Week 4 of the 2009 Smartphone Round Robin brings me face-to-big-glass-face with our most ancient nemesis — Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Phone, this year spawning the killer keyboard of the HTC Touch Pro 2, and the monstrous hardware of the HTC HD2. Yes, that’s 2 times HTC version 2 devices and to help me out, I’ve got the dark lord of WMExperts himself, the one and only WMExperts Phil Nickinson to show me the ropes — and quite honestly to help me lift that ginormous HD2 onto the table! Remember, every day you post on my WMExperts Forums thread, you’re entered for a chance to win the Windows Phone of your choice. (And there’s a total of 6 smartphones up for grabs — one per SPE site — so check them all out!) This week also brings the yin to... 

Facebook 3.1 brought the much-in-demand push notification service to the iPhone’s most popular social networking app, but no good deed goes unpunished, and along with broken push, it also brought a host of problems. Now, not everyone is having the same problem, but a lot of you have told us about one or more of the following: No push notifications: Seriously. Facebook updates their application to included push notifications and it doesn’t work most of the time. No alert sound to push notifications: Is sound turned on? Yes. So where is it? Commenting on photos: If you go to post a comment on a picture one of your friend’s posts you are greeted with a nice little “error” on a blank screen. Force closes: Now perhaps this is just a issue I am having but it seems... 

TUAW recently remarked that the App Store approval process seemed to be working much faster lately. TiPb has been in contact with numerous application developers and the general overall feel we are getting is the same — Apple is finally coming around when it comes to the app approval process. Much has been said about Apple and their App Store over the past few years but things have seemingly changed for the better. TiPb sometimes gets access to beta applications for feedback or review anywhere from a month to a week in advance. Generally we’ve seen the same 2 week delay Apple advises before the apps show up in the App Store (though sometimes it’s been up to 4 weeks or more in the past). Lately we have received an app only to find it released only a day later, sometimes hours... 

Not content to allow France to hog all the 4th generation iPhone rumor attention, Korea Times claims carrier KT reveals (we read that as wishes rather than knows) the following specs: They said the coming 4G iPhones will be equipped with organic light emitting diode (OLED) screens on surface and live video chat functionalities, while removable battery is highly likely. The new 4G iPhone is also going to be loaded with dual core processors and higher and powerful graphic chips that can deliver higher video resolutions and better “still” images when taking pictures. Let’s make this clear again up front (lest we be smited), no one outside of a tiny group at Apple and maybe Foxconn brass know exactly what the 4th gen iPhone is going to be, and even then it’s subject... 

Scarcely 2 months after Motorola and Verizon launched the Android-powered DROID, Google is back with another high-end smartphone, the Nexus One, this time sold unlocked by Google directly, but also in partnership with T-Mobile, and with Verizon, Vodafone, and others coming online soon. Once again, the tech-blog hype has been off the charts, and once again the iPhone 3GS is being used as the great comparison. Fine then, let’s compare! If you’re interested in either Apple’s iPhone 3GS or Google’s Nexus One, here are some points to consider… First, go read our iPhone 3GS vs. Droid: Which One Should You Buy article. 90% of it applies identically to iPhone 3GS vs. Nexus One. Finished? Okay, on with the differences. Location: US or International? The iPhone 3GS is... 

The past few days our inbox has been flooded with emails from you, our readers, letting us know that you’ve experienced significant increases in AT&T 3G data speeds. And this makes perfect sense if you consider that all of the reported claims have come from the 6 cities that AT&T recently flipped the HSPA 7.2 switch on. Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, and Miami, with capabilities being turned up on a site-by-site basis beginning last month. Further backhaul deployment will continue in these markets and begin in additional markets across the nation. Located in Chicago I’ve personally witnessed a slight increase in data speed but I am still nowhere close to the 7.2 that AT&T has promised. Drop us a line in the comments and let us know — what speeds... 

From the Forums is a great way to see what all of the current hot topics are on the TiPb forums. Today we would like to go over some of the popular sub-forums for those of you who may not be familiar with our forum setup. Becoming a member is fast and free, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now. Having some issues using blackra1n to Jailbreak your iPhone? this troubleshooting thread is for you. It seems like many of you are into a little game, Storm 8 Pets Live – so share your codes with other forum members!. This thread is great for those of you who may be new to the iPhone – 33 Tips to Make the Most of Your iPhone. Don’t need help but have a tip you’d like to share? Feel free to add it to the list! Say what you will about AT&T... 

Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, 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 (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game. So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break! Chris’ Pick: Hanged My pick of the week is the game “Hanged”. I first saw this app as a “must buy” mentioned in Entertainment Weekly magazine. It is a hangman game that uses nice graphics, cut scene animation, and a continuing storyline. The words you try to guess are from am ongoing letter from one lover to another. It is nicely done, and at $1.99...