Last month, OnLive launched its free cloud-based Windows desktop app for the iPad. OnLive Desktop provides iPad users with a cloud-based Windows 7 desktop that comes complete with the standard Microsoft Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and 2GB of storage. This week, the cloud-gaming company expanded the features and storage available to OnLive Desktop users via new subscription plans – one of the most notable being that OnLive Desktop can now play Flash videos and content.

The company will also be adding a more full featured “Pro” plan that will let users install additional Windows applications and an enterprise service that would allow companies to configure and manage virtual Windows desktops on the iPad’s of employees.

Working in a Chinese factory doesn’t pay that well. When you can’t afford to buy an iPhone, even though you make 5,000 of them a day, the next best thing is to buy a fake iPhone. And when you can’t pay for a fake iPhone, people in China just pay for a cheap service that makes their friends think they have an iPhone by adding a “Sent From My iPhone” signature at the end of their texts.

The DRM restriction that prevents Apple’s iBooks from being opened on other devices can now be removed by the latest version of a free DRM removal tool. Requiem 3.3, a piece of software that is incredibly popular for removing the DRM from music and videos purchased from the iTunes Store, has been updated to crack e-books purchased from the iBookstore.

The fantastic Letters of Note blog has posted an amazing letter that a 30-year old Bill Gates sent to John Sculley and Jean Louis Gassée back in June of 1985.

In the letter, Gates argues that Apple should license their hardware and operating system out to other companies, making Macintosh a “standard.” If that pitch sounds familiar, it should: after being ignored by Apple for six months, Microsoft took the idea and ran with it, bringing Windows to the world.

The rumors are true. Cult of Mac has been working hard on a podcast and it’s finally here for your listening pleasure. Episode one of Cult of Mac’s frosty new podcast, The CultCast, is ready for your listening pleasure. And if you subscribe right now, we’ll throw in our “Welcome to The CultCast!” episode absolutely FREE!

But wait, what is this CultCast, you ask? Why, it’s the best 30 minute conversation about Apple you’re going to hear all week long. Join Leander Kahney, Buster Heine, and me, Erfon Elijah, as we banter about all our favorite Apple news, gossip, products, and Cult of Mac stories. Get caught up on all the best things from the world of Apple in just 30 fun-filled minutes.

Sound good? Well, alright! We’ll be premiering new 30minute episodes every Thursday night. You can subscribe to The CultCast in iTunes and listen to our first full-length episode right now. After you’ve given it a listen we’d love to hear your thoughts. What did you like? What could we do better? Let us hear about it in the comments.

Denso is a little bit like Flipboard, but just for video content. Open it up, and you’ll see a selection of curated and branded channels that you can subscribe to on your iPhone or iPad.

CineSquid Suction Mount from Cinetics on Vimeo.

Remember the Cineskates? They were a Kickstarter sensation, a bendy Gorillapod married to three roller skate wheels and useful for anything from smooth dolly shots to crazy bullet-time-like movies. Now Cinetics, the folks behind the Kickstarter project behind the Cineskates have come up with the Cinesquid, a tripod with suction cups for feet.

The year’s biggest phone expo is about to kick off in Barcelona, Spain. The Mobile World Congress always seems to have an unofficial theme. Last year it was non-Apple tablets and bad 3-D. In 2010 it was Windows Phone 7.

This year? This year looks set to be all about the Phablets. And Cult of Mac is going to be there first-hand to laugh at report on them.

Intego, the company behind the popular VirusBarrier security software for the Mac, has uncovered a new trojan horse called ‘Flashback.G’ that infects Macs running older versions of Java Runtime. The software installs itself on your system without your acknowledgement when you visit a malicious webpage, then it will record usernames and passwords for sites like Google, eBay, PayPal, and more.

Healthcare was one of the first fields to adopt the iPad after it launched two years ago. As with other fields, the initial use of the iPad in healthcare came from doctors and other professionals buying their own iPads and bringing them into their practices or along with them on rounds – a move that predated most of today’s BYOD planning.

A recent study of mobile technology in healthcare clearly shows that the iPad is the number one device used by doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers with significantly greater use than Android or BlackBerry devices or even the iPhone.

Fifty-seven years ago today, Steve Jobs was born in San Francisco, California.

If he hadn’t been, none of us would be here. There’d be no Cult of Mac. It wasn’t just Steve Jobs who was born that day, but the iPod. The iPhone. The iPad. The Mac. Apple itself.

