the world your iPhone or new iPad!

My English Translator is published by FakhrApps. It is available from the iTunes App Store for $0.99.

 

Did you know the first version of WordPress was written using DreamWeaver? Yep, it’s true. Now you might not be interested in creating the next great CMS, but you might be interested in using Dreamweaver to create awesome websites. This is where Dreamweaver Essentials comes in. Over 7.5 hours and 100 hands-on lectures that will make you a DW rockstar.

More info on the Dreamweaver Essentials Course after the jump…

For only $49 (68% off the regular price!) you’ll get more than 7.5 hours of 100+ hands-on lectures!

With this thorough video course led by the Dreamweaver aficionado Geoff Blake, you’ll get stellar advice on how to use Dreamweaver CS4 to enhance your web designs, manage your websites, and edit all of your code quickly, efficiently, and seamlessly.

What You’ll Learn:

• Web Design Fundamentals
• Working in the Dreamweaver Interface
• Managing your Websites
• Adding Text and Page Structure
• How to Work with CSS and HTML
• Managing Internal and External Style Sheets
• Working With Tables
• Inserting Images
• Creating Hyperlinks
• Traditional Page Layout with Tables
• Modern Page Layout with Divs
• Interactivity And Multimedia!

Get this deal now while it lasts—Dreamweaver Essentials Course.

The rumor mill has been saying for many months that Apple is planning a 4-inch iPhone for release later this year. Two major publications, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg, recently hopped on the bandwagon to “confirm” the rumor. All signs are pointing to a larger iPhone, but what does that mean for iOS developers?

People have hypothesized all kinds of ways Apple could make an iPhone with a larger screen and still make it easy for developers to update their apps. The general consensus seems to be that Apple could change the aspect ratio for a taller display, but now the people that actually make apps have weighed in on the topic. While it’s unclear exactly how a new screen size would be implemented, developers feel confident that Apple won’t “pull an Android” and create a fragmented mess.

Erica Ogg of GigaOM asked some makers of popular iOS and Android apps to give their thoughts on the possibility of developing for a 4-inch iPhone. Most seemed to agree that changing the aspect ratio wouldn’t make sense, but that there would instead be some sort of pixel-doubiling magic. The makers behind a popular cross-platform app said that “we assume Apple isn’t going to pull an Android and fragment the device market unnecessarily. If they do, they must have a really good reason to do it, and we’re confident they’ll provide tools to make it easy to migrate. The last thing they want to do is put more friction in front of developers.”

One developer said that “changing the aspect ratio would be a lot of work for development teams. We found that maybe 50 percent of iOS development is [spent] in layout.”

If Apple totally redesigned the iPhone’s screen, developers would have to worry about supporting non-Retina and Retina resolutions for both the iPhone and iPad alongside the new resolution. That’s a lot of hassle for less than an inch of screen real estate, so many developers think that Apple will simply scale up the current 960×640 pixel resolution and call it a day.

Rene Ritchie of iMore has a great rundown of how Apple could make a 4-inch iPhone work, and he seems to think that scaling up the current resolution also makes the most sense:

The result of this type of screen would be bigger text, bigger controls and buttons, bigger touch targets — in other words, bigger apps. There would be no extra pixels gained, so the amount of information that could be displayed wouldn’t change, but the same amount of information would be displayed at a larger, presumably easier to consumer, easier to interact with size. Only at a lower density.

Why change the screen at all if the interface layout stays the same? As our own John Brownlee has argued already, Apple would need to make a bigger device to accommodate LTE networking. While it’s true that most Android handsets are coming out with big screens these days, Apple doesn’t have to “pull an Android” and fragment its product lineup with a 4-inch iPhone.

Reminders is a pretty powerful task list app. While it’s not a full project management suite, it does the ToDo job nicely with an easy to use user interface, location-based notification triggers, and iCloud syncing. In today’s tip, we’ll walk you through the basics of using Reminders app in a more efficient manner than just tapping away and hoping it all works out.

First, we need to create a new reminder. Launch Reminders from your iPhone. Tap the plus button in the upper right corner of the white area. The app will drop to the bottom of your current list and bring up the iOS keyboard. Type in your reminder. You can also just tap into the blank line below the last entry in your list.

When it’s typed in, tap on the Reminder you just created, and the keyboard will slide away. The Details screen will also pop up, where you can set a Reminder date or location trigger by tapping on the Remind Me field. Unfortunately, iPad does not have location-based Reminders. You can also set a Priority and add notes to your reminder here as well. Once finished, tap Done.

