Last week Nokia launched their new, Lumia 900 Windows Phone marketing campaign, pretty much calling the iPhone a problem-plagued beta test of a smartphone.

And then the Lumia 900 promptly launched with bugs that embarrassingly made it look like no one had bothered to beta test it.

See, there’s been this little bug in the Lumia 900 (by the way, you’ve read our Lumia 900 review, right?) that has been causing some early adopters — regular consumers as well as reviewers — to lose all data connectivity. As in, the phone kinda forgets the fact that, in fact, it is a phone. Not good, to say the least.

It’s all fun and games to to mock the iPhone about problems real or imagined from 2007 and 2010, but it looks like Nokia would have been better off paying less attention to Apple and more attention to their own phones. And earnings. In 2012.

So. Yeah. Ouch.

Source: WPCentral

The best iOS podcast in the ‘verse returns tonight to talk all the latest iPhone and iPad news, how-tos, and app and accessory reviews. Come join us!

Want to go full screen? Head to iMore.com/live. Want to watch via iPhone or iPad? Grab the Ustream app and search for “mobilenations”!

Verizon is increasing the fee they charge customers who upgrade to a new, subsidized iPhone — or other mobile device — as part of a 2-year contract renewal. The new fee will be $30 and takes effect on April 22.

This fee will help us continue to provide customers with the level of service and support they have come to expect which includes Wireless Workshops, online educational tools, and consultations with experts who provide advice and guidance on devices that are more sophisticated than ever.

Verizon offers their eco-friendly trade-in program as a way to hedge against the costs.

We’ve already heard that carriers are starting to push back on the costs of premium devices, like the iPhone, which cut their incredible profits down to only fantastic sizes. They successfully, and unsuccessfully, tried to increase other costs to try and get more money out of consumers for a while now. They’ll likely keep trying until they find the paths of least resistance.

Does the new upgrade fee bother you? Will it change your mind about upgrading on Verizon? Jump into our Verizon Forum and let us know!

Source: Verizon

While I just know every single member of the iMore nation went and downloaded the brand new iMore for iPhone app the instant it became available — and rated it 5 stars in the App Store, right? — we’re so happy with our new baby we can’t help but want to celebrate some more, and thank each and every one of you for simply being just so awesome. So here’s what we’re going to do — we’re going to give away some iPhone cases! I’ve reviewed a couple lately that I really liked, and I can’t decide which one we should give away, so I’m going to let you choose!

Here are the contenders!

• SGP Linear Blitz Case for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4
• Case-Mate Barely There Brushed Aluminum case for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4

To enter, all you have to do is:

1. Download the FREE iMore for iPhone app (if by some horrible quirk of fate you haven’t already!)
2. Tap the More tab at the bottom right
3. Tap the Send a Tip button
4. Tell us which case you want to win, SGP or Case-Mate!
5. Tap Send at the top right

And that’s it! We’ll pick a couple winners, and you’ll get the case you chose. Really, could anything be more awesome than that?

So what are you waiting for? Send in your case pick now!

Last week, Robot Entertainment launched a new army for their excellent turn-based strategy game for iOS, Hero Academy. At PAX East 2012, they were appropriately showing off the greenskins next to their upcoming dungeon-trapper PC game, Orcs Must Die 2, so we decided to check out the update. The Tribe differs significantly from the structure set by the other armies in Hero Academy in that they only have one armor upgrade, but have two hero units in their bag of tricks. The Tribe also includes a new tidal wave spell which can move whole armies towards or away from you. The update also offers a new map which is available even if you don’t dish out the $2.00 for The Tribe. It has crystals that are able to fire thorns at nearby assailants once a turn, and a new bonus square which provides magic resistance.

Marcin, one of the game’s devs, described the Tribe as relentless and aggressive, and as far as I can see, they’ll really mix up the flow of gameplay. The guys at Robot Entertainment were also clear that they’re working on a port for Android, which is great news if they’re able to include cross-platform multiplayer. Besides the new army, this update also includes universal support, so it counts as one app across iPhone and iPad.

If you aren’t already playing Hero Academy, be sure to pick it up for free and at least give The Council a go. Despite the cartoony graphics, the tactics in this game are very rich, and have had me hooked for awhile.

Thanks to its big, beautiful screen, the iPad is a great way to read traditional Newsstand-style magazines in a new, digital way. Because the iPad is online, however, and can be hooked into everything from RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to social networks like Facebook and Twitter, it can also be a lot more. It can be a dynamic, personalized magazine filled with things that are important to you, recommended by the people you trust most, or updated based on your previous likes or dislikes. Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse have all sought to make dynamic, personal, sometimes even social magazine apps for the iPad, and they’ve all gone about it in a different way. Which one is the absolute best? Lets take a look!