Along with iTunes (ten minutes to transfer a TV show to my iPad?), the iTunes Apps Store is possibly the worst experience one can have while using Apple products. You can never find anything good; all the listings are clogged with scam software and other crap; and it is slow, slow, slow. The good news is that Apple looks set to fix it, with the purchase of Chomp.

If you’re serious about your iPhoneography (and you should be, with such a great camera always in your pocket), then you might want to take a look at the ridiculously over-achieving iPhone Rangefinder case, from our fine friends at Photojojo. The two-piece polycarbonate case slips over the phone and adds a shutter button, a viewfinder and even interchangeable lenses. It’s pretty neat.

While the majority of mobile devices now ship with micro USB connectors, Apple has remained dedicated to its 30-pin dock connector. But that could be about to change, with sources claiming future iOS devices will employ a “micro dock” that will be significantly than the existing connector.

We were looking forward to EA’s latest Battlefield title for iOS before it hit the App Store. But when it finally arrived, we couldn’t have been more disappointed. Battlefield 3: Aftershock offered only online gameplay, with just one map and a very limited variety of arsenal. Gameplay was frustrating at best, plagued by unbearable lag on top of server and connection errors.

It’s no surprise, then, that EA has now pulled the release from the App Store.

Photo of Zias used with permission

This smiling youngster is Zias Kool, and he’s happy for good reason: as a birthday present, the makers of cult iOS puzzler Edge are going to add his Lego-designed custom level to a future version of the game.

Here’s how you know you’re a nerd: a charging station gets you excited. Yeah, I’ll say it: the IDAPT i4+ Universal Charger ($60) excites me. And yes, I’ve known the touch of a woman.

Before you judge me any further, let me explain how the i4+ works; you might start getting a tingly sensation too.

After a German court ruling earlier this month that deemed Apple’s push email services for iCloud (and MobileMe) infringe upon a Motorola patent, the Cupertino company has been forced to disable the service in Germany.

A jailbreak developer who goes by the name of “iPhoneKillerStyle” has thought up a unique Siri mod that replaces the mic icon with Steve Jobs’ silhouette. As you can tell, the mod is pretty detailed. It even allows for multiple Siri mic colors.

It took hard work to create this mod, and you’ll hopefully be seeing it soon in Cydia. If you recognize the image of Steve’s silhouette, it’s probably because you’ve seen it other familiar places before.

If there’s one thing we know for sure about the iPad 3, it’s that the upcoming tablet will have a breathtakingly-awesome screen. After months of building speculation, it’s been repeatedly confirmed that the iPad 3 will follow in the iPhone’s footsteps with a super high-resolution ‘Retina’ display.

In conjunction with MacRumors, iFixit has gone hands-on with an alleged iPad 3 display to reveal the changes and improvements we can expect. Now if only they could get the thing turned on!

While repeated alerts for our text messages are helpful sometimes, other times they’re just downright annoying. If you find that they frustrate you more than they help you, here’s how to turn them off and receive just one alert per message.

Apple wears its love for microblogging social network Twitter on its sleeves. With iOS 5, Twitter became deeply integrated into every iPhone and iPad; with Mountain Lion, Twitter will be a native feature of every Mac.

Given the above, it would be easy to conclude that Apple doesn’t think much of Facebook. However, as Tim Cook made clear to investors at the annual Apple Shareholder’s Meeting today, the truth is more complicated.

A new report from Forrester makes it clear that IT departments and the users that they support are not on the same page when it comes to employees using their own devices in the workplace. In fact, according to Forrester’s survey of both IT staffers and knowledge workers illustrates that IT may be largely out of touch with how many users are bringing their own iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices and how many devices each employee is bringing to the workplace.

This adds an interesting counterpoint to the study that we profiled early today that indicated that by and large IT departments are beginning to embrace BYOD and other parts of the consumerization of IT trend.

The HunterWanderer is a premium iPad 2 case handcrafted by Pipetto in London. It promises to offer you the ultimate protection for your beloved tablet, while maintaining a lavish look that oozes quality. It’s made from waxed cotton and genuine Italian leather, and not only does it look good, it’s also very practical.

A company calling itself “Apple China” was caught selling a gas stove branded as the “iphone” with a logo showing an apple with a bite taken out of it.

What will they not think of next?

Via Cloned In China.

Picture courtesy of Sina.