Netherlands ‘Steve Jobs Schools’ to heavily use iPads in classrooms

Nearly a dozen schools will open in August in the Netherlands, the educational day centered around the products produced by the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. In what creators call 'Steve Jobs schools,' children 4-12 years old will use iPads in place of textbooks and the role of teacher is turned into a 'learning coach,' according to a German magazine.

These concept schools also replace the usual structured classroom with learning tied to students's individual learning pace. Still, educators insists children in the schools won't always be in front of screens, allowing kids to be kids...

AT&T deploys 4G LTE in 30 new markets

Since its last expansion which enabled its fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) speedy cellular radio technology in several new markets, U.S. wireless carrier has been pretty quiet.

The following day rival Verizon took the initiative by announcing its LTE was available in 500+ markets across 49 U.S. states and covering nearly 200 more markets than AT&T.

Stepping up its game, AT&T today announced expansion of its LTE which is now available in more than two dozen additional markets. If you live in any of the areas listed below the fold, you should start experiencing enhanced speeds on your LTE-enabled devices...

Track your favorite TV shows with the elegant TeeVee 2 app

As I tend to repeatedly mention here, I'm a big fan of movies and television shows (wanted to be an actor when I was a kid). Now, most of my premium entertainment is consumed digitally these days so I'm big on apps that help me manage and discover great TV shows and movies.

For the latter, I use Limelight which lets me organize and manage my movie library in style.

I'm also a heavy user of ToDo Movies to track upcoming releases and its eye-popping Motion Posters feature has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. You could imagine my excitement discovering TeeVee 2, an elegant and sophisticated iPhone application by Tomas Perzl which helps me keep track of next episodes of my favorite TV shows, when they are airing, the days remaining, the episode title/synopsis and lots more...

Reeder update enables Feedly and Feed Wrangler on iPhone

Silvio Rizzi's RSS client for the Apple platform, Reeder, has built quite a loyal following. It's one of the first full-featured RSS readers on the iPhone which won me over with its elegant and sophisticated user interface, clever use of gestures and the ability to efficiently manage hundreds of feeds without crawling to a halt.

Silvio has been diligently updating the software with new features and today he pushed a new version which enables two popular Google Reader replacement services just as Google's web-based RSS client went offline yesterday...

Dish and Southwest Airlines partnership enables in-flight live TV on iDevices

If you're a Southwest Airlines customer, starting today you can get free live TV onboard, thanks to the company's partnership with Dish. Free live and on-demand TV is available on all Wi-Fi equipped Southwest flights, which is about three-quarters of the airline's fleet.

Even better, you can watch TV on your iPhone or iPad instead of tiny screens built into seats. They spared no expense so Dish's 'Boston Guy' surprised each of the more than a hundred Southwest Customers with a free iPad 2 in honor of the new partnership...

Let’s Talk Jailbreak 17: The iOS 7 jailbreak

Sebastien is taking a much deserved vacation, so our own Cody Lee has stepped up to the plate to co-host this week's episode of Let's Talk Jailbreak. In this episode, episode number 17, we discuss, among other things, the iOS 7 jailbreak. We also chit-chat about several new jailbreak tweaks, including PatternUnlock, HomeDisplay, and Actiwidget. Don't miss this fun.

Spotify’s Discover tab finally makes its way over to Apple devices

The Swedish streaming music startup Spotify has finally updated its iOS client today with a new Discover tab which made its way into the Android build back in December 2012 and four months later into the web interface.

Basically a music recommendation engine, Discover suggests similar songs based on your listening history and your playlists. Oh, and iPhone users will be happy to learn that Spotify now lets them fully customize their playlists.

This feature was previously inexplicably reserved only for the iPad client. Oh, and they just flattened the app icon so it fits better on your iOS 7 Home screen...

Apple patents smart bezel display

Apple may have found a way to maximize display space for touch input while minimizing the size of wearable devices such as the long-rumored iWatch. What's more, the innovation could be thanks to Kodak, a photography pioneer which Apple's iPhone and other smartphones, largely put out of business.

In a patent granted Tuesday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple describes a touch-sensitive bezel that surrounds a device's main display. The smart bezel is able to offer users additional space for a display area or even cover portions of a display, providing greater flexibility...

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn bids for Taiwan’s 4G mobile spectrum license

The world's leading assembler of consumer electronics products and Apple's favorite contract manufacturer, Foxconn, has submitted an application for a fourth-generation high-speed mobile spectrum license in Taiwan.

It's the latest in a series of moves by Foxconn to untie its fortunes from Apple, currently accounting for more than half of the manufacturer's revenue. For those who don't keep track of these things: Foxconn already operates a chain of retail stores in Asia, makes television sets for Western brands and assembles products for a variety of technology giants (including Dell and Sony)...

Rivals for Catan review: play the empire building game solo

Board game players of all types fell in love with the iOS version of Settlers for Catan when it launched in the App Store. The empire building game has been a big hit since it first launched in 1995. There are even tournaments around the world on a regular basis.

Rivals for Catan is a pared down version of the Settlers board game and the iOS version is a digital recreation of the card game itself. Thanks to the universal port from USM, we have another way to play our favorite board games by ourselves…

Apple launches 2013 Back to School promotion

As expected, Apple today launched this year's Back to School promotion which gives university students or their parents a chance to buy qualifying Mac, iPhone and iPad products and accessories and get an iTunes Gift card. If you buy a Mac, Apple will treat you to a $100 App Store Gift Card.

Buy an iPad or iPhone and Apple will throw in a $50 Gift Card. You can redeem your card against any content purchase on iTunes, including Mac and iOS apps, movies, television shows, songs, books and more.

Full details are right below the fold...

Apple set to build solar panel farm for Reno data center

According to a new report, Apple is looking to team up with the Nevada utility company NV Energy to build a solar panel farm next to its Reno data center. The farm will span 137 acres and, like the company's two North Carolina arrays, the Reno one is expected to provide somewhere between 18 and 20 megawatts of power...