Crush the Castle for iPhone is a simple and fun strategy game. The object of Crush the Castle is to destroy buildings with trebuchets — a fancy siege engine something like a catapult. You get the chance to be the attacking army and, as a twist, you can even build your own structures and destroy them as well.

The game interface is very easy to get used to. You tap the screen to launch the trebuchet and then again when you want the ammunition to be released. The you watch to see if your ammunition has hit its target. You get to pass the level when all of the occupants of the building have been killed. (Yes, this game is not for the pacifist.)

There are 10 different types of ammo that you get access to as you continue through the game. Boulders don’t cause enough destruction for you? Well in later levels you get access to cannons and greek fire (D&D flashback anyone?). There are 90 different encampments. If you get a medal on each encampment you get to progress to the next stage. Once you have unlocked a type of ammunition you can go back and try to use that weapon on previous levels, which makes it much easier to achieve a medal there.

One of the more interesting aspects of the game is that you also get access to the castle editor. This allows you to make your own buildings and then you can find out how easy they are to destroy. It is not the most seamless interface for creating new buildings but after a bit of practice you’ll get the hang of it.

This is the perfect game for the casual gamer who wants to have something to do when they have a few minutes to kill. If you enjoyed playing Angry Birds than this is a another game you will like.

Pros

• Easy controls
• Fun build your own fortress level
• Simple concept

Cons

• Build level is difficult to use
• Can not see trebuchet and target at same time
• No projectile trail so hits are difficult to repeat

Crush the Castle for the iPhone a strategy game is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Looks like VLC for iPhone and iPad is about to be pulled from the App Store because the Open Source Powers That Be don’t believe Apple’s iTunes App Store is compatible with the GPL components of the app.

Basically, anything under the GPL has to be freely transferable to anyone without restriction. Since the App Store places FairPlay DRM even on free apps like VLC, even though anyone can still download them, that’s considered a restriction.

The long and the short of it is this — if you want VLC for iPhone or iPad, go get it now.

[iLounge, iTunes link]

If you want VLC for iPhone, iPad get it now before it’s pulled is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

You know the drill. Come time, we’ll be talking about everything iPad.

• 6pm PT/9pm ET/1am GMT

So click on through, we start setting up 15 min. before show time. Chat with you soon!

http://www.tipb.com/live/

iPad live podcast tonight – Halloween special! 6pm PT/9pm ET/1AM GMT is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The ABC app for the iPad has come up with a nice little update for those of you who are into tracking elections as they are happening. It’s not always easy to keep track of who is winning in each race through television or radio but now with the ABC app for iPad it will not only make tracking the election easier and more mobile, but will allow you to run through what-if scenarios for the races.

The states will change in color to represent whether it has gone Republican or Democrat, and it tracks the Senate races as well as the House of Representatives. So now you can watch whatever you want to on election night as still follow your favorite political party or candidate and see how they are doing on an important night. Best of all is that this app is free and not only can you track your election results all in one place, you can also continue to watch your favorite ABC shows as well.

Will you be utilizing this new feature in the ABC app on your iPad?

[ TUAW, iTunes Link ]

by Brian Tufo

Follow US elections live with ABC app for iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

It turns out that the iPod touch is a kidnapper deterrent. In Stanton, Delaware, a 12-year-old girl was waiting for a ride outside Stanton Middle School when a man driving a white van pulled up next to her and yelled at her to “get in the van”. Instead of panicking, the girl pulled out her iPod touch, held it to her ear, and told the man that she was calling 9-1-1. Believing that she was using an iPhone, the driver immediately sped off. What a smart girl.

An iPod touch may have just saved this girl’s life. Now, don’t be surprised when your preteen argues that if you had his/her safety in mind, you’d buy him/her an iPod touch.

[ABC via Cult of Mac]

Girl pretends iPod touch is an iPhone to scare away kidnapper is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

PizzaExpress, a UK-based pizzeria, is adding iPod/iPhone docks into some of their seating areas as part of their “next-gen” restaurant upgrade.

PizzaExpress has started the roll out in their restaurant in Richmond, London. They call their new dining concept “Living Lab”, inviting the british public to try out all the new features before a full roll out nationwide.

Included in the line of the new features, are new ‘parabolic booths’, which are domes hung from the ceiling that deflect background noises, so not only can you enjoy a peaceful conversation, but you can play your iPod/iPhone music undisturbed, while not disturbing anyone else.

