Apple and Samsung CEOs will be meeting in San Francisco within the next 90 days to hopefully put an end to their ongoing patent feud. This was partially forced by Northern District of California judge Lucy Koh, who ordered that both parties reexamine their availability for Alternative Dispute Resolution. Both want to look like they’re being cooperative (even if they’re not), so of course they’ve agreed to talk with a judge overseeing things. Samsung and Apple said in a joint statement:

As directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate in a Magistrate Judge Settlement Conference with Judge Spero as mediator. At Apple, the chief executive officer and general counsel are the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Apple during the upcoming settlement discussions. At Samsung, the chief executive officer and general counsel are also the appropriate decision-makers, and they will represent Samsung during these settlement discussions.

Samsung and Apple have been duking it out the world over for years over patents, and there’s little reason to believe that they would stop now. Apple claims to have negotiated in good will before entering into their litigation, but after having to fend off Samsung in Germany over some particularly important 3G patents, I doubt they’re going to be in a particularly cooperative mood. What do you think the odds are of Samsung and Apple settling at this point? Who would end up on top otherwise?

Source: FOSS Patents

You’ve read our original iPhone 4S review and our iPhone six months later round table, but as always the take that matters most is our community’s. We asked the iMore Nation how the iPhone 4S was holding up for you some six months later, if it was still competitive, and if you’d still recommend it to a prospective new iPhone buyer. And boy did you answer!

Are you still satisfied with the iPhone 4S?

The question was simple: six months after the release are you, the members of the iMore Nation, still satisfied with the iPhone 4S?

• 56% said extremely, nothing else comes close
• 23% said mostly, aging well but getting old
• 11% said meh, starting to look around for alternatives
• 10% said not at all, they regret getting it

iPhone 4S community review: Six months later

And here’s a sampling of what the iMore Forums are saying about the iPhone 4S, six months later.

All I can say is that the iPhone 4S is so much more than I expected. Still reasonably priced. Easy to use. Easy to sync all of my Google contacts, calendar and of course Gmail. FaceTime. Great camera and a beautiful device.

• TurboTiger

I think the 4S is still very competitive in today’s market. The speed of the A5 chip rarely leaves me waiting for anything. If someone asks me what kind of phone to get I generally ask them what they like to do with a phone. If they like to take pictures or videos, I show them what the 4S can do. If their life centres around Google and its products, I suggest an Android device, but I let them know about the 55 or so hardware devices running the Android OS and (in my opinion) how buggy it can be. I also inform them of Apple’s “closed ecosystem” which I’ve never really been a fan of, but like Bla1ze once told me, “at least they have an ecosystem”.

I must admit, I’ve really come to appreciate Apple, their products, and the ecosystem. There’s a reason they’re the most valuable company in the world. So, how do I like the iPhone 4S six months later? I… love…it.

• mcmillan27

The iPhone 4S in my opinion is still the best mobile device out to date (that I’ve used). Nothing even comes close to it in terms of usability–let alone the sheer beauty of the device. I do think; however, that the HTC One X is going to give the 4S a run for its money. At the same time though, its slightly an unfair comparison for the two devices. The latest iPhone was launched in October of last year, then the HTC One X is literally fresh from the factory.

After six months I can still say that I’m highly satisfied with the phone. I was looking towards a GSM Galaxy Nexus for a while, but once I saw an announcement about the One X, I was more interested in that. I’m probably going to pick up a One X on AT&T once its released–but after about a week of use, I’ll most likely be reaching for my iPhone yet again. It simply works.

• circlez

Screen clarity – Nobody can touch it. Camera – Nobody can touch it. Battery life – No Android can touch it. Processor – Not the best but not the worst. Siri – Is my best friend. Use it a ton. Gaming experiece – Nobody can touch it

Yes I would still recommend it. It just works.

• Garz

More on the iPhone 4S

• iPhone 4S review
• iPhone 4S buyers guide
• iPhone 3S new users guide
• iPhone 4S six months later round table
• iPhone 4S forum

Image credit: iDoodle by Jason Harrison

The Antique model Steampunk Case for iPhone is one of a few handcrafted iPhone cases by Paul Marsh’s Blujoos. Each model is a special edition, limited to 50 pieces, and designed to give your iPhone a unique look you just won’t find anywhere else. A model and prop maker from the film industry with over 20 years and 25 films and TV series to his credit, Marsh is pouring every bit of that skill into these cases and it really shows. These aren’t stickers — these are actual 3D castings!

