AltaMail from Eurosmartz just got an update, and it's a big one. The "alternative iOS email client" market is exploding right now, but thus far I haven't found anything like AltaMail. This is a pro-level mail client for iOS tailor-made for email geeks who need to do more than the built-in Mail.app will let them. 

Apple has landed a US$30 million deal to supply 30,000 iPads to Los Angeles schools. The Los Angeles School Board of Education approved the deal Tuesday evening as part of a program to equip all of its students with a tablet iPad over the next 14 months. Bryan Chaffin explains the deal and examines the ramifications.

Online and brick-and-mortar book retailer Barnes & Noble shot a massive hole through the Department of Justice's ebook price fixing case against Apple on Tuesday. When Theresa Horner, B&N's Vice President of Digital Content, took the stand she told the court her company was already negotiating agency pricing deals with publishers before Apple was on the scene in hopes of killing the profit losses it was suffering at the hands of Amazon.com. That doesn't sound like testimony that helps the DOJ case at all.

Eight years ago, Dave Teare and his business partner were developing websites with Ruby on Rails. They were working with forms and had to constantly enter user names and passwords. That was tiresome, so they eventually developed a tool that allowed them to enter that data with a click.  It was to be a one month project.  Eight years later, 1Password is going strong on OS X and iOS. And Windows. And Android.

Apple expanded its content lineup for Apple TV on Wednesday when it announced that HBO GO and WatchESPN are both available directly through the home entertainment device. Along with HBO and ESPN, Apple also added Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello to the Apple TV lineup.

Whether you've locked your iOS device with a passcode or not, anyone who happens to "acquire" it has access to Siri (and thus some of your personal data, too). There is a way to prevent that, and Melissa Holt's here to tell us how. She also plans on scolding you if you don't have a passcode set. Hey, she's just looking out for you guys.

Apple has offered some of its retail employees early access to OS X Mavericks. Genius Bar and floor staff at the company's chain of Apple Stores have been invited to install, test, and report on their experiences with Mavericks, and Bryan Chaffin argues this is good for everyone, including Apple's customers.

Alf Watt attended MacWorld New York in 1999 and saw Steve Jobs launch AirPort in the first iBook and base stations. A geek at heart, he immediately wanted to understand this new technology, and iStumbler for Mac OS 9 was the result.  Later, he headed a team at Apple working  on Wi-Fi technologies. Basically, Mr. Watt has spent ten years making an invisible technology, indistinguishable from magic, very visible. The story of how that turned out includes fascinating technical tidbits about how Wi-Fi works.