If your local restaurants wanted to implement iPod docks? Would you use them?

[PocketLint]

by George Lim

UK Pizzeria, PizzaExpress installing iPod/iPhone docks is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Like our sibling site, Android Central, TiPb has been invited to a mobile event at Facebook HQ this Wednesday, November 3. If it had just been AC, I’d have started wondering about that Facebook phone. Just TiPb and I might have thought iPad app. Both Android and iOS at the same bash and maybe Facebook is ready to make some bigger cross-platform waves. With former Android lead Eric Tseng and former iOS developer Joe Hewitt busy in the mobile division, who knows what they have up their social little sleeves?

Speculate in the comments!

Facebook holding event on Wednesday is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Ally’s Pick: Angry Birds Halloween

Angry Birds has been a favorite of many for several months now. I know many others are like me and get super excited when they see updates for it in the app store. Imagine my excitement when I saw Angry Birds Halloween!

The concept is the same as the original with a Halloween twist. There’s new achievements to be gained and costumed pigs to defeat. You’ll also notice the addition of a few new birds in this game.

This game is a separate purchase through the app store and will run you $0.99 for around 45 levels of Angry Birds goodness.

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Andrew’s Pick: HauntFinder

Want to go to a haunted house this Halloween, but don’t know where to look in order to get the most horrifying experience? Well then, HauntFinder is the app for you! With this single-use app you can find all of the major — and frightful — attractions in your area! The app gives you all of the great haunted houses to visit within a 200 mile radius, and contains reviews and more information straight from HauntedHouse.com!

We’d highly recommend this neat little app for Halloween, especially if you aren’t sure which haunted house you and your group of friends want to hit up after gorging yourself on all the candy you got from Tick-Or-Treating (you can never be too old to still go every year, right?).

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Brian’s Pick: Doodle Jump

Just in time for Halloween, Doodle Jump has been updated and now has a Halloween level for you to enjoy! Turn Doodle into Doodlestein and navigate your way through zombies, vampires, witches, and other creepy creatures! The update is free for those of you who have had Doodle Jump and they also announced that while you enjoy the new Halloween level they are hard at work at an update for Doodle Jump that will bring Game Center features into their awesomely addictive game!

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna’s Pick: Sex Offenders Search Lite

We teach our children not to talk to or accept candy from strangers – except on Halloween. Children are encouraged to approach the homes of strangers and ask for candy on this one night of the year, but do you really want your child to knock on any door?

Sex Offenders Search Lite allows you to search for sex offenders by your location. It provides the address, name, and crime committed of the offenders. This could be a welcomed addition to your trick-or-treating outing. You can quickly search the neighborhood for sex offenders and make sure your children do not approach the house of someone who has committed a crime against a child. Of course this doesn’t offer full protection for your children, but it may ease your mind to know that these homes are being avoided.

[Free - iTunes link]

Rene’s Pick: Netflix

Since Halloween is mostly a Canadian and US custom, forgive me for picking Netflix, an app currently available only in those two countries. And, well, Halloween and scary movies were just made for each other. Cream of the crop here is the Apple TV version of Netflix. The interface is so good you just know Apple banned Netflix from the building and built it themselves. The iPhone UI is okay, though the iPad version is basically the website and scarier than any horror movie monster. Let’s fix that Netflix, shall we?

But back to the movies. There’s tons of them for you to enjoy, from classics to fairly recents. You can stream them live to any of the aforementioned devices and — the killer feature — you can start on one, switch to another, and it remembers where you left off and just keeps on playing from there.

So when it’s late, the kids have stopped knocking on the door, the candy has been eaten, the jack o’lanterns have burned down, and everything is dark and quiet, tap on Netflix and queue up a good Halloween fright film. Then another.

[Free + Netflix subscription - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your Halloween pick of the week!

TiPb Picks of the Week: Halloween Edition is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Folks, we’ve been flooded with Halloween App Store sales announcements. So many, there’s not even any way to fit them all into a blog post. We’re talking big name, well loved iPhone and iPad apps and games from many of your favorite publishers. Suffice it to say, if there’s a popular app you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on, now’s the time to head on over to the App Store and see if it’s on sale.

Any of your favorites on sale? Any great deals you’ve come across? Let us know in comments!

