The great thing about Apple’s portable devices for fans of simulation games is that you can actually live more of a life while spending almost every waking moment tweaking some setting or researching new technology, or exploring a series of bad decisions as you go to war with your neighbor. This is a good thing. What follows are six of the most engaging simulation type games I’ve come across this week, with many of them available in the HD format for the iPad. Of course, these all work just as well with any of Apple’s smaller-screened iOS-powered devices. And they’re all great fun, enjoy. Civilization…

Celebrities will do just about anything for an iPhone 4. While actor Jason Bateman was passionately booed as he skipped thousands of people in line at the Los Angeles Apple Store on opening day, NFL lineman Stacey Andrews was a little more discreet in his quest. Popping into a Wal-Mart in Little Rock on Thursday, Andrews bumped into Brittany Hightower, who happened to be holding the last iPhone 4 in stock. Unfazed, he proceeded to offer her a thousand bucks for the device. Hightower refused… until the offer was bumped to $2000. You don’t say no to $2000. That’s just good business, and Hightower…

For all Odin’s love, Apple, slow down. You’re gonna hurt all those Foxconn workers (further) with the sheer velocity of those iPhones whizzing out of the plant. “This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history” said Big Steve of the accomplishment. Between Thursday and Saturday, 1.7 million iPhone 4s (iPhones 4? Pluralization is gonna suck until the need to specify the model dies down) entered the waiting hands of rabid line-waiters everywhere. That said waiting hands cause signal degradation is unimportant – this is still an intense achievement. “Even so,” continued Jobs,…

It’s a lazy Saturday, like any other. Actually, maybe some of you have busy Saturdays. Whatever. It’s lazy on this end. As such, I’m about to showcase an iPhone app. No, really, you’ll love this. We’re all at this point well familiar with the App Store’s unfathomably arbitrary approval process, but this app dares to posit the dawning of a new echelon for iPhone shovelware. What does it do? It cures erectile dysfunction, of course. ‘Fire Up Your Sex Drive’ is amazing, and I mean that in the ironic hipster way. ‘Just For Male!’ the app pitches with a clear disregard for English grammar, ‘This application…

If you’re a left-handed iPhone 4 owner then you’re potentially one of those infuriated by the problem in which gripping the device by its lower left corner can interrupt your network signal. This is because your clammy fingers sometimes have the effect of bridging the gap between the two separated aluminum sides, which has the effect of joining the WiFi and GSM antenna and cutting the call. Here’s the simplest fix we could find — it doesn’t even require that you invest in a protective case — a simple strip of sticky tape should do the job. Fast Company explains that all you need to do is take…

If you are a web designer then Apple’s mobile devices can help you work better, smarter — and out of the office. Here’s six apps you really should take time to get to know. 1. Ego $1.99 This is a splendid app (image above) not just for a developer but for anyone who has ever run a Google search on their name, which is everybody (but me) obviously. Ego watches the social web: Ember, Feedburner, Google Analytics, Mint, Squarespace, Tumblr, Twitter and Vimeo. It lets you track the number of visits to your website (including daily, hourly and monthly numbers), feed subscription totals and changes,…

If you’re one of the millions who downloaded and used the notorious I Am T-Pain iPhone app then hit your upgrade buttons today, as you’ve got an upgrade you just might like. The latest version is wrapped up in lovely iOS4 improvements, but also offers a fab feature for the iPhone 4 — you can use that front-facing video camera to film yourself singing along to something or other while using the Auto-tune feature. Then, assuming friends, family or concerned neighbors haven’t made some kind of intervention to save you from future workplace embarrassment. You can even send those clips right…

Apple has admitted to a widely-reported problem in which millions of iPhone 4 units are likely to lose signal when gripped by the lower left corner, saying there’s nothing unusual about the flaw, illustrated in this video. In an official statement issued late last night after hundreds of customers reported the flaw, which particularly impacts left-handed users, the company issued the following widely-published statement. “Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas….

Hey, y’know iStockPhoto? Well, hold onto your MOTHERLOVING hat, because this business just came to your iPhone. Just now. Yes, it did. I swear. Right now. “Inspiration and ideas often strike when we least expect,” claims iStockphoto’s COO, Kelly Thompson. It’s totally cool that I can save images for later and share them with my colleagues and stuff – the usefulness for quick collaboration is apparent. I have to point out that this app is pretty useful if you’re a contributing artist. iStockphoto Al fresco lets you track your downloads and sales, which rules if you’re the kind of person who likes…

So I heard there was, like, some kinda phone or something being released today. Bunch of people are in line, I heard. I won’t pretend not to be excited about the iPhone 4, even though my current phone contract and general lack of income will disallow my having one for the next several eons. Though if initial reports are any indication, maybe I don’t want one for awhile. While most first shipments are not without their flaws, the iPhone 4 seems to be sporting some pretty ugly ones, and not even counting the apparently easily-cracked screen (what the tits do you think will happen if you go around intentionally…