User Interface

Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse all have great interfaces that makes it easy for readers to navigate around and explore news and social sites.

Flipboard is just fun. The cover page is full of big, bold squares and rectangles that highlight photos and images and give you categories to choose from. You navigate by literally flipping the boards to drill deeper into sections and stories. The layout inside the sections is crisp and clean and you can easily flip through until you find a story that catches your eye. Tap a story you like and you’re zoomed into a full-screen view. If you want to move tiles around or don’t want a specific section, hold down on a tile just like you would to move around app icons on your homescreen. You can then move them around and delete sections you aren’t interesting in reading (you can always restore them later via settings if you’d like). Once you’re done deleting and organizing, just tap any tile to exit edit mode.

Zite uses lots of white space and it’s Top Stories page looks like the table of contents of a contemporary, modern magazine. Sections are off to the side and rendered in big, beautiful type, and individual stories are shown in a spartan, stripped down, almost “read later” style.

Pulse has the densest cover page of the three, and is set on black instead of white. Not only does it fit a lot of content onto one page, but you can swipe through any of the horizontal sections to see even more stories. Tap on one you like and a panel slides over to show you the story. You can swipe sideways inside the panel to move between stories, and because the cover page remains visible, keep swiping between the sections as well to keep browsing even more quickly.

All three are very well designed. However, the award has to go to Flipboard. Everything from the carefully crafted icon to the way pages flip and tiles fold down to view sections is beautiful and intelligently thought out. It’s one of those apps that you want to use just because the interface is so enjoyable.

Content

Content is king for a reason. No matter how beautiful an app may be, if there’s nothing in it, its value will be limited. When it comes to content, Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Flipboard integrates RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well. So if you’re looking for an app that allows you to not only keep up with news but with friends and family, Flipboard offers an incredibly personalized experience.

Pulse allows you to add individual RSS feeds on their own as well as browse for news. There is no Facebook and Twitter integration, though you can sign in with your Facebook account. Pulse will provide suggestions for feeds but nothing that’s very customized.

That’s where Zite comes in swinging. While Flipboard and Pulse basically pull in the information you’ve already decided you want to look at, Zite aims to personalize and improve your reading experience over time. When you first launch Zite you can grant it access to your Twitter, Google Reader, Delicious, and Read it Later accounts as a starting point. From there it’ll provide you news that it thinks you’ll enjoy. If you find a story you don’t care for, tap into it and give it a thumbs down. Zite will then stop showing you stories simliar to those. If you find a story, subject, or writer you enjoy following, give them a thumbs up and Zite will pull in more articles that are simliar or by the same author.

Flipboard’s Facebook and Twitter integration means you get to see things your friends and the people you follow like. With Zite, you get to see things their continuously refined recommendation engine thinks you’ll like. I’ve found tons of new sites, stories, and writers I enjoy thanks to Zite that I may never have found otherwise, and since I already use Facebook and Twitter in their own sites, I don’t feel like I’m missing out by not having them in Zite.

That gives Zite the edge.

Social sharing

Zite, Pulse, and Flipboard all allow you to share stories to Facebook, Twitter, read later services, email, and many more. So there’s really no clear winner in this category. Whichever one you decide to use, you’ll be able to share things with anyone or any social circle you’d like. All three also support Instapaper and Read It Later.

While Zite and Pulse only allow you to share stories to Facebook and Twitter, Flipboard actually allows you to pull in your Facebook and Twitter feeds. They’ll filter in just like news. You can also see who is tweeting stories and you can comment on them as well as @ reply the creator if they’re integrated into Twitter. So when it comes to social, all provide integration but Flipboard provides a more in-depth and personal experience.

When it comes to social networking, Flipboard gets the cake.

Cost

All three applications are free in the App Store so if you’re debating between one or the other, there’s really nothing to lose. Just download all three and stick with the one you find suits you the best.

Tie.

Conclusion

Flipboard is very well put together and integrates social networking in a way the other two don’t. If you’re heavily tied to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, this should be your go-to app. It’s also got a unique layout that the others can’t quite compete with just yet.

Pulse aims to pack a lot of information on the main screen by using tiles that slide horizontally and vertically. While quick access is important, so is what the app looks like. And to many users Pulse will be a bit too busy. If you’re a power reader, you’ll likely love Pulse. If not, it can be too much.

