Cult of Mac

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.

Excitor produces the DME line of mobile management tools. The lineup currently offers a device management component that includes basic app management functionality and a secure messaging component. The secure messaging component offers companies a fully secured on-device message, contacts, and calendar data store that is separate from Apple’s Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps – this helps ensure business data is not readable on a lost or stolen device even if that device is unlocked. Excitor has announced two additional DME components that, according to the company’s website, are not yet available. The first, is focused on creating an on-device secure data store while the second is a secure mobile browser.

After a weekend deliberation, a federal jury in San Francisco handed Oracle a partial victory by finding Google guilty of copyright infringement yet remaining deadlocked on whether Google’s use of the Java APIs fell under “fair use.” The jury found that Google infringed a minimal amount of Java source code with Judge William Alsup indicating that Oracle would only be entitled to statutory damages as a result. This certainly wasn’t what Oracle was hoping for and when Oracle’s lawyer seemed to suggest they were entitled to more than just statutory damages, Judge William Alsup quickly put the kibosh on that notion based on the minimal amount of code infringed, stating what they’re seeking as “bordering on the ridiculous.”

Tony Stark — otherwise known as the Invincible Iron Man, as seen in this weekend’s mega blockbuster hit The Avengers — is probably the superhero mentioned most often in the same breath as Apple. Apple’s LiquidMetal is often called Tony Stark stuff, and Iron Man’s perfect amalgam of advanced tech and cool style is rightly compared to Apple’s own design ethos.

That’s why we love this awesome video by Matt’s Macintosh, showing Tony Stark “designing” his Iron Man armor using StarkPaint on a 1984 Starkintosh… which just happens to look pretty much identical to a vintage 1984 Macintosh.

Source: YouTube
Thanks: Thomas F.!

The iPad’s status in larger enterprise businesses is nothing sort of spectacular – it pretty much is the entire enterprise tablet market. As great as that is for Apple, the company has put a lot of effort into courting small and mid-size companies – Lion Server being one example.

According to a new study, that effort is paying off as more than half of small businesses have begun integrating the iPad or some form of tablet.

Today, I’d like to try something a bit different. I love getting email from readers of the tips posts here on CultofMac, and I got one the other day that I thought would be great to answer for everyone who might be in the same boat. Here’s the email:

Dear CultofMac,
I wanted to ask for your help. One day, I used my iPod all the way until the battery life depleted. When I plugged it to charge, it showed the plug into iTunes prompt. It said I needed to upgrade. After hours of waiting for the update to download, I began the update. When it was about near completion, it said error! It’s outrageous! Is there another way to revive my baby? It’s a 3G.

Sincerely,

Marcela

By the way, I really enjoy your blog.

Let’s hear that again. Apple is taking in 84 percent of all mobile gaming revenue in the US.

With all the fooferaw about how many more Android handsets are selling than iPhones, it’s easy to think that Apple may be on the way out. Not so, says a new report from NewZoo, a market research company in the gaming space.

What better way to test a ruggedized iPad case than an excursion outdoors? And what better way to test a heavy and bulky ruggedized iPad case than on a bike trip, where the extra ounces and inches won’t really be felt?

That’s why, when we headed out this past weekend on a bike tour to the *Delta de L’Ebre* (Ebro Delta) in southern Catalonia, I saddled up, and I zipped the iPad 3 into an a G-Form Extreme Portfolio for the iPad 3. Short answer: It was invaluable, if a little unwieldy. Long answer — read on.

Continuing the company’s efforts to transition existing MobileMe users away from the now-defunct service to iCloud, Apple has extended the deadline for customers to take advantage of free iCloud storage amounting to 20GB. MobileMe users with 20GB or more of files have had access to 20GB of free iCloud storage for months, with the extra storage space set to expire in June of 2012. After the deadline, users transitioning away from MobileMe have the option to purchase the 20GB iCloud plan for $20 per year or default to the free 5GB plan.

In an update to its FAQ page, Apple has quietly extended the free storage deadline from June to September of 2012.

Third wealthiest man in the world, Warren Buffett, known for his tremendous investment success as well as his high-end philanthropy, told a group of investors at the Berkshire annual meeting that he had no interest in investing in Apple (or Google), seeing them as risky investments.

[This post has been updated to reflect the fact that Scosche’s reVOLT charger only comes with two ports]

There seems to be some discrepancy in talent between the naming and the product departments at Scosche: the former can come up with a product name like “reVOLT pro h2,” and the latter with a product like, well, the product inside the package with “reVOLT pro h4” written on the outside. Revolting nomenclature aside, the pro h2 is a charger which can juice up to two iPads at the same time, via its duo of 10W (2.1A) USB ports.

Apple has released iOS 5.1.1 for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users in iTunes. The update is rolling out right now, so keep checking for updates if 5.1.1 doesn’t show up immediately.

While 5.1.1 is a relatively minor update, it does address multiple bugs, including a problem on the iPad while switching between 2G and 3G networks. Apple also addresses bugs concerning AirPlay, Safari, HDR in the Camera app, and more.

If you’re planning to visit London for the Olympic Games later this year – or for any other reason, come to that – you need to grab a copy of Black Plaques London before you go. It’s a fascinating, gruesome, wonderful app that gives you a rats-eye view of the darker side of the city’s history.

