Bernie Madoff fleeced investors for billions with his elaborate Ponzi scheme. He’s now serving a 150 year sentence in maximum security prison for his crimes, but if that doesn’t seem like enough justice to you, well, why not pants the S.O.B. and turn his trousers into a new iPad case?

Coming off a successful court ruling banning Samsung’s Galaxy Tab in most of Europe, Apple apparently is suing Motorola over the Xoom, Wednesday reports say. However, some warn Apple’s strategy of lawsuits to protect market share carries a costly risk.

Even in India, carriers without Apple deals in place are going to desperate lengths to sell their inferior Android handsets as equivalent to the iPhone… even going so far as to advertise this weird iPhoneDroid rip-off, which boasts the design of the iPhone 4 and Android 2.3 Gingerbread as the operating system.

The latest class action lawsuit against Apple has been filed by law firm Hagens Berman and accuses Apple and five major publishers of conspiring to raise the price of ebooks.

Eight years after retail giant Walmart announced its ‘iTunes-killer’ 88-cent MP3 downloads, the company is waving the white flag and closing shop later this month.

Verizon has followed AT&T’s lead and taken measures to block customers from tethering their iPhone’s data connections illegally. Customers have long been using jailbreak apps to avoid their carrier’s additional monthly fee for tethering, but this method may no longer work if you’re signed up to AT&T or Verizon.

MacRumors had a really bright idea: why not take those iPhone 5 case designs that have been knocking about and hire a design studio to turn them into rendered mockups?

The results are stunning, and our best look yet at what Apple might have envisioned for the iPhone 5: a slimmer design, a larger display and a wider capacitive home button. I’m not personally so sure about the iPod Touch like silver back, but even so, these are just great…

If you thought Apple was already doing well, think again. The tech giant, already challenging the likes of Exxon-Mobile, is on track to double or even triple its market share, according to one Wall Street analyst.

Apple has extended its electronics recycling program to introduce a new “reuse” option that provides users with the option of selling their old iOS devices and Macs back to the Cupertino company in return for an Apple gift card.

Someone must use Facebook’s chat system, because the social networking giant just released Facebook Messenger, a dedicated iOS app that allows you to send and receive messages or chat with friends on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. It even comes with push notifications so you won’t miss any messages.

More interestingly, though, Facebook’s Messenger app contains files that hint at future video calling functionality to come.

Here is a tip that will show you how to get the most out of two new Spotlight search features that expand that utilities reach quiet a bit. The version of Spotlight that ships with Mac OS X Lion now includes Web and Wikipedia searches just like the ones we are used to seeing on iOS.

Now Mac OS X Lion can not only search your Mac, but its reach has now expanded out to the internet with the ability to perform Google and Wikipedia searches.

Apple has reportedly turned to Samsung and Chimei Innolux for iPad 2 displays having suspended orders from LG Display due to quality issues.

Amazon’s not the only company to use the latest change in Apple’s in-app purchase policies forbidding links to outside e-stores as an excuse to cut the umbilical: Vudu has also shifted its streaming movie service over the web for iPad users.

Apple has apparently released an update to its Safari web browser to registered developers which features support for the company’s upcoming iCloud service. Safari 5.1.1 introduces syncing for iCloud bookmarks and the new Reading List feature.

Amazon’s Kindle application was recently at risk of being removed from the App Store because it contained a link to purchase content outside of Apple’s ecosystem — something Apple no longer allows developers to do under its latest App Store terms. In order to secure its place in the App Store, Amazon issued a last-minute update to its app to remove the link, but in a move that subtly tells Apple where to stick its new rules, Amazon has launched a web-based Kindle reader with support for the iPad. And it’s awesome!

Apple has released two new updates within the last week according to a Software Update pop-up this morning. Apple now offers HP Printer Software Update 2.7, Logic Express Update 9.1.5 and Logic Pro Update 9.1.5. Learn more about these updates by clicking the read link below.

Apple has just released the Lion Recovery Disk Assistant, which allows you to turn any USB flash drive into a Lion recovery disk. This useful tool comes in handy in the event of a hard drive failure. In this video, I’ll show you how to set up a Lion recovery drive the right way and how to use it in the event of a hard drive failure.

Why bizarrely cool? Forget that it’s an app-enhanced fitness gadget that sands data to your iPhone; sure, that’s neat, but there are a stack of devices out there doing the same thing.

No, Scosche’s little myTREK fitness gadget is that nifty because it tracks bio data using a method straight out of the future — it uses light beams.

We’re all about calm abiding here at Cult of Mac (you guys read the comments, right?) So we were pleased to try out the portable version of emWave2, a computer-assisted meditation program for Mac.

The emWave2 ($229) is useful for all of those anxiety-inducing situations people face when not in front of their computers. A bit bigger than the iPod Mini, it comes with an ear sensor that plugs into a USB key and a software program that monitors your heart rhythms and breathing, plus a CD training guide.

Several Apple stores in the U.K. are clearing their show floors in case of a fourth night of rioting.

Stores in Manchester, Liverpool and Kent have been emptied, while police have taken up a heavy presence on Regent Street, a popular shopping street and location of Apple’s biggest flagship store in the U.K.

Following the news that Apple has more cash on hand than the US government, it’s just been announced that Apple has surpassed ExxonMobil to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

Apple’s reign didn’t last that long, as Business Insider is reporting that Exxon is now back on top.

In the land where you can see Russia from your front porch, Apple will open its first retail store. That’s right, Alaskans will soon have access to all of the retail goodness that Apple has to offer. A new location is set to open in the 5th Avenue Mall in Anchorage this Saturday.

Separately, Apple is also set to unveil four more stores this Saturday, including another US store and three international stores in Canada, Australia and Italy.

Want another reason why the newspaper industry is going down the tubes? How about this: the owner of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times wants to create an Android-powered tablet for its subscribers. The device, reportedly to be manufactured by Samsung, is expected to miss a mid-August deadline.

Boxee has launched its official, free iPad app, allowing users to watch streaming content on the tablet device and transfer playback from the iPad to the Boxee Box.

Additionally, the new Boxee Media Manager allows you to stream video to the iPad from a Mac or PC. Alongside the new apps, Boxee has brought AirPlay support and Lion compatibility to its set-top box.

Sometimes, you can’t get a break. That could be the thinking at Android handset maker HTC, which now faces another trade complaint by Apple. Tuesday, the U.S. International Trade Commission announced it launched an investigation into whether five Apple patents were violated.