Of course, a good task management system should have a way to categorize things. Reminders has Lists, which are groups of reminders put together into categories you define. For example, to create a list of reminders for work, tap the button with the three horizontal lines on it, and then tap the Edit button in the top right corner. Tap on Create New List and type in “Work.” You’ve now created your own list. Tap Done to go back to the main Reminders screen.

Notice the top of the Reminders screen? You can change the view by tapping on the List button to see all of your reminders sorted by list, or you can tap on Date to sort your reminders by date. To switch lists, simply swipe right or left in List view.

When in Date view, a swipe left or right will move one day in the calendar, while a tap and drag along the dates on the bottom will take you to the specific date you stop on. Just like in iCal, you can tap the Today button to take you back to the Reminders for the current date. A Tap on the calendar icon (it replaces the three lines List button in the upper left corner in Date view) will take you to an actual calendar, which can be swiped through as well, though up and down is the way it works in this view.

That should have you up to speed with manually creating Reminders on your iPhone. If you have an iPhone 4S, of course, you can just tell Siri to remind you of what, where, and when you need to do something. The rest of the tip still applies, though, for editing and scheduling of that Reminder.

Got an iOS tip of your own? Need help troubleshooting your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad? (sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address) or leave a comment below.

If you’re a freelance or independent developer, designer, content jockey or two-person startup, you may not even consider yourself a small business.

But the client data on your laptop and the banking you do with your iPhone leaves you wide open as a target for hackers — and lawyers.

For Neal O’Farrell, executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit Identity Theft Council, thinking you’re too small to get serious about security is about as dumb as you can get.

O’Farrell gave a talk titled “The Hackers are Coming – Why the Small Business is the Big Target and What You’ve Got to Lose” as part of San Francisco Small Business Week.

His aim? To “scare the bejesus” out of the 20-or so attendees.

“There were more data breaches than U.S. residents last year and more cases of identity theft than just about all other crimes combined,” he said.

Unless you’re encrypting all of your devices, you’re pretty much asking for trouble.

“You’ve got to wake up protect yourself, even if you use a Mac,” he said. Hackers hit with automated bots and the ease with which you synch your contact information from your laptop to your iPhone and do your banking on it make all your data vulnerable.

“I don’t use banking apps for my phone,” said O’Farrell, who worked on the first system to secure Ireland’s ATM network. “Eight out of ten mobile banking apps have security flaws, but Apple and the banks don’t want you to know that. I’ll wait another 20 years to stick my toe in that pond.”

The idea that Apple devices are less vulnerable to hacking doesn’t hold anymore – in part due to the runaway popularity of the iPhone and iPad. “Hackers go where the crowds are. We’ve also seen a 400% increase in Android attacks. It doesn’t mean they are more vulnerable, just that they are targeting the mass of users.”

After opting out of the family weaving business some 30 years ago, the pugnacious Dubliner became a security consultant who has advised organizations including Toyota, Merrill Lynch, Cost Plus World Market and the Bulgarian Government.

O’Farrell related the horror stories that his nonprofit hears by the hundreds each month from business owners. A small escrow company had half a million dollars slowly drained from its account after two employees clicking on a bogus UPS email notification launched a bank trojan; a restaurant is out about $200,000 from card skimmers.

These hapless victims then discover that the police investigate less than one percent of these crimes — and the banks consider it a police matter. The legal system isn’t much help either, since the 1978 Electronic Funds Act only covers consumers and courts often rule in favor of banks.

“These are almost non-investigatable crimes,” he noted. “If you live in San Francisco and your bank data or identity gets used or stolen in San Mateo, those are different counties and the cops don’t talk to each other. There’s too much paperwork. They signed up to put blue lights on cars and get the bad guys.”

And here’s the thing: you don’t need an office, a staff or what your grandparents would consider a proper business to find yourself with a costly headache.

Say your MacBook gets stolen or data is lifted from it while it’s in for repairs, or you don’t wipe the hard drive when you sell it.

“My biggest fear isn’t the hackers but the lawyers,” he said. “Say you’ve had 1,000 customers over the years. Once that computer is sold or stolen or whatever, it puts you at risk under Federal and state data breach laws.”

And, perhaps more importantly, there’s a difference between liability and what you can be sued for if a lawyer sniffs out a good case, O’Farrell notes. The average cost, depending on the information, is $200 hundred dollars per breached record.

