Fortress Under Siege (Free iPhone, Free iPad, $2.99 Mac) is a medieval tower defense game that starts out a little like SimCity as you plan out and build your kingdom, progresses into a more typical Plants vs Zombies strategy game, with a dash of Battleheart troop customization thrown in for good measure.

Starting off you find yourself commanding an army loyal to Arthur.  It plays out like a typical castle defense game: You purchase walls, buildings and troops to surround and defend Arthur from an attacking force.  When you are finished laying out your defenses, you click start and wait to see what sort of army is going to march against you.  Then the game turns into more of a real-time strategy game as you can control your troops’ movements and maximize their opportunity for victory. You do that by making adjustments on the battlefield to reposition the appropriate troops to defend against the varying strengths of the attackers.  For instance, your archers may be better suited attacking knights on horses from atop the castle walls, but your swordsmen may be better off charging against enemy archers on the ground.

Then you start to realize that your troops are no longer a match for the opposing force that is attacking them — that is until you engage the upgrade system where you can increase the attack and health of each type of soldier you have in your army.  With each passing campaign, you also face new and better troops.  You even gain access to magic.  How you lay out your kingdom influences what you can do on the battlefield.  If you do not have enough houses in your kingdom, your army will not be able to grow in number beyond a certain point: Add more houses to the kingdom, and you will be able to support additional troops.

This game does get increasingly difficult as the days pass and the campaigns progress.  If you are in a hurry, the iOS version of the game offers an in-app purchase system where you can buy gold for cash.  This will allow you to amass larger armies, upgrade your troops and fortresses withe ease, and build impenetrable fortresses that are easy to defend.  This strategy also lends itself well to increasing the speed of the game to force the battlefield to a swift victory for your troops.  There is a slider control that can speed up or slow down the battle in the preferences.

If you take the longer path to victory, by slowing down the battle in the settings, you will discover that the battle mode can be rewarding as a real-time strategy game.  Moving your troops around the battlefield to maximize your strategic advantage, you will realize that the enemy’s strength is in its number of attackers,something that you cannot compensate for even when you throw a lot of cast into the game.  Not only will a defeat teach you a lesson on where your army needs to make improvements, but there is also profit to be made.  For each loss on the battlefield that does not financially set you back, it moves you forward with each kill.  Whatever gold you earned you keep as the game progresses, even when you lose and must play a day’s battle over again.  Overall this is a surprisingly deep game with plenty of replay value and customization.

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You can see in the above photo that I’m using iDisplay to run Echofon, a Python IDLE shell and Rdio on the Android tablet as I’ve dragged those apps from my iMac. And see the USB wire connected to the tablet? The iDisplay app supports both a wired and wireless connection to the tablet. I didn’t notice any difference when using iDisplay over Wi-Fi vs over the USB connection, but I like the flexibility. Plus, my Mac can charge the tablet while I use it as a secondary monitor.

This new version of iDisplay contains a few fixes and additions. Namely:

• Significant increase in speed of the desktop image mirroring on Android display
• Optimization for 4.0 Android OS
• Zoom option: choose your own ratio of Android virtual display to speed up the image reflection of your desktop
• More precise cursor pointing on the touchscreen

The cursor pointing on the tablet is pretty precise, but I’m not sure how much faster the mirroring speed is compared to prior versions. You can configure the frame rate of iDisplay on the host computer — there’s a small bit of software to install on the Mac or PC — but I’ve left it to be auto-optimized. There’s still room for improvement then, but for those looking to get some extra use out of a larger Android tablet, iDisplay is surely worth the look at $5. The software also works with Android smartphones, but I’m not sure there’s much benefit on the smaller screen.

Update: Shame on me: I didn’t realize that AirDisplay — which I use on my iPad — is also available for Android devices. Thanks to Mario on Google+ who told me about it. I’ll have to try that one as well!

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Fortress Under Siege (Free iPhone, Free iPad, $2.99 Mac) is a medieval tower defense game that starts out a little like SimCity as you plan out and build your kingdom, progresses into a more typical Plants vs Zombies strategy game, with a dash of Battleheart troop customization thrown in for good measure.

Starting off you find yourself commanding an army loyal to Arthur.  It plays out like a typical castle defense game: You purchase walls, buildings and troops to surround and defend Arthur from an attacking force.  When you are finished laying out your defenses, you click start and wait to see what sort of army is going to march against you.  Then the game turns into more of a real-time strategy game as you can control your troops’ movements and maximize their opportunity for victory. You do that by making adjustments on the battlefield to reposition the appropriate troops to defend against the varying strengths of the attackers.  For instance, your archers may be better suited attacking knights on horses from atop the castle walls, but your swordsmen may be better off charging against enemy archers on the ground.

Then you start to realize that your troops are no longer a match for the opposing force that is attacking them — that is until you engage the upgrade system where you can increase the attack and health of each type of soldier you have in your army.  With each passing campaign, you also face new and better troops.  You even gain access to magic.  How you lay out your kingdom influences what you can do on the battlefield.  If you do not have enough houses in your kingdom, your army will not be able to grow in number beyond a certain point: Add more houses to the kingdom, and you will be able to support additional troops.

This game does get increasingly difficult as the days pass and the campaigns progress.  If you are in a hurry, the iOS version of the game offers an in-app purchase system where you can buy gold for cash.  This will allow you to amass larger armies, upgrade your troops and fortresses withe ease, and build impenetrable fortresses that are easy to defend.  This strategy also lends itself well to increasing the speed of the game to force the battlefield to a swift victory for your troops.  There is a slider control that can speed up or slow down the battle in the preferences.

If you take the longer path to victory, by slowing down the battle in the settings, you will discover that the battle mode can be rewarding as a real-time strategy game.  Moving your troops around the battlefield to maximize your strategic advantage, you will realize that the enemy’s strength is in its number of attackers,something that you cannot compensate for even when you throw a lot of cast into the game.  Not only will a defeat teach you a lesson on where your army needs to make improvements, but there is also profit to be made.  For each loss on the battlefield that does not financially set you back, it moves you forward with each kill.  Whatever gold you earned you keep as the game progresses, even when you lose and must play a day’s battle over again.  Overall this is a surprisingly deep game with plenty of replay value and customization.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
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You can see in the above photo that I’m using iDisplay to run Echofon, a Python IDLE shell and Rdio on the Android tablet as I’ve dragged those apps from my iMac. And see the USB wire connected to the tablet? The iDisplay app supports both a wired and wireless connection to the tablet. I didn’t notice any difference when using iDisplay over Wi-Fi vs over the USB connection, but I like the flexibility. Plus, my Mac can charge the tablet while I use it as a secondary monitor.

This new version of iDisplay contains a few fixes and additions. Namely:

• Significant increase in speed of the desktop image mirroring on Android display
• Optimization for 4.0 Android OS
• Zoom option: choose your own ratio of Android virtual display to speed up the image reflection of your desktop
• More precise cursor pointing on the touchscreen

The cursor pointing on the tablet is pretty precise, but I’m not sure how much faster the mirroring speed is compared to prior versions. You can configure the frame rate of iDisplay on the host computer — there’s a small bit of software to install on the Mac or PC — but I’ve left it to be auto-optimized. There’s still room for improvement then, but for those looking to get some extra use out of a larger Android tablet, iDisplay is surely worth the look at $5. The software also works with Android smartphones, but I’m not sure there’s much benefit on the smaller screen.

Update: Shame on me: I didn’t realize that AirDisplay — which I use on my iPad — is also available for Android devices. Thanks to Mario on Google+ who told me about it. I’ll have to try that one as well!

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Here’s the full statement as published in the Gray Lady’s Bits blog:

• Customers will not be automatically moved to new shared data plans. If a 3G or 4G smartphone customer is on an unlimited plan now and they do not want to change their plan, they will not have to do so.
• When we introduce our new shared data plans, Unlimited Data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
• Customers who purchase phones at full retail price and are on an unlimited smartphone data plan will be able to keep that plan.
• The same pricing and policies will be applied to all 3G and 4GLTE smartphones.

What that means is that you can probably cling to your unlimited plan from now until the end of time, like some old codger that refuses to give up his party line. But Verizon isn’t going to make it easy on you. The people who like unlimited data tend to be the people who like high-end smartphones, and since Verizon will no longer cut them deals when they upgrade to newer and better devices, they’ll be on the hook for full sticker price. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the prices on a brand new unlocked iPhone lately, but they ain’t cheap: $650 to $850 depending on the model.