Zite has the simplest interface of the three and lets you really concentrate on reading. It may not be as fancy or fun, but for people who just want to read without distraction, it’s fantastic.

While Flipboard, Zite, and Pulse all make reading news on the iPad an amazing experience, how they handle content is an important part of what makes one better than the other. For this reason, Zite takes the win. It’s not only personal to each user, but it grows more personal over time as you use it. The way it recommends new content is something none of the other apps provide. Bottom line, Zite is the best social magazine app currently available on iPad.

Zite – Free – Download Now

Pulse – Free – Download Now

Flipboard – Free – Download Now

Additional Resources:

• Which magazine style news app do you use on your iPad?
• iPad apps and games forum
• Even more iPhone and iPad app reviews

Ever since Apple showed off the square iPod nano, I’ve dreamed of a watch that would interface with my iPhone and let me see all my notifications. When the iPhone 4S debuted, I added Siri pass-through to my list of demands. Sadly, Apple hasn’t yet seen fit to grant my wishes, but Pebble’s E-Paper watch takes a few steps decidedly in that direction! Now on KickStarter, the Pebble E-Paper connects to your iPhone (or Android Phone) over Bluetooth and runs apps that let you use GPS or control music and media playback.

Apps bring Pebble to life. We’re building some amazing apps for Pebble. Cyclists can use Pebble as a bike computer, accessing the GPS on your smartphone to display speed, distance and pace data. Runners get a similar set of data displayed on their wrist. Use the music control app to play, pause or skip tracks on your phone with the touch of a button. If you’re a golfer, feel free to bring Pebble onto the course. We’re working with Freecaddie to create a great golf rangefinder app for Pebble that works on over 25,000 courses world-wide. Instead of using your phone, view your current distance to the green right on your wrist. These apps will be the first, with more in the works!

There will also be an open SDK so if you’re a developer, you can build additional apps as well. Pebble includes an accelerometer, vibrating motor, and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. So no low-power Bluetooth 4.0 yet, and no microphone or speaker for Siri pass-through, but still a lot of potential. Plus, they claim 7 days of battery life, which is sweet.

Check out the video below and if you like what you see, head on over to KickStarter and get a backing!

Source: KickStarter

The U.S. Justice Department has just slapped Apple and their various publishing partners, like HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Penguin, with charges of e-book pricing collusion. Sources say that HarperCollins is in a hurry to get the issue settled as soon as today, but Penguin was ready to put up a fight in court. Apparently Apple’s contract demands that publishers sell their e-books on iOS for the lowest price that’s currently being offered by competitors. This supports the agency model, whereby publishers are the ones setting the price, while the Justice Department wants things to stick with the wholesale model, where retailers set the price. We had heard last month that publishers were willing to concede to the Justice Department over the issue, but apparently settlement talks haven’t been as productive as expected.

The idea here is that by having all of the publishers agreeing on the same pricing structure, it stagnates competition. Amazon still has a big lead in the e-book world, and under its current model, Apple won’t be able to put up much of a fight if their prices aren’t competitive. On the one hand, consumers should be getting the best prices possible, but on the other, publishers and their authors will have a rough time staying in business with smaller margins.

How often do you use Apple’s iBooks? Do you prefer Amazon Kindle, or Kobo? Regardless of who you use, how much are you willing to pay for an e-book?

UPDATE: John Sargent from Macmillan has published an open letter on the matter:

But the terms the DOJ demanded were too onerous. After careful consideration, we came to the conclusion that the terms could have allowed Amazon to recover the monopoly position it had been building before our switch to the agency model. We also felt the settlement the DOJ wanted to impose would have a very negative and long term impact on those who sell books for a living, from the largest chain stores to the smallest independents.

Go read the whole thing via the TOR link below.

Source: Bloomberg, TOR

For today only the iMore iPhone Accessory Store has the Qmadix Xtreme Protective Case for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 on sale for only $16.95. That’s a titanic 52% off! Get it before it’s gone!

• Shop Qmadix Xtreme Protective Case for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 now!

The Qmadix Xtreme case integrates innovative design and engineering to provide maximum protection for your iPhone 4S, AT&T iPhone 4, or Verizon iPhone 4. This protective carry solution offers a dynamic blend of shock absorption material with our revolutionary Duro-Vest Protector to give you the ultimate defense against drops.