The bright side to this dismal scenario: there are some fairly inexpensive fixes, solutions, O’Farrell said.

A summary of his tips:

• Get a cheap netbook to use exclusively for online banking. (No email, etc.)
• “Lose the bank’s money” by using your credit card instead of your debit card for anything other than getting cash from your bank’s ATM. Favor your personal credit card over your small business credit card – individual consumers are better protected.
• Erase, delete, encrypt. (For encryption, he named AxCrypt and TruCrypt, though he doesn’t specifically endorse them.)
• Assume that people who send you emails are dumber than you. If it looks funny, call or send a separate email to verify.
• Teach everyone who exchanges electronic data with you (including your accountant, intern, etc.) to favor caution over curiosity when it comes to opening emails.

In my neverending quest to find the perfect iPad case, I’ve been giving the DODOcase a spin with my new iPad for the last several weeks. I’ve used Incase’s book jacket for the longest time on my iPad 2, and I wanted to change things up when I got the third-gen iPad.

Based in a bookbindery and wood shop in sunny San Francisco, DODOcase has been an award-winning brand for iPad cases since 2010. Built with pinpoint precision for the newest iPad, the DODOcase lineup blends nostalgia and the cutting edge into a charming combination.

The Good

My red DODOcase classic never fails to attract the curious eye while I’m out in public. If you’ve never seen a DODOcase before, then you may mistake it for a simple book at first glance. The case is constructed using traditional bookbinding techniques, and it gives the iPad a nice blend of protection and usability.

It’s the attention to detail that really stands out here. The inner tray is made of solid bamboo, and there are no actual clips or bands to keep the iPad in place. The wood has been so precisely designed that the iPad can be gently pushed into each of the 4 corners with little force. Once locked into place, I never feel like my iPad is going to fall out or come loose. DODOcase’s sturdy binding definitely helps ease my concerns.

When the DODOcase is closed and elastic strap secured, it feels like the iPad becomes something more. You know you’re not carrying a hard-bound book, but you can pretend that you are. The bamboo tray and faux-leather binding keeps the iPad safely concealed.

The folding cover includes Smart Cover-like magnets to automatically put the iPad into wake and sleep mode. DODOcase etches a hole for the iPad’s rear-facing camera. You can even get the a case debossed with a personal touch.

The Bad

There isn’t much to dislike about the DODOcase, but I did notice that holding the wooden edges can become uncomfortable. I think whether you like or dislike this case depends largely on what you want from an iPad case in the first place. For more versatile, minimal needs, the DODOcase doesn’t fit the bill. That’s not to say it’s not good — just different.

My previous iPad case allowed me to prop the iPad up in multiple positions for watching video and typing. The DODOcase’s front cover can be folded back to help prop the iPad up, but you don’t get much of an angle. Because the binding’s width is so small, folding the cover back hardly gives you any sort of viewing angle to type from. Writers should consider how an iPad case handles viewing angles before purchasing.

If you like to lay in bed and watch Netflix or read, the DODOcase is probably not for you. The bookish design can start to feel heavy after a few minutes. Luckily, it’s easy to pop the iPad out of the tray.

The Verdict

DODOcase makes a unique, sturdy iPad case that delivers in many ways. You get protection and full access to the actual iPad. The design is elegant and very well made. I wouldn’t recommend it as your main iPad case, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth considering.

DODOcase offers three styles at three different prices, and the new Spring Summer lineup includes some great color combinations. Each case is priced under $100, which isn’t half bad for something that’s hand-crafted with this level of detail.

For more information, head on over to the DODOcase website.

Rating: 

Sony has released its promised Music Unlimited client for iOS devices. Although the app is not yet in the US App Store, it should already be available in countries like Canada and New Zealand. The Music Unlimited service itself is accessible in 14 countries so far; other examples include Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Other supported platforms include Android, Sony Blu-ray players, and the PlayStation 3....

LTE devices, including iPads, offer users tow major advantages: speeds typical faster than many wired providers (in my neck of the woods, Verizon LTE is just over twice as fast as Time Warner’s Roadrunner Turbo) and ubiquitous access for LTE devices (and any devices tethered to them) that is a lot more convenient than relying on public network or hotspots like those found in your neighborhood Starbucks. A downside is that LTE’s speeds make it easy to rack up a large bill.

If you’re looking for another high-speed wireless option that offers better bang for your buck, there’s one joining the field to consider  - and it’s coming from an unlikely source with an unlikely price. Five major cable companies are joining forces to deliver ubiquitous Wi-Fi coverage for any of their subscribers… for free.