The models are built using carefully chosen parts from watches and clocks, and then a platinum silicone mould is created from the model. Marsh casts the individual cases from a tough, UV protected polyurethane and then — get this — impregnates them with metal powders. That’s real brass, real bronze, real copper, and real iron powders. That’s what gives them the incredible look of rusted, corroded metals. It’s beautiful destruction and The effect is simply stunning. It looks like something out of fantasy, like the kingdoms busily assembling themselves during the opening credits of Game of Thrones…

There are currently two models available on Etsy, the Antique which I’m reviewing here, and the Salvage which has a more coppery, almost Lost City of Atlantis look to it.

Both are gorgeous and both are extremely limited, so if you like them, pounce on them soon.

The good

• Exquisite craftsmanship
• Incredible finish
• Unique look and feel

The bad

• iPhone can shift slightly in case
• Bulkier than a mass-produced skin

The conclusion

I absolutely adore the look of and feel of the Antique Steampunk iPhone case by Blujoos. Paul Marsh has put together something more than an accessory — he’s put together a real work of art. If you’re a fan of the Steampunk genre, or of fantasy or sci-fi model-making techniques, or simply of unique craftsmanship and amazing design, check out Marsh’s work on Etsy now.

$64 – Buy now

Looks like Google’s Gmail is having some problems this morning. While mine (a paid Google apps account) seems to working fine, a lot of you are telling us you’re not getting any Gmail this morning at all, not on your iPhone, not on your iPad, and not on your Windows or Mac PC. Not good.

If you’re experiencing a Gmail outage, or if you were back it’s back now, let us know in our Gmail Forums

A metal parts manufacturer in Japan called Marudai has cooked up an iPhone case that offers protection against a .50 caliber bullet from the the rear. The inch of armor plating weighs a whopping 2 kg all told. Both white and black versions are available, and there’s even a little hole so you can still use the camera. The manufacturer warns that the front won’t take a bullet, and that the armor plating can easily scratch tables you place it on. Oh, and because of the weight, you’ll probably want to call using both hands. Despite all of the protection, there’s no guarantee that your phone will still work after getting hit, but at least the round probably won’t make it through to whatever fleshy bits are on the other side.

Practical? No. Hilarious? You betcha. It’s available now for 52,500 Yen, or $US 650, shipping included. Marudai will even throw in a 12.7 mm bullet casing so you can show how badass you are.

Source: Dvice via Gizmodo

Verizon has just announced that they’re expanding their LTE network to a bunch of new areas across the U.S. In New York, the Buffalo-Niagara area has 28 new LTE towers, while Cattaraugus-Alleghany counties are getting their first taste of 4G on Thursday. Also launching on Thursday are new markets in Georgia, including LaGrange, Brunswick, and Macon. Pierre, South Dakota, and Ocala, Florida will also be getting LTE service on the 19th. Other recent expansions have included Hopkinton, New Hampshire; Lancaster, Massachusetts; and Stockton, Fresno, and Bakersfield in California.

This is good news for those outside of major urban centers wanting to get high-speed data on the new iPad, but surveys show that the majority of iPad usage is over Wi-Fi. Still, this nicely sets the stage for an LTE iPhone, which we’re expecting sometime this fall. We have a forum thread going asking which carrier folks would go with for an LTE iPhone, and so far it seems like a pretty even split between Verizon and AT&T. Which would you side with?

Source: Verizon via Android Central

Apple has a new VP of Sales by the name of Zane Rowe. He’s been the CFO at United Continental since 2010, during which time he no doubt has his hands full with the merger of United and Continental Airlines. Apple commented on Rowe’s move, saying “We are thrilled that Zane Rowe will be joining us as one of our vice presidents of sales. He built a great team at United and we think he is going to do a fantastic job at Apple.”

Continental and United just tied up the loose ends of their merger early last month. With Rowe gone, United Continental has assigned John Rainey, a senior VP of financial planning and analysis since 2005, to the position. United Continental’s CEO Jeff Smisek said “While we are sorry Zane has decided to leave, we are excited to have such a talented executive as John Rainey become our chief financial officer.”

While it’s not a huge deal to see financial types move between industries, changing from financial to sales roles at the same time might be a bit of a challenge – especially for such a high-profile company as Apple.

Source: ATD

Ever since iOS 5 introduced Notification Center and the weather and stock widgets contained therein, and Siri showed off any number of clock and calendar and reminder widgets, a lot of folks have been wondering when we’ll see more widespread widget support from Apple. Things like pinning widgets to the Home page or support for third parties to cook up their own widgets still just aren’t there. We’ve been getting a wide variety of reactions to the issue in the forums, mostly stemming from concerns about battery life, but I think it’s safe to say that if Apple were to ever implement a wider array of widgets, they would do it in a way that’s kind to battery life. Besides, battery life is pretty good as it is; forum member redbeard points out:

If all you care about is having a phone that you only have to charge once a week you can buy a jitterbug, I’m always near a wall or a car charger, even when I’m not my 1 year, 8 month old iPhone 4 lasts all day all while running two homescreen widgets and being jailbroken.