Features:

• Double layer, impact-resistant protection
• Integrated kickstand
• Raised silicone edges to protect screen
• Durable ratcheting swivel belt clip on holster

Includes:

• Silicone shock-absorber
• Duro-Vest protector w/ kickstand
• Holster

Google is giving their new social network, Google+, a makeover in an attempt to increase not only its beauty, but its functionality.

A critical piece of this social layer is a design that grows alongside our aspirations. So today we're introducing a more functional and flexible version of Google+. We think you'll find it easier to use and nicer to look at, but most importantly, it accelerates our efforts to create a simpler, more beautiful Google.

Navigation you can make your own

One of the first things you'll notice is a new way to get around the stream. Instead of static icons at the top, there's a dynamic ribbon of applications on the left. This approach comes with lots of perks, but some of our favorites include:

• You can drag apps up or down to create the order you want
• You can hover over certain apps to reveal a set of quick actions
• You can show or hide apps by moving them in and out of "More"

Strangely, Google calls Google+ an “upgrade” rather than a “new integrated social service”. That’s odd language to use. Then again, Google has a odd and serious challenge ahead of it. Outside of Googlers and Android aficionados like our good friends at Android Central, most people just don’t seem to be using Google+. Better integrating Google+ into extremely popular Google services like Search, Gmail, YouTube might help make Google+ seem more successful, or it might just annoy users of those services who have no interest — or an active dislike — for Google+. At this point, in the greater online and mobile communities, users are basically telling Google they’re fine with Facebook and Twitter. In a recent iMore poll, we found that while 43% of iPhone users used Facebook and 33% used Twitter, only 5% used Google+ (16% used Instagram). On the iPad, 50% used Facebook, 35% used Twitter, and only 4% used Google+ (10% used Instagram).

No word on when, or if, any of this new beauty or functionality will filter down to the Google+ iOS app.

Check out the video below and let us know — will the makeover get you to use Google+ any more than you already do?

Source: Google Blog via Android Central

A new game developer called Camouflaj is trying to Kickstart a dystopian stealth game called République, and despite looking like a fantastic premise, its sights are set on iOS instead of consoles or PC.  In République, your job is to guide a rebel named Hope through a world ripe with Big Brother-style surveillance back hacking into computer systems and providing directions. Besides having a great-looking game optimized for touch controls, the devs wanted to have a lead female that was more than just a pair of boobs while delivering a substantial, real message through the storyline. Check out the video below to taste for what République aims to offer.

While it’s been interesting to see how the Kickstarter crowdfunding model has enabled high-profile companies like Double Fine to mobilize their game, this is the first time we’re seeing a real high-quality gaming title gunning for the iPhone first and foremost. These guys are really going all-out, complete with motion capture and high quality voice acting. The programmers they’ve managed to rope in have worked on top titles, including Halo, Metal Gear Solid, and F.E.A.R. Camouflaj is partnering with another development house called Logan to get it all done.

I’m just about ready to pitch in ten bucks. Are you? They’ve raised $42k, and are aiming for $500k in the next 30 days. Head on over to Kickstarter for more info on pledging to the project.

Source: Joystiq

Stride is a new jailbreak tweak which is available now,  it allows you to passcode protect your device but without the need for a boring old passcode. Instead of a series of numbers or letters, the Stride jailbreak tweak lets you set up an on screen gesture to do the job for you.

Unlocking your iOS Device just got a whole lot cooler. Never again do you need to worry about entering some lengthy password, or are limited to 9 points on a grid. With Stride, you unlock with gestures! Simply draw your password. That’s it.

The developer of Stride,  Adam bell has also enabled the ability to have the passcode lock available as well as the gesture based unlock; this allows an extra level of security and the ability to unlock your device if you forget what  your gesture  was. The jailbreak tweak is available now via the Cydia installer for $2.99. It is not compatible with the iPad at the moment and we don’t know if it ever will be.

Source: YouTube

The most popular photo sharing website is Facebook, yet uploading more than one photo at once is a repetitive process — you must select each photo one at a time. PixUploader for iPhone does a much better job at streamlining the selection process and will even automatically select your most recent photos when you launch the app.

PixUploader is extremely easy to use. You can set up PixUploader to automatically add the most recent 1-8 photos in your Camera Roll when you launch the app. If you decide against uploading a selected image, you simply flick it away. To select more photos, just tap Add Photos.