The service, announced today, is a joint offering by Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable. The companies will be turning on 50,000 Wi-Fi hotspots with roaming between those hotspots regardless of which company is providing the hotspot – if you’re a customer of one of the five companies, you’ll be able to freely roam across all of their access points.

The new service, dubbed simply CableWiFi, will be rolled out to major markets in the coming months. The rollout will be favoring those markets where two or more cable companies have overlapping service. That means that most service, at least initially, will be focused in the New York metro area, Los Angeles, Tampa, Orlando, and Philadelphia. Users can access the service by joining the CableWiFi network using the same credentials they use to access company-specific Wi-Fi and other services.

The new service seems like a win for everyone involved – cable companies retain and attract customers with the perk, users get broad and unlimited Wi-Fi access and avoid LTE bill shocks, and even the carriers get the benefit of customers using Wi-Fi instead of LTE, which should lower network congestion.

That reduction in congestion may be critical for carriers going forward and could even lead to cable/carrier partnerships. Today’s announcement also comes after carriers discussed strategies to begin using small cell installations. Small cells are access points that rely on a mix of wireless broadband technologies (including LTE, WiMax, HSPA, and Wi-Fi) to reduce traffic load on larger tower-mounted systems. Small cells have very limited range but if they’re widely deployed, they can have a big impact and carriers see them as essential to support the growth of mobile broadband in coming years.

If you’re a customer of any of the cable companies part of the new initiative, you can visit CableWiFi.com to locate coverage in your area.

Source: GigaOm

FarSight Studios, creators of Pinball Arcade, is looking for your help to digitize one of the greatest pinball machines of all time: The Twilight Zone. The Twilight Zone table was released by Midway under the Bally label and is currently number one in user rankings on the Internet Pinball Database. Many pinball experts consider it to be the most complex pinball machine ever created, and being able to preserve it in digital form is a dream of FarSight Studios.

FarSight is a gaming developer company known for their popular Pinball Arcade project. FarSight has been developing modern video game recreations of classic pinball tables and bringing them to a variety of platforms including: the iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tables, the Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, and Macintosh, with versions coming soon for the PC, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Wii U.

FarSight is passionate in their ability to create a videogame version that plays exactly the same as the table played when it was new and it’s quite a painstaking process. Developing these exact recreations requires FarSight to obtain all the appropriate licenses from the original manufacturers of the tables as well as any actor likenesses, music compositions, etc.

Obtaining all the appropriate licensing to digitize the Twilight Zone pinball machine is turning out to be quite a daunting and expensive task. This is why FarSight is now reaching out to you (the fans), to help this dream become a reality. Farsight Studios has created a Kickstarter project to help raise the funds needed to obtain all the appropriate licenses and ensure an exact digital recreation of the original for current and future generations to enjoy.

FarSight hopes to raise $55,000 by June 17, and the last time I checked, they were more than halfway there. Various pledge tiers have been created, each with their own special rewards for those who donate.

• PLEDGE $10 OR MORE: Get the Twilight Zone pinball table on a single platform of your choice (except for the Xbox 360- Microsoft won’t let us!) plus the satisfaction of knowing you helped make the preservation of this table possible.
• PLEDGE $25 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS an exclusive Twilight Zone edition virtual pinball (which can be used on any of the tables in the Pinball Arcade!)
• PLEDGE $50 OR MORE – Everything above PLUS an exclusive Twilight Zone Pinball wallpaper for the device of your choice AND an entry into the Pinball Arcade Supporters Tournament!
• PLEDGE $100 OR MORE: Get a special version of the Twilight Zone pinball table with access to the table operator’s menu on every platform (again, except the Xbox 360). You’ll also get an entry into the Pinball Arcade Supporters Tournament!
• PLEDGE $500 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS be a Beta-tester with early access to the table, see your name listed as a supporter in the credits, and get a cool Development Team T-shirt!
• PLEDGE $1,000 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS a copy of Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection signed by the FarSight development team.
• PLEDGE $5,000 OR MORE: Everything above PLUS lunch and one-on-one with the FarSight design team! We’ll give you a tour of our studio in Big Bear Lake, California and you’ll get an inside look at how we digitize pinball tables. We’ll show you what we’re currently working on (and you’ll be among the first outside the studio to play it!) You can also share your thoughts on what we should improve and which tables we should do next. You are responsible for your travel (but lunch is on us!)
• PLEDGE $10,000 OR MORE: The FarSight team will travel to a location of your choosing (within the continental US please, unless you live someplace really cool). We’ll set up and host a virtual pinball tournament for you and your friends complete with goodies and prizes. We’ll also bring along the latest new tables, and you’ll be among the first outside the studio to play them! Your name will also be highlighted in the credits as someone who really made a difference.