Halloween App Store sale! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Sprint CEO, Dan Hesse, says his company has seen an increase in the demand for their 3G and 4G Overdrive wireless hotspot devices since the launch of the iPad. He also noted that most iPads sold are the WiFi only model and they have become increasingly reliant upon devices such as their Overdrive to have connectivity on the go.

When the iPad launch back in April, Sprint released a 4G case that could not only carry the iPad but also had a pocket for their Overdrive wireless hotspot to allow users to be totally mobile anywhere they want.

Not only has Sprint targeted iPad users but they have also featured the iPhone in a commercial they used to show off the features of the Overdrive wireless hotspot and point out its speeds are up to 10 times faster than AT&T’s 3G speeds.

The iPad that has 3G capabilities is not compatible with Sprint’s network and Sprint is still seeing increased sales thanks to Apple’s immensely popular tablet. With the iPad being sold by Verizon now, will Apple also work out a deal to have Sprint carry the device? Are you using Sprint’s Overdrive device bundled with your WiFi only iPad? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

[ Gigaom ]

by Brian Tufo

Sprint: iPad has increased demand for 3G and 4G mobile hotspots is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

John from the Los Angeles-based sketch group that created this white iPhone 4 response video sent it in, hoping the humor would help ease the sting of non-release.

Let us know if laughter really is the best medicine, after the break!

White iPhone 4 humor – Saturday fun video is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Laura Bush recently said in an interview that her husband, former US President, George W. Bush, is an “addicted” iPad user.

He reads the Wall Street Journal on it in the morning before the paper even is thrown

Scrabble is the one that George now seems to be playing constantly. Like, I’m trying to get his attention; ‘I’m still here.’

As for Mrs. Bush herself, she currently owns a Kindle, but hopes to get an iPad for her birthday.

Could iPad be the one device that unites people and parties? Let us know in comments!

[Yahoo!]

by George Lim

Former President George W. Bush — addicted to iPad is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Barron’s is reporting that OmniVision will supply the CMOS sensors for two cameras in the next generation iPad 2 — a 5MP camera on the back and a VGA quality camera on the front.

OmniVision (OVTI) will supply CMOS image sensors for a second-generation Apple (AAPL) iPad that will launch in the calendar first quarter of 2011

A second generation iPad 2 would most likely be introduced early 2011, perhaps in April like the original. With cameras would come FaceTime support. Now that Apple has opened up FaceTime to the iPod touch and Mac, we could be looking at a huge surge related to mobile video calling.

In addition, Barron’s went on to suggest that the iPhone could sell up to 23 million units within Q1 2011 based on build orders, and pointed to the increasingly likely Verizon iPhone selling over 6m units alone. This could make the 14.1 million iPhone units last quarter seem rather puny by comparison.

So what about you, do you see yourself using FaceTime on the iPad once the next revision hits the streets? Let us know what you think in the comments!

[Barron's]

by Andrew Wray

iPad 2 to include two cameras, FaceTime [rumor] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

The IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker claims that Apple’s record Q3 this year was exactly what it needed to bypass RIM and take over the fourth spot on their list of global mobile phone vendors. Apple is currently still behind, Nokia, Samsung and LG according to a report from Business Wire. Apple has been a dominant force in mobile phones since the introduction of the original iPhone 3 years ago but has never been able to sneak into the top 5 list of global mobile phone vendors. Their arrival into the top 5 knocked out Sony Ericsson devices the first time since IDC started this survey back in 2004.

IDC senior research analyst had some interesting thoughts on this achievement by Apple:

The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Moreover, the mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest growing firms.

Apple has clearly dominated in terms of growth year-over-year as well, shooting up just over 90% while the next closest competitor, RIM, grew just under 46%. Nokia and Samsung are still a considerable amount ahead of Apple as far as market share goes but LG is slowly declining which could allow for Apple to eventually slide into the number 3 position.

[ Market Watch ]

by Brian Tufo

Apple Passes RIM to Become No. 4 Global Mobile Phone Vendor is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Fortune, in an article today describing the long and winding relationship between Apple’s Steve Jobs and Verizon’s Ivan Seidenberg, claims they’ve confirmed a Verizon iPhone is coming in “early 2011″.