Before starting the upload, you can select which Facebook album to upload the photos to, add cations, and tag your friends. If you tap on one of the thumbnails of the photos you’ve selected to upload, the image will open full size with a caption field to fill in. If you tap on the image, a list of your Facebook friends will slide up so that you can tag them in your photo. PixUploader will show a gray square on the area you can expect the tag to appear. Tapping this square will give you the option to delete the tag.

When your photos are ready to upload, just simply tap Upload and PixUploader will immediately start uploading them. They’ll be uploaded one at a time at an acceptable rate. Eight photos will take more than a few seconds, however, but the good news is that PixUploader will continue uploading in the background if you want to switch over to another app.

The Good

• Easy to use
• Fast
• Upload up to 8 photos
• Add captions
• Tag friends
• Select which album to upload to
• Uploads in the background
• Choose to have PixUploader to automatically select your most recent 1-8 photos at launch
• Has two color schemes: blue and orange

The Bad

• Why limit to only 8 photos?

The Conclusion

PixUploader is a great way to share multiple photos to Facebook at once. The ability to add captions and tag friends makes it so you don’t have to make any changes to Facebook after the photos have been uploaded. There have been many times that I only shared one photo to Facebook because it takes too long with the Facebook app. Now, I’ll just use PixUploader.

There is also a free version of PixUploader that has a max limit of 4 images at a time and does not allow you to tag your friends and it’s ad supported. The free version is a great way to test out PixUploader before you commit to buying it, though.

$0.99 – Download Now

Free – Download Now

Apple may already be hard at work on iTunes 11, the next generation version of their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink media and device management app, and iOS 6 support and better iCloud integration could be part of the feature list. This according to 9to5Mac‘s Mark Gurman who may have caught glimpse of an iTunes 11 internal development seed.

The above image is an actual screenshot from an internal iTunes 11.0 build, but we have seen more than that. iTunes 11 includes an increased presence of iCloud integration. Perhaps the biggest testament to this is a dedicated iCloud settings panel within iTunes. This panel is a centralized, always accessible spot for users to control iCloud related features while in iTunes. These features include iTunes Match, iTunes in the Cloud, iCloud iOS device backups and more. We'll have more on this soon.

No word yet on when iTunes 11 would ship, or if it would be the first version of iTunes to offer iOS 6 and expanded iCloud support, or if it would follow an iTunes 10.x release that already included those features.

iTunes 10 was introduced on September 1, 2010 as part of the then-annual Apple Special Music Event and included a new, more beautifully blue icon, a streamlined, less colorful interface, and the Ping social music network. Also released at the event was the iOS 4.1 gold master, iPod touch 4, and the iOS-based Apple TV.

Source: 9to5Mac

Adobe Reader for iPad has recieved a great update and now allows users to fill out PDF forms, and mark them up with sticky notes, freehand annotating, highlighting, underline, and strikethroughs.

When viewing a PDF with Adobe Reader, you can tap the screen to bring up the toolbar at the top of the screen. This includes buttons for selecting the page turning style (continuous or single page), sharing options, text search, and annotation.

The annotation button replaces the toolbar with a new one that includes buttons to add notes, highlights, strikethroughs, underlines, signatures, and freehand drawing. For highlighting, striking, and underlining, you simply have to drag your finger across the text, and Adobe Reader will automatically add the markup as if it had been done with a word processor.

The freehand drawing isn’t anything amazing, but it works find. The strokes aren’t amazing, but they also aren’t terrible. The biggest disappointment is that there isn’t a zoom tool for smaller writing and there isn’t an undo button.

When adding a signature, Adobe Reader will pop up a screen for you to sign. You’ll want to make your signature nice and big so that it looks good. Once you’re done signing, you can adjust the thickness before entering it into the document. Adobe Reader will keep your signature saved so that you can quickly and easily add it to another document (or the same document) in the future.

If you tap on a signature or handwritten annotation, options to change the color, thickness, and opacity will pop up. You can also drag them around, adjust the size, or delete them from your document.

Filling out forms is as simple as tapping the fillable field. The keyboard will slide up, allowing you to type into the field.

The Good

• Great tutorial PDF included
• Easily mark up PDF content with sticky notes, the freehand drawing tool or the highlight, strikethrough, and underline tools
• Add comments anywhere in your PDF file with sticky notes
• Fill out PDF forms
• Use Ink Signature tool to add signature or send PDF files to others for electronic signing using Adobe EchoSign

The Bad

• No zoom-in tool for handwriting
• Can’t undo

The Conclusion

There are better PDF annotation apps out there, but most of them come at a price. If you’re looking for a free solution, Adobe Reader will get the job done.

Free – Download Now