Starting a Kickstarter project for in-game content isn’t something you see everyday and is quite a cost effective way for game developers to bring fans the content they want. If you or anyone you know would like to contribute to making this project a reality, follow the links below and be a part of pinball preservation.

Source: Kickstarter Via: VentureBeat

One way to look at the consumerization of IT is as a democratization of workplace technology decisions. Executives and employees alike have become much more sophisticated users of technology. Through iPhones and iPads, they see how well designed devices, platforms, and apps can create enjoyable and, more importantly, productive user experiences. As a result, they don’t tolerate clunky business systems and slow IT responses as much as they did a few years ago.

Many executives and pundits believe this has already changed the balance of power between the CIO/IT management and the CFO and other executives. A recent Gartner survey found that overall, CFOs are leading IT decision-making more than they were just two years ago. One could even argue that in addition to disrupting industries like music and mobile technology, Apple is subtly disrupting IT and business itself  (with some help from other tech and business innovators).

The survey, which Gartner has conducted annually since 2010 shows pretty distinctly that CFOs are gaining political capital in technology areas.

• 44% of CFOs say that their influence in technology decisions has increased over the past two years
• 47% say that it has remain about the same
• 9% say that their roles has diminished

It’s hard not to notice that nearly half of CFOs have gained clout since the iPad’s launch in 2010. There are other factors involved, of course – the iPad alone isn’t responsible for that shift, but it is a factor. Along with the iPhone, Android devices, Apple TV or other connected TV systems, and personal cloud computer services, the iPad is making everyone more comfortable with technology – and that doesn’t stop when a receptions, accountant, or CFO enters the office each morning.

Despite growing influence, almost no CFOs are unilaterally making IT decisions – only 1% responded that they were the sole decision maker. Many, however, did have significant involvement in planning technology purchases.

• 41% were part of a group responsible for IT decision-making
• 16% weren’t part of collaborative decision-making but offered advice to such a group or a CIO who was making the decisions.

The clear message here is that CFOs are taking a more active part in developing long-term technology and infrastructure planning than ever before and are likely becoming part of day-to-day tech decisions. That’s a good thing overall – if CIOs and IT departments are willing to work together as a cohesive team with CFOs and other staff, something that Gartner’s vice president John Van Decker points out.

The CFO and CIO are well-positioned to work together at generating business value from enterprise IT investments. However, this performance is often not achieved because of poor perceptions of IT, a parochial CFO or CIO perspective, or simply a failure to invest in the CFO-CIO relationship. This year’s results show that, in most organizations, the CFO and CIO work together to finance IT and provide information that supports enterprise processes. But there is also an opportunity for them to form a powerful alliance that generates more value for the enterprise.

The study also indicates that CFOs are willing to fund core IT projects overall because they see the need to improve things like business intelligence and analysis, which 57% of ranked as a key area for technology growth and support. Also critical is collaboration and knowledge management, which 52% of CFOs described as a critical business use of technology.

Overall, the survey shows that even when Apple and its products (as well as those of other companies) aren’t explicitly part of the business dialog, they are changing the relationships in business – more often than not, that seems to be a very good thing.

Source: Gartner

China Daily reports that Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn continues to expand its operations in support of Apple's strong growth in product sales, investing $210 million to build a new production line for unspecified components. The new production line is said to be set to come on line in October of this year and will be located in the Chinese city of Huai'an in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

The plant, covering an area of 40,000 square meters, plans to hire 35,800 employees. The annual output value of the plant is expected to reach 6 to 7 billion yuan ($949 million to $1.1 billion), and the import and export value will be $55.8 million, the office said.