There’s plenty of news out there about the way mobile technology, BYOD programs, and other facets of the consumerization of IT trend are reshaping the workplace and the IT department. The traditional daily routine of typing a username and password into PC in the morning, using that computer all day long, and shutting it down before heading home is gone for many of us.

Today, we use a mix of devices in the office, during meetings, on the road, and often from home. That mix of devices, a range of different apps, cloud services, and remote access empowers us in ways that were unimaginable a few years ago. In this new workplace, however, do we need something more than the old username and password to make resources available and keep them business data secure?

BlackRapid’s new LensBling is a product that could be emulated with 100% efficacy in just seconds, using nothing but a whiteout marker. However, thanks to the biases of customers who look down upon anything appearing even vaguely home made, pro photographers can instead spend $8.50 per lens.

Evernote, the clunky-but-popular note-taking app and service, has acquired Penultimate, the slick, smooth and generally fantastic drawing and handwriting app. So good is Penultimate, in fact, that it is Apple’s 4th best-selling iOS app ever.

So what does the acquisition mean for Penultimate and — more importantly — Penultimate’s customers?

Apple’s new iPad seems to have been a huge success since making its debut last month. Although it doesn’t feature a new form factor and actually measures in a little thicker than its predecessor, that high-resolution Retina display, the 5-megapixel iSight camera, and voice dictation have all made this iPad a crowd pleaser, helping Apple shift 3 million units in its first three days of availability.

However, Raymond Soneira, CEO of DisplayMate Technologies, claims that this isn’t the iPad Apple wanted to release. Soneira says that Tim Cook and co. wanted to make the tablet thinner and introduce a new display with IGZO technology from Sharp. Instead, the company had to resort to “Plan B.”

It hasn’t been a good year for Mac security so far, at least PR-wise, and it’s about to get a lot uglier: an Apple programmer forgot to turn off a debug switch in OS X 10.7.3’s security settings before the update was distributed to the public.

The result? If you’re running OS X 10.7.3, your login password might be stored in plain text on an unencrypted, easily accessed section of your hard drive.

One of the surprising, and some might say disturbing, realities of today’s consumerized IT departments is that IT staff are being left out of the loop on technology projects. Nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to developing mobile app strategies, particularly customer-facing app strategies.

Instead many business and marketing managers are recruiting or contracting app developers directly, often bypassing CIOs and IT managers in the process. While this new trend is primarily focused on app development, it could easily be the start of a slippery slope that leads to more and more outsourcing of technology projects and management.

Verizon has announced its plans to lead the text-to-911 initiative here in the US. Starting early 2013, Verizon customers will be able to send 911 SMS texts to emergency call centers. This new way of communicating with 911 call centers is a great step forward in public safety and allows for those in need to relay information in cases when calling or talking are difficult.

We have a source who claims to have seen a prototype Apple high-definition television set in action, indicating that Apple is readying the long-awaited device for market.

According to our source, who has asked to remain strictly anonymous, the Apple HDTV looks like Apple’s current lineup of LED-backlit Cinema Displays but is “much bigger.” It has a built-in iSight camera for making free FaceTime video conference calls. And it has Siri, the iPhone 4S’s voice-activated virtual assistant.

An update to the GPS photo-tagging app PlaceTagger brings support for the iPad, and also shows us exactly what iCloud was meant for. The v2.0 version not only lets you import photos via camera connection kit and then tag them right there on the iPad — it also syncs the GPS data seamlessly to the Mac version so you can tag photos right there. No tedious exporting of GPX files (unless you want to), nor even having to fix time discrepancies with the iPad and the camera’s clocks.

While we can debate how much the iPad cannibalizes Apple’s MacBook sales, there’s no doubt that the device is continuing to kill of the entire netbook industry. While iPad sales are literally selling as fast as Apple can make them, netbook sales continue to plummet – with the first quarter of this year representing a sixth consecutive quarter in which shipments of the small, inexpensive, and often low quality PC notebooks have declined sharply.

Adobe has announced the immediate availability of Creative Suite 6 for Mac and PC, including new releases of its famous creativity tools like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premier Pro, and more; with package prices starting at $1,299.

The company has also announced that its new Creative Cloud service, which provides access to all Creative Suite applications and a cloud-based storage and sharing solution for $49.99 per month, will be available from May 11.

Here’s an obvious fact: Steve Jobs loved computers. And since Steve also liked to make a fashion statement, it only makes sense that he would have ordered at least 50 of Cult of Mac’s new Lisa-inspired graphic tee.

Who’s Lisa? Why she was only one of Apple’s most iconic computing failures. Maybe her stratospheric 10k price tag was to blame. It obviously wasn’t her boxy good-looks that did her in.

But we loved her, and now you can too. We partnered with Seattle indie brand Might Tees to bring Lisa’s vintage appeal back to life on our new In Love With Lisa graphic tee.

Our new tee is finely crafted right here in the beautiful USA, ships worldwide, and is available right now over at MightTees.com.

Here’s a win for customer service: Several readers have written in to ask about the excellent Skech Porter case for the iPad, which I reviewed a while back, but which is all but impossible to actually buy. Cult of Mac reader Chris decided to get in touch with Skech and ask just what was going on. The result will warm your cold little hearts.