According to the story, Verizon passed on the iPhone in 2005 because Steve Jobs wanted too much control over where it was sold, too high a cut of service fees, and wanted to take on too much of the customer relationship. When Seidenberg tried to revisit the idea in 2007, just prior to the original iPhone launch, Jobs had concerns about CDMA not being a global standard. 4G LTE plans weren’t enough to jumpstart the discussions back then.

Lowell McAdam, who will succeed Seidenberg at some point next year, contacted Jobs again in late 2007, when AT&T’s network was already suffering under iPhone demand, to make sure they “weren’t missing something,” something which McAdam says Jobs agreed with in principle.

It took until October 2010 for Apple and Verizon to come together at all, and only for iPad 3G + MiFi bundle sales, but it was an important first step. And the iPhone?

people familiar with its development say it is a fait accompli. Verizon, sources say, will sell its own version of the iPhone 4, which will work on Verizon’s CDMA-based 3G network. Unfortunately for globe trotters, the first version of the phone likely won’t be built to work outside the U.S. — it probably won’t carry a special chip that can turn it into a “world phone.” However, it may have some of the features on the iPad distributed in Verizon’s stores, like live TV for customers of the FiOS cable service.

The whole article is worth a read, and also includes a lot about Verizon’s relationship with Google and Eric Schmidt, and their current use of Android as an alternative to iPhone (though in the current quarter it hasn’t brought in anywhere near the amount of net subscribers).

For those keeping score at home, however, we now have Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Fortune on record confirming the iPhone is coming to Verizon. Are you starting to believe?

[Fortune]

Fortune: Verizon iPhone confirmed is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

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We’re talking iPhone passing BlackBerry, AT&T vs Verizon, white iPhone delayed… again, greenpois0n vs. limera1n vs. pwnage tool, and the week in apps. It’s team Pure vs. team Jailbreak folks and this is iPhone Live!

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPhone accessory store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Our music comes from the following sources:

• I Called You — iPhone Remix by Pete Leidy
via Sneakmove iPhone Ringtone Challenge

iPhone live podcast 123: Team Jailbreak is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple earned more revenue this quarter than their ancient frenemy, Microsoft. Roughly $20 billion to $16 billion, or $4 billion more. Not too long ago they passed Microsoft in market cap as well, another impressive sounding, if not terribly meaningful measure. Microsoft still leads in profit due to their software-centric business being much higher margin than Apple’s hardware-heavy mix. But that too could and just might change as well.

Apple, thanks to the Apple II, got off to an impressive lead in the early days of command line personal computing. But things changed. Apple squandered the Mac’s first mover advantage and Microsoft and Windows ended up ruling the graphical user interface world. Now things are changing again. And that’s where it gets interesting.

60% of Apple’s profits come from products they’ve only released in the last three years, notably iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Almost everything Apple has planned and launched recently has been an incredible success, either profitable in their own right (like hardware) or deliberately run at just above break-even to support those profitable products (like iTunes and the App Store). And they’re still experimenting with new revenue models like iAds in the mobile advertising space.

By contrast, almost all of Microsoft’s profits came from products that have been around a generation, famously Windows and Office. Very little Microsoft has done recently has been a financial success for the company. Even the popular Xbox platform, billion dollar warranty extensions aside, has been a drop in the bucket compared to Windows and Office. Zune HD, a delightfully integrated media player was ultimately ignored and while Windows Phone 7 may bring licensing and Bing-driven advertising revenue, it remains to be seen if it can grab the mindshare Zune never could.

Apple still makes money from Macs but the world is rapidly going mobile and computing is rapidly going mainstream, and with iOS and devices like the iPad, Apple is already a dominant player and has a good shot at remaining a dominant player in the next great phase of computing.

Microsoft doesn’t really make money yet from mobile or internet services (they actually lose an almost incomprehensible amount overall). While they have some time left to turn that around — and to their credit they’re turning faster and better than most people imagined — right now they’re racing to keep up with Apple (and Google) in mobile.

Apple posts higher revenue than Microsoft is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Google has posted an update to their blogger account notating some new changes to their mobile version of Gmail.  From the looks of it, scrolling looks to be much improved as far as smoothness goes.  Before the pages seemed to be a bit more choppy and the distance it would scroll wasn’t always very accurate.  That problem appears to be fixed.

They’ve also added a floating toolbar that will remain static even when you scroll.  This should make it a lot easier to jump around your mailbox instead of having to scroll all the way back up a long thread in order to return to your inbox or another folder.  Google is noting these updates are compatible with devices running iOS 4.0 and up.