Foxconn, which has come under scrutiny regarding workers rights issues and has recently been working with Apple to monitor issues and improve standards, has been aggressively expanding its facilities to support Apple's production needs. In addition to new production facilities for the iPhone and iPad in Brazil, the company has also recently adopted a strategy of decentralizing its Chinese production facilities, building some of its new plants in interior regions closer to the homes of many of the young workers seeking jobs with the company. Foxconn workers polishing iPad rear shells (Source: ABC/Nightline) It is unclear what role the forthcoming Huai'an facility will play in the production of Apple devices, and while the addition of nearly 36,000 workers marks a substantial investment in new production for Apple, it will represent only a small fraction of Foxconn's overall workforce, which currently includes well over one million employees. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Physics Puzzler 'Feed Me Oil' Free for Today Only • Comcast Dropping 250GB Data Cap In Favor of "Improved Data Usage Management" • China Mobile Again Confirms iPhone Talks with Apple • In Lawsuit Over Siri, Apple Says the Technology is "Cutting Edge" • iPhone a 'Game Changer' for Customer Satisfaction

Late last week, RIM got FCC approval to ship LTE models of its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. The news isn’t a complete surprise. RIM had announced plans for a 4G PlayBook option last year when the tablet originally shipped. Sprint was the targeted as the primary U.S. carrier for the device, which would’ve operated on Sprint’s WiMax network, but the carrier announced it was canceling that plan after the initial Wi-Fi PlayBook shipped (and got less than stellar reviews).

Following the demise of its WiMax plans, RIM announced that it would work towards developing and LTE model, though it didn’t provide any real timeline for when one might ship. Most recently, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins told attendees at BlackBerry World in Orlando that a LTE model was in the works and would ship later this year.

According to All Things D, the FCC approval’s details have been kept largely confidential beyond mentioning major antennas in the device – those include Wi-Fi (no real surprise) and LTE as well as short-range antennas for Bluetooth and NFC.

There’s no word yet on LTE connectivity beyond North America – currently LTE iPads can only connect to LTE networks in the U.S. and Canada.

This can be seen as a sign of progress on RIM’s part – at least the company is working towards meeting current connectivity needs and capabilities. On the other hand, RIM’s consumer-oriented focus during the PlayBook’s launch and the initial lack of enterprise features (including email and calendaring) pretty much served RIM’s core businesses to Apple on a silver platter.

It’s hard to say if LTE will ultimately help RIM be competitive. The company is still playing catch up to Apple (and even Android tablet makers – including Amazon and Barnes & Noble). RIM’s best chance at turning LTE into a competitive advantage is likely to be pushing into markets outside North America where the iPad can’t currently compete in the 4G/LTE space.

Ultimately, given the minuscule amount of PlayBooks shipped compared to the iPad – Apple sold more iPads over the new iPad launch weekend in March than RIM has shipped in the past year, it’s hard to see anyone beyond die-hard BlackBerry fans getting overly excited by the possibility of LTE PlayBooks.

Source: All Things D

Image: RIM

Ever wished your Mac could look more like your iPhone? Well, according to this video and today’s tip, it can. Pull up a chair, the nearest Mac with OS X on it, and your downloading fingers. Here’s how you do it.

If you watched the almost two-year-old video, you’ll have noticed that the icon set mentioned was hosted on defunct file sharing site MegaUpload. We did a bit of searching around and updated the process so you could do the same thing, today. Aren’t we nice?

First up, let’s make our desktop background look like the default iPhone one, with a nice high resolution image of earth as seen from space. We did a search on Google for “earth mac wallpaper” and found the image we ultimately used in our screenshot above. Once downloaded, right click on your current desktop background and choose Change Desktop Background from the resulting contextual menu. The Desktop & Screensaver preference pane will show up. Simply drag the image you downloaded to the image well there.

Once your background uses the pretty earth from space picture, head over to the Panic website and grab a copy of CandyBar, a Mac app that lets you customize the icons on your Mac. Download the 14 day trial (the non-trial version is $29), and drag the CandyBar application from the resulting disk image to your Applications folder. Double click to launch it.

Then, go to the iconfacory site to grab the freeware icon set, Flurry. Click on the CandyBar iContainer icon to download another .dmg file, which will be called icontainer.dmg. Once downloaded, double click on it and then double click the Flurry System icon, which will cause it to open in CandyBar.

The next bit is kind of tricky, but we believe in you. Click on the little button in the upper left of the CandyBar window that says Change Application Icons in a tooltip when you hover the mouse over it. In addition, click on the Flurry System icons in the left hand pane. Then you’ll see two panes to the right, one with the current applications on your Mac and the other on the bottom with the new icons from the Flurry set. Click and drag the icons from the bottom pane to the icons you’d like to replace in the upper pane. When you’re done, hit the Apply Icons button, and type in your administrative password and allow CandyBar to restart your dock. The new icons will appear there. Hide or quit everything running and you should have something close to our screenshot above.

Have fun!

Source: iRocky X’s YouTube video