If Apple were to ever open up the doors to widgets, they would likely stay in the Notification Center, but Android has set a decent precedent for Home screen widgets; as far as I’m concerned, the home screen widget is one of the biggest defining characteristics of Android, and if implemented well in iOS, they could make sure iOS users don’t stray from the flock. Apple has already borrowed the notification windowshade idea, so it’s not so far out that we’d see more Android-style features on an iPhone or iPad.

If full Home screen widgets proved too taxing on the battery, Windows Phone is doing some neat stuff with Live Tiles that could influence iOS. Right now, we don’t get much more than tomato splat noifications on app icons, but what if there was more? Maybe app icons themselves could change based on contextual information – the current level in a game you’re playing, who’s tagged you on Facebook, a thumbnail of a popular picture on Pinterest … that sort of thing. The native Calendar app already does this sort of thing, so why doesn’t Weather? Why don’t all other apps?

So what say you? Do you want to keep the pristine icon grid, or add a bit more utility at the cost of simplicity? Or maybe Apple could come up with something wholly original that distinctly stands out from the precedent set by competitors, but meets the same demand for at-a-glance info and functions. Forum member steelew suggested that the lock screen would be a good place to put that sort of stuff, and I’m tempted to agree.

UK TV network Channel Five’s The Gadget Show aired a 360 degree promo video for its new series which starts next week. The promo which aired last night was the first of its kind ever to be shown. To benefit from the complete experience, users had to watch live TV with an accompanying iOS app running on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The app ran in time with the live TV stream and enabled you to look around the studio using the inbuilt gyroscope; giving 360 degree views in real time of the studio.

At 9pm on 16th April 2012, Channel 5 will make television history by bringing you the world's first 360 degree promo for the new series of The Gadget Show: World Tour. Jason Bradbury and Pollyanna Woodward are off on an international gadget-filled expedition to seek out and play with the greatest tech the globe has to offer.

The technology is certainly something to look out for in the future. Imagine if it could be used for watching sports event; having the ability to pan around the field of play or move your viewpoint to behind a goal. The possibilities are endless and I for one hope that this technology catches on as it is very impressive! If it all sounds a bit confusing, take a look at the video below.

Source: The Gadget Show, YouTube

SpellTower for iPhone and iPad is a fun word game that adds a fun twist to the classic word search game. Instead of being limited to spelling words vertically, horizontally, and diagonally, you can choose your letters in any direction.

Specifically, if the next letter in your word is in one of the 8 surrounding letters, then it’s fair game. Perhaps an easier way to explain it is — any word that is able to be spelled by sliding over each letter, in order, without lifting your finger, is playable in SpellTower.

There are other little rules for scoring and clearing rows, but SpellTower does an excellent job of explaining them in the tutorial.

SpellTower has 5 different game modes. Tower Mode the most relaxing and pressure-free. You are simply given 150 letters and it’s your goal to spell as many words as you can.

Puzzle Mode reminds me of Tetris. Each time you make a word, a new row is added and your goal is to prevent any of the columns from reaching the top.

If a letter has a small letter in its tile, the number represents the shortest length your word must be in order to use that letter. In Ex Puzzle Mode, there are a lot more of these letters than in Puzzle Mode.

Rush Mode has the same overall objective as the Puzzle Modes, except that instead of adding rows every time you make a word, SpellTower adds a new row after a set amount of time. This is by no means a leisurely game mode!

The Good

• Fun
• 4 levels of difficulty
• Challenging
• Includes helpful tutorial
• Multiplayer over bluetooth
• Night mode

The Bad

• No online multiplayer

The Conclusion

SpellTower is a very fun game. I’ve always had a slight aversion to word games, because I’m typically very terrible at them, but I actually really enjoy playing this one. SpellTower is the best word game I’ve ever played.

$1.99 – Download Now

Iron Man Mark VII, The Hulk, and Avengers Assemble hit iOS to promote the next mighty Marvel movie!

Marvel has been hard at work getting preparations in place for what is, to some, one of the most highly anticipated movies of the summer: The Avengers. Part of those plans include iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps designed to help promote the release, and available now in the iTunes App Store.