They’re also asking that if you have suggestions or comments, you should feel free to visit the Google Support Forums or tweet it and mention #gmailmobile.  Do you guys use the web version of this app at all? I personally just have Gmail set up as exchange.  Seems a lot less work to me.  What do you guys think?

Google Makes Improvements to mobile web version of Gmail is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

With Cydia currently not giving new users the ability to save their SHSH blobs it seemed like a good time to go over how to save your SHS blobs with an alternative, TinyUmbrella. An SHSH blob or ECID SHSH is basically a unique signature which is checked against Apple servers whenever you decide to restore the firmware on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Once a new firmware is released, Apple stops signing the older firmware, hence making it impossible to restore back to the older firmware from iTunes. So, YOU MUST SAVE YOUR SHSH WHILE APPLE IS CURRENTLY SIGNING THEM.

Now to “why is it important to save your SHSH blobs”: The creator of Cydia has setup a new server which basically mimics Apple’s verification server and can save your older signature (SHSH blob) so that you can downgrade or restore back to the older firmware. This is important because if you don’t have your SHSH blob saved, and accidently update to new firmware, you’ll loose your jailbreak and furthermore, you wont be able to downgrade back to older firmware to re-jailbreak your device.

Now while Cydia will probably once again start letting you save your SHSH blobs on the server automatically by using the “Make my life easier” button, a utility has been released which allows for both saving blobs on the server and locally and also for restoring older firmware via iTunes. You can also use TinyUmbrella to save your SHSH without being Jailbroken and for the currently signed firmware even if your iDevice is using a lower firmware. You can download it here: TinyUmbrella Look for version you need on right hand column.

Instructions for saving your SHSH

1. Download and run TinyUmbrella and make sure your iDevice is detected.
2. Check “Advanced Options.”
3. Under “Device / Version,” select the firmware version you want to Save (You can only restore to versions that have SHSH saved).
4. Click on “Save my SHSH.”
5. Repeat to save other firmware hashes if you wish.
6. Now, click on “Display SHSHs.” It should listed all hashes you have saved on your computer for all your iDevices.

Instructions for restoring:

(Make sure you have saved your SHSH blob locally using method above. If not, repeat the method above for the firmware you wish to restore to.)

1. Backup iDevice in iTunes and then close iTunes.
2. Open TinyUmbrella and make sure you dont get any errors on startup or else you will need to make sure that port 80 is open and that your host file is not set to Read-Only.
3. Click on Start “TSS server,”
4. Download firmware you wish to restore to from here: iPhone/iPodTouch
5. Open Itunes and use the Shift/Option + Restore method to choose the firmware file you wish to restore to (Upgrade button cannot be used)
6. After your firmware is restored you might get a 1004 error. Not to worry, simply click “Kick Device out of Recovery” if you get it.
7. Restore Settings from Backup in iTunes and sync.

Done! If you have any questions or need any help, head on over to our Jailbreak Forum.

by Farbod

How to save your SHSH blobs with TinyUmbrella [Jailbreak] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple has shown an increasing interest as of late in creating stainless steel devices that are more durable to everyday wear and tear, and have been experimenting with an external coating of nitride to make this possible.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has published information relating to Apple’s latest invention of a new application which they call “Nitriding Stainless Steel for Consumer Electronic Products.” This describes a cost-effective system that would include placing a layer of nitride on top of the stainless steel exterior to help it wear better over time. The application reads:

In addition to providing a durable, hard surface that is both scratch and impact resistant, the nitride layer allows for the natural surface color and texture of the underlying stainless steel to remain visible to the user. It is this natural surface color and texture of the stainless steel that adds to the aesthetically pleasing appearance of the consumer electronic product, thereby enhancing the user’s overall experience.

This concept would allow the look and feel of the stainless stell to be maintained while at the same time providing greater protection against scratches and other wear and tear that devices face on a day to day basis. It’s also desireable because it is non-magnetic and would be less likely to inhibit 3G wireless signals as well as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. We all know this is rather important after the infamous antennagate Apple faced with the release of the iPhone 4.

[ Apple Insider ]

by Brian Tufo

Apple Going Towards Stainless Steel With A Nitride Coating? [Patent Watch] is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog