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ControlAir lets you skip songs, adjust volume and pause music with a simple movement of your hand.

ControlAir controls for iTunes. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

There are a lot of different ways to control media playback on your Mac. You can use the built-in keys on the keyboard, the Today widget, the mini-player, an app on your iOS device, and the list goes on.

Today, you can add yet another way to control music Mac using your Mac's iSight camera and your hand. The magical control experience comes in the form of a free app called ControlAir.

After installing ControlAir from the Mac App Store, you're guided through a brief tutorial that doubles as a setup process.

ControlAir setup screen. Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET

In short, you raise your hand with your index finger pointing up. The camera on your Mac identifies the gesture, and brings up ControlAir's controls. Moving your finger down selects the highlighted control, be it skipping a song or cranking up the volume.

ControlAir suggests being within 1 to 5 feet of the camera for best results, although I was able to use it from across the room (roughly 10 feet, 3 meters) on more than one occasion when testing.

There's an elephant in the room we need to address: the fact your Mac's camera is left on the entire time you're using the application, watching your every move. The app's controls live in the menu bar of your Mac, making it easy to pause or quit the application at anytime should you feel the need.

If you're OK with that, you'll be glad to know ControlAir also handles playback commands for the following apps:

More here:
Control iTunes on your Mac by wagging your finger

Satechi Bluetooth Button Set Review - Media, Home, and Shutter Buttons
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RM75NL0 When I was first asked if I would be interested in reviewing these Bluetooth buttons from Satechi, I wasn #39;t sure how or why I would use them. But...

By: Steve Guberman

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Satechi Bluetooth Button Set Review - Media, Home, and Shutter Buttons - Video

Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom has teamed up with RR Media to offer mobile satellite services for maritime and land customers.

The operator will work with RR Media's mobile satellite services division to provide services bundled with a range of VAS and built-in management and control toolsets.

The Inmarsat-based satellite services will be offered on both a post-paid and pre-paid basis that can be combined based on a ship or organization's needs.

With RR Media, we're able to provide tailored VNO-like services, enabling local and international shipping companies and others to monitor, manage and control their entire fleet as well as empower their own users in the service chain, Chunghwa managing director of satellite business Ching-Tsung Chang said.

Moreover, we can offer a range of powerful value added services, such as remote log-in and a smart control box, integrated into the core system. We're committed to offering a local and friendly satellite mobile service to any user who needs communication at sea or on land.

RR Media is primarily a digital media services company. Subsidiary RRsat Global has six teleports in Israel, the USA and Europe as well as 20 partner teleports.

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Chunghwa Telecom to offer satellite services

She said: I find it completely paradoxical and ironic that this is the sector where were promoting and advertising the notion of free broadband access.

Its creating an impression in our consumers minds, in businesses and government that broadband should be free.

Broadband is an essential foundation to growing the economy in the UK. It requires investment and sustained commitment. Upgrades are not easy and they are not cheap.

Virgin Medias owner, the European cable group Liberty Global, is aiming to invest in the network with more speed upgrades and limited expansion to cover new areas. But its strategy of making broadband the selling point of the network rather than pay-TV has come under pressure as BT and Sky have competed fiercely to attract subscribers.

Virgin Media is expanding its network in East London

Gavin Patterson, BTs chief executive, has accused Sky of literally buying customers with its free broadband offer. BT charges 8 per month for its cheapest broadband package. Sky went to war over broadband pricing in retaliation for BTs decision to give BT Sport away to broadband subscribers, however.

Virgin Medias call for broadband prices to increase risks provoking the regulator, Ofcom, which touts the intense rivalry in the broadband market and reduction in prices in recent years as one its major successes. According to Ofcom figures, the average price of a broadband package was cut by nearly half between 2004 and 2012, partly as a result of regulatory intervention such as forcing BT to allow rivals to control its lines into homes and businesses.

While broadband is free or cheap, all providers have effectively raised the price of an internet connection by raising line rental rates. BT, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media increased line rental by more than inflation at the end of last year and by as much as 6.5pc.

TalkTalk has examined the possibility of ditching line rental to introduce a simpler single prices for broadband and phone services that would make such "stealth" price rises more visible. It concluded that because of the way price comparison websites and other marketing channels work the move would hurt sales.

Virgin Media now uses faster broadband as its main selling point

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Virgin Media urges Sky to raise broadband prices

In a first-of-its-kind workshop for the government's media managers, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) will work on providing 'authentic' information through different media platforms. At a workshop organised by the PIB, top officials in various ministries with years of experience in dealing with the media offered interesting suggestions ranging from feeding media to curb them from "imagining news" to preventing civil servants from serving anyone's agenda.

The workshop - Streamlining Government Communication - was organised by the PIB under the aegis of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at the National Media Centre. It was chaired by minister of information and broadcasting (I&B) Arun Jaitley and attended by minister of state Rajyavardhan Rathore, I&B secretary Bimal Julka, public relations officer in the Prime Minister's Office Jagdish Thakker and Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash.

The seven-hour long meeting also saw participation from senior officials of various ministries and private secretaries to the ministers along with senior officers of I&B, heads of noted media groups, and veteran journalists.

Jaitley, known as a skilled media manager, said in his address to the PIB officers to package data, facts and information by keeping in mind the current trends and media requirements. Jaitley made it clear its the minister who has to be the face of the ministry. He said civil servants, who have a large amount of government-centric information, should not carry out any propaganda but only put it in public domain," said a senior official who attended the meeting. Echoing the same opinion, Rathore said there should be social media engagement to ensure transparency in the government.

Business Standard had reported in November that the PIB was undergoing a massive overhaul trying to be a newsmaker. This included its online functioning via wide social media presence, refurbished interactive website, instant mass communication and real-time updates.

In an interesting presentation on the changing media scenario, Prasar Bharati's Prakash said that in the Twitter era, the time to respond to an adverse story was 12 seconds. In his presentation, Prakash mentioned that news should first break on Doordarshan and All India Radio, then on private channels, said a person who attended the discussion.

According to sources, Hasmukh Adhia, secretary in the finance ministry, said one should keep feeding the media with positive news, else the press would "create their own news". Thakker supported the view and stated there should be a single window interface with the media.

Julka said there should not be any vacuum in the news flow from the ministry to the PIB officials concerned. Anil Swarup, coal secretary and former Project Monitoring Group chief, said one should be clear about what, when, how, why and whom to say to the media.

Business Standard had reported in November 2014 that the PIB was undergoing a massive overhaul trying to be a newsmaker. This included its online functioning via wide social media presence, refurbished interactive website, instant mass communication and real-time updates.

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PIB's first step towards overhaul: Control news flow