As expected, all of the apps are beautifully designed and are built to capture Avenger fans new and old, comic book and movie. In total, there are three apps to choose from thus far: Avengers Origins: Assemble and Avengers Origins: Hulk both, from Marvel’s parent company, Disney Publishing Worldwide, and Marvel’s The Avengers: Iron Man – Mark VII from Loud Crow Interactive. If you’re a Marvel fan, Avengers Fan, or simply an Iron-Man or Hulk fan, you’ll want to check them out.

Marvel’s The Avengers: Iron Man – Mark VII

If Iron Man happens to be your favorite Avenger, then the Iron Man – Mark VII app is the one you will be looking to download first. It’s an interactive comic book that is 15+ pages long and takes you through the design logs of Tony Stark, explaining how the Iron Man suit came to be, and how it’s evolved into what it will be in The Avengers movie. Embedded in the Iron Man app is music from the soundtracks to both the Iron Man and Iron Man II movies, plus you can opt to read the pages yourself or have them read to you.

The Iron Man app also features a sliding panel layout that reacts to tilt, touch, and even allows you to drag “pages” to flip through them. Almost everything you touch causes a reaction, making it fun to just tap or swipe random things to see what will happen. The artwork is great with it being done by Steve Kurth featuring a cover created by famous Iron Man artist Adi Granov. Iron Man fans may also recognize the writing by Fred Van Lente.

Although enjoyable, it feels like it could have been slightly more interactive in the long run. However; it is a free app and well worth the time if you’re an Iron Man fan of any age.

Free – Download Now

Avengers Origins: Hulk

Avengers Origins: Hulk was built by Disney Publishing Worldwide and falls under the Marvel Storybook category. As the name indicates, it covers the origins of Hulk from his time as repressed, introverted Army scientist Bruce Banner to the moment the gamma bomb unleashed the monster within, to the present day. The Hulk app does so with a full-on interactive reading experience with optional narration by Stan “The Man” Lee himself (who does not let fans down).

For younger readers, the Hulk app includes an auto-turn function so that the story moves along in a timely fashion. It’s filled with great artwork, music, sounds and mini-games. Overall, it offers a great look at the background of Hulk. Unlike Iron Man: Mark VII, however, Avengers Origins: Hulk is a paid app and does cost $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

$1.99 – Download Now

Avenger Origins: Assemble

Save the best for last as some folks say. If you’re looking for the full Avengers package then Avengers Origins: Assemble is ready and waiting. Like the Avengers Origins: Hulk, it’s a reading book once again narrated by Stan Lee. It features all the same reading modes and interactivity options but is jammed full of Avengers goodness.

In a way, it picks up where the Captain America movie itself left off (and the classic Avengers series started!) with Captain America being thawed out of a frozen slumber to find himself a man out of time. Now Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and The Wasp need his help to defend Earth against all evil. The real question is, will he be willing to help? With hidden items throughout and again those mini-game like sequences built in, if you’re looking for a full on Avengers experience — this is the one to grab.

$1.99 – Download Now

For the first time in… forever, iPhone 4S commercials are hitting the air with celebrities…. talking to Siri. The Avengers‘ Samuel L. Jackson is in one spot that finishes with Verizon branding and The New Girl‘s Zooey Deschanel is in another with the Sprint logo at the end.

Given that at least two carriers seem to be involved so far, it’s hard to imagine Apple isn’t behind them. While there have been some carrier specific ad spots in the past, they’ve been very specific, often touting network features like simultaneous voice and data (AT&T), reliability and reach (Verizon), or unlimited data (Sprint) and something slamming the competition. iPhone features, especially when the carrier is relegated to branding at the end, are typically done by Apple (and air outside the US with international carrier branding).

Unlike previous Siri commercials, the celebrities in these spots actually get their whole heads featured and aren’t simply shot from the mouth down (obviously). There’s a lot of missed opportunities too, with Samuel L. Jackson never asking Siri “where’s my super suit?!”.

So this raises several interesting questions. Are there more celebrity spots on the way? Why would Apple switch gears now and use celebrities anyway? We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled tonight in case any other commercials show up — let us know if you see any. And let us know which celebrities you’d like to see in an iPhone 4S commercial. James Earl Jones would be pretty epic…!

Source: @ShawnKing, thenewxmancxd

Found an interesting article you want to share with iMore? Have a burning question about that feature you just can’t figure out? There is ALWAYS more happening just a click away in the forums. You can always head over and join in the conversation, search for answers, or lend your expertise to other members of our community. You check out some of the threads below:

• Show us your “New iPad” screen!
• Does your iPhone keyboard ever play peek-a-boo?
• Which magazine style news app do you use on your iPad?
• Awesome iPad Retina wallpaper of the day!
• Favorite free games?
• Best way to run cloud music libary on iOS

If you’re not already a member of the iMore Forums, register now!