The odd thing is, depending on how they’re priced, Verizon’s new shared plans might actually wind up saving a lot of current unlimited customers money. For instance, if you’re in a household with two smartphones both grandfathered to unlimited, you’re basically paying $60 a month for data. If Verizon keeps its same pricing structure in place you could get 2 GB to share for half the monthly cost, plus whatever per line charges Verizon chooses to charge.

The larger majority of U.S. smartphone users consume less than 1 GB of data a month. There are still plenty of people who use their unlimited data plans to the hilt – many of them GigaOM readers – and they’re going to hate this policy change in the very cores of their beings. But my bet is that a lot of people currently on unlimited plans might benefit from switching over to shared data. We’ll have to see the details of Verizon’s shared pricing, though, before we can say for sure.

Buffet image courtesy of Flickr user Wesley Fryer

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Similar to last month, Hawaii and California lead in new iPad activations, accounting for nearly 18 and 16 percent, respectively. But Nebraska is a surprise No. 3. A big part of that isn’t due to your regular gadget consumers, but one of the state’s public education initiatives, which includes a 1-to-1 iPad program for students, according to the report.

You can see the other top seven states (and a district) for new iPad activations in May in the chart below:

Credit: Chitika Insights

But it’s not just Nebraska. There are other mainly rural — and less populated — states whose citizens are also scooping up the latest iPad. According to Chitika:

Nebraska’s adoption numbers in this second month, in addition to high adoption rates in states like Virginia, West Virginia and Alabama, indicate that rural states cannot be broadly labeled as technology laggards. Those residents are now pushing technology trends, often in greater numbers than their East and West-coast counterparts, rather than following them.

This kind of trend is exactly what needs to happen for Apple to continue to grow its customer base. The company can’t just sell new iPhones and iPads every year or every other year to the same early adopter types. By expanding through new industries — education, healthcare, transportation, etc. — the iPad is bringing Apple as a company into new territories that the Mac, at least at this stage in its life, never could.

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• Turns out the Apple retail juggernaut he helped create can’t be duplicated in a few quarters. Former Apple VP and current J.C. Penny CEO Ron Johnson is coming under fire from his investors for falling sales and a huge stock drop just six months after he joined, Reuters reports.
• There’s been a lot of talk about Apple doing a MacBook with a high-resolution Retina display. Sounds great, but how feasible would that be? ZDNet does the analysis.
• The Flashback malware threat exposed some serious lapses in Mac security. But what did the creators get out of it? Pretty much nothing, according to Symantec: The botnet “managed to generate around 400,000 ad clicks out of roughly 10 million being displayed,” and they’re having trouble collecting from pay-per-click services who employ anti-fraud measures, says Ars Technica.
• Just a day after Greenpeace protested outside Apple’s headquarters about its data center’s reliance on coal power, Reuters reports that Apple plans to build solar farms next to its North Carolina data center and move toward only renewable resources at the site by the end of this year. Katie wrote about this earlier in the year.

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You could say I was shocked, stunned and horrified. To clear a few things up: No, as I told my inquiring editor, tequila shots were not involved. Yes, I realize it’s just a phone. But I don’t make a habit out of carelessly destroying expensive things — especially when I’m so close to the end of my AT&T two-year contract and looking forward to a no-penalty upgrade to a new phone circa, say, October.

I’ll jump forward to the end: this is a happy story. I walked out of the Apple Store in Center City Philadelphia at 7 p.m. the following day with a brand new iPhone 4. But the journey was very impressive considering the level of service I received for a product that is not a refrigerator or pricey household appliance. Remember, we’re talking about a phone. (Note: I did not disclose my profession to the Apple Store staff for obvious reasons. Nor do I think every customer does or would have the same experience I did — your mileage at the Genius Bar may vary.)

Apple is famous for customer satisfaction — it scores tops among cell phone owners and computer owners, according to the American Customer Service Index. It’s probably no coincidence that high customer satisfaction scores – and offering professional and prompt technical help goes a long way towards ensuring satisfaction — are happening at the same time as the historic expansion of Apple’s business and the ascendance of its stock price.

After my Genius Bar appointment, Apple sent me its standard follow-up customer survey asking me about my experience. And since I write about Apple, I figured I’d share my answers here, in survey form. I was asked to rate my satisfaction with various aspects of Apple’s service on a scale of very dissatisfied to very satisfied.

Overall, how satisfied were you with your in-store repair experience?

Very satisfied. The morning after the fateful accident, I walked into the Center City store without an appointment. I was immediately greeted and told to come back for the next available time slot at the Genius Bar in 20 minutes. When I returned, I waited about a minute and 30 seconds before my designated Genius, Dan, walked up.

That wait was the only thing about my experience that was short — but we’ll get to that in a minute. Despite a somewhat complicated situation due to a failed iCloud backup, I was consistently updated on what was going on with my device. And the employees acted like they cared about solving my problem. Customer service isn’t necessarily the most rewarding job, so it’s gratifying when an employee understands that your presence means there is a problem and that getting it fixed is important. (Apple has just over 34,000 retail employees, with about 100 assigned to each store. Horace Dediu at Asymco calculated that Apple retail sales employees make from $9 to $15 per hour, but Genius Bar workers can make up to $30 per hour.)

Overall, how would you rate the professionalism and technical ability of the store employees responsible for your repair?

Very satisfied. This was somewhat of an emergency situation for me — it’s hard to get work done as a reporter when your only phone is unusable for calls or apps you might be writing about. The Apple Store employees made me feel like getting a new iPhone right away was a priority for them.

They also were very straightforward with me. They made sure I knew what my options were from the start: I could use my AT&T upgrade for a new iPhone 4S, which would start my two-year contract over again (no thanks), purchase a new iPhone 4S off contract for $500 (eek); or, if I left my broken device with Apple, they’d replace my same model with a new iPhone 4 for $149. I chose the latter.

They also let me know that this is fairly routine. Dropping a phone three stories? Not weird at all — they’ve seen and heard worse. The phone’s screen had a lot of scary-looking shards of glass sticking up from it, and when I apologized for its state, my designated Genius shrugged: “I have chefs’ fingers. I deal with cracked screens like this all the time.”

How many times were you contacted about the state of your repair?

At least 10 times, and I hadn’t even left the store. While my new phone was re-syncing Dan would attend to his other Genius Bar appointments, but he’d continually pop back over to update me on the status of my phone. This went a long way toward making me feel like the situation was resolvable and that they cared about getting me a satisfactory outcome.

Once your repaired product was returned to you, what happened?

This actually wasn’t a simple get-a-replacement-phone-and-resync-it-with-my-latest-iCloud-backup situation. Turns out, after 25 minutes of syncing my new phone, none of my roughly 3,000 photos copied over. This was, you might say, problematic. After some troubleshooting, Dan said iCloud was the culprit: my last iCloud backup had failed. He said I should bring my computer that my phone was synced with in and he’d try again, and made me another appointment later that day.

When I returned with my MacBook Air and my new iPhone, he battled further issues: iPhoto kept crashing, and the latest iTunes backup wouldn’t sync. He tried a few different approaches, and finally ended up finding a solution. This troubleshooting took almost an hour, again, thanks to the sheer number of photos I had on my device. Then once he figured out the fix, it was a least another 45 minutes of syncing.

From the start of the discussion, how long was your interaction at the Genius Bar?

Over the course of two different appointments, I spent just under four hours getting in-person tech support from the Apple Store. While that might sound excruciating, Dan was seriously heroic, never got flustered, and even took time to discuss one of my favorite topics while we were waiting: where to procure Philly’s best pizza. (Osteria on North Broad Street, if you’re wondering.) As someone who works from home or remote locations regularly, it wasn’t really a problem to be nearby the Apple Store all day. But that might be harder for people who have to report to offices.

Plus, when his shift ended at 6 p.m., he found another Genius to check in on me while we waited for my syncing to finish so they’d be sure my problem was entirely fixed before I left the store.

In the end, yes, it took a while, and iCloud has some serious issues to work out. But I left with a new phone, only $160 and some change poorer. And, perhaps more importantly, a lot of customer goodwill — an asset that even the most valuable company in the world can’t put a price on.

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